MEMOIR OF 
 
 NORMAN MACLEOD, D.D.
 

 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 NORMAN MACLEOD, D.D. 
 
 MINISTER 'OF BARONY PARISH, GLASGOW; 
 ONE OF HER MAJESTY'S CHAPLAINS; 
 
 DEAN OF THE CHAPEL ROYAL ; 
 DEAN OF THE MOST ANCIENT AND MOST NOBLE ORDER OF THE THISTLE 
 
 BY HIS BROTHER THE 
 
 REV. DONALD MACLEOD, B.A. 
 
 ONE OF HER MAJESTY'S CHAPLAINS, EDITOR OF " GOOD WORDS," ETC. 
 
 TWO VOLUMES. I. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 DALDY, ISBISTER & CO. 
 
 56, LUDGATE HILL 
 
 1876 
 
 [Eighth Thousand']
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY VIRTUE AND CO., LIMITED, 
 CITY ROADt
 
 TO HIS MOTHER, 
 
 NOW IN HER NINETY-FIRST YEAR, 
 
 IN AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE OF ATT. THAT HER CHILDREN 
 
 AND HER CHILDREN'S CHILDREN OWE 
 
 TO HER INFLUENCE. 
 
 A
 
 PEEFACE. 
 
 "TT7HEN asked, two years ago, to compile a Memoir 
 * * of my brother, I did not accept the task with- 
 out considerable hesitation. Besides the charge of a 
 city parish, heavy responsibilities of another nature 
 had devolved upon me, so that it seemed impossible to 
 undertake additional labour. I felt also that, in some 
 respects, a near relative was not well qualified to fill 
 satisfactorily the office of biographer. These objec- 
 tions were, however, overruled by friends on whose 
 judgment I relied. 
 
 If aifection should have rendered it difficult to be 
 always impartial, I may be allowed, on the other 
 hand, to derive some comfort from the reflection that 
 a lifelong intercourse, as frank and confidential as 
 could exist between two brothers, gave me oppor- 
 tunities for knowing his thoughts and opinions, which 
 few others, and certainly no stranger, could have 
 possessed. 
 
 Dr. Macleod was a man whom it is almost im- 
 possible to portray. His power was in many ways
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 inseparable from his presence. The sympathy, the 
 humour, the tenderness depended so much for their 
 full expression on look, voice, and manner, that all 
 who knew him will recognise the necessary inadequacy 
 of verbal description. ' Quantum mutatus ab illo ' 
 must more especially be the verdict upon any attempt 
 to record instances of his wit or pathos. 
 
 I must, however, claim for this biography the merit 
 of truthfulness. In whatever respects it may fail, 
 it cannot, I think, be charged with conscious conceal- 
 ment or exaggeration of fact or sentiment. Faults of 
 another kind will, I trust, be forgiven for the sake of 
 the great reverence and love I bore him. 
 
 I beg gratefully to acknowledge the aid rendered 
 by many friends. The pages of the Memoir indicate 
 that my obligations to Principal Shairp, Dr. Watson, 
 and my brother-in-law, Dr. Clerk, have been great; 
 but there were many others to whom I am indebted 
 for much assistance, and to whom I tender my best 
 thanks. Among these I may mention the Dean of 
 Westminster, Mr. Service, J. A. Campbell, Esq., 
 LL.D., Alex. H. Japp, Esq., A. B. McGrigor, Esq., 
 and Dr. W. C. Smith. I need scarcely add that Mrs. 
 Norman Macleod, by her constant advice and her 
 careful arrangement of her husband's papers, gave me 
 invaluable help. 
 
 It may be well to state here that all the illustra- 
 tions are from etchings by Dr. Macleod, with the ex- 
 ception of the view of Aros by Mr. Eeid, the sketch
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 of the Back Study by Mr. Ealston, and of the Monu- 
 ment at Campsie by Mr. Catterns. 
 
 In conclusion, I must express regret that the 
 appearance of this book has been delayed so long. 
 It can be said in apology, that no available time has 
 been lost during the two years I have been engaged 
 in writing it. 
 
 Now that it is completed, no one can be more sensi- 
 ble than I am of its imperfections. It will, however, 
 be to me a source of inexpressible gratitude, if, in 
 spite of its many deficiencies, it should convey to those 
 who did not know Norman Macleod, some sense, how- 
 ever inadequate, of the depth of his goodness, of his 
 rich humanity, his childlike faith, catholicity, and 
 devotion. 
 
 1, WOODLANDS TEEEACE, GLASGOW, 
 January, 1876.
 
 CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. PARENTAGE 1 
 
 II. BOYHOOD ... 13 
 
 in. EARLY COLLEGE DAYS 27 
 
 IV. WEIMAR 45 
 
 V. APRIL, 1835 NOVEMBER, 1836. .. . . .63 
 
 VI. 1836 7 86 
 
 VII. EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN 114 
 
 Vin. THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY 170 
 
 IX. DALKEITH, DECEMBER, 1843 JUNE, 1845 . . .211 
 
 X. 1845. NORTH AMERICA 234 
 
 XI. EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE, AND TOUR IN PRUSSIAN PO- 
 LAND AND SILESIA 253 
 
 XH. LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 1848 1851 . . . 274 
 
 APPENDIX A. REMINISCENCES WRITTEN BY HIS FATHER IN 
 
 OLD AGE 331 
 
 B. A CRACK ABOOT THE KIRK FOR KINTRA FOLK. 340
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 PARENTAGE. 
 
 AT the end of last century there were two families 
 residing on opposite shores of the Sound of Mull, 
 in Argyllshire, their houses fronting one another 
 across the blue strait wh/ch winds in from the Atlantic. 
 From the windows of the Manse of Mr. Macleod, the 
 minister of Morven, on the mainland, could be seen the 
 dark ruins of the old castle of Aros, in the island of 
 Mull, frowning from its rocky eminence over the Bay 
 of Salen, and behind the castle appeared the house of 
 Mr. Maxwell, the chamberlain of the Duke of Argyll, 
 and 'tacksman'* of Aros. These were the homes 
 where the father and mother of Norman Macleod were 
 then enjoying their happy youth. 
 
 This memoir must begin with a sketch of these 
 families, and of the early life of that youthful pair ; 
 for on few men had early influences a more permanent 
 hold than on Norman Macleod. What he was to 
 the last, in some of the most conspicuous features of 
 his character, could be easily traced to the early asso- 
 
 * There are few now remaining of the class called ' Gentlemen 
 Tacksmen,' who ranked between laird and farmer, and once formed 
 the bone and sinew of the Highlands. 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 ciations which clustered round Morven and Mull. 
 The Highlands of those days no longer exist, but he 
 inhaled in his childhood the aroma of an olden time, 
 and learned from both father and mother so much of 
 its healthy and kindly spirit, as left about his life, to 
 the last moment, a fragrance of the romance of which 
 it was full. 
 
 Except to those immediately concerned, genealogies 
 are uninteresting, and those of Highland families, with 
 their endless ramifications, eminently unprofitable. It 
 will be sufficient to state that I have before me a 
 family ' tree,' such as used to be so common in the 
 Highlands in which are the names of the Came- 
 rons of Glendessary, scions of Lochiel ; of the Camp- 
 bells of Ensay and of Saddell; of the MacNeils of 
 Crear ; of the MacNeils of Drumdrissaig ; and of the 
 Campbells of Duntroon names once well known in 
 their own country, although now, alas ! in some 
 instances only found there on moss-grown tombstones. 
 
 Not far from Dunvegan Castle, in Skye, a roofless 
 house, its garden weed-grown and abandoned to 
 utter solitude, marks the place where lived Donald 
 Macleod, the tacksman of Swordale, who married Anne 
 Campbell, a sister of Campbell of Glensaddell. He 
 was the great-grandfather of Norman, who used to re- 
 peat with grateful memory the tradition of ' Swordale, 
 having been a good man, and the first in his neigh- 
 bourhood to introduce regular family worship.' The 
 eldest son of this good man, and the grandfather of 
 the subject of this memoir, was called Norman. He 
 was educated for the Church, and in the year 1774 
 was ordained minister of the parish of Morven, in
 
 PARENTAGE. 3 
 
 Argyllshire, that 'Highland parish' so affectionately 
 described in the ( Reminiscences.' * The house of 
 Fiunary, as the Manse was called, has given place to 
 a better and more ornamental dwelling. Pleasant 
 woods now cover the green bank beside the bright 
 burn where stood the square house of orthodox Manse 
 architecture a porch in the centre and a wing at 
 each end and where grew up the happiest of families 
 in the most loving of homes. Norman thus describes 
 Morven : 
 
 "A long ridge of hill, rising some two thousand feet 
 above the sea, its brown sides, up to a certain height, 
 chequered with green strips and patches of cultivation, 
 brown heather, thatched cottages, with white walls ; here 
 and there a mansion, whose chimneys are seen above the 
 trees which shelter it ; these are the chief features along 
 its sea-board of many miles. But how different is the 
 whole scene when one lands ! New beauties reveal them- 
 selves, and every object seems to change its size, appear- 
 ance, and relative position. A rocky wall of wondrous 
 beauty, the rampart of the old upraised beach which 
 girdles Scotland, runs along the shore ; the natural wild- 
 wood of ash, oak, and birch, with the hazel-copse, clothes 
 the lower hills, and shelters the herds of wandering 
 cattle ; lonely sequestered bays are everywhere scooped 
 out into beautiful harbours ; points and promontories seem 
 to grow out of the land ; and huge dykes of whinstone 
 fashion to themselves the most picturesque outlines ; clear 
 streams everywhere hasten on to the sea ; small glens, 
 perfect gems of beauty, open up entrances into deep 
 dark pools, hemmed in by steep banks, hanging with 
 rowan-trees, ivy, honeysuckle, and ferns ; while on the 
 Mil- sides scattered cottages, small farms, and shepherds' 
 huts, the signs of culture and industry, give life to the 
 whole scene." 
 
 * " Keminiscences of a Highland Parish," by Norman Macleod, 
 D.D. Strahan and Co. 1868. 
 
 B 2
 
 4 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 This minister of Morven was in many ways a re- 
 markable man. Noble-looking and eloquent, a good 
 scholar, and true pastor, he lived as a patriarch among 
 his people. He had a small stipend, and, as its usual 
 concomitant, a large family. Sixteen children were 
 born in the manse, and a number of families a 
 shepherd, a boatman, a ploughman, were settled on 
 the glebe with others who had come there in their 
 need, and were not turned away. Never was a 
 simpler or more loving household. The minister 
 delighted to make all around him happy. His piety 
 was earnest, healthy and genial. If the boys had 
 their classics and the girls their needlework, there 
 was no grudging of their enjoyments. The open 
 seas and hills, boats and dogs, shepherds and fisher- 
 men, the green height of Fingal's Hill, the water- 
 fall roaring in the dark gorge, had lessons as full of 
 meaning for their after-life as any that books could 
 impart. The boys were trained from childhood to be 
 manly, and many an hour taken from study was devoted 
 to education of another kind hunting otters or 
 badgers in their dens, with terriers whose qualities 
 were discussed in every cottage on the glebe ; shoot- 
 ing grouse, and stalking the wary black-cock (for 
 no game laws were then enforced in Morven) ; fishing 
 through the summer nights; or sailing out in the 
 1 Sound ' with old Bory, the boatman, when the wind 
 was high, and the Roe had to struggle, close-hauled, 
 against the cross-sea and angry tide. In the winter 
 evenings old and young gathered round the fireside, 
 where songs and laughter mingled with graver occu- 
 pations, and not unfreguently the minister would tune
 
 PARENTAGE 5 
 
 his violin, and, striking up some swinging reel or 
 blythe strathspey, would call on the lads to lay aside 
 their books, and the girls their sewing, and set them, 
 to dance with a will to his own hearty music. Family 
 worship, generally conducted in Gaelic, for the sake 
 of such servants as knew little English, ended the 
 day. 
 
 Norman's grandmother was one of the tenderest and 
 wisest of ministers' wives. The unconscious centre 
 of the every-day life of the household, her husband 
 and children leaned on her at all times, but especially 
 in times of sickness or sorrow ; for if there were 
 days of joy, there were also many days, not the 
 less blessed, of great sadness too, and of mournful 
 partings, when one young form after another had to be 
 laid in the old churchyard. 
 
 The period when his father* was a boy in Morven 
 was remarkable in many ways. The country was 
 closely inhabited by an intensely Highland people. 
 The hills and retired glens, where now are spectral 
 gables of roofless houses, or green mounds concealing 
 old homesteads, watched by some ancient tree standing 
 like a solitary mourner by the dead were then 
 tenanted by a happy and romantic peasantry. It is 
 impossible now, even in imagination, to re-people the 
 Highlands with those who then gave the country the 
 savour of a kindly and enthusiastic clan-life 
 
 " The flocks of the stranger the long glens are roamin', 
 Where a thousand bien homesteads smoked bonny at gloamin' ; 
 The wee crofts run wild wi' the bracken and heather, 
 And the gables stand ruinous, bare to the weather." 
 
 * The late Norman Macleod, D.D., Minister of St. Columba, 
 Glasgow, and Dean of the Chapel Royal.
 
 6 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 There were many men then alive in Morven who had 
 been out with ' bonny Prince Charlie,' and the chivalry 
 of the younger generation was kept aglow by the great 
 French war and the embodiment of the ' Argyll Fen- 
 cibles.' Among such influences as these Norman's 
 father grew up and became thoroughly imbued with 
 their spirit. Full of geniality, of wit, and poetry fired 
 with a passionate love of his country wielding her 
 ancient language with rare freshness and eloquence 
 he carried into the work of that sacred ministry to 
 which his life was devoted a broad and healthy human 
 sympathy, and to his latest day seemed to breathe the 
 air imbibed in his youth on the hills of Morven.* 
 
 As the incidents of his life were closely intertwined 
 with those of his son, nothing need here be said of 
 his public career. He was a remarkably handsome 
 man, with a broad forehead, an open countenance 
 full of benevolence, and hair which, from an early 
 age, was snowy white. His voice was rich and of 
 winning sweetness, and when addressing a public 
 audience, whether speaking to his own flock in the 
 name of Christ, or pleading with strangers on behalf 
 of his beloved Highlands, few could resist the per- 
 suasive tenderness of his appeals. He was in many 
 ways the prototype of Norman. His tact and common 
 sense were as remarkable as his pathos and humour. 
 He left the discipline of the children almost entirely 
 to their mother. She was their wise and loving in- 
 structor at home, and their constant correspondent in 
 later life ; while he rejoiced in sharing their com- 
 panionship, entering into their fun, and obtaining the 
 * See Appendix A.
 
 PARENTAGE. 7 
 
 frankest confidence of affection. He seldom if ever 
 lectured them formally on religious subjects, but 
 spread around him a cheerful, kindly, and truly re- 
 ligious atmosphere, which they unconsciously imbibed. 
 1 Were I asked what there was in my father's teach- 
 ing and training which did us all so much good,' 
 Norman wrote at the time of his father's death, *I 
 would say, both in regard to him and my beloved 
 mother, that it was love and truth. They were 
 both so real and human ; no cranks, twists, crotchets, 
 isms or systems of any kind, but loving, sympathising 
 giving a genuine blowing-up when it was needed, 
 but passing by trifles, failures, infirmities, without 
 making a fuss. The liberty they gave was as wise as 
 the restraints they imposed. Their home was happy 
 intensely happy. Christianity was a thing taken 
 for granted, not forced with scowl and frown. I 
 never heard my father speak of Calvinism, Arminian- 
 ism, Presbyterianism or Episcopacy, or exaggerate 
 doctrinal differences in my life. I had to study all 
 these questions after I left home. I thank God for 
 his free, loving, sympathising and honest heart. He 
 might have made me a slave to any ' ism.' He left 
 me free to love Christ and Christians.' 
 
 The ancestor of Mr. Maxwell, Norman's maternal 
 grandfather, was a refugee, who, in the time of the 
 ' Troubles,' under Claverhouse, had fled to Kintyre. 
 He was, according to tradition, a younger son of 
 the Maxwells of Newark, and once lay concealed for 
 several weeks in the woods of Saddell, until, being 
 pursued, he escaped to the south end of the penin- 
 sula; again discovered, and hotly chased, he rushed
 
 8 LIFE OF NORMAN MA CLEOD. 
 
 into a house where the fanner was carding wool. 
 Immediately apprehending the cause of this sudden 
 intrusion, the man quickly gave the fugitive his 
 own apron and the * cards,' so that when the 
 soldiers looked into the kitchen, they passed on 
 without suspecting the industrious youth, who sat 
 1 combing the fleece ' by the peat hearth. This 
 young Maxwell settled afterwards in the neigh- 
 bourhood, and his descendants removing to the half- 
 lowland town of Campbeltown, made good mar- 
 riages and prospered in the world. Mr. Maxwell, 
 of Aros, had been educated as a lawyer, and became 
 Sheriff Substitute of his native district; but receiv- 
 ing the appointment of Chamberlain to the Duke of 
 Argyll, he settled in Mull, to take charge of the 
 large ducal estates in that island. He was an ex- 
 cellent scholar, and full of kindly humour. If the 
 grandfather at Morven valued Gaelic poetry, no less 
 did the other take delight in the ancient Border 
 ballads of the Low Country and in the songs of 
 Burns, and read with keen interest the contemporary 
 literature of an age which culminated in Walter 
 Scott. He drew a marked distinction between 'office 
 hours' and the time for amusement. Strict and 
 punctual in his own habits, he attended carefully to 
 the work of the tutor, and the studies of his family ; 
 but, when lessons were over, he entered with a young 
 heart into their enjoyments. In summer the house 
 was continually filled with guests travellers on their 
 way to Staffa, with letters of introduction from the 
 South, and remaining sometimes for days beneath the 
 hospitable roof. Many of these were persons whose
 
 PARENTAGE. 9 
 
 names are famous, such as Sheridan, Peel, and Sir 
 Walter Scott. Such society added greatly to the 
 brightness of the household, and shed a beneficial 
 influence over the after-life of the children. 
 
 Agnes Maxwell, Norman's mother, was brought up 
 with her uncle and aunt MacNeil at Drumdrissaig, on 
 the western coast of Knapdale, until she was twelve 
 years of age. She there passed her early youth, 
 surrounded by old but wise and sympathetic people ; 
 and, being left much to the companionship of nature, 
 wandering by herself along the glorious shore which 
 looks across to islands washed by the Atlantic surf, 
 her mind, naturally receptive of poetic impressions, 
 awoke to the sense of the beautiful in outward things. 
 She not only grew up a deeply affectionate girl, but 
 she also learned to feel and think for herself. Her 
 own words give a vivid picture of the healthy training 
 of her childhood : 
 
 " My aunt Mary was a woman of strong sense and 
 judgment, very accomplished and cheerful, and while 
 most exacting as to obedience and good conduct, was 
 exceedingly loving to me while I was with her. She gave 
 me all my instruction, religious and secular ; and used in 
 the evenings to take her guitar and hum over to me old 
 Scotch songs and ballads, till I not only picked up a great 
 number, but acquired a taste for them which I have never 
 lost. From the windows there was a charming view of the 
 hills of Jura and of the sea, and I still recall the delight 
 with which I used to watch the splendid sunsets over the 
 distant point of Islay. I never knew what it was to miss 
 a companion ; for it is extraordinary what a variety of 
 amusements and manifold resources children find out for 
 themselves. I fear that some of the fine young ladies of 
 the present day, attended by their nursery-maids, would 
 have thought me a demi-savage had they seen me helping
 
 io LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 the dairymaid to bring in the cows, or standing in a burn 
 fishing for eels under the stones, climbing rocks, or run- 
 ning a madcap race against the wind. Our next neighbour 
 was a Captain Maclachan, who had a flock of goats, and of 
 all delightful things the best was to be allowed to go with 
 Jeanie, the goat-lassie, to call them from the hills, and 
 see them milked." 
 
 Her picture of the habits of the people at that time 
 is curious and interesting : 
 
 " There was none of the ceremony and formality among 
 neighbours that exist now ; visitors came without any 
 previous notice, nor did their arrival make much altera- 
 tion in the arrangements of the house. Neither Christ- 
 mas nor New- Year's Day was allowed to pass without due 
 observance. Invitations were issued to all the neighbour- 
 ing families ; old John Shaw the ' Fiddler ' was summoned 
 from Castle Sweyn to assist at the festivities ; and I 
 remember the amusement I had at seeing my old uncle, 
 who did not in the least care for dancing, toiling with all 
 his might at reels and country dances, until the ball was 
 ended by the 'Country Bumpkin.' On Twelfth-Day a 
 great ' shinty ' match was held on one of the fields, when 
 perhaps two hundred hearty young and middle-aged men 
 assembled to the music of the bagpipes, and played the 
 match of the year with a fury which only the presence of 
 the ' laird ' prevented sometimes from passing into more 
 serious combat. The ' shinty ' was always followed by a 
 servants' ball, when it was not uncommon for the country 
 lasses to dress in coloured petticoats, green being the 
 favourite hue, and in a nice white calico ' bed-gown/ con- 
 fined at the waist. Their hair, falling over their shoul- 
 ders, was held back by a long comb, which was usually 
 the gift of a young man to his sweetheart. I never 
 understood that there was intoxication at these festivities, 
 for, indeed, the people of the district were very regular in 
 their habits, so that I cannot recollect more than two 
 persons noted for being addicted to excess. There was 
 only one woman in the neighbourhood who took tea, and
 
 PARENTAGE. n 
 
 the fact being considered a piece of disgraceful extrava- 
 gance, was whispered about with much more sense of shame 
 than would now be caused by the drinking of whisky. 
 The parish clergyman was a frail old man, who preached 
 very seldom, and, when doing so, wore a white cotton 
 night-cap. I remember his once putting his hand on my 
 head and blessing me, as he came down from the pulpit. 
 There was not a seat in the whole church except the 
 family pews of the heritors and minister. Some of the 
 people supported themselves on the communion table, 
 which ran from end to end of the building, while others 
 brought in a stone or a turf, on which they ensconced 
 themselves. And yet, in spite of this extraordinary 
 absence of religious instruction and of pastoral superin- 
 tendence, the people were moral and sober. 
 
 " I well recollect my aunt weeping bitterly as she read 
 aloud to us the account of the execution of Louis XVI., 
 while I sat on a stool at her feet and had it explained to me. 
 Then came the raising of the volunteers, the playing of pipes 
 in the remotest glen, and the drilling of recruits in the per- 
 petual ' goose-step.' My uncle was made a captain, and, to 
 my intense amusement, I managed regularly to hide myself 
 in the barn to watch the old gentleman being put through 
 his exercises by the sergeant. A fit of uncontrollable 
 laughter at last betrayed my lurking-place." 
 
 When she returned to Aros, after the usual ' finish- 
 ing' of an Edinburgh school, her home became doubly 
 sweet to her by the merriment of a household of 
 brothers and sisters, the tenderness of a mother who 
 loved every living thing, and, above all, by the com- 
 panionship of her father, who delighted in her sweet 
 rendering of his favourite Scotch music, and shared 
 with her all his own stores of old romance. All this 
 tended to form that character which, ripening into 
 purest Christian life, has been as a living gospel to 
 her children and her children's children.
 
 12 
 
 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 I have dwelt thus at length on the early days of 
 these parents, not merely from the natural desire to 
 speak of those we love, but because almost every page 
 of this memoir, down to its latest, will bear witness to 
 how much Norman owed to that father and mother. 
 
 VIEW OP AHOS.
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 BOYHOOD. 
 
 "YTORMAN was born at Campbeltown on June 3, 
 U( 1812. His father had been ordained four years 
 previously to the pastoral charge of that large parish, 
 and had been married to Agnes Maxwell in 1811. 
 
 Campbeltown lies at the head of a loch which runs 
 for two miles into the long promontory of Kintyre, 
 and not far from its southern termination. The loch 
 forms a splendid harbour. The high island of Davar, 
 thrown out like a sentinel from the hills, and con- 
 nected with the shore on one side by a natural mole 
 of gravel, protects it from every wind ; while, from 
 its position near the stormy Mull, whose precipices 
 breast the full swing of the Atlantic, it affords a 
 secure haven to ships that have rounded that dreaded 
 headland. The external aspect of the town is 
 very much like that of any other Scotch seaport a 
 central cluster of streets, with one or two plain 
 churches lifting their square shoulders above the 
 other houses ; a quay ; a lean steeple ; the chim- 
 neys of some distilleries ; thinner rows of white- 
 washed houses stretching round the 'Lochend,' and 
 breaking up into detached villas buried in woods
 
 1 4- LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 and shrubberies. The bay of Campbeltown is, how- 
 ever, both picturesque and lively. Cultured fields 
 clothe the slopes of hills, whose tops are purple with 
 heather, and beyond which ranges of higher moun- 
 tains lift their rough heads. There are fine glimpses, 
 too, of coast scenery, especially to the south, where 
 the headlands of Kilkerrau fall steeply into the sea. 
 But the bay forms the true scene of interest, as it is the 
 rendezvous of hundreds of fishing-smacks and wher- 
 ries. There is continual movement on its waters 
 the napping and filling of the brown sails, the shouts 
 of the men, and the 'whirr' of the chain-cable as 
 an anchor is dropped, keep the port constantly astir. 
 Larger vessels are also perpetually coming and going 
 storm-stayed merchant ships, smaller craft engaged 
 in coast traffic, graceful yachts, and Eevenue 
 cruisers. Four or five miles off, on the western 
 side of the low isthmus which crosses Kintyre from 
 the head of Campbeltown loch, lies another bay, 
 in marked contrast to this sheltered harbour. 
 There the long crescent of Machrihanish, girdled 
 by sands wind-tossed into fantastic hillocks, re- 
 ceives the full weight of the Atlantic. Woe to the 
 luckless vessel caught within those relentless jaws ! 
 Even in calm there is a weird suggestiveness in the 
 ceaseless moaning of that surf, like the breathing of a 
 wild beast, and in that line of tawny yellow rimmed 
 by creaming foam, and broken with the black ribs of 
 some old wreck sticking up here and there from the 
 shallows. But during storm, earth, sea, and sky are 
 mingled in a driving cloud of salt spin-drift and 
 sand, and the prolonged roar of the surge is carried
 
 BOYHOOD. 15 
 
 far inland. When the noise of ' the bay ' is heard 
 by the comfortable burgesses, booming over their 
 town like a distant cannonade, they are reminded 
 how wild the night is far out on the ocean. To 
 be ( roaring like the bay ' is their strongest description 
 of a bawling child or a shouting scold. 
 
 As the Highlands gave Norman his strong Celtic 
 passion, so Campbeltown inspired him with sym- 
 pathy for the sea and sailors, besides creating a 
 world of associations which never left him. It was 
 a curious little town, and had a wonderful variety of 
 character in its society and customs. No fewer than 
 seven large Eevenue cruisers had their headquarters 
 at Campbeltown, and were commanded by naval 
 officers who, in the good old days, received a pay 
 which would startle modern economists. These cut- 
 ters were powerful vessels, generally manned by a 
 double crew, and each having a smaller craft acting 
 as tender. Nor were they without occupation, for 
 smuggling was then a trade made not a little profitable 
 by the high duties imposed on salt, spirits, and tea.* 
 
 The officers and men of the cutters made Campbel- 
 town their home, and villas, generally built opposite 
 the buoy which marked the anchorage of their respec- 
 tive cruisers, were occupied by the families of the dif- 
 ferent commanders. The element thus introduced into 
 
 * Many stories are told of these smuggling days. Once an old 
 woman, -whose ' habit and repute ' were notorious, was being tried by 
 the Sheriff. When the charge had been fairly proved, and it fell to 
 the good lawyer to pronounce sentence, an unusual admixture of 
 mercy with fidgetiness seemed to possess him, for, evading the manifest 
 conclusion, he thus addressed the prisoner ' I daresay, my poor 
 woman, it's not very often you have fallen into this fault.' 'Deed no, 
 shirra,' she readily replied, ' I haena made a drap since yon wee keg I 
 sent yoursel.'
 
 1 6 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 the society of the town had many important effects. 
 It not only gave cheerfulness to its tone, but added a 
 certain savour of the sea to its interests. The merits 
 of each cutter and officer were matters with which 
 every man and woman but more especially every 
 schoolboy was familiar, and how old Jack Ful- 
 larton had * carried on ' till all seemed going by the 
 board, on a coast bristling with sunken rocks ; or how 
 Captain Beatson had been caught off the Mull in the 
 great January gale, and with what skill he had 
 weathered the wild headland were questions which 
 every inhabitant, old and young, had repeatedly dis- 
 cussed. 
 
 Campbeltown was the headquarters of other sorts 
 and conditions both of men and women. There 
 were retired half-pay officers of both the services ; 
 officers of his Majesty's Excise appointed to watch the 
 distilleries, among whom were such magnates as the 
 collector and supervisor ; there was the old sheriff with 
 his queue and top-boots; the duke's chamberlain, 
 and the usual proportion of doctors, writers, and 
 bankers. There were, moreover, those without whom 
 all the teas, and suppers, and society of the town would 
 have been flavourless the elderly maiden ladies, who 
 found that their ' annuities ' could not be spent in a 
 cheerier or more congenial spot than this kindly sea- 
 port. These ladies were aunts or cousins to half the 
 lairds in Argyllshire, and were often great characters. 
 A society like this, thrown together in a town utterly 
 unconnected with the rest of the world except by a 
 mail-gig, which had to travel some sixty miles before 
 reaching any settlement larger than a 'clachan,' and
 
 BOYHOOD. 17 
 
 by a sailing packet, whose weekly departure was an- 
 nounced by the bellman in the following manner, 
 1 All ye who may desire a passage, know that the 
 
 Caledonia cutter will sail ;' was sure to be 
 
 self-supporting in all the necessaries of life, among 
 which the 'half-pays' and maiden ladies included 
 amusements. So-called tea-parties, followed by com- 
 fortable suppers, were the common forms of enter- 
 tainment; and these reunions being enlivened by 
 backgammon and whist for the older folks, and a 
 dance for the younger, were not without their inno- 
 cent excitements. Sometimes there was also such a 
 supreme event as a county or a militia ball ; or still 
 better, when some sloop-of-war ran in to refit, the 
 resources of the hospitable town were cheerfully 
 expended in giving a grand picnic to the officers, 
 followed by the unfailing dance and supper in the 
 evening. 
 
 The ecclesiastical relationships of the place were 
 not less primitive and genial than the social. When 
 Norman's father went there, he soon attracted a very 
 large and devoted congregation. He was decidedly 
 'evangelical,? but free from all narrowness, and had a 
 word of cheerful kindliness for all. All sects and 
 parties loved him, and his fellow townsmen were 
 the more disposed to listen to his earnest appeals 
 in public and private, when they knew how manly 
 and simple he was in daily life. Not only did he 
 in this way secure the attachment of his own flock, 
 but, when on one occasion he was asked to accept 
 another and a better living, the dissenting congrega- 
 tion of the place heartily joined with his own in 
 
 VOL. i. c
 
 i8 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 making up his very small stipend to a sum equal to 
 what had been offered to him. The Eoman Catholic 
 priest was among his friends. Few weeks ever 
 passed without old Mr. Cattanach coming to take 
 tea at the Manse, and in all his little difficulties he 
 looked to the young parish minister for advice. These 
 Highland priests were very different men from those 
 now furnished by Maynooth. They were usually 
 educated in France, and imbibing Gallican rather than 
 Ultramontane ideas, felt themselves to be Britons, not 
 aliens, and identified themselves with the interests 
 of the people around them. ISTor was the friendly 
 relationship which existed in Campbeltown an ex- 
 ceptional instance of good-feeling ; for whenever the 
 priest of the district went to that part of the parish 
 in Morven which was near the Manse, he made it his 
 home, and I am not aware that any evil ever accrued 
 to religion in consequence. 
 
 The house where Norman Macleod was born was in 
 the Kirk Street, but the family afterwards lived in 
 the old Manse, and finally in Southpark. He seems 
 from childhood to have had many of the character- 
 istics which distinguished him through life being 
 affectionate, bright, humourous, and talkative. His 
 mother, and that aunt who was the friend of his 
 earliest as well as of his latest years, remember many 
 incidents illustrative of his extreme lovingness and 
 ceaseless merriment. Another, of his own age, re- 
 lates, as one of her earliest memories, how she used 
 to sit among the group of children round the nursery 
 fire, listening to the stories and talk of this one child 
 * whose tongue never lay.' When a boy he was
 
 BOYHOOD. 19 
 
 sent to the Burgh school, where all the families 
 of the place, high and low, met and mingled ; and 
 where, if he did not receive that thorough classical 
 grounding the want of which he used always to 
 lament, justly blaming the harsh and inefficient master 
 who had failed to impart it he gained an in- 
 sight into character which served not only to give 
 him sympathy with all ranks of life, but afforded a 
 fund of amusing memories which never lost their 
 freshness. Several of his boyish companions re- 
 mained his familiar friends in after-life, and not a 
 few of them are portrayed in his l Old Lieutenant.' 
 Among the numerous souvenirs he used to keep, and 
 which were found after his death in his 'Sanctum' 
 in Glasgow, were little books and other trifles he had 
 got when a boy from these early associates. Ships 
 and sailors were the great objects of his interest, 
 and, contrary to the wishes of his anxious mother, 
 many a happy hour was spent on board the vessels 
 which lay at the pier climbing the shrouds, reaching 
 the cross-trees without passing through the lubber's 
 hole, or in making himself acquainted with every 
 stay, halyard, and spar from truck to keelson. 
 His boy companions were hardy fellows, fond of 
 adventure, and so thoroughly left to form their own 
 acquaintances that there was not a character in the 
 place fool or fiddler, soldier or sailor whose pecu- 
 liarities or stories they had not learned. Norman, 
 even as a boy, seems thoroughly to have appreciated 
 this many-sided life. The maiden ladies and the 
 ' half-pays,' the picnics and supper parties, the rough 
 sports of the schoolyard, or the glorious Saturday 
 
 c 2
 
 20 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 expeditions by the shore and headlands, were keenly 
 enjoyed by him. He quickly caught up the spirit 
 of all outward things in nature or character, and 
 his power of mimicry and sense of the ludicrous 
 were even then as marked as his affectionateness. 
 Once, when he was unwell and about six years 
 old, it became necessary to apply leeches. These 
 he named after various characters in the town 
 the sheriff, the provost, &c. ; and while they were 
 on his chest he kept up an unceasing dialogue with 
 them, scolding one or praising the other, as each did 
 its curative work well or ill, and all in the exact voice 
 and manner of the various persons they were meant 
 to represent. When Mackay the actor, afterwards so 
 famous for his personification of Bailie Nicol Jarvie, 
 returned to Campbeltown where he had once been a 
 drummer-boy to astonish its inhabitants by the per- 
 formances of a clever little company in an improvised 
 theatre, it was like the opening up of a new world 
 to Norman. An attic was fitted up, and an audience 
 of aunts and cousins invited to witness how well 
 he and his companions could * do Mackay's company.' 
 He had from the first a strong tendency to throw a 
 romantic colouring into common life, and such a desire 
 to have sway over others that he was never so 
 much himself as when he had some one to influence, 
 and with whom he might share the ceaseless flow of 
 his own ideas and imaginations. Schoolboy expedi- 
 tions became under him fanciful and heroic enter- 
 prises, in which some ideal part was assigned by him 
 to each of his companions. A sail to some creek a 
 mile away became a voyage of discovery or a chase
 
 BOYHOOD. 21 
 
 after pirates. A ramble over the hills took the shape 
 of an expedition against the French. 
 
 The great event of his boyhood was his being 
 sent to Morven. He had been frequently there 
 as a young child, but his father, anxious that his 
 son should know Gaelic, and, if possible, be a High- 
 land minister, determined to board him with old 
 Mr. Cameron, the parish schoolmaster in Morven, 
 and so, when about twelve years of age, he was 
 sent first to the Manse, and then to the school- 
 master's house. His grandfather had died a few 
 months before, but he had many memories of the old 
 man derived from previous visits, and the impressions 
 of the venerable minister, then in extreme age, were 
 never lost. He was, for example, in church on that 
 Communion Sunday when his grandfather, blind with 
 age, was led by the hand up to the communion-table 
 by his servant ' Rory,' to address his people for the 
 last time. This grandfather had been minister there 
 for fifty years, and the faithful servant who now took 
 his hand had been with him since he had entered the 
 Manse. It was then that touching episode occurred 
 described in the ' Highland Parish,' when the old man 
 having in his blindness turned himself the wrong 
 way, ' Rory,' perceiving the mistake, went back and 
 gently placed him with his face to the congregation. 
 This picture of the aged pastor, with snowy hair 
 falling on his shoulders, bidding solemn farewell 
 to a flock that, with the loyalty of the High- 
 land race, regarded him as a father, was a scene 
 which deeply touched the imagination of the child 
 in the Manse seat. One, who was herself present,
 
 22 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 remembers another occasion when his grandfather, 
 taking him on his knee, presented him with a half- 
 crown an enormous sum in the eyes of the child 
 and then gave him his blessing. Norman, dragging 
 himself off, rushed away to the window-curtain, in 
 which he tightly rolled himself; when disentangled, 
 his cheeks were suffused with tears. The goodness of 
 the old man had proved too much for his generous 
 nature. 
 
 With these and many other loving recollections he 
 now returned, as a boy of twelve, to be made a l true 
 Highlander' of, as his father called it. It was 
 indeed as the opening of a new life when, leaving 
 the little county town, and the grammar-school, and 
 the lowland playmates in Campbeltown, he landed 
 on the rocky shore below the Manse of Morven. The 
 very air was different. The puffs cf peat-reek from 
 the cottages were to him redolent of Highland warmth 
 and romantic childish associations. There was not a 
 boatman from old ' Eory ' down to the betarred 
 fisher-boy, not a shepherd, or herd, or cottar, not a 
 dairymaid or henwife, but gave him a welcome, and 
 tried to make his life happier. The Manse, full of 
 kind aunts and uncles, seemed to him a paradise 
 which the demon of selfishness had never entered. 
 And then there was the wakening sense of the grand 
 in scenery, nourished almost unconsciously by the 
 presence of those silent mountains, with their endless 
 ridges of brown heather ; or by the dark glen roaring 
 with cataracts that fell into fairy pools, fringed with 
 plumage of ferns, and screened by netted roof of hazel 
 and oak ; or by many an hour spent upon the shore-
 
 BOYHOOD. 23 
 
 land, with, its infinite variety of breaking surge and 
 rocky bays, rich in seaweeds and darting fish. But, 
 above all, there was the elastic joy of an open-air 
 life, with the excitement of fishing and boating, and 
 such stirring events as sheep-shearing or a ' harvest- 
 home,' with the fun of a hearty house, whose laughter 
 was kept ever alive by such wits as Callum, the fool, 
 or bare-footed Lachlan. 
 
 His life in the dwelling of Samuel Cameron, the 
 worthy schoolmaster and catechist of the parish, was 
 not less full of romance. The house was not a large 
 one a thatched cottage with a but and a ben, and a 
 little room between, formed the accommodation ; but 
 every evening, except when the boys were fishing 
 codling from the rocks, or playing * shinty ' in the 
 autumn twilight, there gathered round the heartn, 
 heaped high with glowing peat, a happy group, who, 
 with Gaelic songs and stories, and tunes played on the 
 sweet l trump ' or Jew's harp, made the little kitchen 
 bright as a drawing-room ; for there was a culture in 
 the very peasantry of the Highlands, not to say in the 
 house of such a schoolmaster as good Mr. Cameron, 
 such as few countries could boast of. There was an 
 innate high breeding, and a store of tradition and 
 poetry, of song and anecdote, which gave a peculiar 
 flavour to their common life ; so that the long evenings 
 in this snug cottage, when the spinning-wheel was 
 humming, the women teazing and carding wool, the 
 boys dressing flies or shaping boats, were also enlivened 
 by wondrous stories of old times, or by ' lilts ' full of 
 a weird and plaintive beauty, like the wild note of a 
 sea-bird, or by a * Port-a-Beal,' or * a "Walking
 
 24 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 Song,' to the tune of which all joined hands as they 
 sent the merry chorus round. Norman had here an 
 insight into the best side of the Highland character, 
 and into many Highland customs now long passed 
 away. Every week he used to go to the Manse from 
 Friday till Monday, and then came such grand expedi- 
 tions as a walk to the summit of Ben Shian, with its 
 unrivalled view of mountain and loch ; or, still better, 
 when whole nights were spent fishing at the rocky 
 islands in the Sound. 
 
 " Oh, the excitement of getting among a great play of 
 fish, which made the water foam for half-a-mile round, 
 and attracted flocks of screaming birds, which seemed mad 
 with gluttony, and while six or seven rods had all their 
 lines tight, and their ends bent to cracking with the sport. 
 And then the fun and frolic when we landed for the night 
 on the lee of the island, and the ' sky-larking/ as sailors 
 call it, began among the rocks, pelting one another with 
 clods or wreck, till, Avearied out, we all lay down to sleep 
 in some sheltered nook, and all was silent but the beating 
 waves, the eerie cry of sea-birds, and the splash of some 
 sea-monster in pursuit of its prey. What glorious remi- 
 niscences have I, too, of those scenes, and especially of 
 early morn as watched from these green islands ! It seems 
 to me as if I had never beheld a true sunrise since ; yet 
 how many have I witnessed ! I left the sleeping crews, 
 and ascended the top of the rock immediately before day- 
 break, and what a sight it was to behold the golden crowns 
 which the sun placed on the brows of the mountain 
 monarchs who first did him homage, what heavenly 
 dawnings of light on peak and ' scaur ' contrasted with the 
 darkness of the lower valleys ! What gems of glory in 
 the eastern sky, changing the cold grey clouds of early 
 morning into bars of gold and radiant gems of beauty ! 
 and what a flood of light suddenly burst upon the dancing 
 waves as the sun rose above the horizon, and revealed the 
 silent sails of passing ships ! and what a delight to hear
 
 BOYHOOD. 25 
 
 and see the first break of the fish upon the waters ! With 
 what pleasure I descended and gave the cheer which made 
 all the sleepers awake and scramble to the boats, and, in 
 a few minutes, resume the work of hauling in our dozens. 
 Then home with a will for breakfast, each striving to be 
 first on the sandy shore." * 
 
 This was good education for the affections, sym- 
 pathies, and imagination. Other influences of a very 
 different nature might afterwards be experienced, but 
 
 VIEW TKOM THE HILL HEHIXD FIUXARY. 
 
 the foundation of his character was laid in the boy- 
 hood spent in Campbeltown, Mull, and Morven. Its 
 associations never left him, and the memory of those 
 hours, whose sunshine of love had brightened his early 
 life, made him in no small measure the loving, genial 
 man he always was. "What he had found so full of 
 good for himself, he afterwards tried to bestow on 
 
 * " Highland Parish.
 
 26 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 others ; and not only in his dealing with his own chil- 
 dren, but in the tone of his teaching and in the 
 ministry of his public life, can easily be traced the 
 power of his first sympathies : 
 
 " Oh, sunshine of youth, let it shine on ! Let love 
 flow out fresh and full, unchecked by any rule but what 
 love creates, and pour itself down without stint into the 
 young heart. Make the days of boyhood happy ; for other 
 days of labour and sorrow must come, when the blessing 
 of those dear eyes and clasping hands and sweet caress- 
 ings, will, next to the love of God from whom they flow, 
 save the man from losing faith in the human heart, help 
 to deliver him from the curse of selfishness, and be an 
 Eden in the memory when he is driven forth into the 
 wilderness of life." * 
 
 * " Highland Parish."
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 EAELY COLLEGE DAYS. 
 
 TIST the year 1825 his father was translated from 
 -*- Campbeltown to the parish of Campsie, in Stir- 
 lingshire, where he remained till 1835. The change 
 was, in many respects, great from Campbeltown and 
 the Highlands to a half-agricultural, half-manufac- 
 turing Lowland district, in which the extremes of 
 political feeling between stiffest Toryism and hottest 
 Eadicalism were running high. The parish was 
 large and thickly peopled, and its natural features 
 were in a manner symbolical of its social charac- 
 teristics. The long line of the Fell, its green sides 
 dotted with old thorns, rises into mountain solitude, 
 from a valley whose wooded haughs are blurred 
 with the smoke of manufacturing villages. The con- 
 trast is sharply presented. Sheep-walks, lonely as 
 the Cheviots, look down on unsightly mounds of 
 chemical refuse, and on clusters of smoking chimneys; 
 and streams which a mile away are clear as morning, 
 are dyed black as ink before they have escaped from 
 print-work and bleaching-green. The Manse was 
 on the borderland of mountain and plain, for it was 
 placed at the opening of Campsie Glen, famous for 
 its picturesque series of thundering waterfalls and
 
 28 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 rocky pools. Behind the Manse lay the clachan and 
 the old parish church, now in ruin. 
 
 This was a busy period in his father's life, for, 
 besides taking the pastoral charge of the large parish, 
 he wrote, during the ten years of his ministry in 
 Campsie, the greater part of the Gaelic Dictionary, 
 which bears his name along with that of Dr. Dewar. 
 He was editor and chief contributor to a monthly 
 Gaelic magazine, which acquired unrivalled popularity 
 in the Highlands ; * and he also translated, at the 
 request of the Synod of Ulster, a metrical version of 
 the Psalms into Irish Gaelic, for the use of the Irish 
 Presbyterian Church. Besides these literary labours, 
 he took the chief part in establishing the education 
 scheme of the Church of Scotland, the special sphere 
 of which lay in the Highlands. While these public 
 labours taxed his energy, his increasing family, and 
 the concomitant res angusta domi, gave no little 
 anxiety to himself and his partner in life. The Manse 
 maintained the traditions of Highland hospitality, and 
 the ingenuity with which guests were accommodated 
 was equalled only by the skill with which a very 
 limited income was made to cover the expenses of 
 housekeeping, and the many requirements of a family 
 of eleven children. Norman was sent for a year to 
 the parish school, taught, as many such schools 
 then were, by a licentiate of the Church an excellent 
 scholar, and a man of great simplicity and culture. 
 
 There is little to record of his schooldays, or of 
 his first years at college. His career at the Univer- 
 sity of Glasgow, where he took his curriculum of 
 
 * The ' Teachdaire Gaelltachd.'
 
 EARLY COLLEGE DAYS. 29 
 
 Arts, was not distinguished by the number of prizes 
 he carried off, for he gave himself rather to the 
 study of general literature and of science than the 
 subjects proper to the classes he attended. Logic, 
 admirably taught by Professor Buchanan, was in- 
 deed the only class in Arts which kindled his enthu- 
 siasm, and it was also the only one in which he 
 obtained academical honours. He was frequently 
 dressed sailor-fashion, and loved to affect the sailor 
 in his speech as well as dress. His chosen com- 
 panions seem to have been lads of precocious literary 
 power some of them considerably older than himself 
 whose attainments first inspired him with a passion 
 for books, and especially for poetry. His favourite 
 authors were Shakespear and Wordsworth, the first 
 acquaintance with whose works was as the discovery 
 of a new world. He was, besides, passionately 
 fond of natural science, and spent most of his 
 spare hours in the Museum studying ornithology. 
 There is little in his journals or letters to indicate 
 the impression which these college years made on 
 him ; but one of the favourite subjects of conversation 
 in his later days was the curious life he then led ; 
 the strange characters it gave him for acquaintance ; 
 the conceits, absurdities, enthusiasms in which it 
 abounded; the social gatherings and suppers, which 
 were its worst dissipations the long, speculative 
 talks, lasting far into the night, in which its glory 
 and blessedness culminated and the hard, although 
 unsystematic, studies to which it was the introduction. 
 The loss of accurate scholarship which the desul- 
 toriness of this kind of training entailed might not
 
 30 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 have been sufficiently compensated by other advan- 
 tages; nevertheless, contact with men, insight into 
 character, the culture of poetic tastes, of original 
 thought, and of an eye for nature, were perhaps no 
 mean substitutes for skill in Latin verse and ac- 
 quaintance with the Greek particles. He was, besides, 
 very far from being idle. He read much and thought 
 freshly, and even at a very early period in his 
 University career he seems to have contemplated join- 
 ing a fellow- student in the publication of a volume of 
 tales and poetry. His moral life was at the same 
 time pure, and his religious convictions, though not 
 so strong as they afterwards became, were yet such as 
 prevented him from yielding to the many temptations 
 to which one of his temperament and abounding, as he 
 did, in animal spirits was greatly exposed. Next to the 
 grace of God, his affection for home and its associa- 
 tions kept him steady. A short journey from Glas- 
 gow brought him out on many a Saturday during 
 the session to spend Sunday at Campsie, and the 
 loving welcomes he there received and the thou- 
 sand influences of the Manse life served to keep his 
 heart fresh and pure. These visits sometimes gave 
 no little concern to his father and mother, for coming 
 as he did in a full burst of buoyant excitement after 
 the restraint of study, the noisy fun and the ceaseless 
 mimicry in which he indulged, disturbing the very 
 quiet of the Sabbath, made them afraid that he would 
 never be sedate enough for being a minister. Both 
 father and mother, who could scarcely repress their 
 own laughter at his jokes, wrote to him very gravely 
 on the dangerous tendencies which were manifesting
 
 EARLY COLLEGE DAYS. 31 
 
 themselves in him. But they might as well have asked 
 him to cease to be, and, had they told the secret truth, 
 they would scarcely have wished him different from 
 what he was.* And so he passed the four years of his 
 study of 'the Arts,' with happy summers interspersed, 
 sometimes in the Highlands, sometimes in Campsie, 
 until, in 1831, he went to Edinburgh to study theology. 
 Dr. Chalmers was then professor, and JSTorman 
 listened with delight and wonder to lectures, which 
 were delivered with thrilling, almost terrible, earnest- 
 ness. The Professor's noble enthusiasm kindled a 
 
 * There -were some most original characters then in Campsie, 
 who afforded much amusement to Norman ; but his great friend 
 was old Bell, the author of ' Bell's Geography,' and editor of 
 ' Rollin's Ancient History.' This man had been a weaver, but, im- 
 pelled by a powerful intellect and literary taste, he devoted himself to 
 study. He lived with his wife in a mere hut, and sat surrounded 
 by books, a Kilmarnock night-cap on his head, and conversing 
 with an emphasis and an originality, not unworthy of Johnson, on 
 every subject literary, political, theological. Some of his sayings 
 are worth recording. There was a hawker in the parish, a keen 
 controversialist, ever talking of his own perfect assurance of salva- 
 tion, but withal very greedy and worldlj-. "Humph!" grunted 
 old Bell, when asked his opinion of him ; " I never saw a man so sure 
 o' goin' to heaven, and sae sweart (unwilling) 1o gang till't." He 
 used to utter aloud in church his dissent to any doctrine he disliked, 
 or sometimes his impatience expressed itself by his long black stick 
 being twirled gradually up through his fingers till it reached well over 
 his head. On one occasion, a young preacher having chosen as his text, 
 "There shall be no more sea," proceeded to show the advantages of 
 such a condition of things. Higher and higher rose Bell's stick as his 
 favourite principles of geography were being assailed under every 
 4 head,' till at last it came down with a dash on the pavement, accom- 
 panied by a loud ' Bah ! the fule ! ' When he was dying, an excel- 
 lent young man, whose religious zeal was greater than his ability, 
 volunteered to pray with him. Bell grunted assent; but as the 
 prayer assumed throughout that the old man was a reprobate, he 
 could scarcely restrain himself to the Amen, before he burst out, 
 " I'm saying, my man, nae doubt ye mean well ; but ye'd better gang 
 hame and learn to pray for yoursel' afore ye pray for other folk." 
 "When Norman remonstrated with him afterwards for his rudeness, Bell 
 said, " Maybe ye're richt; but, sure as death, Norman, I canna thole 
 [bear] a fule ! "
 
 32 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 responsive glow in the young hearts which gathered to 
 listen to him, and the kindly interest he took in their 
 personal welfare inspired them with affection as well 
 as admiration. Dr. Welsh, a man of kindred spirit 
 and powerful intellect, then taught Church History. 
 Such influences did not fail to waken in Norman loftier 
 conceptions of the career to which he looked forward. 
 As might have been expected, Chalmers had a pecu- 
 liar power over him, for professor and student had 
 many similar natural characteristics. The large- 
 heartedness of the teacher, his missionary zeal, and 
 the continual play of human tenderness pervaded by 
 the holy light of divine love, roused the sympathies 
 of the scholar. He heartily loved him. And Chal- 
 mers also valued the character of the student, for 
 when asked by a wealthy English proprietor to re- 
 commend for his only son a tutor in whose character 
 and sense he might have thorough reliance, Chalmers 
 at once named Norman. This connection became of 
 great importance to him. The gentleman alluded to- 
 was the late Henry Preston, Esq., of Moreby Hall, then 
 High Sheriff of Yorkshire. For the next three years 
 Norman acted as tutor to his son ; and whether resid- 
 ing at Moreby or travelling on the Continent, the 
 simple-hearted old squire treated him with the utmost 
 confidence and affection. In the autumn of 1833 he 
 went for a few weeks to Moreby, but returned shortly 
 afterwards with his pupil to Edinburgh, and was thus 
 able to attend his theological classes, while he also 
 superintended the studies of young Mr. Preston. 
 
 During his second session at Edinburgh, besides the 
 usual classes, he attended Professor Jamieson's lee-
 
 EARLY COLLEGE DAYS, 33 
 
 tures on geology, and studied drawing and music. 
 His brother-in-law, the Rev. A. Clerk, LL.D., who was 
 then his fellow-student, contributes the following re- 
 miniscence : 
 
 " It was in the social circle Norman displayed the 
 wondrous versatility, originality, and brilliancy of his 
 mind. With a few of his chosen companions round him 
 he made the evening instructive and delightful. He fre- 
 quently, by an intuitive glance, revealed more of the heart 
 of a subject than others with more extensive and accurate 
 scholarship could attain through their acquirements in 
 philosophy or history. He was often disposed to start 
 the wildest paradoxes, which he would defend by the 
 most plausible analogies, and, if forced to retreat from his 
 position, he would do so under a shower of ludicrous 
 retorts and fanciful images. He was ever ready with the 
 most apt quotations from Shakespear, Wordsworth, Cole- 
 ridge, and Keats, or with some telling story ; or, brimming 
 over with fun, he would improvise crambo rhymes, some- 
 times most pointed, always ludicrous ; or, bursting into 
 song, throw more nature into its expression than I 
 almost ever heard from any singer. The sparkling effer- 
 vescence of his mind often astonished, and always charmed 
 and stirred, the thoughts, feelings, and enthusiasm of his 
 companions." 
 
 It was at this time he experienced the first great 
 sorrow of his life. His brother James, his junior 
 by three years, was a lad of fine promise. Like 
 Norman in many things, he was his opposite in others, 
 and the unlikeness as well as similarity of their tastes 
 served only to draw them nearer to each other. Clever, 
 pure-minded, and affectionate, he was also what Nor- 
 man never was orderly, fond of practical work, and 
 mechanics. Norman was rollicking in his fun, James 
 quietly humourous. He was the delegated manager 
 'of glebe and garden, and of so sweet and winning a 
 
 VOL. i. D
 
 34 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 nature, that when he died the tokens of sorrow dis- 
 played by many in the parish were a surprise, as well 
 as a consolation, to his parents. Hitherto Norman had 
 given little expression to the religious convictions 
 which had been increasing with his growth since 
 childhood. Now, however, he broke silence. In the 
 sick-room, with none but their mother present, the 
 two brothers opened their hearts to one another ; and, 
 on the last evening they were ever to spend together, 
 the elder asked if he might pray with the younger. 
 This was the first time he had ever prayed aloud in 
 the presence of others, and with a full heart he 
 poured out his supplications for himself and his dying 
 brother. When he left the room, James, calling his 
 mother, put his arms round her neck, and said. f I 
 am so thankful, mother. Norman will be a good 
 man.' This was a turning-point in Norman's life; 
 not, indeed, such a crisis as is usually called con- 
 version ; not that the scene in the sick-room marked 
 his first religious decision ; but the solemnity of the 
 circumstances, the frank avowal of his faith, and the 
 tremendous deepening which his feelings received by 
 the death which occurred a few days afterwards, 
 formed an epoch from which he ever afterwards 
 dated the commencement of earnest Christian life. 
 The anniversary of his brother's death was always 
 kept sacred by him. Other critical times arrived, 
 other turning-points no less important were passed ; 
 but, as in many other instances, this first death in 
 the family, with the impressions it conveyed of the 
 reality of eternity and of the grandeur of the life in 
 Christ, was to him ' the beginning of days.'
 
 EARLY COLLEGE DAYS. 35 
 
 At the close of the winter session he returned, with 
 Mr. Preston, to Moreby, and in the following May he 
 and his pupil started for the Continent. 
 
 To his MOTHER, written by him when, a mere boy : 
 
 CAMPSIE MANSE* Friday. 
 
 " I know how very difficult it is to ease the yearnings 
 of a mother's heart when far from her beloved offspring ; 
 yet I am sure, when she hears that 'all are well,' the 
 wan and wrinkled face of anxiety will give way to the 
 bloom of youth that makes you look at all times so 
 beautiful. The garret windows being nailed, none of the 
 children have fallen over, and the garden door being 
 locked, none have died of gooseberry or cherry fevers. 
 
 " But the children are the least of my thoughts ; no, 
 no, let them all die if the housekeeping succeeds ; this is 
 the point. The Principal'* and Mr. Gordon came here 
 to-night, and don't go off till Monday ! I and Betty are 
 dying of lamb fevers with the very thoughts of preparing 
 dinners out of nothing ; these two nights I have been 
 smothered alive by salmon and legs of roasted lamb 
 crammed down my throat by Jessy and Betty. Oh, my 
 dear mamma, it is only now that a fond mother is missed, 
 when dangers and misfortunes assail us. If you but saw 
 me without clothes to cover, or shoes to put on my feet, 
 all worn away with cooking. I am quite crusty. 
 
 " But I will not mar your enjoyments or hurt your 
 feelings by relating more of this melancholy tale. 
 
 "Betty, my worthy housekeeper, has told me to-day 
 that she has forty-five young birds and ducks. I think 
 a sixth is to be added in the laundry if it be so, I 
 intend to get a share of Donald Achalene'sf bed in the 
 asylum." 
 
 * Principal Baird, of Edinburgh, 
 t A Highland character. 
 
 D 2
 
 36 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 From his MOTHEK, when he was a student in Glasgow : 
 
 " While younger, and under the immediate eye of your 
 father and myself, I could watch every little tendency of 
 your disposition, and endeavour as much as I could to 
 give it the right bias ; but now, my beloved child, you 
 are seldom with me, you are exposed to many temptations, 
 and oh, if you knew the many anxious thoughts this gives 
 rise to ! Not, my dear, that I fear anything wrong in 
 principle, in the common acceptation of the word ; but how 
 many shades are there between Avhat is glaringly and broadly 
 wrong to the generality of observers, and the thousand acts 
 and thoughts and words that must be watched and cor- 
 rected and repented of and abandoned, in order to become 
 a Christian ! Avoid whatever you have found hurtful, be it 
 ever so delightful to your taste, and persevere in whatever 
 you have found useful towards promoting piety and 
 heavenly-mindedness. You must not look on this as a 
 mother's dry lecture to her son ; no, it is the warm affec- 
 tion of a heart that truly loves you as scarce another can 
 do, and which prays and watches for your eternal interest." 
 
 From his FATHER : 
 
 CAMPSIE, February 23, 1829. 
 
 " I rejoice to see your companions, if you would conduct 
 yourself with calmness and seriousness on the Sabbath day, 
 and cease your buffoonery of manner in tone of voice and 
 distortions of countenance, which are not only offensive, but 
 grievous. You carry this nonsense by much too far, and I 
 beg of you, my dear Norman, to check it. Imitation and 
 acting a fool is a poor field to shine in ; it may procure the 
 laugh of some, but cannot fail to secure the contempt of 
 others. I was much pleased with the manner of the Stewart 
 boys their steady, grave, sedate manner formed a very 
 striking contrast to the continual mimicking and nonsense 
 at which you aim. I implore of you, by the tenderness of 
 a father, and by the authority of one, to desist from it 
 in time, and to despise it, and to assume a more manly, 
 sedate manner.
 
 EARLY COLLEGE DAYS. 37 
 
 " I hope you will take in good part, as becomes you, all 
 I have stated, and evince to me that you do so when I 
 have the happiness, my dear boy, to see you. I rejoice to 
 see everybody happy ; but there is a manner that gains on 
 a person if indulged in, which must be guarded against, 
 and none more dangerous than that buffoonery which, by 
 making others laugh, causes us to think ourselves very 
 clever. You, even already, seldom use your own voice or 
 gestures or look all is put on and mimicked ; this 'must 
 cease, and the sooner the better. After this I shall say 
 no more on the subject. I leave it to your own good 
 sense to correct this. 
 
 " Ever your dutiful Father." 
 
 To his AUNT JANE : 
 
 February, 1831. 
 
 " I read your letter over and over, and chuckled over 
 its coruscations of wit and brilliancy ; swallowed, and finally 
 digested all the advices. In fact, it brought me back to 
 Fiunary once more to Fiunary with all its pleasures and 
 its many enjoyments. I could, with a little effort of fancy, 
 picture myself sitting with J. in the garret, giving way 
 to my mimicking propensities to please her, in what- 
 ever character she chose, or one of the social circle 
 round a happy tea-table, or taking an intellectual walk 
 along the beach ; and no sooner is this imaginary train 
 set a-going than many a happy day spent among the 
 rocks, and in the woods, hills, or glens, rises ghost-like 
 before me, till my too pleasing dream is broken by a dire 
 reality the college bell summoning poor wretches from 
 their warm beds to trudge through snow and sleet to hear 
 a crude lecture on philosophy, and reminding me that 
 I have so much to do that I cannot expect to see 
 my dream realised for another year. There is no use in 
 fighting against fate, though I long for the day that I shall 
 escape from prison, and ' visit those blessed solitudes from 
 toils and towns remote.' "
 
 38 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 From his MOTHEK : 
 
 CAMPSIE, November 27. 
 
 " It gives me pleasure to observe the warm and genuine 
 feelings and confessions of an affectionate disposition 
 freely spoken. Yes, my dear Norman, long may I find you 
 frankly owning your thoughts and feelings ; this is tho 
 true way to a parent's heart, and the true and only com- 
 fortable footing for parent and child the only way in 
 which a parent can really be of use ; and never will you 
 repent trusting yourself to me. Wonderful would be the 
 fault that, when candidly acknowledged, I could not excuse, 
 or at least try to help you to remedy. In all I said I 
 wished to cure you of an ugly habit of arguing that has 
 crept in on you, before it becomes a confirmed habit, 
 and leads you (just for argument's sake) to maintain 
 wrong views ; from first beginning to argue you will by- 
 and-by think these views right." 
 
 To his AUNT JANE : 
 
 June, 1832. 
 
 " Where, in the name of wonder, did you light on that 
 lovely poem, Jane ? Talk no more to me of the powers 
 of music to lull the angry feelings or to excite the more 
 gentle ones. Poetry, poetry, for ever ! 
 
 " We have had four cases of cholera here, and two- 
 deaths. My father was down at the Torrance every day, 
 and had no small trouble between keeping down rows, 
 coffining the bodies, and quelling all those disgraceful and 
 riotous feelings that have been too much the attendants of 
 this sad complaint. 
 
 " All the children are half ill with chicken-pox ; Polly's 
 face is like a rock with limpets. Limpets ! How that 
 word does conjure up a thousand associations ! the fish- 
 ing rock, the rising tide waving the tangle to and fro at 
 my feet ! Out comes a fine cod, see how he smells the 
 bait ! I am already sure of him ; I know the bait is good, 
 and the hook of the best Limerick. He sniffs it, and 
 away he slowly sails, gently moving his tail from side to 
 side as he goes off. But he repents, and turns back
 
 EARLY COLLEGE DAYS. 39 
 
 casts a longing look at the large bait ; slowly his jaws 
 open, and in the most dignified manner close on the meal, 
 and now the line strains, the rod bends, I see something 
 white turning in the water, my eyes fill till I hear ' Whack ' 
 on the rock, and there he lies as red as as what's the 
 man's name, at Savarie John Scallag's father ? as red as 
 he. Pardon me, Jane ; this night is oppressively hot, it is 
 perfect summer. They are turning the almost dry hay on 
 the glebe a calm sleeps on the woods and hills, and 
 this, too, vividly recalls the Sound of Mull, as I fancy it 
 to be on such an evening. I am at this moment in fancy 
 walking up the road to Fiunary with a gadd of fish, 
 knowing that thanks and a good tea await me. 
 
 " I confess that when I indulge in such fancies I invo- 
 luntarily wish myself away from my books to feast and 
 revel in the loveliness of the Salachan shore, or ' Clach 
 na Criche ; ' but, as I told you before, I wish to have 
 some summer to look back to as one usefully employed." 
 
 Letter to his BROTHER JAMES. (Inside of this letter was found placed 
 a lock of JAMES'S hair) : 
 
 MOREBY HALL, October, 1833. 
 
 " I went on Sabbath to church. There was no organ ; 
 but what think you ? a flute, violin, and bass fiddle, 
 with some bad singing. However, I liked the service 
 much. Monday was a great day at York, all the town 
 and country were there, it being the time at which, 
 once every three or four years, Lord Yernon, the Arch- 
 bishop of York, confirms the children of this part of 
 the diocese. The scene was beyond all description. 
 Fancy upwards of three thousand children under fifteen, 
 the females dressed in white, with ladies and gentlemen, 
 all assembled in that glorious minster the thousand 
 stained glass windows throwing a dazzling light of various 
 hues on the white mass the great organ booming like 
 thunder through the never-ending arches ! The ceremony 
 is intensely simple ; they come in forties and fifties, and 
 surround the bishop, who repeats the vows and lays his 
 hand successively on each head. I could not help com-
 
 40 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 paring this with a sacramental occasion in the Highlands,* 
 where there is no minster but the wide heaven, and no 
 organ but the roar of the eternal sea, the church with its 
 lonely churchyard and primitive congregation, and think 
 of my Scotch pride ! I thought the latter scene more grand 
 and more impressive. I ascended to-day to the top of the 
 great tower in the minster, two hundred and seventy steps ! 
 But such a view ! I gazed from instinct towards the 
 North for a while not that I expected to see anything ; 
 but there was nothing but masses of wood." 
 
 Extracts from his JOURNAL : 
 
 "Edinburgh, Tuesday, 1st Nov., 1833. " Began to read 
 on crystallography and geology (Lyell). I wish, above all 
 things, to know mineralogy and geology thoroughly. I 
 must attend chemistry, anatomy, and botany. To acquire 
 accurate knowledge is no joke. 
 
 " Tuesday, 3rd Dec. There are certain days and times 
 in a man's existence which are eras in his little history, 
 and which greatly influence his future life. This day has 
 been to me one of much pain ; and oh ! when the grief 
 has passed away (and shall it ever be so ?) may its influence 
 still remain ! I heard my own dear brother James was so 
 ill that he cannot, in all human probability, recover. 
 How strange that I who, when in health and strength, 
 and with everything to cheer, and little to depress the 
 heart, thought not of God, the great Giver of all good, 
 should now, when my beloved brother is sinking into the 
 grave, my best and dearest of mothers sore at heart for 
 her child, raise my voice, and I hope my heart, to Him 
 who has been despised and rejected by me. My mother 
 has been my best earthly friend, and God knows the heart- 
 felt, profound veneration I have for her character. And 
 now, God of my Fathers, this 3rd day of December, 
 solely and entirely under Thy guidance, I commence again 
 to fight the good fight. I acknowledge Thy hand in mak- 
 ing my dear brother's illness the means; through, and only 
 
 * It is a common custom in the Highlands to celebrate the Com- 
 munion in the open air during summer.
 
 EARLY COLLEGE DAYS. 41 
 
 for the sake of the great Redeemer Jesus Christ do I look 
 for an answer to my most earnest prayer. Amen. 
 
 " Thursday. It is past twelve. The wind blows 
 loud, and the rain falls. I am alone in body, but my 
 mind is in iny brother's room, where, I am sure, my dear 
 mother is now watching her bciy with a heavy heart. 
 May God be with them both ! 
 
 " Saturday. I heard the waits last night play ' The Last 
 Rose of Summer' beautifully. It went to my heart ; I 
 thought of my poor James. The week is past, the most 
 memorable, it may be, in my existence. 
 
 " Monday, IQth Dec. I saw James, Wednesday morn- 
 ing. Such a shadow ! Still the same firm mind, with the 
 same dependence upon his Saviour. I shall never, I hope, 
 come to that state in which I can forget all the kindness 
 which God has shown me for the last six days ! I had 
 many earnest conversations with dear James. 
 
 " Alas, this day I parted from one I loved as devotedly 
 as a brother can be loved ! Thank God and Christ, we shall 
 meet. I went to his bedside : ' I am going away, James, 
 my boy ; but I trust to see you for a day during the holi- 
 days.' ' Norman, dear, if I'm spared I'll see you. But 
 what is this to end in ?' I hardly knew what to say. ' I 
 know your firmness of mind. But, James, it is but the 
 husk, the mere shell.' ' I am very weak.' ' Yes, Jamie ; 
 but I shall be weak, and all weak. I part without sorrow, 
 for I know you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.' ' I 
 have, Norman, got clearer views since we met. I know 
 on whom I can lean.' 
 
 "Friday evening, 2,0th Dec. It is all past. My dear 
 brother is now with his own Saviour. I do heartily thank 
 God for His kindness to him ; for his patience, his man- 
 liness, his love to his Redeemer. May I follow his 
 footsteps ! May I join with James in the universal song ! 
 I know not, my own brother, whether you now see me or 
 not. If you know my heart, you will know my love for 
 you, and that in passing through this pilgrimage, I shall 
 never forget you who accompanied me so far. ' Thy will 
 be done on earth as it is done in heaven.'
 
 4* LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 From his MOTHER : 
 
 February 7, 1834. 
 
 " Now, write me everything as you would to your own 
 heart, and do not hide even passing uneasy feelings, for 
 fear of making me uneasy. Believe me, I will just give 
 everything its own value, and from ' the heart to the 
 heart' is all, you know, I care for." 
 
 From his JOURNAL : 
 
 " Friday. Went in the evening with Uncle Neil to a 
 meeting of the Shakespear Club Yandenhoff, Ball, 
 MacKay, &c. A very pleasant evening ; fine singing ; two 
 scenes I won't forget : the noble feeling of Yandenhoff when 
 his daughter's health was drunk, and Ball's acclamations (! !) 
 interrupting a very humbugging, stupid speech, proposing 
 the memory of Lord Byron. There is blarney all the 
 world over. I plainly see the stage, as it now is, and the 
 Church are at complete antipodes. 
 
 " Sunday. Not two months dead my dearest brother 
 and yet how changed am I ! I thank God with my whole 
 heart and soul that He has not forsaken me. I seem a 
 merry, thoughtless being. But I spend many a thinking and 
 pleasant hour in that sick-room. That pale face, all intel- 
 ligence and love the black hair the warm and gallant 
 heart of him I loved as well as a brother can be loved 
 shall never be forgotten." 
 
 To his MOTHER : 
 
 YORK, March 9, 1834. 
 
 "In an old, snug garret, in the city of York, upon 
 Good Friday, with the minster clock chiming twelve of 
 the night, do I sit down to have a long chat with you, my 
 dearest mother. 
 
 " I intend upon Sabbath to take the sacrament at 
 Moreby. I have reflected on the step, and while I see 
 no objection, I can see every reason in showing forth 
 the Lord's death with Christian brethren of the same 
 calling ; as to me, individually, it signifies little whether 
 I take it kneeling at an altar, or sitting at a table."
 
 EARLY COLLEGE DAYS. 43 
 
 To his AUNT : 
 
 SIGN HILL, April 12, 1834. 
 
 " One peep of Loch Aline or of Glen Dhu is worth all 
 in Yorkshire. Their living is certainly splendid ; but, 
 believe me, I shall never eat any of their ragouts, or drink 
 their champagne, with the same relish as I ate the cake 
 and drank the milk beside my wee bed when I returned 
 from fishing. If only the white can had not been 
 broken ! " 
 
 To his MOTHER : 
 
 Near MOREBY, April 15, 1834. 
 
 " The house is full, and I am now sleeping at the farm, 
 a quarter of a mile from the house. We have very pleasant 
 people Lady Vavasour and her son and daughter. They 
 have been abroad for six or seven years in different parts 
 of the Continent. She and I are great friends. We get 
 letters from her for the Court of Weimar, and she has 
 been drilling me how to speak to her ' Imperial Highness ' 
 the Grand Duchess, sister to the late Emperor of Kussia." 
 
 
 From his JOURNAL : 
 
 April, Monday. Upon Easter Sunday I 
 partook of the sacrament in York minster, and although 
 the formulas are of course different from ours, yet, 'as 
 there is no virtue in them, or in them that administer 
 them,' I found God was present with me to bestow much 
 comfort. 
 
 "During the next week all was gaiety. A party or 
 ball every night. The next week we spent at Sion Hill 
 and, between fishing, riding, seeing the railroad, and, above 
 all, Fountain Abbey, I must say I was very happy. 
 
 "I start to-morrow morning for London. But what 
 hangs heavy on my mind is the deep sense of responsibility 
 I am under : I have not only the superintendence of my 
 pupil, but I am about to be placed in hard trial in a thou- 
 sand circumstances which are eminently calculated to draw 
 my mind off from God. But my only confidence is in
 
 44 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 Him. Thou who hast brought me to this Thou who 
 didst make me what I am when I had no strength of my 
 own to Thy loving and merciful hands I commend my- 
 self, wholly trusting that I may, through the aid of Thy 
 Holy Spirit, be every day more sanctified in my affections, 
 and ever constant in the performance of my duty. "
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 WEIMAR. 
 
 WEIMAR, the capital of the little Duchy of Saxe- 
 Weimar, was chosen by Norman Macleod 
 and young Preston as headquarters during their 
 residence on the Continent. It was at that time a 
 desirable place for those who wished to see German 
 life as well as to study German language and 
 literature. Not that the external features of the town 
 are possessed of interest, for the Palace, with its sur- 
 rounding park, and the Round Tower, containing its 
 excellent free library, do not redeem Weimar from 
 an aspect of quiet dulness. Yet it was anything but 
 dull in those days. The people prided themselves on 
 the memory of their great citizens Goethe, then 
 recently departed, Herder, Schiller, and Wieland 
 and kept up the tradition of literary culture derived 
 from that golden age of their history; while the 
 Grand Duke, with his court, sustained its reputation 
 for hospitality and for gaiety of the old-fashioned 
 order. The town could also boast of a good theatre, 
 an excellent opera, and music ad libitum in public 
 gardens and cafes. The Grand Duke was of a most 
 amiable disposition, and the Duchess, sister of the
 
 46 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 Bussian Emperor, was a woman of brilliancy and 
 culture, and of great kindness of heart. There was 
 an early dinner at the Palace every Sunday, followed 
 by an evening reception for all foreigners who had 
 been introduced; and various balls and state cere- 
 monies, scattered at short intervals throughout the 
 year, averted the normal stagnation of the place, and 
 made it a cheerful and pleasant residence. 'With 
 a five-and-twenty years' experience since those happy 
 days of which I write,' says Thackeray, who had 
 lived in Weimar a year or two previous to the time 
 we are speaking of, ' and an acquaintance with an 
 unusual variety of human kind, I think I have never 
 seen a society more simple, charitable, courteous, 
 gentlemanlike, than that of the dear little Saxon 
 city where the good Schiller and the great Goethe 
 lived and lie buried.' * 
 
 The change was certainly great from Dr. Chalmers 
 and the Divinity Hall, from the simple habits of the 
 Manse, and from the traditionary beliefs, bigotries, 
 and customs some true, some false which hedged 
 the religious life of Scotland, to this Weimar, with its 
 rampant worldliness and rationalism. It was, never- 
 theless, an excellent school for the young Scotchman, 
 who at every turn found some insular prejudice 
 trampled on, or the strength tried of some abiding 
 principle. 
 
 The most remarkable man at Weimar, and the 
 great friend of all English travellers, was Dr. Weis- 
 senborn. He was a cultivated scholar, and com- 
 bined the strangest eccentricities of character and 
 
 * Letter to G. H. Lewes in the " Story of the Life of Goethe."
 
 WEIMAR. 47 
 
 belief with, the gentlest and most unselfish of natures. 
 He was a confirmed valetudinarian. ' My side ' had 
 become a distinct personality to him, whose demands 
 were discussed as if it were an exacting member of his 
 household rather than a part of his body ; yet "Weimar 
 would have lost half its charm but for old Weissenborn, 
 with his weak side, his dog Waltina, his chameleon 
 (fruitful source of many a theory on the * Kosmos '), 
 his collection of eggs, and innumerable oddities of 
 mind and body. All the English who went to 
 Weimar loved l the Doctor : ' and no father or 
 brother could have taken a greater interest than he 
 did in promoting their happiness and in directing 
 their studies. l Thou wert my instructor, good old 
 Weissenborn,' writes Thackeray lovingly. i And 
 these eyes beheld the great master himself in dear 
 little "Weimar town.' * 
 
 Norman entered on this new life with great zest. 
 It doubtless had its dangers. But although he often 
 swung freely with the current, yet his grasp of cen- 
 tral truth, and his own hearty Christian convictions, so 
 held him at anchor that, through the grace of God, he 
 rode safely through many temptations, and was able to 
 exercise an influence for good over the group of young 
 men from England or Scotland who were residing that 
 year at Weimar. The very fact that he entered with 
 them into all their innocent enjoyments and gaieties 
 gave him greater power to restrain them in other 
 things. He may, indeed, have often given too great 
 a rein to that 'liberty' which was so congenial to 
 his natural temperament, but it is marvellous that the 
 
 * " Roundabout Papers, De Finibus."
 
 48 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 reaction was not greater in one who, brought up in a 
 strict school, was suddenly thrown into the vortex of 
 fashionable life. He was passionately fond of music, 
 sang well to the guitar, sketched cleverly, was as 
 keen a waltzer as any attache in Weimar, and threw 
 himself with a vivid sense of enjoyment into the 
 gaieties of the little capital. His father and mother 
 frequently warned him against going too far in all 
 this; and he often reproached himself for what he 
 deemed hio want of self-restraint when in society. 
 Nevertheless, the experience he gained in Weimar 
 became of immense practical importance to him. His 
 own healthy nature repelled the evil, while he gained 
 an insight into the ways of the world. In what was 
 new to him he saw much that was good ; much that 
 in his own country was called unlawful, whose right 
 use he felt ought to be vindicated ; and he also per- 
 ceived the essential wickedness of much more in the 
 1 utter rottenness' (as he used to call it) f of what the 
 world terms life.' 
 
 Weimar also brought him another influence which 
 told with indirect, rather than direct, power on his 
 character. It was his fate, in common with many 
 others, to come under the fascination of the great 
 
 court beauty, the Baroness Melanie von S . 
 
 Thackeray used often to describe her extraordinary 
 
 charms 'the kind old Hof-Marschall Yon S 
 
 (who had two of the loveliest daughters eyes ever 
 looked upon).' * And she could have been no ordi- 
 nary woman who had the genius thus to evoke, as by 
 a spell, a poetic and ideal life in the young minds she 
 
 * Letter to G. H. Lewes in the " Story of the Life of Goethe."
 
 MEIMAR. 49 
 
 attracted to her. "With Norman she became a kind of 
 romance. She touched his imagination rather than 
 his affections, and awakened a world of aesthetic feel- 
 ings which long afterwards breathed, like a subtle 
 essence, through the common atmosphere of his life. 
 When working against vice and poverty in his parish 
 in Ayrshire, during the heats of the Disruption con- 
 troversy, amid prosaic cares as well as in the enjoy- 
 ment of poetry and art and song, Melanie haunted him 
 as the sweet embodiment of happy memories, the 
 spirit of gracefulness and charm and culture; and 
 thus, for many a day, the halo of the old associations, 
 in which the real Melanie was etherealised, served to 
 cast a delicate light of fancy over the rough details 
 of practical daily work. 
 
 When he and Preston returned to Moreby, Norman 
 had become in many ways a new man. His views 
 were widened, his opinions matured, his human sym- 
 pathies vastly enriched, and while all that was of the 
 essence of his early faith had become doubly precious, 
 he had gained increased catholicity of sentiment, 
 along with knowledge of the world. 
 
 To A. CLERK : 
 
 WEIJIAB, Nay 30, 1834. 
 
 " . . . . Let us pass Frankfort ; half-way to this we 
 visited Eisenach. The approach to the town is through 
 the loveliest scenery of wooded and broken knolls. On 
 the top of the highest stands "Wartzburg, where Luther 
 was held in friendly captivity to brood over the fate of his 
 country amidst the solitude of a German forest. Would 
 to God there was a second Luther ! Germany is in a 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 So LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 most extraordinary state. The clergyman here (Elilir) i* 
 the head of the rationalist school ; of religion there is none, 
 and most of the clergy merely follow it as a power in the 
 hands of the State. I am credibly informed by competent 
 judges that ninety-nine out of a hundred are infidels. 
 If you but heard a rationalist talk on religion ! I had a 
 talk with one yesterday. He believed in Hume on 
 miracles, and, moreover, said that he thought it of no conse- 
 quence for our faith in Scripture whether miracles were true 
 or not ; in short, he believed in the Scriptures, and yet 
 said they were ' pious frauds.' Devils and all are to be 
 
 saved at last (tell this for his comfort). If you wish 
 
 to adore your own Church, country, and profession, come 
 abroad. Here once lived and died Goethe, Schiller, Herder, 
 and Wieland. The souls of the men still cast a halo on the 
 town, brighter than most in Germany. There are many 
 clever fellows here ; a splendid library, open free to all ; a 
 glorious park, likewise open, in which the nightingale 
 never ceases to sing. I am in a very nice family. The lady 
 is a countess by right, and yet they have boarders. Such is 
 German society ! They often dine at the Grand Duke's. 
 The music glorious. Every third night an opera, with 
 best boxes for two shillings. The Grand Duke supports it, 
 and so it is good. The great amusement of the people on 
 Sunday is going to gardens to take coffee, wine, &c., or to 
 play at nine-pins ; a band of music, of course ; smoking 
 everywhere. The postilion who drives the Eilwagen 
 smokes a pipe the whole way. A man would commit 
 suicide were you to deprive him of his pipe. 
 
 " The country is a mighty field without a hedge. A 
 steeple here and there surrounded by houses ; no farm- 
 steadings, no gentlemen's houses ; corn, rye, and grass ; 
 ugly bullocks, ugly cows drawing ugly ploughs, followed 
 by ugly women or men ; low, undulating pine hills. 
 
 " It is odd the inclination I have here to speak Gaelic. 
 Often have I come out with words. A German asked me 
 something, when I answered plump outright, ' Diabhaull 
 fhios agam!' As another instance of German reason, I 
 may mention that my friend, Dr. Weissenborn, told me 
 gravely to-day that he believed mattei in motion to be the
 
 WEIMAR. 51 
 
 same as spirit ; and that as animals arose from our bodies, 
 so we may be mere productions of the planets." 
 
 To his MOTHER : 
 
 WEIMAR, June 4, 1834. 
 
 " Yesterday happened to be my birthday twenty-two 
 is not to be laughed at ; it is a good, whacking age ' a 
 stoot lad at that age, faith ! and proud may you be for 
 having such a lad this day.' This evening last year I was 
 at home from Edinburgh. The winter months are past; 
 their effects are felt have a substantial existence, and 
 must be felt for ever. A knowledge of the world either 
 spoils a man, or makes him more perfect. I feel it has 
 done me good in a thousand ways. I have been made to 
 look upon man as man. I see mankind like so many dif- 
 ferent birds in the same atmosphere, alike governed and 
 elevated by the same feathers. This a clergyman should 
 know ; to feel it is invaluable. 
 
 "... How are they all at Mull and Morven ? Many 
 a time I shut my eyes, and, while whistling a Highland 
 tune, carry myself back to fishing at the rock or walking 
 about the old castle at Aros ; at other times I am in the 
 glen or on the hill. Although it is really nonsense (as I 
 believe there are few periods in our lives really happier 
 than others), I often think those days must have been 
 paradise I was so perfectly unshackled : while, at the 
 same time, I remember well my many wishes to go abroad. 
 Every person has his ideal. That was mine ; a plain 
 Manse is my only one now." 
 
 From his MOTHER : 
 
 CAMPSIE, June 30. 
 
 " You ought not even to witness the profanation of 
 the Sabbath wherever you are. In the first place, you are 
 bound to set an example to your pupil ; in the next place, 
 it is the Christian Sabbath, wherever you are, and to be 
 kept sacred in thought and deed before the Lord." 
 
 - 2
 
 52 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 From his JOUKNAL : 
 
 " Scotland is, in sooth, in a strange state. But in all 
 this 'noise and uproar,' there are signs of activity and 
 life that men at least wish good, and this is some- 
 thing. I must say I have much confidence in the sound 
 sense and morality of the people of Scotland. It is 
 absurd to measure them by the turbulent effervescence 
 of ranting radical town fools, who make theories and speak 
 them, but do no more. There is a douceness (to use a 
 phrase of our own) about the mass and staple bulk of 
 farmers and gentlemen that will not permit violent and 
 bad changes. 
 
 " But how different is the case in Germany ! There is 
 an apathy, a seeming total indifference, as to what religion 
 is established by law. The men of the upper classes are 
 speculators, and take from Christianity as it suits their 
 separate tastes. They seem to have no idea of obligation. 
 True, the lower classes are not so drunken as ours, just 
 because they have nothing to drink, and their tastes lie 
 in other directions. Not one of them, I believe, is 
 regulated by its moral tendency. In other vices they 
 are worse much worse. May Germany have another 
 Luther ! 
 
 "13$- July, Tuesday night. I have to-day received 
 a letter from my mother announcing that my old and dear 
 friend Duncan Campbell is dead ! I reverence his memory. 
 He was a friend worthy of the warmest attachment and 
 deepest regard. We were at school together. For many 
 years, I may say, I lost sight of him, until in 1829, in the 
 moral philosophy class in Glasgow, Ave met as students. From 
 that hour an intimate and close friendship commenced, shared 
 with a third, James Stuart. We were called ' the three 
 inseparables,' or ' the trio.' That winter we were literally 
 every day six or seven hours out of the twenty-four in one 
 another's company. A more simple, amiable, and deeply 
 delicate heart there never lived : generous, unselfish, and 
 noble ; one of the few who retain in college life the purity 
 which nature stamps. He is gone before me. His 
 memory is associated with happy days. I am far from
 
 WEIMAR. 53 
 
 his re.sting-place, but I need never seek it, as I may exclaim 
 in the beautiful words of the translated Persian poet 
 
 " Dicebant mihi sodales si Sepulchrmn amici visitarem, 
 Curas meas aliquantulutn fore levatas 
 
 Dixi autem. an ideo aliud prseter hoc pectus habet Sepul- 
 clirum." * 
 
 "July 17th. To-day I walked with the doctor to the 
 Gottes-acker (the churchyard). I hate the style of foreign 
 burying-grounds. The deeper feelings of our heart, and 
 especially grief, are far removed from the rank, overgrown 
 bushes or from the flowers that are associated with neat 
 beds in a lady's garden. No ; simplicity is unalterably con- 
 nected with deep passion. 
 
 " Upon Saturday, Halley, the two Millers, Preston, 
 and I, had good fun on the Ettersberge playing ' I spy ! ' 
 and drinking Wurtzburg. Well, we enjoyed ourselves 
 much, and not the less as it reminded us all of school- 
 boy days. 
 
 " 27th July. And now this day on which I write is a 
 Sabbath later. I have read my Bible, my only good book. 
 I have then read over my letters again, as I receive plea- 
 sure from refreshing my mind with expressions of love and 
 affection. 
 
 " Tell me, is it weakness or childishness to have home 
 and friends ever present to your eye ? Honestly, I think 
 I am neither the one nor the other, and yet at times I feel 
 as if a single change by death would make the world quite 
 different to me. I am sometimes frightened to think upon 
 what a small point in this respect hang my pleasure and my 
 pain. In truth, the Continent is a horrid place for the 
 total want of means no good books, no sermons, no 
 church ; I mean for me. 
 
 " I would renew my confidence and trust in Him who 
 has said, ' Ask and ye shall receive ; I will never leave 
 you, I will never forsake you.' The past is still the 
 same." 
 
 * This College friend was the original from which he drew the 
 character of ' Curly ' in " The Old Lieutenant."
 
 54 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 SONNET ON HEARING OF COLERIDGE S DEATH 
 (IN WEIMAR). 
 
 Oft have I watch'd, in meditative mood, 
 
 A sunbeam travel over hill and dale : 
 
 Now searching the deep valley, now it fell, 
 
 With gorgeous colouring, on some ancient wood, 
 
 Or gleam' d on mountain tarn ; its silver flood 
 
 Bathed every cottage in the lowly vale ; 
 
 The brook, once dark amidst the willows grey, 
 
 Danced in its beams, and beauties, dimly seen, 
 
 Were lighted into being by that ray : 
 
 The glory ceas'd as if it ne'er had been, 
 
 But in the heart it cannot pass away 
 
 There it is immortal ! Coleridge, friend of truth, 
 
 Thus do I think of thee, with feelings keen 
 
 And passions strong, thou sunbeam of my youth ! 
 
 To A. CLERK : 
 
 WEIMAR, October 12, 1834. 
 
 " I have just returned to Weimar after a fine tour. Look 
 at the map, and draw your pencil from Weimar through 
 Cobourg, Nuremberg, Augsburg, Munich, Innsbruck, 
 Saltzburg, Linz, down the Danube to Vienna ; back to 
 Briinn, Prague, Dresden, Leipsic, Weimar ; and you have 
 our course. And you may well suppose I saw much to 
 interest and amuse me. The three Galleries of Munich, 
 Dresden, and Vienna are glorious ; I feasted upon them. 
 I was there every hour, so that many of the greatest works 
 of art are engraved in my memory. The Tyrol is mag- 
 nificent beyond words : the eye is charmed, and the heart 
 filled still more, with an overflowing sense of the beautiful. 
 In religion the people there are as yet in the Middle 
 Ages. Fancy a sacred drama acted in one of the love- 
 liest scenes of nature before about six thousand people, 
 and representing the Crucifixion !* 
 
 * This must refer to the Ammergau. Play.
 
 WEIMAR. 55 
 
 " Vienna is a strange place Greek, Jew, and Gen- 
 tile ; I know not which is worst ; I do not like the 
 place ; fine music, good eating, fine sights, and a nasty 
 people. I hate Austria tyranny and despotism ! Slaves 
 and serfs from Hungary and Moravia walk under the 
 nose of the ' Father ' of his people ! They, poor souls, eat 
 and drink while Metternich picks their brains and pockets. 
 There is no danger of revolution there ! They are ignor- 
 ant and stupid. You may be sure I visited the fields 
 of Wagram and Aspern. When in Briinn where I staid 
 a week I saw 40,000 men encamped. A splendid 
 sham fight took place, lasting two days, with everything 
 like a real battle except the wounds taking of villages, 
 ^ c . and this upon the mighty field of Austerlitz. Was 
 that not worth seeing ? And how fine, how strange, 
 in the still, cool evening, to ride along that great camp 
 stretching over a flat plain for three or four miles, the 
 watch-fires scattered over it, and each regiment with its 
 band playing such music as I never heard ! 
 
 " At Prague I saw a Jewish synagogue. It almost 
 made me weep. Such levity and absurdity I never saw. 
 The spirit had fled ! " 
 
 To his MOTHER : 
 
 WEDIAB,, October 28, 1834. 
 -::- -* -5:- -n- 
 
 I have made my debut as a courtier ! ! The court 
 days are Thursday and Sunday. Every Sunday fortnight 
 you are invited to dinner in full court dress. Hem ! I am 
 nervous on approaching the subject. Imprimis a cocked- 
 ihat ! under it appeareth a full, rosy, respectable-looking 
 face, in which great sense, fine taste, the thorough gentle- 
 man, and a certain spice of a something which an acute 
 observer would call royal, are all exquisitely blended ! A 
 cravat of white supporteth the said head. Next comes a 
 coat which, having the cut, has even more of the modesty, 
 of the Quaker about it. The sword (! !) which dangles beside 
 it, however, assures you it is not a Jonathan. Now, the 
 whole frame down to the knees is goodly round and
 
 56 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 plump. I say to the knees, for there two small buckles 
 mark the ending of the breeches and the commencement 
 of two handsome legs clothed in silk stockings. Buckled 
 shoes support the whole figure, which, with the exception 
 of. white kid-gloves, is ' black as night.' The hour of 
 dinner is three ; you sally forth to the Palace, gathering, 
 in going, like a snowball, every Englishman in town. You 
 move among servants to the first of a finely-lighted suite 
 of rooms. Ladies and gentlemen are scattered about 
 chatting (most of the gentlemen in military uniforms). You 
 mingle with the groups, bowing here and chatting there, 
 and every now and then viewing yourself in one of the 
 fine mirrors which adorn the walls (' stool lad, faith ! ' *) 
 The rooms become more crowded ; a bustle is heard ; the 
 Grand Duke and his Duchess enter, sliding along between 
 two rows of people, who return their bows and becks. 
 The Duke chats round the circle. If you are to be 
 introduced, a lord or master-in-waiting watches an oppor- 
 tunity and leads you up, announcing your name, and, after 
 making your most profound salaam, a few questions 
 are put as How do you like Weimar ? How long do you 
 intend staying ? and the Duke bows and passes on. I 
 speak nothing but German at court. Is that not bold? but 
 I get on uncommonly well. You are generally addressed 
 every time you go. The dinner is very good ; sixty people 
 or so sit down. You leave after dinner, and return again 
 in the evening. There is nothing done but conversation, 
 though some play cards. You may retire when you like. 
 I do so as soon as I can, as this is not the way I like to 
 spend Sunday evening. Every night we have some prince 
 or other ; the brother of the King of Prussia was there last 
 time. How much more have I felt at a small party 
 at Craigbarnet! But thanks to these and the worthy 
 woman t who gave them, that society comes now so easy 
 to me. 
 
 * This expression was one which occurred in one of his Highland 
 stories, and was a favourite quotation, being always given with the 
 full native accent. 
 
 f Mrs. Stirling, Craigbarnet, Campsie.
 
 WEIMAR. 57 
 
 " If you but heard that best of men, the honest Doctor, 
 and me planning how to keep all the young fellows in 
 order ! and when ten or so meet it is no easy task. It 
 has, however, been done. Winter has almost begun, we 
 had snow yesterday. I have a good stove and abundance 
 of wood, so with a good easy-chair called in German 
 Grossvaterstuhl, I am in great comfort. But now this 
 throws me back to ' our ain fireside,' and then I long to 
 be among you all to get my heart out, for except on 
 paper it has very little exercise. I am studying hard 
 Greek and Latin every day. I read (this is for my 
 father, as you are not a German blue) Horace and 
 Cicero de Officiis day about with Preston, the Greek 
 Testament every morning. Ask my father to write to 
 me. He lias a ' vast of news ' to tell me, about Church, 
 Irish, and Gaelic matters, all of which give me much 
 interest. 
 
 " By-the-bye, mother, give me your advice. Now, don't 
 be sleepy, I am nearly done. What would your well- 
 known economical head suggest as to my court dress ? 
 First of all ascertain whether there may not be in some 
 of the old family chests a relic of the only sprig of no- 
 bility in your blood Maxwell of Newark's sire. I think 
 old Aunty Bax, if she were bribed or searched, could turn 
 out an old cocked hat or sword. If this scent fail, we 
 must try the Scandinavian side. But my idea is, all such 
 relics perished during the Crusades ! Donald Gregory would 
 give some information. If no such thing exists, then 
 my determination is fixed, that a room in the Manse be 
 kept called the court-room, in which my clothes be pre- 
 served for my descendants : I mean and have no doubt 
 by your looks you have hit on the same idea that 
 this does not take place until I have worn them first as 
 moderator. 
 
 " I think of taking drawing and singing lessons time 
 about. I think I have a taste for both, and my idea is 
 that it is a man's duty as well as pleasure to enlarge 
 every innocent field of enjoyment which God has put in 
 his way.
 
 58 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 " Oh dear, I almost thought myself at home ; but the 
 stove is nearly out, and it is still Deutschland. 
 " I am, your rising 
 
 To his MOTHER.: 
 
 WEIMAR, November 19, 1834. 
 
 " Here I sit on a wet, nasty evening Sunday. All are 
 at court but myself. A Sunday evening here is detestable. 
 If I can spend it by myself, good and well ; if not ! No 
 church, no sermon, no quiet, no books but German." 
 
 To an old FELLOW STUDENT : 
 
 WEIMAB, December 2, 1834. 
 
 "I have just received your long-wished-for epistle. 
 Within the last half-hour I have speculated more upon 
 your condition (on what the Germans call your Inneres, 
 or inward being) than I have ever done before. In Heaven's 
 name, why that doleful ending of a merry letter ? Can it 
 be a joke ? ' One that was ' ' <om&.' This must not be. 
 If you are really ill, I grieve for you as a dear friend ; 
 but if it is but fancy, away with it to the shades ! 
 Look out on nature in all her simple glory ; feel your- 
 self a part and being of the universe ; feel your own 
 eternal dignity, that is beyond and above all the matter
 
 WEIMAR. 59 
 
 before which, alas ! it often bows, but to which it owes no 
 
 allegiance ! 
 
 ' We receive but what we give, 
 And in our life alone does nature live : 
 Ours is her wedding garment, purs her shroud,! ' 
 
 Read your Bible, and, if you want the joy, the meditative 
 joy, which finds religious meanings in the forms of nature, 
 read dear Coleridge, or his brother Wordsworth. But the 
 former I love, I adore. Buy his works should you have no 
 more in the world to spend. 
 
 " This moment I have read your P.S., which I did not 
 notice. ' Blood to the head ! ' What a setting sun your 
 face must be ! Did you ever hear since the days of Hip- 
 pocrates of a fellow of your age and strength having blood 
 to the head ? Why, man, I suppose you sometimes feel 
 dizzy and get blind, and stagger, when you had parti- 
 cularly simple biliousness ; for all these symptoms I have 
 had a thousand times, and half killed myself thinking 
 then as you do now. Take a great deal of exercise every 
 day; read a few novels, and send those blue devils to their 
 master." 
 
 From his MOTHER: 
 
 December 8, 1834. 
 
 " You complain of want of books, and a sad want it is ; 
 but you can meditate and pray, and set no wrong example ; 
 and you have your Bible his Bible who, to his last 
 moment, loved you with more than a brother's love. It 
 will, I trust, be but a secondary motive with you, but 
 I know his image, as you last parted from him, his love, 
 and a recollection of his virtues, will ever rise up to 
 keep you sober in pursuit, and steady in principle. I 
 feel that when I write to you, dearest, I will not seem 
 tiresome or preaching too much." 
 
 SONNET. 
 
 The time had been when this bright earth and sky, 
 At dewy morn, calm eve, or starry night, 
 Inspired the passionate and wild delight
 
 60 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 Which only dwell with lofty purity 
 
 Of heart and thought ; but soon that holy light, 
 
 Which comes from heaven to beautify 
 
 The things of sense departed, and deep night 
 
 Concealed their glory from the seeking eye. 
 
 My soul was dimmed by all-destroying sin, 
 
 Which o'er my inner sense and feelings crept 
 
 Like frost at early morn. Still oft within 
 
 This darken'd heart a sudden gleam, a share 
 
 Of former joy, was mine ; and I have wept, 
 
 And thought 'twas from a distant mother's prayer ! 
 
 To his MOTHER: 
 
 WEIMAR, December, 1834. 
 
 " You know, mother, there are very few, if any, upon 
 whose good sense, in matters of the world, I would rely 
 more than on yours. I have seriously thought of all you 
 say about my acquiring tastes and habits uncongenial to 
 my future profession. To tell you the honest truth, this 
 sometimes does give me pain. To battle against a thou- 
 sand little things which insidiously collect round your 
 mind like iron filings on a magnet, till it is all covered, is 
 impossible. There is a style of life which has charms, 
 talk of it as you please, and somehow or other it comes 
 quite naturally to me. 
 
 " But yet, on the other hand, I trust I feel too highly 
 those mighty things which constitute real greatness, 
 whether found in clown or king ; and the grand position a 
 zealous clergyman takes in human society ; together with 
 the world of knowledge I am now acquiring of human 
 character, and of the way to 'manage men so that I shall 
 enter, under God's blessing, upon the work with spirit 
 and success, and be above all discontent. 
 
 " Say to my father, with my love, that I have paid 
 particular attention to his part of the letter. My next 
 shall be to him upon German theology and sundry other 
 matters. 
 
 "As for the girls, keep none of them cramped up at 
 piano with crooked backs. Air and liberty for the young,
 
 WEIMAR. 6 1 
 
 and then two hours or so of hard earnest work. When I 
 have children, I shall certainly act on this principle I 
 
 " You predicted a great many things about me which 
 have turned out true, and which make me ashamed of 
 the weakness of my character. I leave Weimar in a 
 month, at the very furthest ; and the regret with which 
 I leave it makes me blush. Why am I sorry ? Am I 
 not going home to those who love me more than any 
 on earth ? I am ; and this is invaluable. But still 
 still there are a thousand things which I am destined for, 
 and which I shall fulfil, but to which my last year's edu- 
 cation has been directly opposed. Mother, you have taste 
 yourself, so excuse my rant. When you only remember 
 the beau-ideal life I have been leading, call me weak, 
 call me fool, but let me speak it out, and, like a great 
 ass, turn up my poor nose against Scotch lairds and their 
 pride, and Scotch preachers with their fanatical notions. I 
 agree with my father to a ' T ' about them. And to be 
 obliged to have my piety measured by my reading a news- 
 paper on a Sunday, or such trash ; or by my vote on this 
 
 side or that ; or by my love of music ; or Don't be 
 
 angry, for I am done, and in better humour. 
 
 " I trust to see you in July. In the meantime I am 
 looking forward to coming back here this time next year. 
 Hurrah for old Germany again ! Next to Scotland I love 
 her. I am upon the qui vive for a letter as to our route. 
 
 " I long to tell you all my adventures, and how I fell in 
 love with the beautiful ' La Baronne.' If you only saw her, 
 mother ! None of your ' blockheads ! ' You were once in 
 love yourself, and I don't blame you, for my father is a good- 
 looking man 'fine stoot man, faith !' She has made me a 
 poet ! 
 
 "How do my poor crocuses look? What happy feel- 
 ings does the question recal ! Campsie long ago and spring 
 contentment home and happiness ! I have no news. The 
 same routine of reading, balls, court concerts, and operas. 
 I long to hear if my father has been made Moderator. I 
 should like to be at the head of everything. It is a grand 
 thing."
 
 62 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 From DK. WEISSENBORN (written to N. after his return to 
 Scotland) : 
 
 WEIMAR, July, 1835. 
 
 " You appear to be a thoroughly revised and im- 
 proved edition of yourself. Happy man, whose feelings are 
 not alienated from his native country and early connections 
 by a residence abroad, yet keeps a lively remembrance of 
 his friends there ; whose sound constitution throws out 
 foreign peccant matter, after having assimilated the whole- 
 some principles. Don't smile if I become a little pathetic 
 on the subject. I really was afraid that your residence here 
 would have an injurious effect on your tendencies, inclina- 
 tions, future plans, and prospects ; in short, your happiness 
 and usefulness to your fellow-creatures. I therefore looked 
 forward towards your return not as a happy event, but as 
 one fraught with evil consequences and uneasy feelings to 
 myself, the more so because my health is so very bad and 
 fluctuating, that I would have felt all the misery you might 
 have brought upon yourself without being able to remedj 7 
 or lessen it. You'll forgive a sick man if he take, perhaps, 
 too gloomy a view of things ; but you may judge how happy 
 I feel to find that all my evil anticipations are dispelled by 
 your letter. As to the difference of opinion which exists 
 between you and me with respect to religion, I trust it 
 is only formal, and I hope German rationalism has not 
 made you a whit less inclined to dispense the blessings 
 of religion to your future parishioners under those forms 
 which are most suited to their circumstances, or most 
 likely to produce the best practical results ; though I am 
 convinced myself that we can't stem the torrent of the age 
 so effectually here as it may be possible on your insulating 
 stand of old England. We must first experience its 
 devastations before we can reap the fruit of its inunda- 
 tion."
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 APRIL, 1835 NOVEMBER, 1836. 
 
 WITH the exception of a brief visit to Scotland, 
 he remained at Moreby from April, 1835, 
 when he returned from the Continent, till October 
 of the same year. He then went to Glasgow to re- 
 sume his theological studies. As his father was 
 at that time leaving Campsie for his new charge 
 of St. Columba, Glasgow, he lived with his valued 
 friend and relative, Mr. William Gray, in Brandon 
 Place. He at once devoted himself to hard study. 
 Not only do his note-books show the extensive field of 
 reading he went over, but his former fellow-students 
 were surprised at the rapid mastery he had obtained 
 over various branches of theological learning in which 
 he had before shown only a passing interest. For 
 although his previous education had not been favour- 
 able to scholarship in the technical sense, yet from 
 this time to his latest day he cultivated accurate 
 methods, read extensively on whatever subjects he 
 was professionally occupied with, worked daily at his 
 Greek Testament, and kept himself well informed as 
 to the results of modern criticism. He had the rare 
 faculty of rapidly getting the gist of a book, and
 
 64 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 without toiling over every page, he seemed always 
 to grasp the salient points, and in a marvellously 
 short time carried away all that was worth knowing. 
 
 In the May of 1836, his father having been elected 
 Moderator of the Church of Scotland, he went to 
 Edinburgh, and listened with great interest to the 
 debates of an Assembly, the attention of which was 
 directed to Church work rather than to Church polity. 
 
 The passages from his journals referring to his 
 spiritual condition, which arc given throughout this 
 memoir, while no more than specimens of very copious 
 entries, are yet thoroughly just representations of the 
 self-scrutiny to which he subjected himself during his 
 whole life. Those who knew him only in society, 
 buoyant and witty, overflowing with animal spirits, 
 the very soul of laughter and enjoyment, may feel 
 surprised at the almost morbid self-condemnation and 
 excessive tenderness of conscience which these journals 
 display, still more at the tone of sadness which so fre- 
 quently pervades them. For while such persons may 
 remember how his merriest talk generally passed 
 imperceptibly into some graver theme so naturally, 
 indeed, that the listener could scarcely tell how it was 
 that the conversation had changed its tone yet only 
 those who knew him very intimately were aware that, 
 although his outer life had so much of apparent 
 abandon he not only preserved a habit of careful 
 spiritual self-culture, but was often subject to great 
 mental depression, and was ever haunted with a con- 
 sciousness of the solemnity, if not the sadness, of life. 
 
 In point of fact, much of his self-reproach arose 
 from the earnestness of the conflict which he waged
 
 APRIL, 1835 NOVEMBER, 1836. 65 
 
 against his own natural tendency to self-indulgence. 
 Tor if on one side he had deep spiritual affinities and 
 a will firmly resolved on the attainment of holiness, 
 he had on the other a temperament to which both 
 4 the world and the flesh ' appealed with tremendous 
 power. His abounding humour and geniality had, 
 as usual, their source in a deeply emotional region ; 
 rendering him quickly susceptible to impressions 
 from without, and easily moved by what appealed 
 strongly to his tastes. This rich vein of human 
 feeling which constituted him many-sided and sym- 
 pathetic, and gave him so much power over others, 
 laid him also open to peculiar trials in his endeavour 
 after a close life with God. Besides, as if to be 
 the better fitted for dealing with others, there was 
 given to him more than the usual share of the experi- 
 ences of ' life ; ' for he was frequently brought 
 strangely and closely into contact with various forms 
 of evil subtle and fascinating ; thus gaining an in- 
 sight into the ways of sin though, by God's grace, 
 he remained unscathed by its evil. 
 
 And not only this self-scrutiny, but the tone 
 of sadness also which pervades these journals must 
 sound strange from one generally so buoyant. The 
 tendency to reaction common to all sanguine na- 
 tures, combined with his Celtic blood, may perhaps 
 have helped to give it the shape it so frequently 
 takes, for the way in which he moralises even in 
 youth upon approaching age, and ever and anon 
 speaks of death, and of the transitoriness of the pre- 
 sent, is quite typical of the temperament of the High- 
 landers of the Western Islands. But there was an ele- 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 ment in his own character strong yet subtle in its in- 
 fluence, which produced finer veins of melancholy. The 
 more than childlike intensity with which his affections 
 clung to persons, places, associations, made him dread 
 separation, and that very dread suggested all manner 
 of speculations as to the future. He was continually 
 forecasting change. There was assuredly throughout 
 this more of a longing for ' the larger life and 
 fuller' than a mawkish bewailing of the vanishing 
 present. His views of the glorious purpose of God in 
 creation were from the first healthy and hopeful, and 
 became one of the strongest points in his creed. 
 Nevertheless, it served to produce a side of character 
 which was deeply solemn, so that when left alone 
 with his own thoughts a kind of eerie sadness was 
 cast over his views of life. The deep undertones 
 of death and eternity sounded constantly in his ear, 
 even when he seemed only bent on amusement. His 
 favourite quotation literally expressed his experi- 
 ence 
 
 ' I hear the mighty waters rolling evermore.' 
 
 From his JOUBNAL : 
 
 " Moreby, April 30, 1835. I have at last returned from 
 the Continent this morning. With how many feelings of the 
 past do I write it ! I read over many old letters and jour- 
 nals, and I felt the old man, which I supposed one little 
 year had crushed, to be as strong as ever. No, not quite 
 so strong ; but still he was there, and I could recognise 
 many of his old familiar features. This last year has been 
 quite an episode in my life ; it does not seem to chime in 
 with the rest of the Etory, and yet it is a material and 
 important part of it.
 
 APRIL, 1835 NOVEMBER, 1836. 67 
 
 " It was a dream ; its people were images in a dream, 
 never seen before or to be seen again. Everything was, 
 and flashed upon me. I am awake, and the dream is past. 
 
 " If awes, Aug. 1 Stk. Spent this morning in fishing, and, 
 after walking eight or nine miles, returned as I went. I had, 
 however, for my guide and companion a most rare speci- 
 men of a Yorkshireman. He is the village cobbler. He and 
 his have been here from generation to generation ; and what 
 part of the shire is more secluded than Hawes ! We spent 
 the time ' in chat and clatter ; ' and with his peculiar drawl 
 and stories I was much amused : * Ise deena believe mea- 
 sell what foaks sea like, boot t' wutches beean in 'deals like, 
 boot thea sea hoa there weas yance in t' time ot t' wear 
 maebea hoondred year and mear a man wid ceart an harse 
 gang i-oop bye t' Fell theare, an in t' ceart was a kist and 
 gooald ; an t' neame ot hoarse was Ham. Soa t' driver 
 sead, ' Che wo hoop, Ham. We God's mind or noa oop 
 heel thou man gang.' Soa t' heel opened like, and t' keest 
 fell een, and thear weas nought mear aboot eet ! Boot yance 
 seex parsons were tae conjor it oot, and toald t' wae or 
 't foar leads we them to say nout ; and soa they prayed 
 and prayed teelt they gat thee keest and youked t' harse, 
 boot yan o' t' leads said " Gad lads ! wese geet eet yeet." 
 When t' keest howped oop t' heel an' weas seen nea meer.' 
 
 " The cobbler once talked with a man who had gone to 
 Kendall to see the Highlanders pass north. They had no 
 shoes, and looked miserable ; plundering, but not slaying. 
 The landlord with whom he staid had his shoes taken off 
 him thrice by successive parties. 
 
 " Ambleside, 19th August. I have to-day accomplished 
 what I have long sought. I have seen, talked, and spent 
 two or three hours with Wordsworth. I set off in the 
 morning with a note of introduction by myself, for myself. 
 I arrived at the door of a sweet, beautiful cottage, and was 
 ushered into a small parlour with a small library, chiefly 
 filled with books of poetry, among which was a fine edition 
 of Dante. Presently the old man came in in an old brown 
 great coat, large straw hat, and umbrella, and ushered me 
 into a small, plainly furnished parlour. Here we sat some 
 time, talking about Germany, its political state, and die 
 
 F 2
 
 68 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 character of its inhabitants, of the Scotch Church and the 
 levelling system, and right of voting ; and here he read 
 me the note from his last volume. We then went out 
 and stood on the lovely green mound commanding views 
 of Rydal and Windermere. There I said to him ' We are 
 sorry that you are not a friend of Ossian.' This set him 
 a-going, in which he defended himself against the charge, 
 and saying ' that although self-praise was no honour, yet 
 he thought he might say that no man had written more 
 feelingly than he in his favour. Not the Ossian of 
 McPherson, which was trash, but the spirit of Ossian, was 
 glorious ; and this he had maintained.' He then brought 
 his works and read many passages in the bower showing 
 this. He said that he had more enemies in Scotland than 
 elsewhere ; that his little volume could not fight against 
 all the might of a long-established Review it was 
 stupidity or envy ; but that his book had now got 
 greater circulation than they or it ever had. His books 
 must be studied to be understood they were not for 
 ladies, to be read lounging on a sofa. 
 
 " He said that Professor Wilson was an exceedingly 
 clever man, and that it was such a pity that his talents 
 and energies were not directed to one point. On our 
 return to the house, he said he had suffered much distress. 
 His dear sister was dead, his daughter was lying ill with 
 spine, and now an old family servant was dying, ' but I 
 endeavour to amuse myself as I can.' 
 
 " I blessed the dear old man, came away ; and he said he 
 might wander into my house some day or other in Scot- 
 land. Oh, how I felt as I heard him read in his deep 
 voice some of his own imperishable verses the lovely 
 evening the glorious scene the poetry and the man ! 
 
 " Aug. %4tth. I received from home a parcel, and a 
 letter from my father who is in London about the Psalms. 
 The event which he communicates is to me all important 
 he leaves Campsie and goes to Glasgow. What are 
 my feelings ? I can hardly express them. It is a 
 struggle between the ideal and real ! On calmly consider- 
 ing it, I do think that the change is much for the better. 
 A large family is nowhere in such an advantageous posi-
 
 APRIL, 1835 NOVEMBER, 1836. 69 
 
 tion for every improvement and advancement as in a town ; 
 which is also, I believe, more economical. Yet, to leave 
 Campsie ! Spot of my earnest feelings, and of the dearest 
 associations of the happiest period of my life ! Gone is 
 the continued presence of green fields and free air gone 
 the identifying of every lovely spot with the bright 
 thoughts of youthful existence. 
 
 " I wish I could write a series of sonnets entitled 
 * Influences ; ' viz. : all those projections which turn the 
 stream of life out of its course, bending it slightly 
 without giving it a new direction. Nothing makes a man 
 so contented as an experience gathered from a well- 
 watched past. As the beauty of the finest landscape is 
 sometimes marred on actual inspection by a nauseous weed 
 at your feet, or painful headache, or many little things 
 which detract from a loveliness only fully felt in the 
 recollection when those trifles are forgotten so, our 
 chief happiness is too often in recollection of the past, or 
 anticipation of the future. Now, it is knowing what the 
 past really was, which we now recal with so much pleasure, 
 and over which there seems ' a light which never was on sea 
 or land,' that we are able to estimate the amount of 
 happiness and value of the present. And I think he who 
 does this will seldom be discontented ; for the miseries of 
 life are few, and its blessings are ' new to us every morning 
 and evening.' 
 
 " I have just returned from a pleasant walk, with a lovely 
 sunset, and the cushats weeping and wailing in the wood. 
 
 "September 15th. The long-expected festival-week is 
 past ! I never have, in my life, nor ever expect again to 
 have, such a glorious treat I have heard The Creation. 
 
 " I shall not attempt to offer a criticism upon the music 
 which I heard during the festival. Whoever has seen 
 York Minster, may fancy the effect of a grand chorus of 
 40 performers before an assembled multitude of perhaps 
 7,000 people, with Braham, Philipps, Kubini, Lablache, 
 Grisi, &c. 
 
 We had very delightful company in the house Sir 
 Charles Dolbiac, (M.P.) and daughter ; Milnes Gaskill, M.P., 
 wife and sister-in-law ; Miss Wynn Smith ; Wright, with.
 
 70 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 his wife and daughter ; Lady Sitwell ; Mr. and Mrs. Nor- 
 ton ; Mr. and Miss Forbes, Edinburgh ; Captain Campbell, 
 7th Hussars ; Lord Grey. I had the most interesting con- 
 versation with Gaskill, Wright, and Lady Sitwell. 
 
 "Gaskill mentioned the following things: Peel does 
 not confide sufficiently in his own party, he tells nothing 
 to them ; but if you do make a good speech, he will shake 
 you by the hand and talk kindly. His difficulties on the 
 Catholic question were great. His principal adviser and 
 confidential friend was Dr. Lloyd of Oxford. The Duke, 
 who looks at a question of politics like men in a field of 
 battle, after two hours' conversation, told Peel that he had 
 agreed. Peel knew there was no use fighting in the council, 
 and he determined to resign. He went to Windsor 
 to do so. The King, who had all the feelings of his father 
 on the subject, remonstrated, and asked Peel if he could 
 form a Ministry which would resist. Peel saw it was im- 
 possible. The King then said, that what he would not do 
 as an individual he was compelling him to do by asking him 
 to change. Would he desert him ? Would he leave the 
 onus on him ? Peel came home, and for two nights never 
 went to bed. Wrote to his friend Dr. Lloyd that he knew 
 that in sticking to the King, from the most loyal motives, 
 he was sacrificing his political character, &c. ; and so he 
 passed it : and now he w r ould willingly change his mind ! 
 
 " Peel's memory is amazing. ' Can you forget all this 
 trash ?' said he to a friend, as a member was speaking. ' / 
 can't;' and so he never did, but would recall words and 
 circumstances a year afterwards. 
 
 " One night Mr. Gaskill was at a party at the Duke 
 
 of 's ; Peel, Wellington, and some others, were playing 
 
 whist ; Croker was learning e'carte at another table. ' Go,' 
 said Peel to one of his friends ' go and ask if he ever 
 learned the game before.' ' Never ! ' said Croker, 'upon my 
 soul.' ' Well/ said Peel to his friend, who returned, ' I'll 
 bet, in twenty minutes by my watch, Croker tells his teacher 
 that he does not know how to play.' In Jive minutes Croker 
 was heard saying, ' Well, do you know, I should not have 
 thought that the best way of playing.' This was received 
 with a roar of laughter.
 
 APRIL, 1835 NOVEMBER, 1836. 71 
 
 "September 16th. God, I am a weak, poor, sinful 
 man, unmindful of past mercies, and of a hardened heart. 
 Merciful Father, I implore pardon from Thee for my sins, 
 and entreat the aid of thy Holy Spirit, by which alone I 
 can fight the evil one. Hear me, for the sake of the atoning 
 blood of thy dear Son, in whose eternal merits I trust alone 
 for salvation. 
 
 "September 28th, 1835. G. was staying with us. He 
 is the editor of a periodical called The Churchman, and 
 is a most violent Episcopalian of the old school, as he 
 was once as violent a dissenter of the new. There are 
 few liberal Churchmen very few ; and to me nothing 
 is more absurd than the violence of men professing the 
 same faith in all its essentials, and, in the present state 
 of things, cutting one another's throats. England is 
 beginning to reform her clergy ; and good morals, with a 
 sound Calvinistic theology, are rapidly gaining ground. 
 I have myself seen so much wickedness in manners and 
 opinions that my heart bows before a good Christian 
 wherever I meet him. We had good sacred music on 
 Sunday evening. This may be abused ; and then, per- 
 haps, it is wrong. But certainly to me it is infinitely 
 more sacred than the chatter round a fireside on stuff and 
 nonsense, such as I have frequently heard. But remember 
 Paul and the ' meats.' 
 
 " September 29th. I had to-night a long argument with 
 
 an atheist, Mr. C . I have known intimately many 
 
 strange thinkers, from fanatics to atheists. All sceptics 
 whom I have ever met have been very ignorant of the 
 argument and facts of the case. This has been my con- 
 firmed experience in Germany and England. Fanatics knew 
 and felt ten times more. Believing too much is more 
 philosophical than believing nothing at all. 
 
 " I finished Heine's ' History of Modern German Litera- 
 ture.' His German style is beautiful ; his remarks astonish- 
 ingly striking, original, and pointed ; his character of the 
 poetry, painting, architecture of the Middle Ages admir- 
 able. 
 
 " Sunday, llth. This is the last Sunday I shall spend in 
 Moreby for some time. How many pleasant ones have I
 
 72 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 had in the old church at Stillingfleet, in its antique pew 
 and oak seats, worn away by numberless generations ! I 
 trust I have seen enough of the English Church to love 
 her capabilities and to admire her mode of worship ; and while 
 I enter with heart into that mode and form in which I have 
 been born and bred, I trust to have for ever an affection for 
 the venerable Liturgy and those institutions which so well 
 accomplish their purpose of diffusing the Gospel of Christ 
 among the nations. Lord, I thank Thee for the many 
 peaceful Sabbaths which I have enjoyed. Forgive their 
 much abuse, and still preserve my mind more and more for 
 that eternal Sabbath which I hope one day, through the 
 blood of the Atonement, to spend with Thee in heaven. 
 
 " October 13th. The last night at Moreby. How much 
 could I now say on my leaving this excellent family whom 
 I esteem so much and highly ! Mr. Preston has been as a 
 father. God bless them all ! 
 
 " I thank Thee, God, through Jesus Christ, for all Thou 
 hast done for me since I came into this family. Lord, may 
 thy kindness not be thrown away, but may everything work 
 for my good. Amen, Amen. 
 
 " Glasgow, 2 3rd December. This day two years ago 
 James died. I shall ever consider this day as worthy of 
 my remembrance, because to me it marks the most im- 
 portant era of my life. Amidst temptations it has warned 
 me ; in my Christian course it has cheered me. In far 
 other scenes than these I have remembered it with solemn 
 feelings, and I trust I may never forget it or the habits it 
 has engendered. The more I see of the world, the more I 
 look upon the dear boy as the purest being I ever met with ; 
 and now I rejoice he is in heaven. Lord, may I never forget 
 that time. 
 
 " 27th; last Sunday 0/1835. I never felt a greater zest 
 for study than now. The truth, sincerity, simplicity, and 
 the eloquence, of the older divines is a source of much 
 pleasure. I have adopted the plan of keeping a note-book 
 which I call ' Hints for Sermons,' in which I put down 
 whatever may prove useful for my future ministrations. 
 Unfortunately what is useful is not nowadays the most 
 taking, and we have lost much of our simple-hearted
 
 APRIL, \ZH~NOVEMBER, 1836. 73 
 
 Christianity. Our very clergy are dragging us down to 
 lick the dust, and the influence of the mob is making 
 our young men a subservient set of fellows. I see 
 among our better-thinking clergy a strong episcopalian 
 spirit ; they are beginning to see the use of a set form of 
 worship. And who can look at the critical, self-sufficient 
 faces of the one-half of our congregations during prayers, 
 and the labour and puffing and blowing of some aspirant 
 to a church, and not deplore the absence of some set prayers 
 which would keep the feelings of many right-thinking Chris- 
 tian from being hurt every Sabbath. 
 
 "January 6th, 1836. I went down to Campbeltown, 
 and I returned to-day with Scipio and George Beatson. 
 What were my feelings when I saw Campbeltown aye, 
 what were they ? Almost what I anticipated ; a half break- 
 ing up of the ideal. Gone was the glory and the dream 
 gone the old familiar faces. Everything seemed changed, 
 save the old hills ; and it was only when I gazed on them 
 that I felt a return of the old feelings, glimpses of boyhood, 
 short but beautiful, that soon passed away, and I felt I was 
 a changed man how changed since those days ! 
 
 " We were gay to our ' hearts' content :' a ball every night 
 and breakfasts every morning, with interludes of dinners. 
 I never received more kindness in my life. 
 
 " Be honest ! In Campbeltown I forgot God altogether. 
 If ever there was a cold, forgetful sinner, I am the man. If 
 it was not for my peculiarly fortunate circumstances of life 
 I would have been a thorough-going sinner. My heart is 
 blunt ; every time I fall back I am so much the worse it 
 quenches faith, resolution, hope. Well may I say, 'Lord 
 save me, or I perish.' 
 
 " Poor dear ! I received such a letter from him in 
 
 answer to an earnest exhortation to him to change his ways. 
 The Lord bless him ! 
 
 "Is it proper to endeavour to convert a man by any 
 other but Christian motives prudential or moral ? I 
 think it is. A hardened sinner must have motives addressed 
 to him which he can feel and understand. Let this be a 
 matter for thought. My mother denies its truth."
 
 74 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 To A. CLERK : 
 
 10, BKANDON PLACE, GLASGOW: January 13, 1836. 
 
 " For once in my life I am working for the class, writing 
 essays for a prize ! Are you not astonished ? Fleming 
 gives out five or six subjects. The first was on the Mosaic 
 account of the Creation ; and I sent him in one of eighty 
 pages crammed with geology, which even 'the Doctor's' 
 (Sinclair) most scientific conversations (which used to bore 
 you) were nothing to. Fleming had the good sense to 
 appreciate it ; and he said privately to my father that ' it 
 had more in it than all the others put together.' But you 
 never saw such fellows ! Some of them open their goggle eyes, 
 when I dare to speculate on some of the great doctor's ipse 
 dixits. Think of them the other day ! there was a meeting 
 in the Hall, and M'Gill in the chair, to determine whether 
 Blackwood should be kicked out of the Hall Library and 
 sent in search of the Edinburgh Review, long ago black- 
 balled ! Poor Maga was peppered with a whole volley of 
 anathemas ; and if it was not for some fellows of sense who 
 were determined to give old Christopher a lift on his stilts, 
 he would have hobbled down the turnpike stair to make 
 room for a dripping Baptist or oily-haired Methodist. Oh, 
 I hate cant I detest it, Clerk, from my ' heart of hearts !* 
 There is a manliness about true Christianity, a conscious- 
 ness of strength, which enables it to make everything its 
 own. 
 
 " The people are becoming all in all. And what are the 
 forthcoming ministers ? The people's slaves or deceivers. 
 It is, I admit, the opinion of a young man ; but I feel that 
 we are going down hill talk, talk, talk big words 
 popularity that god which is worshipped wherever a chapel 
 stands. This is what I fear we are coming to our very 
 prayers are the subjects of display and criticism. I rejoice 
 to think there is One who guides all to good, that the 
 world on the whole is ever advancing in the right, though 
 poor Scotland may, perhaps, lag behind for a season." 
 
 During the session of 1835-36 a coterie of young 
 men, possessed of kindred genius and humour, used to
 
 APRIL, 1835 NOVEMBER, 1836. 75 
 
 meet for the interchange of wit, and of literary produc- 
 tions whose chief merit was their absurdity. Horatio 
 M'Culloch, the landscape painter, and his brother artist, 
 MacNee ; the late Principal Leitch, and his brother, 
 Mr. John Leitch, a well-known litterateur ; the Dean 
 of Argyll, and his brother, Mr. MacGeorge ; M'Nish, 
 the author of the 'Anatomy of Drunkenness;' and 
 Norman Macleod, were the leading spirits of the 
 fraternity. One of the chief ties which bound them 
 
 in fellowship was the presence of Dugald M , 
 
 poet and local celebrity. M was not without 
 
 talent, and made several creditable attempts in verse ; 
 but his extraordinary self-importance, his uncon- 
 sciousness of ridicule, and the bombastic character of 
 many of his productions made him a ready butt for 
 the shafts of drollery with which the young fellows 
 who met at those suppers were abundantly armed.* 
 Before the year was out they printed a series of 
 squibs written for their gatherings. The volume 
 was entitled, ' Sparks of Promethean Fire ; or Chips 
 from the Thunderbolts of Jove,' and professed to be 
 published at Stromboli, for the firm of Gog, Magog, 
 and Co. 
 
 * Once, at a public dinner, when the toast of "the poets of Scot- 
 land, coupled with the name of Dugald M " was proposed, in 
 
 terms which seemed to disparage the practical importance of their art, 
 Dugald, rising in great indignation, determined to give the ignoramus 
 a lesson on the grandeur of the offended muse. "I will tell the 
 gentleman," he shouted, " what poetry is. Poetry is the language of 
 the tempest when it roars through the crashing forest. The waves of 
 ocean tossing their foaming crests under the lash of the hurricane 
 they, sir, speak in poetry. Poetry, sir! poetry was the voice in 
 which the Almighty thundered through the awful peaks of Sinai; 
 and I myself, sir, have published five volumes of poetry, and the last, 
 in its third edition, can be had for the price of five shillings and six- 
 pence ! "
 
 7 6 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 These poems were indirectly meant as caricatures of 
 the pompous emptiness, the incongruous magnificence, 
 and the grandiose scene-painting of the poet Dugald. 
 Hades and the Arctic Pole, the volcanic fires and 
 sulphurous craters of Etna and Hecla, whales, mam- 
 moths, and mastodons, had therefore to lend their 
 aid in the production of a jumble of astounding 
 nonsense. 
 
 Only one specimen of the volumes has been reprinted 
 ' The Death of Space,' by Mr. John Leitch, which was 
 engrossed in l Bon Gualtier.' Norman Macleod con- 
 tributed four pieces ' The Eeign of Death,' ' The 
 Phantom Festival,' 'Professor Boss's* Drinking- 
 Song,' and 'Invocation to Professor Boss, who Fell 
 into the Crater of Hecla.' We give the two last. 
 
 PROFESSOR BOSS S DRINKING-SONG. 
 
 Air ' Bekranzt mit Laub den lieben vollen Becker,' 
 or' The Khine ! the Ehine ! ' &c., &c. 
 
 Drink, drink and swill, ye jolly old Professors, 
 
 You'll find it royal stuff, 
 
 You'll find it royal stuff ; 
 What though the waves of ocean roll above us, 
 
 We do not care a snuff ! 
 
 We do not care a snuff ! 
 
 * ' Boss' was the bye-name he had for his very dear friend, the 
 late Principal Leitch, one of the ablest and best of men.
 
 APRIL, 1835 NOVEMBER, 1836. 77 
 
 Diodati, Kant, Gleim, Mendelssohn Swighausen, 
 
 Ich bin Ihr Bruder Boss ! 
 
 Ich bin Ihr Bruder Boss ! 
 Pass round the jorum, and with all the honours, 
 
 Drink to Commander Ross ! 
 
 Drink to Commander Ross ! 
 
 Ices I've ate in Paris at Tortoni's ; 
 
 Broiled chicken too in Wien, 
 
 Broiled chicken too in Wien : 
 But who would talk of such barbaric messes, 
 
 Who our turns-out had seen ! 
 
 Who our turns-out had seen ! 
 
 For here we dine on whales and fossil mammoths, 
 
 With walrus for our lunch, 
 
 With walrus for our lunch ; 
 We've Hecla's flames to warm our glass of toddy, 
 
 And ice to cool our punch ! 
 
 And ice to cool our punch ! 
 
 See how our smoke is curling up the crater ; 
 
 Ho, spit and rouse its fires ! 
 
 Ho, spit and rouse its fires ! 
 Hurrah ! hurrah ! for Deutschland's old Professors, 
 
 We're worthy of our sires ! 
 
 We're worthy of our sires !
 
 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 INVOCATION TO PROFESSOR BOSS, WHO FELL INTO THE 
 CRATER OF MOUNT HECLA. 
 
 OH what a grim gigantic 
 tomb is thine, 
 
 Immortal Boss ! The se- 
 pulchres which yawn 
 
 For the obscure remains of 
 common men 
 
 Were all unworthy thee ! 
 Their narrow bounds 
 
 Thou heldest in unutterable 
 disdain, 
 
 And soughtest for a grave 
 amid the vaults 
 
 Of Iceland's belching, bellow- 
 ing, groaning Mount. 
 
 Stupendous walls of flame 
 
 surround thee now ; 
 Thy mausoleum is a hell on earth, 
 Where spluttering bursts of Pandemoniac fire 
 Shake their rude tongues against the vault of heaven, 
 And lick the stars, and singe the comet's tail. 
 
 Peace to thine ashes, Boss ! Thy soul shall tower, 
 Like an inflated Phoenix, from the mouth 
 Of that infernal hill ; whose crater wide, 
 Like a vast trumpet, shall thy praises sound 
 What time its ashes rise beyond the moon, 
 And blind with clouds of dust the morning star. 
 
 And from thy lofty watch-tower in the sky 
 Spitzbergen thou shalt see, and Greenland, where 
 The spermaceti whale rolls floundering on, 
 And dares to combat the pugnacious shark; 
 The morse, with teeth of steel and snout of brass, 
 The mighty kraken, and the ocean snake, 
 The salamander, with its soul of fire, 
 The mammoth and the mastodon sublime,
 
 APRIL, 1835 NOVEMBER, 1836. 79 
 
 Them shalt tliou see, and with their spirits thou 
 Shalt hold sweet converse, as they move along, 
 Shaking the curdling deep with shaven tails, 
 And drowning Hecla's thunder in their own. 
 
 And from the mountain's bosom thou shalt call 
 The swarthy Vulcan, and his one-eyed sons 
 The Atlantian Cyclops to thine aid, 
 While thou assailest Woden, Teusco, Thor, 
 And all the Scandinavian gods accursed 
 Who in Valhalla hold their dreaded reign. 
 And Vulcan, at thy bidding, shall appear, 
 With Polyphemus and his brethren vast ; 
 And, armed with Jove's resistless thunderbolts, 
 And Hecla's flames, the huge Monopian brood 
 Shall rise with fury irresistible 
 And from their gory seats of human skulls 
 Hurl the grim tyrants down with muttering yell ; 
 While thou ascendest the Valhalla throne 
 And at the prostrate gods dost shake thy fist ! 
 
 Immortal Boss ! while seas of dark ribbed ice 
 
 Lock the leviathan in their solid jaws, 
 
 While the substantial firmament resounds 
 
 With yells and curses from the frozen tongues 
 
 Of shipwrecked mariners, thy sceptre gaunt 
 
 Shall thunder on the grim Icelandic shore, 
 
 And loose the chains that fetter Nature round ! 
 
 Then, then shall Hecla sing aloud to thee 
 
 A dread volcanic hymn ; his monstrous throat, 
 
 In honour of thy name, shall swallow up 
 
 The sun, the moon, the stars ; all, save thy throne, 
 
 Shall be absorbed in that enormous maw ; 
 
 And ghosts of mighty men shall crowd around 
 
 Thine ample table in Valhalla spread 
 
 And feast with thee ; the hippopotamus, 
 
 The whale, the shark, shall on thy table lie, 
 
 Cooked to thy taste before grim Ilecla's fire ; 
 
 And all shall eat, and chaunt thy name, and think 
 
 Potations deep from Patagonian skulls.
 
 80 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD 
 
 My song is done : Oceans of endless bliss 
 
 Shall roll within thy kingdom ; cataracts 
 
 Of matchless eloquence shall hymn thy praise ; 
 
 Mountains of mighty song mightier by far 
 
 Than Hecla, where thine ashes lie entombed, 
 
 Shall lift their heads beyond the top of space, 
 
 And prove thy deathless monuments of fame ; 
 
 While thou with kingly, bland, benignant smile, 
 
 Look'st down upon the earth's terraqueous ball, 
 
 And quell'st with thunder Neptune's blustering mood. 
 
 " March 2nd. Strange, marvellous, and unintelligible 
 world ! My brain gets dizzy when I allow myself to reflect 
 upon the extraordinary journey we are all pursuing. I heard 
 old Weimar tunes upon the piano. Was it a dream ? am 
 I here ? am I the same being ? What means this spring- 
 ing into existence, the joys and sorrows, happiness to 
 ecstasy, friendships formed and decaying, death at the end 
 of all? Are we mad? Do our souls inhabit bodies 
 which are dying about us ? But I write like a fool, for 
 my heart is overflowing with thoughts which I cannot 
 utter. 
 
 " 12th March. Exactly, Norman. You wrote the above 
 the other night when some old tunes roused up the old 
 man which you thought was dead. Tell us how he does ? 
 
 "Saturday, April 23. After studying to-day and yester- 
 day, I have had an evening stroll down the street. The
 
 APRIL, 1835 NOVEMBER, 1836. 81 
 
 aurora was bright and lovely now forming an arch along 
 the sky, now shooting up like an archangel's sword over 
 the world, or forming streaming rays of light, which the 
 soul of mortal might deem a seraph's crown. How strange 
 are the glimpses which we sometimes have of something 
 beyond the sense a strange feeling, flitting as the aurora 
 but as bright, of a spiritual world, with which our souls 
 seem longing to mingle, and, like a bird which, from 
 infancy reared in a cage, has an instinctive love for scenes 
 more congenial to its habits, and flutters about when it 
 sees green woods and a summer sky, and droops its head 
 when it feels they are seen through the bars of its prison ! 
 But the door shall yet be opened, and the songs it has 
 learnt in confinement shall yet be heard in the sunny sky ; 
 and it shall be joined by a thousand other birds, and a 
 harmonious song will rise on high ! 
 
 " Oh, if we could but keep the purity of the soul ! but 
 sense is the giant which fetters us and gains the victory. 
 We have dim perceptions of the pure and elevated spiritual 
 world. We truly walk by sight, and not by faith. 
 
 " Mere descriptive poets may be compared to those 
 who have shrewdness enough to copy the best sets of 
 hieroglyphics, but who have not skill enough to give 
 to them more than a partial interpretation. They 
 decipher enough to know that the writing has much fine 
 meaning, which, as it pleases themselves, may also give 
 pleasure to others. The reflective poet is one who de- 
 ciphers the writing which he copies, appropriates its truth 
 to himself, and makes it a part of his own existence ; and 
 when he gives it to the world he adds to it his own glorious 
 comments and illustrations, and thus makes others feel 
 like himself. And yet the highest and brightest world in 
 which the poet exists cannot be shown to another. It 
 is incommunicable. If in his spirit he reaches the high 
 peaks of the Himalaya, he can bring none there with him ; 
 and should he know there are others there, the rarity of 
 the air prevents any communication. 
 
 " June 6th, Gourock. My journal has been sadly 
 neglected, and that too at a time when sunshine and cloud 
 have not been unfrequent in my trivial history. 
 
 VOL. i. G
 
 82 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD, ' 
 
 " I finished my college labours by getting the essay 
 prize not much, in truth ; but I shall not venture to 
 express my little opinion of prizes. They a test of talent 
 or labour bah ! Last winter was, however, a useful one 
 to me. How different from the one before hardly an 
 ounce of the ideal, and a ton of the real. 
 
 " After 1st ot May I came down here, where I staid for 
 a short time, until I went to the Assembly on the 1 6th, when 
 my father was Moderator. When I think of that fortnight, 
 my head is filled with a confused mass of speeches, dinners, 
 suppers, breakfasts, crowded houses, familiar faces, old 
 acquaintances, and all that makes an Assembly interesting 
 and tiresome to one who is in the middle of the bustle. I 
 became acquainted with a great many people the most 
 interesting was Dr. Cooke, of Belfast a splendid man, who 
 I think beats Chalmers in thinking, and equals him in genius. 
 The concluding scene of the Assembly is the finest thing I 
 ever saw the whole clergy and people singing a psalm, 
 and praying for the peace of Jerusalem ! Grieved on my 
 return to find poor Mary so unwell : for my own part, I 
 have little hope. 
 
 " To-morrow I start for the Highlands, intending, God 
 willing, to return in a month. Into Thy hands I commit 
 myself. 
 
 " Fiunary, Sth. The name, which stares me in the face, 
 alone convinces me that I am here. Against this I have a 
 thousand melancholy feelings to persuade me that I am' 
 not. Yes, it is so : for the first time in my life, I have 
 walked up the ' brae face ' without a smile upon my face. 
 The past was too vividly present when a revered old man 
 was blessed in his old age by a large and dear family 
 when my own days, young though I be, were yet ' clothed 
 in no earthly light,' and had all the ' glory of a dream,' and 
 myself the object of ' kind words, kind looks, and tender 
 greetings.' 
 
 "It is a solemn thing when the faces and voices of the 
 lost and gone are vividly recalled when chambers are 
 again peopled by their former inmates and when you start 
 to find it all a dream ; that what was life is now death ! 
 
 " We, too, are passing on ! Can I forget this here ? Oh,
 
 APRIL, 1835 NOVEMBER, 1836. * 83 
 
 may I be enabled, in much weakness and sin, still to fight 
 so as to gain the prize ! 
 
 " Portree, 21 si June. I have been reading for three 
 days back Coleridge's ' Table Talk/ and Byron. 
 
 " What a contrast is there between the two ! I pretend 
 not to fathom Byron's character : it has puzzled wiser heads 
 than mine. But how different were these men, as far as 
 their characters can be gathered from their conversation ! 
 Coleridge ever struggling after truth ; diving into every 
 science, and discovering affinities between them ; holding 
 communion ever with ideas and principles, and caring 
 for things only as they led to these ; and, as a consequence 
 from this pursuit and love of truth, a humble believing 
 disciple of Christ. Byron viewing everything through 
 his own egotism ; selfish in the extreme ; anxious to be 
 the man of fashion, and ' receiving his inspiration from gin 
 and water;' laughing at England and admiring Greece; 
 doubting Scripture and admiring Shelley. Coleridge wish- 
 ing to publish his philosophy for the glory of God and the 
 good of men ; Byron writing his poetry ' to please the 
 women.' In short, I believe Byron's fame is on the decline. 
 His literature has never sent a man a mile on in the mighty 
 pursuit after truth. Coleridge must live and be beloved 
 by all who study him. He was a truly noble fellow ! 
 
 5C- -5'r -X- -X * 
 
 "A man's charity to those who differ from him upon 
 great and difficult questions will be in the ratio of his own 
 
 knowledge of them : the more knowledge, the more charity, 
 -x -X -* * 
 
 " The difference in height between the Scotch and Swiss 
 mountains is compensated for by the ever-changing shape 
 of the former, arising from their lowness. 
 
 "Portree, Skye, Aiigust, 1836. Early in the month of 
 July I went with Professor Forbes to Quirang and the 
 north end of Skye. My next trip was to Storr, the finest 
 thing I ever saw. The day promised well as we ascended, 
 but when near the top thick mist suddenly came on, which 
 prevented us from seeing a yard in front. We, however, 
 against hope, climbed to the summit. When we arrived, 
 the mist, in a thousand graceful columns, cleared away, 
 
 G 2
 
 84 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 and a thick, black curtain, which concealed the country 
 from our view, slowly rose and presented to us a panorama 
 such as might put all Europe to shame. Beneath us lay 
 Skye, with its thousand sea lochs, bounded to the south 
 by the jagged Coolins, between which we got peeps 
 of the distant sea. On every other side was water calm 
 as glass, specked by ships in sunshine, sailing far away. 
 Along the mainland, from Cape Wrath to Kyle Rhea, was a 
 vast chains of hills, seen under every variety of light and 
 shade, while distant mountain tops appeared marching 
 towards Ardnamurchan. To the west lay the Lewis at full 
 length : a gorgeous canopy of clouds was piled over it. 
 Rays of silver light fell at once on the Minch and on the 
 far-distant horizon beyond Uist, where no land breaks the 
 vista to America. The precipice is a thousand feet high : a 
 stone took nine seconds to reach the bottom. In fine, a 
 large whale was spouting in the sea below us after a 
 herring shoal. 
 
 " 3rd September. The feeling at present next to my 
 heart is the state of poor dear Mary. Her hour, I see, is 
 not far distant. She knows this herself : she expressed her 
 fears perfectly calmly to my mother, and was thankful that 
 she had got so long a time to prepare. Her patience is 
 amazing. Oh, may God her Father, and Christ her 
 Saviour, grant her peace and rest ! 
 
 " I want steadiness. O God, give me consistency in 
 words, in thoughts ; in company ; in private ! May I in 
 everything see what Thy law demands, and may I receive 
 strength to obey it. 
 
 " My mother and aunt have both told me, in strong 
 language, that I am most irritable in my temper, and very 
 unpleasant. My mother told me more than this, which 
 there is no use putting down. 
 
 " I feel she is wrong. I am grieved for this because it 
 is unchristian ; therefore, under the strength of God, feel 
 anxious and resolved to 1. Be always calm and collected, 
 and never talk impetuously, and as if out of temper. 2. To 
 give greater deference to my mother ; to stop arguing with 
 her ; and, however much she mistakes my feelings, still to 
 act as I shall one day answer.
 
 APRIL, 1835 NOVEMBER, 1836. 85 
 
 " This I wish to do under God's guidance. 
 
 " Clerk, MacConochie, and Nairne, have come as boarders. 
 They are, I think, three as fine lads as ever I saw. Enable 
 me, God, to remember that I am responsible for sowing 
 all the Gospel seed I can in their minds. Amen. 
 
 " I arn making slow progress ; I am sadly behind. What 
 signifies TALK if the actions be awanting ? 
 
 " November 3rd. I was this morning called up at five 
 to go for the doctor for dear Mary. She was in great 
 agony, such as I never saw before. The doctor gave her 
 relief ; and she gently fell asleep in Christ at half-past 
 nine o'clock. 
 
 " November 9tk. It is all over : we buried Mary to-day 
 beside James. They both lie near the home where they 
 spent many happy days ; and we laid them down, thank 
 God, in full faith and assurance of a blessed resurrection ! 
 
 " I have only to pray God Almighty, through Jesus 
 'Christ, that I may not only persevere myself, but induce 
 others to persevere, in the same Christian course, that 
 "where they are we may be also 1'"
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 18367. 
 
 AT this time the University of Glasgow attracted 
 an unusual number of students from the east of 
 Scotland. This was partly owing to the brilliant 
 teaching of Sir Daniel Sandford, and of the late Pro- 
 fessor Ramsay, and partly to the wider influence 
 which the Snell exhibitions to Oxford were beginning 
 to exercise. Norman's father, determining to take ad- 
 vantage of this movement for the increase of his very 
 limited income, arranged for the reception of one or 
 two young men as boarders, whose parents were 
 friends of his own. He had in this way residing in 
 his house during the winter of 1836-7 William 
 Clerk, son of Sir George Clerk, of Penicuick, Henry 
 MacConochie, son of Lord Meadowbank, and James 
 Nairne, from Edinburgh. John C. Shairp, son of 
 Major Shairp, of Houstoun, now Principal of the 
 United College in the University of St. Andrews, was 
 in like manner boarded with Norman's aunts; but 
 although residing under a different roof, he was in 
 every other respect one of the party. Principal 
 Shairp gives the following interesting reminiscences 
 of the time :
 
 1836 7. 87 
 
 " Norman was then a young divinity student and 
 had nearly completed his course in Glasgow College. 
 To him his father committed the entire care of the 
 three young men who lived in his house, and it was 
 arranged that I, living with his aunts, should be added 
 as a fourth charge. This I look back to as one of the 
 happiest things that befell me during all my early life. 
 Norman was then in the very hey-day of hope, energy, 
 and young genius. There was not a fine quality 
 which he afterwards displayed which did not then 
 make itself seen and felt by his friends, and that 
 youthfulness of spirit, which was to the last so de- 
 lightful, had a peculiar charm then, when it was set 
 off by all the personal attractions of two or three-and- 
 twenty. 
 
 " His training had not been merely the ordinary one 
 of a lad from a Scotch Manse, who has attended classes 
 in Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities. His broad 
 and sympathetic spirit had a far richer background 
 to draw upon. It was Morven and the Sound of 
 Mull, the legends of Skye and Dunvegan, and the 
 shore of Kintyre, that had dyed the first and inmost 
 feelings of childhood with their deep colouring. 
 Then as boyhood passed into manhood, came his 
 sojourn among Yorkshire squires, his visit to Ger- 
 many, and all the stimulating society of Weimar, on 
 which still rested the spirit of the lately-departed 
 Goethe. All these things, so unlike the common- 
 place experience of many, had added to his nature 
 a variety and compass which seemed wonderful, com- 
 pared with that of most young men around him. 
 Child of nature as he was, this variety of expe-
 
 88 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 rience had stimulated and enlarged nature in him, not 
 overlaid it. 
 
 " There were many bonds of sympathy between us 
 to begin with. First, there was his purely Highland 
 and Celtic blood and up-bringing ; and I, both from 
 my mother's and paternal grandmother's side, had 
 Celtic blood. The shores of Argyllshire were common 
 ground to us. The same places and the same people 
 many of them were familiar to his childhood and to 
 mine. And he and his father and mother used to 
 stimulate my love for that western land by endless 
 stories, legends, histories, jests, allusions, brought 
 from thence. It was to him, as to me, the region 
 of poetry, of romance, adventure, mystery, gladness, 
 and sadness infinite. Here was a great background 
 of common interest which made us feel as old friends 
 at first sight. Indeed, I never remember the time 
 when I felt the least a stranger to Norman. Se- 
 condly, besides this, I soon found that our likings 
 for the poets were the same. Especially were we at 
 one in our common devotion to one, to us the chief 
 of poets. 
 
 " I well remember those first evenings we used to 
 spend together in Glasgow. I went to No. 9, Bath 
 Street oftener Norman would come over to my room 
 to look after my studies. I was attending Professor 
 Buchanan's class ' Bob,' as we then irreverently 
 called him and Norman came to see how I had taken 
 my logic notes and prepared my essay, or other work 
 for next day. After a short time spent in looking over 
 the notes of lecture, or the essay, Norman would say, 
 ' I see vou understand all about it ; come, let's turn
 
 i8 3 6 7. 89 
 
 to Billy.' That was Ms familiar name for Words- 
 worth, the poet of his soul. 
 
 "Before coining to Glasgow I had come upon "Words- 
 worth, and in large measure taken him to heart. 
 Norman had for some years done the same. Our 
 sympathy in this became an immense bond of union. 
 The admiration and study of Wordsworth were not 
 then what they afterwards became a part of the 
 discipline of every educated man. Those who really 
 cared for him in Scotland might, I believe, have then 
 been counted by units. Not a professor in Glasgow 
 University at that time ever alluded to him. Those, 
 therefore, who read him in solitude, if they met 
 another to whom they could open their mind on the 
 subject, were bound to each other by a very inward 
 chord of sympathy. I wish I could recall what we 
 then felt as on those evenings we read or chaunted 
 the great lines we already knew, or shouted for joy 
 at coming on some new passage which was a delight- 
 ful surprise. Often as we walked out on winter 
 nights to college for some meeting of the Peel Club, 
 or other excitement, he would look up into the clear 
 moonlight and repeat 
 
 ' The moon doth \vith delight 
 Look round her when the heavens are bare ; 
 Waters on a starry night 
 Are beautiful and fair.' 
 
 Numbers of the finest passages we had by heart, and 
 would repeat to each other endlessly. I verily be- 
 lieve that Wordsworth did more for Norman, pene- 
 trated more deeply and vitally into him, purifying 
 and elevating his thoughts and feelings at their
 
 90 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 fountain-head, than any other voice of uninspired man, 
 living or dead. Second only to Wordsworth, Coleridge 
 was, of modern poets, our great favourite. Those 
 poems of his, and special passages, which have since 
 become familiar to all, were then little known in 
 Scotland, and had to us all the charm of a newly 
 discovered country. "We began then, too, to have 
 dealings with his philosophy, which we found much 
 more to our mind than the authorities then in vogue 
 in Glasgow College the prosaic Eeid and the long- 
 winded Thomas Brown. 
 
 " Long years afterwards, whenever I took up a 
 Scotch newspaper, if my eye fell on a quotation 
 from Wordsworth or Coleridge, * Here's Norman ' I 
 would say, and on looking more carefully, I would 
 be sure to find that it was he quoting in one of his 
 speeches some of the favourite lines of Glasgow days. 
 Norman was not much of a classical scholar ; Homer, 
 Virgil, and the rest, were not much to him. But I 
 often thought that if he had known them ever so well, 
 in a scholarly way, they never would have done for 
 him what Wordsworth did, would never have so entered 
 into his secret being and become a part of his very self. 
 Besides Wordsworth and Coleridge, there were two 
 other poets who were continually on his lips. Goethe 
 was then much to him ; for he was bound up in all 
 his recent Weimar reminiscences ; but I think that, 
 as life went on, Goethe, with his artistic isolation, 
 grew less and less to him. Shakespear, on the other 
 hand, then was, and always continued to be, an 
 unfailing resource. Many of the characters he used 
 to read and dilate upon with wonderfully realising
 
 1836 y 9' 
 
 power. Falstaff was especially dear to him. He 
 read Falstaff's speeches, or rather, acted them, as I 
 have never heard any other man do. He entered into 
 the very heart of the character, and reproduced the 
 fat old man's humour to the very life. 
 
 "These early sympathies, no doubt, made our friend- 
 ship more rapid and deep. But it did not need any 
 such bonds to make a young man take at once to 
 Norman. To see him, hear him, converse with him, was 
 enough. He was then overflowing with generous, 
 ardent, contagious impulse. Brimful of imagination, 
 sympathy, buoyancy, humour, drollery, and affection- 
 ateness, I never knew any one who contained in himself 
 so large and varied an armful of the humanities. 
 Himself a very child of Nature, he touched Nature 
 and human life at every point. There was nothing 
 human that was without interest for him; nothing 
 great or noble to which his heart did not leap up 
 instinctively. In those days, what Hazlitt says of 
 Coleridge was true of him, ' He talked on for ever, 
 and you wished to hear him talk on for ever.' Since 
 that day I have met and known intimately a good 
 many men more or less remarkable and original. Some 
 of them were stronger on this one side, some on that, 
 than Norman ; but not one of all contained in himself 
 such a variety of gifts and qualities, such elasticity, 
 such boundless fertility of pure nature, apart from 
 all he got from books or culture. 
 
 " On his intellectual side, imagination and humour 
 were his strongest qualities, both of them working on 
 a broad base of strong common sense and knowledge 
 of human nature. On the moral side, sympathy,
 
 92 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 intense sympathy, with all humanity was the most 
 manifest, with a fine aspiration that hated the mean 
 and the selfish, and went ont to whatever things were 
 most worthy of a man's love. Deep affectionateness 
 to family and friends affection that could not bear 
 coldness or stiff reserve, but longed to love and to be 
 loved, and if there was in it a touch of the old High- 
 land clannishness, one did not like it the less for that. 
 
 "His appearance as he then was is somewhat difficult 
 to recall, as the image of it mingles with what he was 
 when we last saw his face, worn and lined with care, 
 labour, and sickness. He was stout for a man 
 so young, or rather I should say only robust, yet 
 vigorous and active in figure. His face as full of 
 meaning as any face I ever looked on, with a fine 
 health in his cheeks, as of the heather bloom; his 
 broad, not high, brow smooth without a wrinkle, and 
 his mouth firm and expressive, without those lines 
 and wreaths it afterwards had : his dark brown, 
 glossy hair in masses over his brow. Altogether he 
 was, though not so handsome a man as his father at 
 his age must have been, yet a face and figure as 
 expressive of genius, strength, and buoyancy as I ever 
 looked upon. Boundless healthfulness and hopeful- 
 ness looked out from every feature. 
 
 " It was only a few weeks after my first meeting 
 with Norman that he, while still a student, made his 
 first public appearance. This was at the famous Peel 
 Banquet held in Glasgow in January, 1837. 
 
 " The students of the University, after rejecting Sir 
 Walter Scott, and choosing a succession of Whig 
 Hectors, had now, ; rery much through Norman's in-
 
 1836 7. 93 
 
 fluence, been brought to a better mind, and had elected 
 the great Conservative leader. He came down and 
 gave his well-known address to the students in the Hall 
 of the now vanished college. But more memorable 
 still was the speech which he delivered at the Banquet 
 given to him by the citizens of Glasgow and the in- 
 habitants of the west of Scotland. It was a great 
 gathering. I know not if any gathering equal to it 
 has since taken place in Glasgow. It marked the 
 rallying of the Conservative party after their discom- 
 fiture by the Eeform Bill of 1832. 
 
 "Peel, in a speech of between two and three 
 hours' length, expounded, not only to Glasgow, but to 
 the empire, his whole view of the political situation 
 and his own future policy. It was a memorable 
 speech, I believe, though I was too much of a boy 
 either to know or care much about it. Many other 
 good speeches were that night delivered, and among 
 them a very felicitous acknowledgement by Dr. Mac- 
 leod, of St. Columba, of the toast 'The Church of 
 Scotland.' But all who still remember that night 
 will recall as not the least striking event of the evening 
 the way in which Norman returned thanks for 
 the toast of the students of Glasgow University. I 
 think I can see him now, standing forth prominently, 
 conspicuous to the whole vast assemblage, his dark hair, 
 glossy as a black-cock's wing, massed over his fore- 
 head, the ' purple hue ' of youth on his cheek. They 
 said he trembled inwardly, but there was no sign of 
 tremor or nervousness in his look. As if roused by the 
 sight of the great multitude gazing on him, he stood 
 forth, sympathizing himself with all who listened, and
 
 94 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 confident that they sympathized with him and with 
 those for whom he spoke. His speech was short, plain, 
 natural, modest, with no attempt to say fine things. 
 Full of good sense and good taste, every word was to 
 the point, every sentence went home. Many another 
 might have written as good a speech, but I doubt 
 whether any young man then in Scotland could have 
 spoken it so well. From his countenance, bearing, and 
 rich, sweet voice, the words took another meaning to 
 the ear than they had when read by the eye. Peel 
 himself, a man not too easily moved, was said to have 
 been greatly impressed by the young man's utterance, 
 and to have spoken of it to his father. And well he 
 might be. Of all Norman's subsequent speeches on 
 platform, in pulpit, in banquet, and in assembly no 
 one was more entirely successful than that first simple 
 speech at the Peel Banquet. 
 
 " During the session that followed the banquet, the 
 Peel Club, which had been raised among the students 
 to carry Peel's election, and to perpetuate his then 
 principles, was in full swing, and Norman was the 
 soul of it. Many an evening I went to its meet- 
 ings in college, not as caring for its dry minutes of 
 business, but to hear the hearty and heart-stirring 
 impromptu addresses with which Norman animated 
 all that had else been commonplace. There are not 
 many remaining who shared those evenings, and 
 those who do remain are widely scattered ; but 
 they must look back to them as among the most vivid 
 and high-spirited meetings they ever took part in. 
 What a contrast to the dull routine of meetings 
 they have since had to submit to ! And the thing
 
 1836 7- 95 
 
 that made them so different was Norman's presence 
 there. 
 
 " But if these first public appearances were brilliant, 
 still more delightful was private intercourse with him 
 as he bore himself in his home. His father had such 
 entire confidence in him, not unmingled with fatherly 
 pride, that he entrusted everything to him. The 
 three boarders were entirely under Norman's care, and 
 he so dealt with them that the tutor or teacher 
 entirely disappeared in the friend and elder brother 
 of all, and of each individually. Each had a bed- 
 room to himself, in which his studies were carried 
 on; but all met in a common sitting-room which 
 Norman named ' The Coffee-room.' There, when 
 college work was over, sometimes before it was over, 
 or even well begun, we would gather round him, and 
 with story, joke, song, readings from some favourite 
 author Sir Thomas Browne's 'Eeligio Medici,' 
 Jeremy Taylor or some recitation of poetry, he 
 would make our hearts leap up. 
 
 " What evenings I have seen in that i coffee-room ! ' 
 Norman, in the grey-blue duffle dressing-gown, in 
 which he then studied, with smoking- cap on his head, 
 coming forth from his own reading-den to refresh 
 himself and cheer us by a brief bright quarter of an 
 hour's talk. He was the centre of that small 
 circle, and whenever he appeared, even if there was 
 dulness before, life and joy broke forth. At the 
 close of the first session I speak of 1836-37 the 
 party that gathered in the coffee-room changed. 
 MacConochie and Nairne went, and did not return ; 
 William Clerk remained ; and the vacant places were
 
 96 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 at the beginning of next session, 1837-38, filled by 
 three new comers Eobert (now Sir Eobert) Dalyell r 
 of Binns; James Home; and John Mackintosh, 
 the youngest son of Mackintosh of Geddes. There 
 were also two or three other students who boarded 
 elsewhere, but who were often admitted as visitors 
 to the joyous gatherings in the coffee-room. Among 
 these was Henry A. Douglas, afterwards Bishop 
 of Bombay. While all these young friends so loved 
 and admired Norman that it would be hard to say who 
 did so most a love which he seemed to return almost 
 equally to all John Mackintosh was no doubt the one 
 who laid the deepest hold on his heart. They were fitted 
 each to be the complement of the other. The serious, 
 devout, pure nature of John Mackintosh drew forth 
 from Norman reverence more than an elder usually 
 accords to a younger friend ; on the other hand, 
 Norman's deep and manly love of goodness and holi- 
 ness won John's confidence, while his hopeful aspira- 
 tion and joyousness did much to temper the tone of 
 John's piety, which verged somewhat on austerity. 
 I believe that their characters, so different yet 
 so adapted to respond to each other, were both of 
 them much benefited by the friendship then begun. 
 
 " John Mackintosh had at that time another friend, 
 who was also his tutor, William Burns, who soon 
 became the great revival preacher, and afterwards the 
 missionary to China. Between Norman and William 
 Burns, John used to live half-way in spirit. But I 
 don't think that Norman and Burns ever knew each 
 other intimately. Norman's mirth seemed to Burns 
 profanity, and Burns' rapt Calvinistic piety, that looked
 
 1836 7. 97 
 
 on laughter as sinful, seemed to Norman somewhat 
 too severe. In fact they were not then fitted to under- 
 stand each other. It was in this session of 1837-38 
 that the friendship of Norman with John, so fruitful 
 in results to hoth, first began. He himself w r as then 
 not a student, as he had received license in May, 
 1837, and was ordained in Loudoun in March, 
 1838 ; but until he settled in his parish he continued 
 under his father's roof, and in the same relationship 
 as formerly with the young men who wintered there. 
 The Church was then being greatly exercised by 
 those contentions which ended four years afterwards 
 in the Disruption. Norman took a lively interest in 
 these ; but from the first, both from temperament and 
 family tradition, sided with the party who opposed 
 the Non-Intrusionists. Not that Norman was in any 
 measure fitted by nature to be a Moderate of the 
 accepted type. His ardent and enthusiastic tempera- 
 ment could never have allowed him to belong to the 
 party. But in the aims and contendings of the Veto 
 men, he seemed from the first to discern the presence 
 of sacerdotal pretensions which he his whole life 
 long stoutly withstood. 
 
 " Before the close of the session of 1837-38, Norman 
 was appointed to the parish of Loudoun, in Ayr- 
 shire, and ordained as its minister. When the close 
 of our next and last session in Glasgow (1838-9) 
 arrived, he arranged that his old friends of the Coffee- 
 room should go down and pay him a visit in his 
 Manse at Loudoun on the first of May. The usual 
 winding-up of college had taken place in the morning, 
 and by the afternoon a merry party were seated on the 
 
 VOL. i. H
 
 98 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 top of the Ayrshire coach, making their way through the 
 pleasant conntry of Mearns, in Benfrewshire, towards 
 their friend's Manse. That party consisted of William 
 Clerk, Robert Dalyell, Henry Douglas, and myself. 
 For some reason or other, which I cannot now re- 
 member, John Mackintosh could not join the party. It 
 was a beautiful spring evening, and the green burn- 
 braes as we wound along laughed on us with their 
 galaxies of primroses. You may imagine what a 
 welcome we received when at evening we reached 
 the Manse door. We staid there three days, or 
 four. The weather was spring-like and delightful. 
 We wandered by the side of the Irvine Water, 
 and under the woods, all about Loudoun Castle, 
 and Norman was, as of old, the soul of the party. 
 He recurred to his old Glasgow stories, or told us 
 new ones derived from his brief experience of the 
 Ayrshire people, in whom, and in their characters, 
 he was already deeply interested. All day we spent 
 out of doors, and as we lay, in that balmy weather, on 
 the banks or under the shade of the newly budding 
 trees, converse more hearty it would be impossible to 
 conceive. And yet, there was beneath it an under- 
 tone of sadness; for we foreboded too surely what 
 actually has been fulfilled, that it was our last 
 meeting ; that they who met there should never again 
 all meet together on earth. There were, with the host, 
 five in that Loudoun party. I do not think that 
 more than two of them have since met at one time. 
 
 " On the last day of our wanderings, Norman, who 
 had hitherto kept up our spirits and never allowed a 
 word of sadness to mar the mirth, at last said sud-
 
 1836 7- 99 
 
 denly, as we were reclining in one of the Loudoun 
 Castle woods, ' Now, friends, this is the last time we 
 shall all meet together ; I know that well. Let us 
 have a memorial of our meeting. Yonder are a 
 number of primrose bushes. Each of you take up 
 one root with his own hands ; I will do the same ; 
 and we shall plant them at the Manse in remembrance 
 of this day.' So we each did, and carried home each 
 his own primrose bush. When we reached the 
 Manse, Norman chose a place where we should plant 
 them side by side.* It was all simple and natural, 
 yet a pathetic and memorable close of that delightful 
 early time. 
 
 " Early next morning we all left the Manse, and, I 
 believe, not one of us ever returned. It was as 
 Norman said. We went our several ways one to 
 Cambridge, two to Oxford ; but never again did 
 more than two of us forgather. 
 
 11 Two things strike me especially in looking back on 
 Norman as he then was. The first was, his joyous- 
 ness the exuberance of his joy joy combined with 
 purity of heart. We had never before known any 
 one who took a serious view of life, and was really 
 religious, who combined with it so much hearty hope- 
 fulness. He was happy in himself, and made all 
 others happy with whom he had to do. At least 
 they must have been very morose persons indeed who 
 were insensible to the contagion of his gladness. 
 
 * When Norman left Loudoun, he transplanted some of these 
 primrose roots, and put them opposite his study windows at Dal- 
 keith. The Loudoun Manso jonquils and favourite little 'rose de 
 Meaux' were also transplanted to Dalkeith, to revive the same 
 memories there as at Loudoun. 
 
 H 2
 
 ioo LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 " The second was the power, and vividness, and 
 activity of his imagination. He was at that time 
 1 of imagination all compact.' I have since that time 
 known several men whom the world has regarded as 
 poets ; but I never knew any one who contained in 
 himself so large a mass of the pure ore of poetry. I 
 have sometimes thought that he had then imagination 
 enough to have furnished forth half-a-dozen poets. 
 Wordsworth's saying is well known 
 
 ' Oh, many are the poets that are sown 
 By Nature : men endowed with highest gifts, 
 The vision and the faculty divine, 
 Yet wanting the accomplishment of verse.' 
 
 Coleridge, I think, has questioned this. But if 
 Wordsworth's words are, as I believe they are, true, 
 then Norman was pre-eminently a poet. He had the 
 innate power, but he wanted the outward accomplish- 
 ment of verse. Not that he wanted it altogether ; but 
 he had not in early youth cultivated it, and when 
 manhood came, the press of other and more practical 
 duties never left him time to do more than dash oft' 
 a verse or two, as it rose, spontaneously, to his lips. 
 Had he had the time and the will to devote himself to 
 poetry with that devotion which alone ensures suc- 
 cess, it was in him, I believe, to have been one of 
 the highest poets of our time. Often during an 
 evening in his study, or in a summer day's saunter 
 with him by a Highland loch, I have heard him pour 
 forth the substance of what might have been made 
 a great original creation thoughts, images, descrip- 
 tions, ranging through all the scale, from the sublime 
 to the humourous and the droll ; which, if gathered
 
 1836 7. ioi 
 
 up, and put into the outward shape of poetry, would 
 have been a noble poem. But he felt that he was 
 called to do other work. And it was well that he obeyed 
 the call as he did, and cast back no regretful look to 
 the poetry that he might have created." 
 
 It may be well here to explain a feature which, as 
 expressed in his journals, may appear strange to the 
 reader, but is quite characteristic of the man. There is 
 often such a rapid passing from * grave ' to ' gay,' and, 
 in his earlier years, such self-reproach for indulging in 
 things really innocent, that, in giving perfectly faith- 
 ful extracts, it has been found difficult to avoid 
 conveying an impression of harshness or unreality. 
 There was nothing more natural to him than so to 
 combine all tones of feeling, that those who knew 
 him felt no abrupt contrast between the mirthful and 
 the solemn. But, as it might be expected from his 
 sensitive conscientiousness, he did not at first recog- 
 nize the lawfulness of many things he afterwards 
 ' allowed himself ' without any sense of inconsistency. 
 It is accordingly interesting, biographically, to notice 
 the difference betwixt his youth and age in matters 
 like these, as well as the change which his opinions 
 underwent on many political and theological subjects. 
 
 From Ids JOURNAL :- 
 
 "Nov. \1tli. This last week being the one for electing 
 a Lord Rector, I was very busy, having been the leader of 
 the Peel party. We carried him by a majority of one 
 hundred. This caused me much excitement, and drew 
 my mind away from God.
 
 loz LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 " Sunday, 30th Nov. I intend by the grace of God to 
 throw off my natural indolence, and rise every morning 
 this winter at six o'clock. I study Hebrew, Greek, and 
 Church history every morning before breakfast ; chemistry, 
 anatomy, and natural history (my favourite study next to 
 divinity) during the day; logic, theology, reading, and 
 writing in the evening. 
 
 " Is a Christian not entitled to draw lessons of conduct 
 from natural religion interpreted by revealed ? May he not 
 study the final causes in his moral constitution ? What 
 then is the final cause of the sense of the ludicrous ? 
 
 "Saturday, 31st Dec., 1836. The passing of time is 
 enough to make a man ' tremble like a guilty thing.' I 
 feel as if I could compress what remains of the last year 
 into the thoughts of an hour. 
 
 "And, then, what reminiscences of the past! This 
 moment they are all gay in Weimar ! I see them all. 
 The thought is only momentary, and shines in my mind 
 like the last rays of an extinguished taper. 
 
 " Yes, I am changed. I have felt the transition. I 
 know it. 
 
 " The ideality of life soon vanishes, and can only be 
 renewed when new channels are formed for our affections. 
 But why do we not fix them on unfading objects ? 
 
 "March 5th. What a gap ! It is shameful. At a 
 time, too, when circumstances have occurred which I am 
 convinced must influence my life in no small degree. 
 
 11 When Peel came down there were great doings. I 
 spoke for the students at his dinner, and though I felt 
 considerably in addressing three thousand five hundred 
 people, yet, from the manner in which I was supported, I 
 got on well, and met with Peel's decided approbation. I 
 have had the honour also of being elected President of the 
 Peel Club. Because of these and other things, I have 
 fallen fearfully through with my studies, although my 
 having had no small part in bringing Peel here is enough 
 to give some value to my existence. 
 
 " Friday. I have just returned from Robert Dalglish's 
 ball ! a crowd. I have returned sick at heart. It is 
 my last bail ! And I heard the German waltzes played,
 
 7- I0 3 
 
 and my brain reeled. I shut my eyes. I was once more 
 with all my old Weimar friends ; when I opened them the 
 faces were the faces of strangers, and I could stand it no 
 longer, but left at twelve. I alone seemed sad. The 
 louder and more cheerful the music grew, the more deeply 
 melancholy I became. 
 
 "Sunday, 7th May, 1837. How life gallops! What 
 changes ! How we do hurry along from the days of 
 childhood to wild and imaginative youth, and then 
 gradually sober down to sedate manhood ! Only look at 
 the last page music and dancing ! and this page has 
 to record the most solemn event in my ' little history ' 
 that upon Wednesday last I was made a preacher of the 
 gospel, and to-day I preached my first sermon ! 
 
 " This is a nick, a point, in a man's life. It marks the 
 past and future. I only wish I could write my real state 
 of mind about it ! 
 
 " The goodness of God has been great, very great. If 
 it were not for His great love, I could not stand a minute. 
 But my own state has had this good effect, that it has 
 made me distrust myself and rely more on Christ. 
 I have got a most irritable temper. I have got a loose 
 way of talking and of using slang words, most unbecoming 
 my profession. I feel a much greater willingness to 
 overcome this habit since I have entered the clerical office. 
 
 " I went to church to-day with much prayer, and I was 
 wonderfully supported. I praise the Lord for it. I pray, 
 for Christ's sake, that I may be enabled to perform my 
 most arduous duties looking to Jesus. God in heaven, 
 keep me from courting popularity ! May I feel deeply, 
 most deeply, that I am Thy servant, doing Thy will, and 
 not seeking my own pleasure. May I never teach the 
 people a lie, but teach them Thy truth ! " 
 
 To his Aunt, MRS. MAXWELL : 
 
 May 8, 1837. 
 
 " Does the quality of a correspondent improve by age 
 like port wine or Highland whiskey ? Do his goods rise 
 in value the more rare they become ? Or does the value 
 of a gift increase with the dignity of the donor ? If you
 
 io4 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 reply in the affirmative to these queries then one of my 
 letters now is more to be esteemed than twenty hereto- 
 fore, for I am older, my goods are rarer, and my dignity 
 is increased ; for on Wednesday I passed gallantly from 
 the student state to that of the preacher, and yesterday 
 I ascended from the body of the church to its heart even 
 to the pulpit ! Aye, Jane, don't be horrified at seeing a 
 grey hair or two ! The thumping child has grown into a 
 thumping preacher, and you may soon have to submit 
 quietly to be scolded by him whom you used to drill into 
 manners and morals. ' Ochone ! ' as Coll would say, but 
 we do gallop down, or it may be up, with railway speed ! 
 I am actually beginning to get a glimpse of age myself. I 
 do not, however, as yet recognise him by his snowy locks 
 and tottering steps, but by his gaiters and white neckcloth. 
 I always had a horror I know not why at the transition 
 state of preacher. He is worse than nobody. He is 
 patronised by old maids, ' the dear, good old souls ; ' he is 
 avoided by the young ladies, for they know that he has 
 no principle and would jilt when convenient. He is cut by 
 the young men for his snobbish dress ; he is cut by the old, 
 for they know he will bore them for their interest. Young 
 ministers dislike him from pride (' set a beggar,' &c.) ; and 
 the old dislike him from fear ; they hate his voice as they 
 hate the cry of the owl, for ' it speaks of death ;' they 
 look on him as a young soldier looks on a vulture that is 
 watching his last breath in order to get a living. He is a 
 very nightmare to the manse ' a lad ' is the personi- 
 fication of all that is disagreeable. Such a being am I, 
 Jane, will you shelter me ? 
 
 " It is too bad to occupy so much room with so much 
 nonsense. I got on well yesterday, and now that the ice 
 is broken, I hope to get on still better. I am to preach 
 next Sunday in the Barony ; I then go to the Assembly, and 
 then I wish to go to Skye. 
 
 "Glen Morriston, Wednesday, 18th July, 1837, Tor- 
 goil Inn. [On a walking tour to Skye.] I have said 
 it often, and now again I say it in Torgoil, that I 
 hate travelling by myself! I think I should become a 
 mere animal if I were thus to be stalking about for
 
 1836 7- 10 5 
 
 a year and not a soul to speak to. Don't talk about 
 reflection one has too much of it. The whole day 
 it is a continued reflection upon oneself when to rest, 
 when to rise, how far it is to the inn, what shall be 
 taken, how much paid. And as for thought, why a 
 wallet and blistered feet are enough to crush it. Here 
 am I this very moment in a small, paltry place, in the 
 midst of a huge glen, the rain pouring in torrents and the 
 mountains covered with the wet mist ; the trees dripping, 
 the burn roaring, sheep-dogs crawling past the door, 
 liens in the entry, and barefooted and bare-legged boys 
 skelping through the mud. And within nothing to cheer. 
 In the first place a huge birch-bush in the grate, by way of 
 a novelty, half-a-dozen chairs stuck up like sentinels against 
 the wall, a stiff, ugly table, with a screen and a tea-tray 
 having landscapes and figures upon them, which, to say the 
 least, do not equal those of Claude Lorraine ; you pull the 
 bell, away comes a yard of wire, but no bell rings ; you 
 strike the table, and every dog rushes out barking ; you call 
 the girl, and she appears from the ' but,' and does what 
 you bid her do, but only when she pleases. But I must go 
 back on my previous route. (I just now lifted the window 
 to look out, and was nearly guillotined by its coming down 
 on my neck, not having observed a huge black peat which 
 lies beside it for supporting it on great occasions.) .... 
 
 " Retrospective. I believe I never wrote the reason of 
 my refusing to become a candidate for Anderston Church, 
 Glasgow. I was requested earnestly by one of the managers 
 (Stuart) to apply, and he had been written to by others 
 who had heard me preach in Gourock. I promised to preach, 
 but declined becoming a candidate upon the acknowledged 
 ground of unfitness. I consider that the town clergy 
 should be our bishops. They must be the leaders of the 
 Church in public matters, whether in regard to the internal 
 government of the Church, or its relation to the State. 
 How much knowledge is required to do this properly, and 
 as it ought to be done, by men who profess to act from 
 principle ! how much scientific reading on Church polity 
 and history ! The personal acquirements which a clergy- 
 man requires to fit him for such a public appearance, and
 
 106 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 also for occupying that commanding position in private 
 which he ought to take, are such as no young man can 
 have when his time is occupied, as it must be in town, by 
 other weighty matters still more intimately connected with . 
 his profession as, for instance, preaching. His audience 
 is in general very select, well informed, and though the 
 truths enforced are the same both in town and country, 
 yet how different are the media of communication ! This 
 abominable custom or necessity of letting seats, and thence 
 paying the minister, compels him to attend to this taste 
 however vitiated ; and I feel convinced that it never was 
 more vitiated than at present, owing perhaps to the system 
 of competition in Scotland, both for pulpits and for 
 churches, and against the dissenters. But the fact is, 
 that effort, and froth, and turgidity, and an attempt after 
 grand generalisations, are required to gain popularity the 
 ruling object of the mass. 
 
 "Nay, this emptiness of thought combined with high 
 swelling words arises from another cause the necessity 
 under which men are laid to preach not only two, but 
 sometimes three sermons every Sunday, without their 
 heads being so filled with divinity or their hearts with 
 Christian experience, as to enable them to give solid 
 teaching to their people. Now these and many other 
 difficulties are removed by having a country church. For 
 my own part, the fever and excitement of composing for 
 a town charge would at first kill me ; but let me only have 
 ten years' hard study in the country, and then, under God's 
 blessing, J may come into a town with advantage to the 
 cause ! 
 
 " Aug. 25th. Off to the hills ! Oh, what a walk I had 
 yesterday ! Never will I forget the green, the deep green 
 grassy top of the range of precipices. A vessel or two lay 
 like boys' boats on the water far below me as I sat on the 
 edge of the precipice, watching the waves breaking on the 
 rocks. A white sail or two was seen far to the north on the 
 edge of the horizon like a sea-gull. I never felt more in 
 my life the stillness of the air, broken only by the bleat of 
 the sheep, or the croak of the raven. The majesty of the 
 prospect, the solitude of the place, filled me with inexpres-
 
 1836 7- I0 7 
 
 sible delight. The truth was, I had started with depressed 
 feelings from having been very forgetful of God ; and upon 
 the top of a mountain I have always felt myself subdued to 
 silent meditation and prayer. On the present occasion I 
 poured out my soul in humble confession and adoration, 
 and words cannot tell the comfort which I felt, partly per- 
 haps the result of the strong feeling I was under, but much 
 of it truly substantial. Thrice did I sing the hundredth 
 Psalm, and at the second verse, ' Know that the Lord is 
 God indeed, without our aid He did us make/ I was quite 
 overpowered, and felt as if I spoke for the material universe 
 and dumb creatures around me. The giant Storr, with its 
 huge isolated peak, seemed to point to heaven in acknow- 
 ledgment of the truth. 
 
 " I felt as if I had one of those 
 
 ' Visitations from the living God, 
 
 In which my soul was filled with light, 
 With glory, with magnificence.' 
 
 "31s, Twelve, night. Loveliness and beauty! The 
 stars twinkling in the deep blue sky like the most bril- 
 liant diamonds, the hills dark and misty in the distance ! 
 The rivulets, inaudible by daylight, blending their notes 
 with the loud streams, and along the north a magnificent 
 aurora borealis, an object which ever fills me with intensest 
 pleasure. It makes me feel how much man's nature is 
 capable of feeling, and how the soul may be elevated or 
 overpowered through the external senses. How different 
 was the last night I was here Friday night ! What an 
 awful gale ! Whuss-ss-sh-hoo-hiss-sooo ! until I thought 
 the house would be down. Three boats were lost and 
 five people. One of them the last of four sons belonging 
 to a widow in Strath. Another was drowned last year 
 at the canal. 
 
 "Sept. 1st. I have this day been led to consider 
 seriously my spiritual state, and truly, when I remember 
 my advantages and all God has done for me, I can say that 
 it is very deplorable. There are certain daily habits which 
 for some weeks I have seen are wrong, yet where have 
 been my struggles to change them ? How have I shown
 
 io8 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 my faith by my works ? How frivolous have I been ! 
 My love of the ludicrous and of the absurd has daily car- 
 ried me away and made me behave quite unworthy of the 
 sobriety necessary for every Christian, far more, for my" 
 calling. ' Be ye sober.' Lord ! help me to keep this law. 
 
 " Yet I thank God that I am anxious yes, in my heart 
 I say it anxious to give up my besetting sins. 
 
 " Lord God Almighty, Thou who art of purer eyes 
 than to behold iniquity, most holy and most merciful 
 Father, Thou seest these my confessions, Thou knowest 
 whether they are sincere, Thou knowest the pride and 
 vileness of my heart. Oh, do Thou have mercy upon me 
 according to Thy loving-kindness, and according to Thy 
 tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Grant unto 
 me greater diligence in using the means of grace, and 
 power to resist temptation. May I enter not into tempta- 
 tion. Keep me, God, from rejoicing in anything which 
 belongs to myself ; but may every evidence of Thy love 
 lead me to rejoice in Thee alone. 
 
 "September Qth. By the grace of God I have been 
 enabled to wait upon Him, and seek Him more than I was 
 wont. It is an awful mistake to think that when we 
 conquer a sin it is beaten for ever. It is indeed invin- 
 cible we can only keep it from conquering us, and so 
 overcome it. I must be regular in the diligent use of 
 means, and God may bless them ; but I must also push on 
 and add one virtue to another. 
 
 " I find that my interest in the state of others is in 
 proportion as I am interested in my own. 
 
 " Yesterday, the 5th, I had one of the most delightful 
 excursions I ever had. 
 
 " The morning was beautiful: indeed it was not morning 
 when I rose from a feverish and night-marish sleep. A 
 few pale stars were yet to be seen in the sky, and the 
 ruddy glow in the east which told of the sun's approach 
 soon robbed them even of this ; and, except towards the 
 east, I could see no cloud in the sky. A few light, airy 
 wreaths of mist hung on the Coolins, which, dark and 
 massive and ragged, stretched like a strong saw across the 
 south. We were quickly on our way, after partaking of a
 
 7- 109 
 
 substantial breakfast and providing for the dinner. Soon 
 the east became most beautiful clouds, fringed with 
 brightest gold feathery borders, and in more compact 
 masses, gathered round the sun a flaming retinue ; and 
 soon he opened an eye in heaven and peeped over the 
 eastern hills and thrust forth his ' golden horns.' And the 
 tops of the Coolins seemed tipped with gold, and the 
 shadows became more distinct, and light glittered on the 
 calm sea. The vessels that lay under the rocks were 
 hardly visible, while their masts and tackling were in clear 
 relief against the burning sky and water. The effect was 
 precisely such as I have often admired in the ' Morning ' 
 pictures of Claude Lorraine. 
 
 "Away we went, and as the sun got higher and 
 higher we left the high road and entered Glen Sligachan. 
 What a glen ! With the inimitable peak of Coolin on one 
 side, and on the other the sugar-loafed Marscow. 
 
 " But get on ! at three miles an hour, hardly a path, 
 and now in the centre of the glen, five miles from any 
 house. Stand ! and say what is Glencoe to this ! A low 
 range conceals Coolin ; but see the high peaks appearing 
 beyond, and up that corry what a mighty wall of jagged 
 peaks is spread along its top ! But Blabheinn which is close 
 by, is unsurpassed. It appears a great trap dyke, about a 
 thousand feet high, with an edge above, cut and hacked in 
 every shape and form. Bare, black to the top, apparently 
 not a goat could stand on a yard of it I question if a fly 
 could. And there the lovely little lake at its feet is ever 
 condemned to lie in its shadow. But, having left our 
 horses at Cambusiunary, we ascended by a rough road to 
 a pass, from which we obtained a view of Coruisk. The 
 ascent was difficult. Wilson being a bad walker, I was up 
 nearly half an hour before him besides, I wished to 
 behold Coruisk alone ; and as I ascended the last few 
 blocks of stone which intercepted my view I felt my heart 
 beat and my breathing becoming thicker than when I 
 was climbing for I had rested before in order to enjoy 
 the burst undisturbed and a solemn feeling crept over me 
 as I leapt on the crest of the hill, and there burst upon 
 my sight shall I attempt to describe it ? How dare I ?
 
 i io LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 Around me were vast masses of hypersthene, and the 
 ridge on which I stood was so broken and precipitous 
 that I could not follow its descent to the valley. At my 
 feet lay the lake, silent and dark, and round it a vast 
 amphitheatre of precipices. The whole Coolins seemed 
 gathered in a semi-circle round the lake, and from their 
 summits to their base not a blade of verdure but one 
 bare, black precipice, cut into dark chasms by innumer- 
 able torrents, and having their bases covered by debris 
 and fallen rocks. Nothing could exceed the infinite 
 variety of outline peaks, points, teeth, pillars, rocks, ridges, 
 edges, steps of stairs, niches utter wildness and sterility. 
 From this range there are gigantic projections standing out 
 and connected with the main body. And there lay the 
 lake, a part hidden from our view, behind a huge rock. 
 
 "There it lay, still and calm, its green island like a 
 green monster floating on its surface. I sat and gazed ; 
 ' my spirit drank the spectacle.' I never felt the same 
 feeling of the horribly wild no, never ; not even in the 
 Tyrolese Alps. There was nothing here to speak of life 
 or human existence. ' I held my breath to listen for a 
 sound, but everything was hushed ; it seemed abandoned 
 to the spirit of solitude.' A few wreaths of mist began to 
 creep along the rocks like ghosts. Laugh at super- 
 stition for coupling such scenes with witches and water 
 kelpies ! I declare I felt superstitious in daylight there. 
 Oh, to see it in a storm, with the clouds under the spur 
 of a hurricane, raking the mountain summit ! 
 
 " ' The giant snouted crags ho ! ho ! 
 How they snort and how they blow ! ' 
 
 " ' Ach, die langen Felsennasen 
 
 Wie sie schnarchen, wie sie hlasen ! ' 
 
 " I shall never forget my visit ! It will fill the silent 
 eye the bliss of solitude ; it will come ' about the 
 beating of my heart/ and its wild rocks may be connected 
 with moral feeling and 'tranquil restoration.' 'The tall 
 rock' may ecase 'to haunt me like a passion,' but its 
 influence shall never die. And the joyous, oh ! the pas- 
 sionate, hours I have spent this summer in the lovely
 
 1836 ;. MI 
 
 mountains in Skye will ever influence my feelings, and, 
 under the guidance of higher principles, they may, I trust, 
 be blessed for good, and help in being the ' Muses of my 
 moral being.' I thank as on the mountains I generally 
 do I thank God for all His kindness, and pray I may ever 
 be grateful for it. 
 
 " Thursday night, Sept. 7th. To-morrow I start, D.V., 
 for Fiunary. My time here has been spent delightfully 
 though not so usefully as it might have been. My journal 
 will tell what hours of joy I have spent among the moun- 
 tains. Never shall they be forgotten. 
 
 " How dreary is parting what a sickness at the 
 heart ! how melancholy sounds that wind ! Oh, what a 
 joy when there will be no parting ! 
 
 "Fiunary, llth Sept. I left Portree early on Tuesday 
 morning. The fiery sunrise, the huge masses of greenish- 
 greyish-darkish clouds, the scattered catspaws and mare's 
 tails, the rising breeze, and the magnificent rainbows 
 which spanned sea and mountains, all told that our pas- 
 sage would probably be a rough one. And so it was. 
 The wind rapidly increased, until, as we left the shelter of 
 the land at Armadale it blew a stiff breeze right ahead. 
 What a striking view had we to leeward when plunging 
 on towards the point of Ardnamurchan ! The sun was 
 almost setting, 'the day was well-nigh done,' and along 
 the horizon was a plain of red light ; this was broken by 
 the Scuir of Eig, which appeared in magnificent relief, 
 and seemed to support on its summit the midnight belt of 
 clouds which formed an upper and parallel stratum to the 
 ruddy belt below. Through these dark clouds the sun was 
 shooting silver beams, beneath which the waves were seen 
 holding their 'joyous dance' along the line of the horizon. 
 I remained on deck until we reached Tobermory. I lay 
 on the tarpaulin, and, half-asleep, watched the mast of 
 the steamer wandering along the stars which now shone 
 in unclouded brilliancy. 
 
 "Yesterday preached at Kiel.* It was a strange thing 
 to preach there ! As I went to the church hardly a stone 
 
 * The name of one of the parish churches of Morven. ,
 
 i iz LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 or knoll but spoke of ' something which Avas gone,' and past 
 days crowded upon me like the ghosts of Ossian, and seemed, 
 like them, to ride even on the passing wind and along the 
 mountain tops. And then to preach in the same pulpit where 
 once stood a revered grandfather and father ! What a mar- 
 vellous, mysterious world is this, that I, in this pulpit, the 
 third generation, should now, by the grace of God, be keeping 
 the truth alive on the earth, and telling how faithful has been 
 the God of our fathers ! How few faces around me did I 
 recognise ! In that seat once sat familiar faces the 
 faces of a happy family ; they are all now, a few paces off, 
 in a quiet grave. How soon shall their ever having existed 
 be unknown ? And it shall be so with myself ! 
 
 " Oct. 3rd, Glasgow, night. Here I am once more in 
 my old study. Was it a dream ? Nature never appeared 
 more lovely; never in youth did I hail her with more 
 rapture never did I feel ' the tall rock haunt me more 
 like a passion.' 
 
 " Nov. 3rd. I have got the parish of Loudoun. Eternal 
 God I thank thee through Jesus Christ, and, under the 
 guidance of the Holy Spirit, I devote myself to Thy ser- 
 vice for the advancement of Thy glory and kingdom. 
 
 "These words I write this day the moment I hear 
 of my appointment. I again solemnly say, Amen. I have 
 got a parish ! the guidance of souls to heaven ! I shall 
 at the last day have to tell how I performed my duties 
 part of my flock will go to the left ; part, I trust, to the 
 right. I, their pastor, shall see this ! I am set to gather 
 lambs to Christ. What a responsibility ! I do not feel 
 it half enough ; but I pray with all my soul, heart, and 
 strength that the Great Shepherd may never forsake me. 
 Without Him I can do nothing ; with Him I can do all 
 things. 
 
 " Oh, my Father, my kind and merciful Father, Thou 
 who art my Creator and Preserver and Redeemer, I this 
 day, before Thee, declare my willingness to make my soul 
 and parish part of Thy everlasting kingdom. Accept of 
 my deepest thanks for Thy kindness until now. Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost be with me until the day of my 
 death ; purify, strengthen me, and give me from the
 
 1836 7- IJ 3 
 
 infinite riches of Thy grace power to be a faithful minister 
 and to turn many people from darkness to light. Into 
 Thy hand I commit my soul ! 
 
 "I had an address, a kind address, from Darvel, in 
 Loudoun, to-day, which gave me much encouragement. I 
 feel an affection for the parish already. May the Lord 
 grant in His mercy that I may go for the promoting of 
 His glory."
 
 CHAPTEE YII. 
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 
 
 " T OUDOUN'S bonny woods and braes," among 
 J-J which he was to spend the next five years of 
 his life, stretch in picturesque variety for about six 
 miles along the banks of the Irvine "Water. At the 
 lower end of the parish the towers of Loudoun Castle 
 peer over the thick foliage of the surrounding park, 
 while at the other extreme Loudoun hill, rising in bold 
 solitude like another Ailsa Craig, closes in the rich 
 valley, and separates it from the dreary moor of 
 Drumclog. 
 
 On the recommendation of Dr. Chalmers, Norman 
 Macleod was asked to preach at Loudoun during the 
 vacancy caused by the death of the previous minister, 
 and the Dowager Marchioness of Hastings, widow of 
 the celebrated Governor-General of India, who was 
 then patron of the parish, resolved, after very careful 
 deliberation, to present him to the living. He was 
 accordingly ordained as its minister on the 15th March, 
 1838, and entered on his new duties with a humble 
 and resolute heart. 
 
 He was but a short time in the parish before he 
 saw that he had difficult work before him. The popu-
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 115 
 
 lation numbered upwards of four thousand, of whom 
 a small proportion were farmers and farm-workers, 
 and the rest hand-loom weavers residing in the large 
 villages of Newmilns and Darvel. Both farmers and 
 weavers were of a most interesting type. Not a few 
 of the former were Covenanters, and some were on 
 lands which had been tenanted by their families 
 since the twelfth century. The traditions of Drum- 
 clog and Bothwell Brig were still freshly repeated 
 at their firesides, and swords and pistols that had done 
 service against Claverhouse were their treasured heir- 
 looms. The weavers were of a totally different stamp, 
 being keen politicians, and, as a rule, advanced radicals. 
 Their trade was being gradually extinguished by 
 the great factories, and the men were consequently 
 poor ; but they were full of enthusiasm, fond of read- 
 ing, and had that quaint intelligence, strongly coloured 
 with self-conceit, which was characteristic of the old 
 race of Scotch websters. Most of them were keen 
 Chartists, some violent infidels, who, with Tom Paine 
 as their text-book, were ready for argument on any 
 question of Church or State. The morality of the 
 parish was at the same time very low, and vital god- 
 liness was a rarity. 
 
 While living in lodgings at Newmilns till his 
 Manse should be ready for his reception, he was 
 shocked by the amount of profanity and coarseness 
 which met eye and ear, as well as surprised at the 
 keen interest taken by the people in public questions. 
 Political debate seemed to be carried on at every corner. 
 The groups gathered here and there in the street, or 
 the crowds clustered on the ' Green ' round a tree, 
 
 i 2
 
 u6 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 under whose branches a village demagogue was 
 haranguing about the Charter or the Corn Laws, dis- 
 played an excitement which is usually reserved for 
 a parliamentary election. There was something hope- 
 ful, however, in all this life and stir, which, notwith- 
 standing its association with scepticism and religious 
 indifference, did not fail to impress his mind. 
 
 The work in which he first engaged was careful 
 house to house visitation, recording as he went along 
 the circumstances of every family with great minute- 
 ness, and his impressions of individual character. He 
 at the same time opened classes and organized a Sab- 
 bath school ; and in order to meet the case of those 
 who excused themselves from going to church at the 
 ordinary hour of worship on account of having no 
 suitable clothing, he commenced special evening ser- 
 vices. He made also a determined stand for the strict 
 exercise of church discipline, believing that, if good 
 for nothing else, it would at all events serve to raise 
 the tone of public opinion as to the character of cer- 
 tain sins which were too lightly regarded. 
 
 This energetic action of the young minister excited 
 at once hearty sympathy and hearty opposition. The 
 church was crowded, and he was soon encouraged 
 by learning that his labours were not without effect. 
 On the other hand, the Chartists were not a little 
 suspicious of the growing influence of the * Tory ' 
 clergyman although he meddled little with politics 
 and the semi-infidels were thoroughly roused into 
 opposition. Some of the most violent of these two 
 parties would have put an end, if they could, to his 
 evening services, and attended them for the purpose
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 117 
 
 of creating disturbance. One Sunday he bore with 
 the interruption they gave him ; on the next he remon- 
 strated j but this failing, he turned to the people 
 who had come to hear him told them that he had 
 undertaken extra labour for their benefit, and added, 
 that if they wished him to go on they must expel 
 those who disturbed him. He then sat down in 
 the pulpit. After a pause, a number of men rose, 
 and ejected the intruders. This firmness served 
 greatly to strengthen his influence in the parish : 
 those who had scoffed loudest came to appreciate his 
 earnestness, and not a few sceptics were among the 
 most sincere of his converts. Among other means 
 employed by him for reaching the more intelligent of 
 the would-be philosophers, who stood aloof from 
 Christianity, he brought his previous study of natural 
 science into requisition, and gave a series of lectures 
 on geology, which by their eloquence, as well as by 
 the amount of well-digested information they con- 
 tained, told with great effect. In this manner he 
 gradually became master of a difficult position, and 
 won an enthusiastic attachment from the parishioners 
 which has never declined. 
 
 There were two dissenting churches in the parish, 
 with whose excellent ministers, Mr. Bruce and Mr. 
 Eogerson, he maintained a life-long friendship. One 
 of these congregations met at Darvel and consisted of 
 Covenanters avowing a refreshingly stern morality, 
 and combining with it articles of faith, especially in 
 reference to the observance of the Sabbath, as quaint 
 as they are now rare. He had thus extremes, from 
 Covenanter to Chartist, to deal with ; and between the
 
 u8 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 two many amusing phases of character presented them- 
 selves to his observation. On his first ' diet of visita- 
 tion ' at Darvel, he called on an old pauper woman who 
 was looked upon as a great light among the Covenan- 
 ters. When he entered the house he found her grasp- 
 ing her tin ear-trumpet (for she was very deaf), and 
 seated formally in the midst of a group of neighbours 
 and co-religionists summoned to meet him. Unlike his 
 other parishioners she did not at first acknowledge him 
 as minister, but, beckoning him to sit down beside her, 
 and putting the trumpet to her ear, said, ' Gang ower 
 the fundamentals ! ' and there and then he had to bawl 
 liis theology till the old dame was satisfied, after which 
 he received a hearty welcome as a true ambassador of 
 Christ. 
 
 In contrast with this type of parishioner, he used 
 to refer to a well-known Chartist, who lived in the 
 usual little cottage consisting of a lut containing 
 the loom, and of a ben containing the wife. Met at 
 the door of this man's cottage, by the proposal, that 
 before proceeding further they should come to an 
 understanding upon the l seven points,' he agreed to 
 this only on condition that the pastoral visit should 
 first be received. Minister and Chartist then sat down 
 on the bench in front of the door, and the weaver, with 
 shirt-sleeves partly turned up and showing holes at 
 the elbows, his apron rolled round his waist, and a 
 large tin snuff-mull in his hand, into whose extreme 
 depth he was continually diving for an emphatic pinch, 
 propounded with much pompous phraseology his 
 favourite political dogmas. When he had concluded, 
 he turned to the minister and demanded an answer.
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 119 
 
 ' In my opinion,' was the reply, ' your principles would 
 drive the country into revolution, and create in the 
 long-run national bankruptcy.' 'Nay tion al bank- 
 ruptcy ! ' said the old man meditatively, and diving 
 for a pinch. "Div ye think sae?' Then, briskly, 
 after a long snuff, ' Dod ! I'd risk it ! ' The naivete of 
 this philosopher, who had scarcely a sixpence to lose, 
 ' risking ' the nation for the sake of his theory, was 
 never forgotten by his companion. 
 
 About this time a Universalist, noted for his argu- 
 mentativeness, resolved to heckle the young minister. 
 Macleod first questioned him on the precise nature 
 of his belief in universal salvation. ' Do you really 
 assert that every person, good and bad, is saved, 
 and that, however wicked they may have been on 
 earth, all are at once, when they die, received 
 into glory?' 'Most certainly,' replied the man. 
 'A great and merciful Father must forgive every 
 sinner. He is too good not to make all His creatures 
 happy.' ' Then why do you not cut your throat ? ' 
 ' Cut my throat ! ' exclaimed his astonished visitor, 
 1 1 have duties to fulfil in the world.' ' Certainly ; 
 but it seems to me that if your views are right your 
 highest duty is to send every one to heaven as fast as 
 possible. On your principles every doctor should be 
 put in jail, and the murderer honoured as a bene- 
 factor.' The effect of this argumentum ad absurdum 
 was not only to convince the man of the extravagance 
 of his beliefs, but to lead him shortly afterwards to 
 become a communicant. 
 
 His frank, manly bearing, his devotion to his work, 
 and his tact and skill in dealing with every variety of
 
 izo LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 character, rendered his personal influence as powerful 
 as his pupil teaching. Yet the work seemed for a 
 long time weary and disappointing. He often returned 
 to the Manse so utterly cast down by the conviction 
 that he was doing no good, that he would talk of giving 
 up & profession for which he did not seem fit. It was 
 only when he was about to leave the parish that he 
 fully saw how mistaken he had been in his estimate of 
 himself. The outburst of feeling from many of those 
 whom he had looked upon as utterly indifferent, and 
 the thanks heaped upon him for the good he had done, 
 surprised and humbled him. It was not till the last 
 week, not almost till the last Sabbath of his ministry 
 in Loudoun, that he was in the least aware of the 
 extent to which his work had prospered. 
 
 "With several families in the neighbourhood he en- 
 joyed the most friendly intercourse. Among these 
 were the Craufurds of Craufurdland and the Browns 
 of Lanfine ; but the home which, for many reasons, 
 afforded him some of his happiest, as well as 
 most trying, hours was Loudoun Castle. Nothing 
 could have exceeded the confidence which the vener- 
 able Countess of Loudoun and her daughters, the 
 Ladies Sophia* and Adelaide Hastings, placed in 
 him. They not only honoured him with their friend- 
 ship and brightened his life by letting him share the 
 society of the interesting people who visited the 
 castle, but they also accorded him the privilege of 
 being of use and comfort to them in many trying hours 
 in their family history. 
 
 His domestic life at this time was of the freshest. 
 
 * Afterwards Marchioness of Bute.
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 121 
 
 His Manse was pitched on the snmmit of a wooded 
 brae, beneath which ran the pnblic road, and behind 
 it lay the glebe, with a sweet burn forming a 
 sequestered and lovely liaugh. His natural taste 
 for flowers ripened here into a passion, which 
 was in no small degree inflamed by an enthusiastic 
 gardener whose hobby was pansies and dahlias. 
 Often on a summer morning, early as the song of the 
 lark, might the shrill voice of old Arnot be heard 
 as, bending over a frame, he discussed with the 
 minister the merits of some new bloom. A pretty 
 flower-garden was soon formed, and a sweet summer- 
 house, both destined to be associated, in the minds 
 of many, with the recollection of conversations full 
 of suggestive ideas as to social, literary, or religious 
 questions, and enriched with marvellous bits of 
 humourous personification, and glimpses of deep 
 poetic feeling. 
 
 Soon after he went to Loudoun his sister Jane 
 came to reside with him, and continued for eleven 
 years under his roof, his very 'alter Ego,' sharing 
 his every thought, possessing his inmost love and 
 confidence, and exercising the best influence on 
 all his feelings. His habit was to rise early and 
 devote the morning and forenoon to hard study, 
 usually carried on in a room darkened so as to 
 prevent distraction from outside objects. His studies 
 were chiefly theology and general literature, his 
 sermons being often delayed till late in the week. 
 He devoted the afternoon, and frequently the evening, 
 to parochial work, especially when visiting among the 
 farmers, who followed the good old Scotch habit of
 
 122 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 hospitably entertaining the minister when he went to 
 their houses. These kindly meetings his ' movable 
 feasts,' as he called them gave him an excellent oppor- 
 tunity of becoming well acquainted with each house- 
 hold in the ' land- ward ' parish. But when he was 
 at home, the evenings were usually spent in the enjoy- 
 ment of music, in reading aloud, or in playing a game 
 of chess with his sister. Highland pibrochs, and reels, 
 and Gaelic songs, alternated with such old ballads as 
 ' Sir Patrick Spens,' i The Arethusa,' i Admiral Ben- 
 bow ; ' then came snatches of German song, some 
 Weimar-recalling waltz of Strauss, or the grand 
 sonatas of Beethoven or Mozart. It was his delight 
 to read aloud. Shakespear and Scott, and especially 
 such characters as Jack Falstaff and Cuddy Headrigg, 
 were his favourites ; and as at this time Dickens was 
 issuing the ' Old Curiosity Shop ' and * Barnaby 
 Rudge,' nothing could exceed his excitement as some 
 new part of the story of Little Nell or of Dolly 
 Yarden arrived. Wordsworth, however, was his 
 chief delight, and few days passed without some 
 passage from his works being selected for meditation. 
 But in the midst of all his cares and studies, he 
 retained not only a boy's heart, but a love of boyish 
 fun perfectly irresistible. When his old friend, Sir 
 John Campbell of Kildaloig, who had been at sea 
 most of his life, came to spend a winter with him, 
 the two friends used to indulge in many a sailor 
 prank from the sheer love both had for the brine. 
 The dinner-bell was rigged up as on shipboard, and 
 at mid-day Sir John struck eight bells as solemnly as 
 if the watch had to be changed. Then
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 123 
 
 suddenly emerging from his study, would greet him 
 with a run of sailor lingo, and voice, gait, countenance, 
 the rolling of an imaginary quid in his cheek, became 
 thoroughly nautical. A sham ' observation ' was 
 taken, and after a hearty laugh the door was' shut, 
 and he returned to hard study once more. 
 
 These five years at Loudoun were the very spring- 
 time of his ministerial life. Full of romantic dreams, 
 and overflowing with hopeful enthusiasm, he seemed 
 
 "To hear his days before him, and the tumult of his life." 
 
 Many a conviction was then formed, which afterwards 
 germinated into notable action on the larger field of his 
 future career, and many a line of thought became fixed, 
 determining his after course. That sweet Manse-life, 
 and the warm attachment of the parishioners, shed to 
 the very last a halo, as of first love, over l dear, dear 
 Loudoun.' 
 
 From his JOURNAL, : 
 
 " Dec. Zlth, 1837. I preached last Sunday at Loudoun, 
 and I believe gave satisfaction. I have every reason to 
 believe that no veto will be attempted. 
 
 " Loudoun, Dec. 31, 1837. Sunday Night, 11 o clock. 
 'The year is waning.' In an hour, 1838 will have 
 arrived. Let me think ! 
 
 " This very time five years ago I was with dear James ! 
 Yes, dear boy, I remember you. I believe you are in 
 heaven. Are you looking upon me now, Jamie ? Are 
 you looking with anxiety upon me, and longing to 
 see me obtain the victory and be with yourself and our 
 dear sister in heaven along with our beloved Saviour ! 
 By his grace that victory will be obtained. Yes, I 
 have vowed to fight, and in God's strength I shall conquer. 
 I will trust in Him, who is the same yestercLoy, to-day, and
 
 124 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 for ever. Dearest, we shall all meet. I know it. I be- 
 lieve it. Lord, help my unbelief ! 
 
 " Into Thy hands, O God, this night, I commit my spirit 
 in stepping into the future 1838. 
 
 " Jan. 14&. Have heard this day from Loudoun, that 
 yesterday my call was moderated and there was not one 
 objector. This is certainly pleasant and most gratifying. 
 
 " East Kilbride Manse, Sunday Evening, 4<th Feb. 
 " I have been reading the Memoirs of the Eev. C. Wolff, 
 the poet. He was a fine fellow. There is something very 
 affecting in his whispering to his sister, who was bending 
 over him as he was dying ' Close this eye, the other is 
 closed already, and now farewell ! ' 
 
 " March 12th, Sunday. This is the last day I shall pro- 
 bably ever preach as a mere preacher. I have not yet 
 been a year licensed, and upon Thursday first I expect, 
 D.V., to be ordained. 
 
 " How awful is the tide of time ! 
 
 " Thank God from my heart that for some time past I 
 have been endeavouring to see Christ as all in all. But 
 when I look forward to my ordination, it is very, very 
 solemn. As the day approaches, I feel a shrinking 
 from it. It is first of all a fearful responsibility, and then 
 I have not one suitable sermon which I can give the 
 Sunday after my induction, and no lecture of any kind ! 
 The very intellectual labour terrifies me. I pray to be 
 supported by God. 
 
 " March 15th. How shall I begin this day's diary? 
 What reflections shall I make, what thoughts shall I 
 express when I state the fact that I WAS THIS DAY 
 
 ORDAINED A MINISTER OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND ? 
 
 " This indeed is a point in a man's life, an awful division 
 of time ! 
 
 " But what are my feelings ? 
 
 " I bless my Father and my Saviour for the love shown 
 to me. I was enabled to have sweet communion with God. 
 Before going into the church, and while kneeling beneath 
 the hands of the Presbytery, I was, by God's assistance, 
 enabled to devote heartily my soul and body to the service 
 of my parish, which I trust may be accepted."
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOVN. 125 
 
 To the Rev. A. CLERK : 
 
 NEWMILNS, March 25, 1838. 
 
 "I was ordained here on the 15th. You know what 
 an awful thing it is. I feel as if the weight of those hands 
 was still upon my head, crushing me with responsibility. 
 But it was a delightful scene. Never was a more unani- 
 mous, a more hearty welcome, and with real good-will was 
 my hand shaken, from the marchioness to the pauper. 
 Dr. Black (Barony) introduced me. I got well over my 
 first sermon, ' Now are we ambassadors.' Once or twice 
 nearly overcome ; and this day I have preached twice. I 
 have been, then, in the parish a week, have been over it 
 all, visited each day from ten till five ; and what do I 
 think of it? Why, that it is in a terrible state very 
 terrible ! Its population is four thousand. The rural 
 part is good and respectable, and so is Darvel because 
 there a most admirable, intelligent, well-read, kind-hearted, 
 frank, godly man, a Covenanting minister, has been, who 
 goes into every good work with heart and soul, and ' loes 
 me as a verra brither.' But Newmilns ! What a place ! 
 I am now in clean, comfortable lodgings. I am acquainted 
 with the real state of things. Never, never, was there 
 such desecration of the Lord's Day : dozens and dozens of 
 lads walking about and trespassing on fields, and insulting 
 the people and fearing neither God nor man. A large pro- 
 portion of the population are born before marriage ! The 
 mass of the youth are sent to work before they can read, 
 and in a few years are independent of their parents. In short, 
 between drunkenness and swearing and Sabbath-breaking, 
 the village is in a dreadful state and may God have 
 mercy on it ! There is in all the parish an awful want of 
 spiritual religion. The Hastings family are the most 
 delightful I meet with. I am there as in my own home, 
 and the time I spend with them is the happiest in the 
 week. I do love them. But what, Archy, is to be done ? 
 Well, this much I will say that I trust God has given me a 
 deep-felt conviction of my utter inability to do anything. 
 (At this very moment you would think a school was coming 
 out, from the noise in the street !) I was going on to say
 
 126 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 that while on the one hand I am cast entirely on Him for 
 help, yet I am also led to use all the means in my power 
 to effect a change. I have been enabled boldly, in private 
 and public, to exhort and rebuke and speak the truth. 
 I have already visited a good deal and, as far as I could, 
 preached Christ. I rise at six and write till nine I must 
 do this. Till five I am at the disposal of my parish ; from 
 that till ten I read and write. I begin upon Wednesday 
 family visitation in this village. I will only attempt two 
 days a week, and two hours each day ; but I must, as 
 soon as possible, get acquainted with the people, so as, 
 under God, to try and put a stop to this monstrous 
 wickedness. I will next year catechise. One thing I am de- 
 termined to make a stand on, and that is church privileges. 
 As far as the law will permit me I will go and further if I 
 can. I am eagerly desirous to get family worship esta- 
 blished of that there seems not to be a vestige, except 
 among the Cameronians, and there every family has it. I 
 can hardly make it as yet a sine qua non for baptism, but 
 I will very nearly do it, and soon I think I shall. I have 
 only four elders. The church does not hold the communi- 
 cants ; it is, of course, crammed. There are no good Sab- 
 bath Schools, no Bible societies. The assessments amour t 
 to about 200 a year. Oh, that the Lord would pour His 
 Spirit out on the dry and thirsty ground ! He can do it 
 and I pray, for Christ's sake, that He may do it, for I feel 
 as fit to change the course of the sun as the hearts of this 
 people. But what a heart I have myself ! Oh, my dear . 
 friend, you know me well, you will help me, will you 
 not, with your prayers and with your advice ? " 
 
 From his JOTIRNAI, : 
 
 " My Manse is very beautiful. I am making many 
 changes in the grounds. The birds are beginning to sing. 
 ' They are busy in the wood ; ' and it calms me to sit in the 
 woods and listen to them for if God is so kind to them, 
 and fills them with so much happiness, I feel assured he 
 will never forget a minister in the church of his dear Son, 
 unless he forgets Him.
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 127 
 
 " This is the first day I have fairly begun work in my 
 
 parish. I studied from five to nine. Visited T 
 
 P . He seems dying. He was the first sick person I 
 
 have ever visited. I spoke to him by himself ; found him, 
 I think, indifferent. He admitted the truth of all I said, 
 but I could not get him to close with the offers of Christ. 
 It is my delight and comfort to expatiate on the fulness 
 and freeness of the Gospel without money and without 
 
 price ; for I find, as I did with P , that they will not 
 
 accept of Christ without bringing something to Him. 
 And while they are willing to say that He is a Saviour, 
 they will not say He is their Saviour. I spoke to him as 
 solemnly as I could, urging him to accept Christ as He 
 was, and to come to Him as he was even as he would 
 have to answer to God ! 
 
 " March 20th. A. M , a perfect specimen of a 
 
 deist at one time an atheist, at another a deist 
 knowing nothing, believing nothing ; harsh, impetuous, 
 proud, prejudiced, yet believing himself candid a difficult 
 man ; yet had two children baptized. I spoke an hour 
 with him, but it is like combating the wind. I promised 
 to send him books. [Yet this man afterwards became a 
 communicant, and is, I hope, a sincere believer.] 
 
 " 3rd April. Since my ordination I have been busy 
 in the parish. I find kindness and attention everywhere 
 I go, down from that dear Hastings family to the lowest 
 on the poor's list. 
 
 "Sunday, June 10th. Last Sabbath I entered my 
 twenty-seventh year. Another year nearer the grave. . . . 
 I rejoice that many love Thee on earth better than I do, 
 and that the angels in heaven adore Thee in suitable ways. 
 I rejoice that Thou art glorious without my aid. I thank 
 God that any man being converted to Christ would 
 rejoice me, and that, from my soul I say it, I would do 
 so though it were not through my instrumentality. I thank 
 Him for the longings He often gives me after better things, 
 and for the love with which He often fills my soul for Him 
 and for all Christ's disciples. I thank Him that during 
 the last year He has showered down on me innumerable 
 blessings.
 
 128 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 " God, Thine eye has seen me write these things ! 
 Omnipresent ! I rejoice that Thou knowest the heart. I 
 have not one thing that I can plead no faith, no repent- 
 ance, no tears. A sinner I am. But oh, God, I will, in 
 opposition to ah 1 the temptations of the flesh and corrupt, 
 hard heart I will throw myself, with all my strength, in 
 simplicity and, I trust, in godly sincerity on Christ, and Him 
 crucified, and say this is all my salvation and all my 
 desire. 
 
 "June 7th, 1838, Loudoun. I am very happy here, 
 and I believe I may say that I and the people are 
 the best of friends. I never received greater civility 
 the very voluntaries came outside their doors to shake 
 hands with me. The church is crowded to suffocation 
 stairs and passages, and I never use a scrap of paper. I 
 have an odd congregation of rich and poor, lords, ladies, 
 and paupers ; but all sinners. I am often frightened when 
 I think of my mercies. 
 
 " June 25th. I have had to-day, or this evening, much 
 joy and much humility. A woman told me that I had been 
 blessed for the good of her soul, and given her joy and peace ; 
 and I think she gave evidence from what I saw of her that 
 she is a true believer. She gave me likeAvise five shillings 
 for any religious purpose. She will and does pray for me. 
 I wept much at this proof of God's love. I that /should 
 be made such an instrument. But, blessed be God's name, 
 He may make a fly do His errands. He is good and gracious 
 and oh ! I hope I may save some ; I pray I may bring some 
 to Christ, for His sake. May I be humble for all God is 
 doing for me ! His blessings crush me ! May they not 
 destroy me ! May Christ be magnified in me !" 
 
 To a FRIEND : 
 
 LOUDOUN, September 20, 183S. 
 
 " Your mind is a good, strong, vigorous one, but you 
 are inclined to indolence. You require the stimulus of 
 society and of external circumstances to go on your course. 
 You are more of a sailing ship than a steam ship the 
 power which propels you must come from without more 
 than from within. You are well built, have famous
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 129 
 
 timber, a good compass, good charts ; but you want a 
 'freshening breeze to follow.' You must then rouse 
 yourself; set every sail, and catch the breeze you have. 
 You have many things to stir you up. You have 
 a noble moral experiment to try the rearing immortal 
 souls. It is no experiment, thank God ! It is certainty, 
 if the right means are used. If you do not study, you are 
 gone. I beseech you, I implore of you, my dear old fellow, 
 do not give up study. Beware of backsliding ; beware of 
 descending. It is a terribly accelerated motion ! Beware of 
 the fearful temptation of thinking that you have had suffi- 
 cient evidence of being converted, and that as the Elect 
 never are lost you may take some ease in Zion. This is 
 not too much for the wicked heart of man to conceive. 
 Remember, we must grow in grace we must ever fight if 
 we are to obtain the victory. Christ waits to ' see of the 
 travail of His soul.' Let us not ' quench the Spirit.' The 
 demand will bear a proportion to the work done. I thank 
 you very much for what you said to me. It has cleared 
 up the mist a little. You are very right about not seeking 
 too much for evidence. I feel its truth. We are so 
 anxious to be safe merely more than to be holy. I am 
 by no means satisfied that I have been really converted. 
 From my natural constitution I am liable to be deceived. 
 My feelings being easily excited to good as well as bad, I 
 am apt to mistake an excited state of the feelings for a 
 holy state of the heart ; and so sure am I of the deception, 
 that when in an excited state regarding eternal things, I 
 tremble, knowing it is the symptom of a fall, and that I must 
 be more earnest in prayer. Self-confidence is my ruin. 
 I deeply feel, or rather I am clearly conscious, of a dreadful 
 coldness regarding the saving of souls. I have seldom a 
 glimpse of true love for a soul. It is an awful confession, 
 but it is true. Oh this body of death ! this soul- 
 killing, this murdering sin ! When, when will this 
 Egyptian darkness be for ever past? when shall this 
 leprosy be finally healed ? Oh that my soul were but one 
 half hour saturated and filled with a sense of God's love to 
 me a sinner ! If I could only obtain one full and clear 
 glimpse of the gulf to which sin has brought me and from 
 VOL. i. K
 
 130 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 which Christ has saved me, I know that I would go to the 
 world's end if by any possibility I could lead another to 
 see the same great salvation. Never, never can we succeed 
 as ministers unless we are personally holy. Power, genius, 
 learning, are mere skeletons this the life ; magnificent 
 statues to call forth the highest admiration from men of 
 taste and feeling, but not living things to love, to rouse to 
 action, to point to heaven, to tell of heavenly things ; and 
 so it is my parochial visitations, my prayers at sick beds, 
 my Sabbaths, my duties in school, that crush me 
 most to earth. So little real love of God, so little real 
 single-heartedness for the magnifying of Christ, so much 
 self-satisfaction, that my only comfort is my having a 
 good and great High Priest who can bear the iniquity 
 of our holy things. Pray, pray this is the sheet anchor. 
 I am going to establish prayer meetings when I get 
 my new eldership, and I trust they will be spiritual con- 
 ductors (so to speak) to bring down good gifts to this 
 thirsty land. 
 
 " I had Lord Jeffrey in church. I never had a more 
 fixed and attentive listener. Luckily, I was thoroughly 
 prepared. I generally take eight hours to write a ser>- 
 mon. I rise at six. I never begin to commit until 
 Saturday night four readings do it. The church is 
 crammed ; they are sitting outside the doors, and come 
 from all quarters. All this is very well, but what if God 
 withholds the blessing? I pray He may be glorified. 
 I do not understand your question. Answer me the 
 following : 
 
 " 1. Do the posterity of Adam, unless saved by Christ, 
 suffer final damnation on account of Adam's sin ? If so, 
 how is this reconciled with justice ? 
 
 " 2. How can we reconcile it with justice that men should 
 come into the world with dispositions so bad that they 
 invariably produce sin that leads to damnation ? 
 
 " 3. If the unregenerate are dead in sins, then all they 
 do is sin ; therefore, whatever they do in that state is 
 abominable to God. Are their exercises and strivings so ? 
 their attendance on means of grace ? 
 
 " 4. Is the imputation of righteousness the transfer of
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 13 r 
 
 the righteousness itself, or are the beneficial consequences 
 of the righteousness alone transferred ? 
 
 " Chalmers came to Kilmarnock to meet the Presbytery. 
 It was the old story. He made a great impression. At 
 one time how I did laugh ! He had a bundle of letters 
 from colliers, &c., about Stob Hill. He let them all fall in 
 the precentor's box, where he was standing. He disappeared, 
 searching for them. At one time you would see his back, 
 at another an elbow, then his head, reaching out the 
 cushions of the seat to any one who liked to take them ; 
 in short, all topsy-turvy, and his face as red as a turkey- 
 cock." 
 
 From his JOUKNAI, : 
 
 "Oct. I4<th. Tempus fugit. The stream of life flows 
 sensibly on. ' I hear the mighty waters rolling evermore.' 
 
 " Upon this day last week (Sabbath) I slept for the first 
 time in my own house. This to a clergyman is like 
 stepping on the great table-land of life. To me it is 
 especially so ; for, being perfectly satisfied with my lot, 
 having no ambitious feelings to gratify, or rather, it may 
 be, having too strong ambitious feelings to be satisfied 
 with anything I can ever reasonably expect to have in this 
 world, I consider myself fixed for life, be it long or short. 
 Long I do not expect it to be. I am not made for long 
 life. I feel every Sunday that the machine suffers very 
 considerably from friction. 
 
 " 27th July. I had a strange day of visitation. I was 
 called in to see a man who had a few hours before been 
 struck by palsy. On Sunday he was at the Lord's Table ; 
 to-day he is dying. He was in a half stupor. He recog- 
 nised me, and said, in a low voice, with half-shut eyes, ' I 
 rely solely on the merits of Christ, and Him crucified ! I 
 hope my anchor is safe within the vail ! I hope so ! ' Came 
 home at dinner time, and while I w r as waiting for dinner, 
 
 I went across to see M , whom I had seen yesterday. I 
 
 found him alone, and weaker and more breathless than 
 when I saw him last. I spoke to him of Christ, and 
 besought him to close with the offers of salvation. I
 
 132 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 prayed for him earnestly, beseeching Christ to accept 
 him. When I was done, he took my hand 'I thank 
 you,' he said ; ' p p pray for me in private and in 
 public on Sunday, if I am alive.' As I took his hand, 
 I said, 'Why, now, can you not take Christ as you 
 take me ? He is stretching forth his hands, refuse Him 
 not. He is all-sufficient, can give you all you want, 
 
 and beseeches you to take. And what, M , if 
 
 you are dead before Sabbath ? W T hat if you do see Christ ? 
 Would you like to see Him and his Apostles?' I then 
 sent for his daughter to sit beside him. I came home and 
 fell on my knees and prayed for him, as he desired. I 
 came to my room. A sudden scream was heard. His 
 daughter had just arrived. Her father was in eternity ! 
 How awful ! Oh, may God stir me up to greater diligence 
 and zeal ! Into Thy hands I commit my soul and parish ! 
 " Neivmilns, Jan, 2, 1839. I am getting on here 
 slowly, but, I trust, surely. I continue visiting regularly, 
 and find it of much benefit. I am enabled always to com- 
 mence it by private prayer, and to lay the different cases 
 before God on my return. Yet it is always mixed with 
 prodigious formality, hypocrisy, and vain glory. Infidelity 
 is getting rampant, and it was not known to have had so 
 extensive a hold in the parish till I came here. They 
 read Paine aloud to a party ! I grieve, yet I have no 
 fear. Fear is the child of Atheism. 'The peoplo 
 imagine a vain thing. The Lord will hold them in deri- 
 sion.' There are six things which I hope may be blessed, 
 as useful instruments for doing good a new church ; 
 second, an eldership ; third, an infant school ; fourth, 
 prayer meetings ; fifth, catechetical diets ; sixth, an eve- 
 ning Sabbath class for young men ; and I should add ten- 
 fold greater strictness in giving admission to the ordinances 
 'professing faith in Christ, and obedience to Him!' 
 How much is in this ! yet to this we must come, and by 
 God's grace I shall come, if but one child is baptized in 
 the year. Think only of a man asking baptism for a 
 bastard child ; he was a communicant ; and when I asked, 
 ' who was the Holy Ghost ?' he answered, 'I believe he was 
 a man !'
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 133 
 
 " I was at the Assembly. I am, for a wonder, getting 
 modest on Church politics, and begin to believe what I 
 often feared that I know nothing about them. Yet, like 
 all who are ignorant, I have got a superstitious dread of 
 something being wrong about the decisions of the High 
 Side. All the old hands are alarmed, the young only 
 are confident. A smoke was my only argument ! " 
 
 To Ms AUNT, MRS. MAXWELL : 
 
 LOUDOUN, April 22, 1839. 
 
 " I have just been looking out at the window. There 
 is a thin, transparent mist along the bottom of the valley, 
 with the tops of trees appearing above it, and above them 
 the sky is calm and blue ; the shrubs are all bursting 
 into life, and the birds are busy in the woods, furnish- 
 ing their manses with no bills but their own. There 
 they go ! Whit-ee ivhit-ee tui-lu-e-e chuck-chucJc-tirr 
 tu-e-e-tirr tui-tui roo-too. If my poor mother heard 
 them, she would s$ay that they would hurt their backs, 
 and that they were overworking their system. There is 
 an old thrush opposite the window who will sweat himself 
 into a bilious attack, if he does not take care. The old 
 fool, I suppose, wishes to get married, or he is practising 
 for some wedding, and is anxious to know whether or 
 not he remembers all his old songs. My blessings on 
 their merry voices. They do one's heart good. How 
 exquisitely does Christ point to nature, linking the world 
 without to the world within ! ' Behold the fowls of the 
 nir ! ' Yes, let us behold them ; they are as happy as the 
 day is long ; they have survived a dreary winter without 
 .any care or anxiety and why ? ' Their heavenly Father 
 feedeth them.' How comforting the application, ' Are ye 
 not much better than they ?' Yes, verily ; nearer to God, 
 dearer to God ; His children, not His birds. ' Behold the 
 lilies how they grow !' There they are, under my window 
 in hundreds ; and yet, a short time ago they were all hid 
 in snow, and now Solomon is outdone by them in beauty. 
 ' Why take ye thought for raiment ? ' God, that gave the 
 life, can give the meat ; He who gave the body can give 
 the clothing. He who takes care of birds and flowers, will
 
 134 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 take care of His own children. ' Wherefore do ye doubt? ' 
 He knoweth we need those things ; if He does so, if He 
 cares for us, why should we care ? Let us seek, first, His 
 kingdom and righteousness as the way to it ; and God, who 
 cannot lie, says, ' All these things shall be added unto you ' 
 ' added ' given over and above. Oh ! that we felt that 
 the best and only sure way of getting things of this world was 
 first to attend to the things of another, then we would take 
 no disquieting or uneasy thoughts about the future. Each 
 day comes with its own cares, which need no increase by 
 adding to them the cares of the next. ' Sufficient, indeed, 
 is each day's evil for itself, and with each day is strength 
 for the cares of that day, though no strength is promised 
 to relieve us from the additional cares we gather in from 
 the morrow.' How few receive the real practical benefits 
 of these truths these precious promises ; and why ? 
 They do not believe that their interests are in safe keeping 
 in God's hands. They do not permit Him, unreservedly, 
 to choose their inheritance for them. They have ' excepts ' 
 for the moment. You see the effects of preaching three 
 sermons on Sunday I preach a fourth on Monday. 
 
 " My father talks of going to Ireland in ten days ; if he 
 does, I go with him. Everything goes on well in the 
 parish lots to do. The Manse is looking beautiful. 
 Spring is the finest of all the seasons. Hope is its. 
 genius." 
 
 DK. MACLEOD, SEJT., to MRS. GRAY : 
 
 BELFAST, Tuesday and Wednesday (what day of the 
 month, I kno\v not), June, 1839. 
 
 " Norman, Clerk, and I, set out on Monday evening, on 
 the self-same day on which you left for the Isle of Mist 
 we for 'the sweet Isle of the Ocean,' the green, the 
 charming Emerald Isle. The word was given, ' Set on,' and 
 on we went, splash, splash. A noble boat the Rapid. We 
 sailed as on a mirror ocean reflecting the loveliness of the 
 stars, the young moon, the Craig of Ailsa, and my face ! 
 We left the blue hills of Arran sleeping in calm serenity 
 on the face of the mighty deep, and Lamlash Isle like an 
 infant in its bosom.
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 
 
 '35 
 
 " We had a most delightful sail up to Belfast on Tues- 
 day morning. Reached it at eight o'clock, and went to the 
 Synod. Norman and Clerk got a car and set off for Lis- 
 burn ; from that to Loch Neagh, Lord O'Neile's place. 
 I was received at the Synod with cheers. I attended 
 two days, made a long speech, and heard most heart- 
 cheering tidings of my Irish Psalms. I was much gratified. 
 Norman returned on Wednesday evening literally daft ; he 
 laughed till he could laugh no more ; he tried to pass off 
 as an Irish wit among the beggars and people, but was 
 beat to nothing by every man, woman, and child he met. 
 They utterly confounded him. He met a bird-seller ; he 
 carried a fine blackbird, with a large yellow bill. ' What 
 bill is that you are carrying through ? Is it the Appropria- 
 tion Bill, or the Emancipation Bill ? ' ' 'Dad, yer honour,' 
 said Pat, ' it is neither the one, nor yet the t'other, but a 
 better Bill than either ; 'tis the Orange Bill.' He came 
 up shortly afterwards to a poor man who had on a 
 pair of wretched shoes, which he was endeavouring to drag 
 after him, but no stockings. ' Who made your shoes, 
 friend ? ' said Norman. ' He 
 did not take your mea- 
 sure well.' ' Troth, yer 
 honour, he did not ; but 
 look at my stockings,' said 
 he, clapping the bare skin 
 ' My own darling mother's 
 stockings. Och, but it is 
 themselves that fit!' He 
 got many other ridiculous 
 answers of the same kind. 
 Adieu!" 
 
 To his Sister JANE : 
 
 " With my eyes half-shut 
 can I write thee ? With a 
 halo round the candle can 
 I write thee ? ' Yes ! ' 
 cried Roderick. * And give my love, and point out
 
 136 
 
 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 the new buttons I 
 have got on my 
 coat ; and give her 
 a view of me in 
 
 my bonnet ; and 
 show her also my 
 coat ; and my trou- 
 sers 
 
 \ 
 
 To Rev. A. CLEEK : 
 
 " We had a grand soirte in Glasgow for a Congrega- 
 tional library. I made a horrid fool of myself, i.e. stuck 
 in my speech. No one saw it, but all allowed I had done 
 scientifically ill. It was a splendid soiree. But I hate 
 them. How can a man speak in an atmosphere composed 
 of orange acid the fumes of tea and toast, boiling water, 
 peat reek and gas, blown into a hurricane by the bag- 
 pipes ? A . soiree I take to be a sort of Evangelical 
 theatre, where the ministers are the actors, and the stage 
 need not be jealous." 
 
 From his JOTJRXAI, :- 
 
 "June, 1839. .... Luckily Puseyism, while it is 
 eating the vitals of the Church of England, has made no 
 advances in Ireland of any consequence. It is too much 
 like Rome. I have a horror for Puseyism. I fear it is of 
 more danger to religion than Voluntaryism. We are not 
 yet alive to the importance of the controversy in Scotland. 
 
 " Thank God for our Scottish Reformers. They lived 
 far, far ahead of their age. The position which they occu-
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 137 
 
 pied was highly scientific. I do think that the Church of 
 Scotland, from her doctrine, worship, &c., is of all churches 
 the best fitted to grapple with, the spirit of the age. She 
 cannot be reformed. We are skinned down to essentials 
 so much the better. ' Poor Ireland ! ' Poor for what ? 
 Nothing but the want of principle. Of what avail is it to 
 put a maniac in a palace, a demoniac in a church ? They 
 endeavour to reform men by putting better coats on their 
 backs. A man must have hell taken out of himself before 
 he can be said to be out of hell. 
 
 " 2nd August, 1839. We had a most delightful Com- 
 munion Sabbath. Anything more quiet, beautiful, and 
 solemn I never witnessed. 
 
 "Boxy* must not think all negligent but himself. I 
 was forced to exclude fourteen from the communion this 
 year who were open enemies, notorious drunkards, and 
 such like ; but God forbid that I should exclude any man 
 who has nothing in his external conduct which is incon- 
 sistent with his being a Christian. Bad habits are the only 
 true test. 
 
 " My father preached on a lovely summer's evening to 
 about three thousand people in the tent.t Not a sound 
 but of praise, and the voice of the preacher. 
 
 "Dec. 23rd (the anniversary of his brothers death). 
 I think I may defy time to blot out all that occurred 
 in December, '33. That warm room; the large bed with 
 the blue curtains ; the tall, thin boy with the pale face 
 and jet black speaking eyes and long, curly hair ; the 
 anxious mother ; the silent steps ; then the loss- of hope. 
 The last scene ! Oh, my brother, my dear, dear brother ! 
 if thou seest me, thou knowest how I cherish thy memory. 
 Yes, Jamie, I will never forget you. If I live to be an old 
 man, you will be fresh and blooming in my memory. My 
 soul rejoices in being able to entertain the hope that I 
 shall see you in heaven ! What days of darkness and 
 ingratitude have I spent since I thought I was God's I 
 
 * His cousin, the Key. Koderick Macleod, in Skye, who was notori- 
 ous for his strict exercise of ecclesiastical discipline. 
 
 t A sort of covered pulpit put up in the open air, from which the 
 clergyman preaches when the crowd is too great for the church.
 
 i 3 8 LIFE OF NORMAN MA CLEOD. 
 
 Omnipotent God, Father of mercies, shield, buckler, and 
 strong tower to all thy people, take me to thyself; keep 
 me, save me ; but oh ! never, never, I beseech Thee, leave 
 me to myself, until I join all thy children in heaven. 
 
 " Bless the Lord, O my soul, and be not forgetful of all 
 his gracious benefits ! " 
 
 FROM LINES TO A SLEEPING SISTER. 
 % % & # 
 
 Yet meekly yield when thou must drink 
 The righteous cup of human sorrow ; 
 
 For patient suif 'ring is the link 
 
 Which binds us to a glorious morrow. 
 
 " Jan. Sth, 1840. This day received tidings of Lady 
 Hastings' death. I feel my loss. A chain is broken which 
 bound me with others to the parish. She was a deeply 
 affectionate and most captivating woman. I received the 
 following letter from Lady Sophia, * written just before her 
 death : 
 
 KELBTJKNE, Thursday NigJit, January 9, 1840. 
 
 " ' When this letter is given to you my poor Mother will 
 be at rest ; but for fear that the new flood of affliction 
 should overwhelm me and make me incapable of fulfilling 
 my duty immediately, I will write this now, that there 
 may be no delay, as you must receive it as soon as possible. 
 WTien my Father died, He desired His right hand should be 
 amputated and carried from Malta to be buried with my 
 Mother, as they could not he in the same grave, as He had 
 once promised Her. His hand is in the vault at Loudoun 
 Kirk, I am told, in a small box, with the key hanging to it. 
 My Mother entrusted you with the key of the vault, and 
 begged you would give it to no one. May I request you 
 
 * Afterwards married to John, Second Marquess of Bute, and 
 mother of the present Lord Bute. The marriage ceremony was 
 performed by Norman Macleod.
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 139 
 
 to go to Loudoun Kirk and take out the box and bring it 
 here to me yourself, and deliver it into my hands yourself, 
 should my brother not have arrived ? And I believe there 
 must be no delay a few hours, I am told, will end Her 
 suffering and begin our desolation.' 
 
 " I received the letter early on Friday morning ; in half 
 an hour I was at Loudoun Kirk. It was a calm, peaceful, 
 winter's morning, and by twelve I was at Kelburne." 
 
 To the Rev. A. CLERK, Aharacle : 
 
 January 28, 1840. 
 
 " I am very happy here though the death of dear Lady 
 Hastings has made a great change to me. I assure you 
 that few events have given me more sincere sorrow than 
 this. I received intelligence at seven upon Friday morning 
 that she was near her end. It was quite unexpected ; and 
 you know what a sickening thing it is to be awakened with 
 bad news. I was requested by Lady Sophia instantly to- 
 go to Loudoun Kirk and get her father's hand from the 
 vault and bring it to her. In half an hour I was in the 
 dreary place, where, but six months ago, I was standing 
 with Lady H. beside me. When I contrasted the scene 
 of death within, the mouldering coffins and 'weeping 
 vault,' with the peaceful morning and singing birds for a. 
 robin was singing sweetly it was sad and choking. I 
 was glad to be with the dear young ladies the first day 
 of their grief. They were all alone. They have been 
 greatly sanctified by their trials. They remain at Loudoun, 
 I am glad to say. Lord and Lady H. are here at present. 
 
 "As to non-intrusion, I am persuaded you are wrong. 
 The high party is destroying the Church." 
 
 From bis JOURNAL : 
 
 "February, 1840. The question of non-intrusion is 
 agitating Scotland. This is the day for trying principles. 
 The extreme views of truly good and spiritual men in 
 the Church, and those of truly bad and material men in 
 the State, will bring on a gale which will capsize her.
 
 1 40 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 "June 29th. I have just returned from seeing the 
 most melancholy sight I have ever yet witnessed a 
 determined, hardened infidel on the very confines of 
 
 eternity ! I met this unfortunate man, T C , for 
 
 the first time when I was visiting the parish ; he seemed 
 careless and dead, but did not profess infidelity. 
 
 " I was again called to see him on my return here in 
 May, after having been about a month absent in bad 
 health. He was evidently dying of consumption. He 
 was greatly emaciated, but could converse easily, and 
 seemed to be able to express himself with clearness. I 
 had heard of his having avowed infidel sentiments, and I 
 knew his brother to be one of the baser sort, filling up all 
 the degrees of blackguardism between a poacher and a 
 
 blasphemer. C spoke freely to me of his opinions, if 
 
 opinions they could be called. He had met with some 
 of the lowest kind of infidel productions ; his whole idea 
 of truth was distorted. He seemed to doubt tho 
 existence of God, the immortality of the human soul, 
 everything which could influence him as a responsible 
 being. I saw him repeatedly. I sat with him one or two 
 hours at a time. I read the Bible to him, gave him the 
 evidence in detail, and, by his own acknowledgment, 
 fairly answered all his objections ; but in vain. He was 
 >calm, dead. The very question did not seem to interest 
 him. Every warning, every invitation, was to him alike. 
 His features changed not ; he was neither pleased nor 
 angry ; and yet he knew he had not many weeks to live. 
 He was the most terrible instance I ever saw of the 
 evil heart of unbelief, hardened through the deceitfulness 
 of sin. I have seen him for the last time to-day ; he was 
 a breathing corpse. Death had stamped every feature. 
 He bent his eye on me as I entered, and motioned me to 
 come in. I gazed at him for some time with inexpres- 
 sible feelings. There he lay, an immortal being a sinner 
 going to meet his God, after having again and again 
 rejected a Saviour. I prayed with his wife, and one 
 or two who were present. I then went to his bed. 
 I said, ' Before I go have you nothing to say ? ' I 
 wished to give him the opportunity of expressing his faith
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 141 
 
 in Christ, if he had any ; but he lifted up his skeleton 
 hand, and pointed out, ' No, no ; noth nothing ! ' As I 
 write this his soul may be taking flight. May God have 
 mercy on him. 
 
 "How often do I speculate about writing books ! I 
 have thought of three ; I generally think over a chapter of 
 one of them when I have nothing else to do." 
 
 His sister Annie, who had been for some months 
 seriously ill, and was sent to Loudoun for change of 
 air, became at this time rapidly worse, and expired in 
 his Manse. 
 
 "September 5th, 10 o'clock. I have this moment re- 
 turned from the next room, after seeing my darling 
 sister Annie expire. She had suffered much for three days ;, 
 but her last moments were comparatively tranquil, at 
 least, those who have seen people die said so ; but I 
 never saw any one die before. We were summoned to* 
 her bedside suddenly. When I came, all were there. I 
 prayed a short, ejaculatory prayer, that our Father would 
 take His child ; that Christ, the dear Kedeemer, would 
 be hers. My darling died at half-past nine. 
 
 " Darling Annie was loved by us all. She was a sweet 
 child ; her face was beautifully mild and peaceful. She 
 had the most gentle, playful, peaceful, innocent manners, 
 with feelings singularly deep and strong for her age. Her 
 sensibility was painful in its acuteness. She was like a 
 delightful presence 
 
 " ' An image gay, 
 A thing to startle and waylay.' 
 
 She was a sunbeam that gladdened our path, and we 
 were hardly conscious of how lovely and how evanescent 
 a thing it was until it disappeared. Her innocent laugh 
 is still in my ears. Dead ! Oh, what a mystery ! It 
 was only when, two hours after her death, I knelt at 
 my old chair, and cried to Jesus, that I felt myself 
 human once more, and as I gave vent to a flood of tears
 
 i 4 2 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 the ice that for months had chilled my soul was melted ; 
 I felt again. 
 
 "September 16th. Upon Friday the llth dear Annie 
 was buried. I look back upon the week she lay with us 
 with a sort of solemn joy. It was a holy week. The 
 blessing of God seemed upon the house. Friday was a very 
 Impressive day. Mr. Gray, Jack, and my father and I, went 
 together from Glasgow to Campsie. Our old friends met us 
 at the entrance of Lennoxtown. It seemed but as yesterday 
 when we had in mournful procession passed up that path 
 before. The hills were the same. The same shadows 
 seemed chasing one another over their green sides as had 
 often filled me with happy thoughts in my young days. 
 Yet how freshly did the text come into my mind, ' The 
 mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my 
 kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the 
 covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that 
 hath mercy on thee.' This relieved my oppressed heart. 
 I felt that amidst all the changes around me, God, and 
 God's love, were the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. 
 What a glorious thing is Eevelation ! ' Christ died, and 
 rose again.' ' He died for us.' ' He rose as the first 
 fruits of those who sleep.' There is more wisdom, more 
 comfort, more to heal, soothe, elevate the spirit of man 
 in these facts than in all that the concentrated wisdom 
 of man could oft'er." 
 
 To his MOTHER : 
 
 LOUDOU:*, 1841. 
 
 " I have been, and will be, if God spares me, this win- 
 ter very busy educating both myself and my parish ; 
 but I never felt myself in more buoyant health and 
 spirits. I have finished the second visitation of Darvel 
 and Newmilns that is, about seven thousand people 
 since I came to the parish. On Sabbath week our service 
 begins at twelve, and from ten till half-past eleven I am 
 to have a Sabbath School, which I hope will be attended 
 by six hundred children. Thus, between my school in the 
 morning, and sermon at mid-day and at night, I will be able 
 to preach the Gospel to all in my parish ! Is not this
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 143 
 
 famous ? I have, besides my old Wednesday evening 
 meeting, a class for young men on Tuesday evenings for 
 instruction in the evidences of Christianity. I am now- 
 going through the prophecies. The family of the chief 
 infidel are among my scholars. This seems hard work, 
 but I assure you I am taking it very easy. There is not 
 a blacksmith, or labourer, or weaver in the parish who does 
 not do ten times more for time than I do for eternity. 
 People talk a great deal of stuff about minister's work, or 
 rather they talk a great deal of stuff themselves. I would 
 do more, but quality and not quantity is what I wish. 
 To show you how much idle time I have, besides walking, 
 and teaching a starling to speak, I have read, 1st, 
 Guizot's ' History of Civilisation ;' 2nd, Arago's 'Treatise 
 on Astronomy ;' 3rd, Taylor's ' Lectures on Spiritual 
 Christianity ;' 4th, ' Campbell of Kingsland, Life and 
 Times ;' and I have nearly done with the fifth volume 
 of Gibbon all during the last five weeks ! This shows 
 you what a luxurious dog I am. 
 
 " I have just mentioned my starling ! You never saw a 
 more beautiful bird ; and he goes flying about the room, 
 and sits on my head, and eats out of my hand. I am 
 teaching him to speak. 
 
 " I wrote Lord Hastings a very long and earnest letter 
 about the church, but have received no answer. I 
 shall do my duty, and use every lawful means to get a 
 church for my poor people, come what may. 
 
 " There is a book I wish you would order for your 
 Reading Club Dr. Payne of Exeter's Lectures on the Sove- 
 reignty of God. It has revolutionised my mind. It is a 
 splendid book, and demonstrates the universality of 'the 
 atonement, and its harmony with election." 
 
 From his JOURNAL : 
 
 " July 4th. I went to Glasgow on Tuesday to meet 
 two sons of Sir Robert Peel's. Fine lads, fresh with 
 honours from Harrow. But I mention this fact to show 
 how unsettled my mind is, for it upset my good thoughts 
 I mean, made me neglect the means of grace, and so I
 
 144- LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 
 
 got for a day into my old way. God forgive me ! I look 
 back on the last month as to an oasis." 
 
 In sending the following letter, Principal Shairp 
 writes : 
 
 " All the remainder of his time in Loudoun I kept up 
 correspondence with Norman from Oxford. Those were 
 the years from 1840 to 1844, when the Oxford movement 
 reached its climax. Often, when any pamphlet more than 
 usually striking came out No. 90, and others I would 
 send them to Norman, and would receive from him a 
 reply commenting on them from his own point of view. 
 That, I need hardly say, was not in accordance with the- 
 Oxford views. It was not only that he rejected the sacer- 
 dotal theory on which the whole movement was founded, 
 not only that, as a Scotchman and a Presbyterian minis- 
 ter, he could not be expected to welcome the view which 
 made his own church ' Samaria,' and handed himself and 
 his people over to the ' uncovenanted mercies;' but I used 
 to think that neither then, nor afterwards, he ever did full 
 justice to the higher, more inward quality of Newman's- 
 teaching, that those marvellous ' Parochial Sermons ' never 
 penetrated him as they did others. That sad undertone 
 of feeling, that severe and ascetic piety, which had so 
 great a charm for many, awoke in Norman but little sym- 
 pathy " 
 
 To JOHN C. SHAIKP, ESQ., at Oxford: 
 
 272/i March. 
 
 " Well, what think you of Puseyism now ? You have 
 read No. 90, of course ; you have read the article on 
 Transubstantiation you have read it ! Great heavens ! 
 Is this 1841? I have drawn the following conclusions 
 from this precious document, and from Newman's letter to 
 Jelf: 
 
 " 1. The Articles mean nothing. 
 
 " 2. Any man may sign them conscientiously, be he 
 Calvinist or moderate Romanist, only let him not opposo 
 them openly.
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 145 
 
 " 3. No Oxford man need go to Romanism either to adore 
 (doulia) images, or praise the Blessed Virgin, or get a lift 
 from the saints, or gratify himself by doing works of 
 penance he may get all this in a quiet way at Oxford. 
 
 " 4. The Anglican system and the Popish system, as 
 explained by the Council of Trent, are ' like, so very like 
 as day to day/ that, but for a few fleecy clouds of no great 
 consequence, a Catholic mind would never see the dif- 
 ference. 
 
 "5. No. 90 is a dispatch to the Popish army to send 
 a few moderate battalions to support the Anglican Church 
 in its flank movement to the left from the corps d'armee 
 of Protestantism. 
 
 " And what is all this to end in ? 
 
 " The formation of an Anglo-Popish Church, independent 
 of the State ? 
 
 " The consequent breaking up of Church Establish- 
 ments ? 
 
 " The formation of two Churches a moderate Episco- 
 pacy connected with the State, and another, ' the Angli- 
 can Church,' by itself ? . 
 
 " An accession to the ranks of dissent ? 
 
 " The strengthening of Popery, and the battle of Arma- 
 geddon ? " 
 
 NOTES AND THOUGHTS FROM READING, THINKING, 
 AND LAUGHING. 
 
 LOUDOUN, November 1, 1840. 
 
 "Under the influence of one of those whims which 
 sometimes act upon me like a breeze upon a windmill, I 
 this Saturday night, 27th February, 1841, open this book 
 (being at present, with the exception of what goeth before, 
 as yet empty, albeit it is called a Book for Notes and 
 Thoughts), for what reason I can hardly tell, except it 
 be : 
 
 " 1. The wish to put on record a strong suspicion I now 
 begin to entertain viz. that I have no thoughts which 
 can stand inspection, better than did Mouldy or Mr. Forcible 
 Feeble, the woman's tailor, before Falstaff. 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 " 2. To put to the proof one of those sayings which 
 men believe, like ' great laws,' that a work begun is half 
 done. We shall see." 
 
 June, 1841. 
 
 " ON THE SALVABILITY OF THE HEATHEN. That no soul 
 is saved except through the blood of Christ, and that no 
 soul is saved without belief in Christ, are not equally true 
 propositions ; for, if so, all infants would be damned. 
 Now, as all admit that infants may without faith (of which 
 they are incapable from their age) be saved by having the 
 benefits of Christ's death imputed to them, so, for aught 
 we know, heathen, who are incapable of faith from their 
 circumstances, may have the benefits of Christ's death in 
 the same manner, and so their natural piety will be the 
 effect and not the cause of God's showing mercy to them. 
 We preach to such because we are commanded. God may 
 raise a sick man by a miracle ; but our duty is to use the 
 appointed means." 
 
 " A day of fasting for the sins of the Church has been 
 appointed by the General Assembly to be kept on the 
 22nd of June, 1841. I fear some will add to its sin by 
 fathering the most heinous faults upon those who oppose 
 them in Church politics. One rule, I think, should be 
 strictly kept to in determining what are sins viz., those 
 upon which all Christians will agree. There may be dis- 
 putes about facts e.g., as to whether the Church is 
 covetous or not but there should be no disputes as to 
 whether that is sin or not. This rule would exclude con- 
 fessions anent patronage, intrusion, &c. The Church 
 should have drawn up a form of prayer, and of con- 
 fession a unanimous one. The sins I consider as being 
 the most marked in the Church at present are : 1. 
 Covetousness only 20,000 from the whole Church for 
 the cause of Christ ; not 20 from each parish ! 2. Too 
 much mingling of the Church with the world; not separa- 
 tion enough. 3. Schism among Christians, and wrong 
 terms of communion. 4. Strife, bitterness, and party
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 147 
 
 spirit ; a want of charity and love ; a not suffering for 
 conscience-sake. 5. Too much dependence on externals, 
 acts of Assembly anent calls, &c." 
 
 " The Church visible is to the Church invisible what the 
 body is to the spirit the medium of communication 
 with the external world. As the body without the soul 
 is dead, though it may look life-like, even so is the visible 
 Church without the invisible. The Presbyterians, I think, 
 legislated too transcendentally for the Church. We forgot 
 how much we are taught by visible things. We did not 
 sufficiently value symbols. Popery makes the Church 
 a body altogether. We forget too much that there is a 
 visible Church ; they, that there is an invisible. 
 
 " As for Church government, I always look on it as a 
 question of dress, of clothes or, rather, of spectacles. 
 What suits one eye won't suit another. What signifies 
 whether a man reads with the gold spectacles of Episcopacy 
 or with the silver ones of Presbytery or with the pinchbeck 
 ones of Independence, provided he does read, and reads 
 better too with the one kind than the other, and does not 
 blind himself with the goggles of Popery? Though I 
 hate schism, yet I do think that different governments are 
 ordered in the wisdom of God, who knoweth our frame 
 and remembers we are dust, to suit the different con- 
 ditions of man. One man is born with huge veneration 
 like a ridge on his head, ideality like hillocks ; another 
 with neither of these bumps, but in their stead causality 
 or reasoning like potatoes, firmness like Ailsa Craig ; 
 another with combativeness, self-esteem, and love of appro- 
 bation, like hen-eggs. Is it not a blessing that there is 
 for the one an old cathedral with stone knights and 'case- 
 ments pictured fair," and seats worn with successive gene- 
 rations, and a fine bald-headed prelate ; and that another 
 can get a Presbyterian Church that will stand firm 
 against Erastus, Court of Session, Kings, Lords, and 
 Commons, and can hear long metaphysical sermons 
 canvassing every system ; and that the last can have 
 his say in an Independent church, and battle with 
 
 L 2
 
 148 LIFE OF NORMAN MAC LEO Jl 
 
 minister and elder : while, in each, they can hear what 
 will make them wise unto salvation ? All are spectacles, 
 for different eyes ; and why fight ? why force a man to- 
 see through your concave, or be forced to read through 
 his convex ? You will both read wrong, or not read at all. 
 
 " I hate schism. It is a great sin to have a visible 
 Church unless you feel that it is only a door to the in- 
 visible one. 
 
 " To reform Presbyterianism is like the attempt to skin 
 a flint." 
 
 " I read lately a very interesting book published by the 
 Abbotsford Club ; viz., ' Records of the Presbytery of 
 Lanark from 1632 till 1701.' It is, I presume, a fair 
 type of what the Church then was ; and if so ! 
 
 " The Church then wished to make the Church the State, 
 and the State the Church. The men in those days had 
 no idea of true liberty. Toleration is a modern idea. 
 Their maxims were : 1 You have liberty to think what 
 is right, but none to think what is wrong. We (the 
 Church) are to judge what is right ; ergo, you can think 
 only as we permit you (see also 'Confession of Faith,' 
 chap, xx., last clause). They were a grossly superstitious 
 set. The above Presbytery frequently incarcerated witches, 
 and sent for a great ally of theirs, a certain 'George 
 Catley, Pricker,' to riddle the old women with pins to find 
 out the mark of Satan. And yet to these men we must 
 go for wisdom to guide us in 1841 ! Mercy forbid ! I am 
 thankful to have none such Presbyterian inquisitors. 
 
 " The tendency of ultra-Calvinism (if not its necessary 
 result) is to fill the mind with dark views of the Divine 
 character ; to represent Him as grudging to make men 
 happy ; as exacting from Christ stripe for stripe that the 
 sinner deserved. Hence a Calvinistic fanatic has the 
 same scowling, dark, unloving soul as a Franciscan or 
 Dominican fanatic who whips himself daily to please 
 Deity. They won't enjoy life ; they won't laugh without 
 atoning for the sin by a groan ; they won't indulge in 
 much hope or joy ; they more easily and readily enter- 
 tain doctrines which go to prove how many may be
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 149 
 
 damned than how many may be saved ; because all this 
 seems to suit their views of God's character, and to be 
 more agreeable to Him than a cheerful, loving bearing. 
 
 "A Calvinistic enthusiast and an Arminian fanatic are 
 seldom met with." 
 
 "... No creature knows the unity of truth, or rather 
 the whole of any truth. Each truth is but a part of a 
 system. That system radiates from God, the centre : the 
 radii are innumerable. A poor being called man lights 
 for a moment, like a fly, upon one of the spokes of this 
 awful wheel, which is so high that ' it is dreadful, and full 
 of eyes ; ' and, as it moves, he thinks that he understands 
 its mighty movements and the revolution of the whole 
 system ! 
 
 " A truth which explains another, but which cannot be 
 explained, is to us a mystery. As we advance along the 
 chain of truth, beginning at the lowest link, n^stery 
 .ascends before us God Himself, Who is Truth, and to 
 Whom we approach for ever, but never reach !" 
 
 "Dr. Payne of Exeter's book, 'On the Sovereignty of 
 God,' is one of the best I ever read. It has been a ring- 
 fence to a thousand scattered ideas I have had on the 
 subjects of which it treats. On election and atonement I 
 think he is invincible. That Christ died for all, or none, 
 seems as clear to me as day, not merely from the distinct 
 declaration of Scripture, but from the idea of an atone- 
 ment. If the stripe for stripe theory is given up, which 
 it must be, a universal atonement is the consequence. 
 The sufficiency of Christ's death and its universality are one 
 and the same. Election has only to do with its applica- 
 tion." 
 
 " The freedom of a man quoad civilia, as well as quoad 
 spiritualia, will ever be in proportion to the sense enter- 
 tained by himself and others of his dignity and worth. 
 Hence the connection between Christianity and civil 
 liberty, and hence the folly of Chartists and Revolutionists,
 
 150 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 and all who love or pretend to love the freedom of man, 
 opposing the Bible, which alone makes known man's 
 dignity ; denouncing ministers who every Sabbath proclaim 
 it, and urge men to know and believe it ; destroying the 
 Lord's Day, a day when this dignity is visibly seen by 
 men meeting on the same spiritual platform the same 
 level ; and refusing Church extension, which is but a 
 means for bringing those blessings to the masses, and thus 
 of helping them to obtain, use, and preserve freedom." 
 
 "Much struck with a remark in Coleridge's 'Friend/ 
 'that the deepest and strongest feelings of our nature 
 combine with the obscure and shadowy rather than with 
 the clear and palpable.' Hence I say : 1st, The fierceness 
 of fanatics ; 2nd, Fierceness of the ignorant in politics 
 and of the mob. This accounts for a fact I have always 
 noticed viz., that in proportion to one's ignorance of a 
 question is his wrath and uncharitableness, if his feelings 
 are but once engaged." 
 
 " Truth may be recognised in the spirit when it is indis- 
 tinctly seen by the intellect. No false proof should be 
 removed which tends to good, until a true one is ready ta 
 replace it. 
 
 " Shelley and Wordsworth have more power than any 
 men I know of making visible invisible things. See, for 
 instance, Shelley's poem, ' To a cloud,' Wordsworth's, 
 ode on ' Intimations of Immortality.' Keats frequently 
 displays in a marvellous manner the same gift (' Magic case- 
 ments opening on the foam,' ' Ode to the Nightingale '), 
 and so does Sir Thomas Browne, in his ' Religio Medici ' 
 and 'Urn Burial.' If we were to remain long here, 
 growing in feeling like the angels, we would require an 
 algebra new symbols for new thoughts." 
 
 " There are some men who, if left alone, are as cold as. 
 pokers ; but like pokers, if they are once thrust into the
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 151 
 
 fire, they become red hot, and add to the general blaze. 
 Such are some ministers I know, when they get into 
 Church controversies. " 
 
 " I am not surprised at David's praying to God in the 
 night-watches ; in his rising from his bed and ascending 
 to the roof of his house, and when the ' mighty heart ' of 
 the city ' was lying still,' and ' the mountains which 
 surrounded Jerusalem' were sleeping in the calm brilliancy 
 of an Eastern night, that he should gaze with rapture on 
 the sky, and pour forth such a beautiful Psalm of Praise 
 as ' When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers.' 
 
 " The night is more suited to prayer than the day. I 
 never awake in the middle of the night without feeling 
 induced to commune with God. One feels brought more 
 into contact with Him. The whole world around us, we 
 think, is asleep. God the Shepherd of Israel slumbers 
 not, nor sleeps. He is awake, and so are we ! We feel, 
 in the solemn and silent night, as if alone with God. 
 And then there is everything in the circumstances 
 around you to lead you to pray. The past is often 
 vividly recalled. The voices of the dead are heard, and 
 their forms crowd around you. No sleep can bind them. 
 The night seems the time in which they should hold 
 spiritual commune with man. The future too throws its 
 dark shadow over you the night of the grave, the cer- 
 tain death-bed, the night in which no man can work. 
 And then everything makes such an impression on the 
 mind at night, when the brain is nervous and susceptible ; 
 the low sough of the wind among the trees, the roaring, 
 or eerie, whisk of some neighbouring stream, the bark or 
 low howl of a dog, the general impressive silence, all tend 
 to sober, to solemnize the mind, and to force it from the 
 world and its vanities, which then seem asleep, to God, 
 who alone can uphold and defend." 
 
 " A holy mind is like Herschell's large telescope, it sees 
 by its great power heavenly truth much more distinctly
 
 152 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 than an unrenewed rnind can, and also many others which 
 are altogether unseen and unknown to others. But by 
 the same enlarged powers which enable it to see the 
 glories of the heavens, is it able also, nay, cannot choose 
 but see the dust and filth in the atmosphere of earth ; let 
 the instrument, however, be removed to a higher and purer 
 region, and then it will ' see clearly, and not as through a 
 glass darkly.' 
 
 " Is the gift of saving faith the gift of a telescope a 
 power to see truths which are unseen by the common eye ? 
 or is it the removing of mists and clouds that conceal 
 truths, which but for those mists may be seen by every 
 eye ? 
 
 " November y 1841. Read Arago's 'Treatise on Astro- 
 nomy.' It is very simple. 
 
 " I sometimes like to fancy things about the stars. May 
 there not be moral systems as well as physical ? Moral 
 wholes or plans ; a portion of the plan being carried on in 
 one world, and another in another world, so that, like 
 different pieces of a machine, or like the different stars 
 themselves, the whole must be put together and examined 
 before the plan can be understood ? The world may be 
 a moral centre ; the centre being the cross ; from which 
 moral radii extend throughout the moral universe. Phy- 
 sical space and moral space have no connection. It used 
 to be an old question how many angels could dance on 
 the point of a needle ; but it had a glimmer of wisdom 
 too, for it arose from a feeling that spiritual things bear 
 no relation to space. May there not be moral constella- 
 tions ?" 
 
 MUSIC. 
 
 "Irish Music. My father once saw some emigrants 
 from Lochaber dancing on the deck of the emigrant ship, 
 and weeping their eyes out ! This feeling is the mother 
 of Irish music. 
 
 " It expresses the struggle of a buoyant, merry heart, 
 to get quit of thoughts that often lie too deep for tears. 
 It is the music of an oppressed, conquered but deeply
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 153 
 
 feeling, impressible, fanciful, and generous people. It is 
 for the harp in Tara's Halls. 
 
 " Scotch Music. A bonny lassie with her plaid, reclining 
 in some pastoral glen among the braes of Yarrow, and 
 waking the sleep that is among the lonely hills with some 
 tale of love, domestic sorrow, or of ' the flowers of the 
 forest, a' wede awaV 
 
 "Highland Music. The pibroch ; the music of the past 
 and gone, of lonely lakes, castled promontories, untrodden 
 valleys and extinguished feuds, wild superstitions, and of a 
 feudal glory and an age of romance and song which have 
 fled on their dun wings from Morven. It is fit only for 
 the large bagpipe in the hall of an old castle, with thuds 
 of wind and the dash of billows as its only accompani- 
 ment. 
 
 "It is deep sorrow that is checked by lofty pride from 
 breaking. 
 
 " 'Let foemen rage and discord burst in slaughter. 
 
 Ah then for clansmen true and stern claymore ! 
 The hearts that would have shed their blood like water, 
 Now heavily beat beyond the Atlantic's roar.' 
 
 " German Music. The music of the intellect and 
 thought : passion modified by high imagination. It is essen- 
 tially Gothic, vast and grand. It is for man. The shadow 
 of the Brocken is over it ; the solemn sound of the Rhine 
 and Danube pervade it. It is an intellectual gale. 
 
 " French Music. A dashing cavalry officer on his way 
 to fight or make love. 
 
 " Italian Music. A lovely woman, a Corinne, breathing 
 forth her soul under the influence of one deep and strong 
 passion, beneath a summer midnight sky amidst the ruins 
 of ancient Roman grandeur. It is immensely sensuous. 
 
 " Spanish Music. A hot night, disturbed by a guitar. 
 
 " American. 'Yankee-doodle.' " 
 
 "December, 1841. I am much mistaken in the signs 
 of the times, if an episcopal era is not near for Scotland's 
 ecclesiastical history. To form an Episcopalian Church,
 
 iS4 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 quoad spiritualia, we have, 1st, The old and respectable 
 and unchanged Episcopalian families of Scotland. 2nd, The 
 lovers of fashion more than the lovers of God the families 
 who spend a portion of their time in London, and who like 
 a 'gentlemanly religion.' 3rd, The rich merchants, who 
 wish to wear the new polish, and to look like old State 
 furniture ; who, by buying country-houses, by marrying 
 into good families, by getting hold of a property with an 
 old title, and by joining an old form of worship, labour to 
 persuade the world that they never sold timber or sugar 
 since they supplied the Ark with these commodities. 4th, 
 The meek and pious souls who love to eat their bread in 
 peace, and who, weary of the turmoil in our Church, flee 
 to the peace of the Church of England, which seems to 
 reflect the unchangeableness of the Church invisible. 5th, 
 The red-hot Tories, who fly from disgust at the Radi- 
 calism of our Church. 
 
 " The only checks I see to this tide which I fear will set 
 in for Episcopacy, are : 1st, Puseyism, which treats us 
 as heathen, and will tend to disgust. 2nd, That the 
 Church of Scotland is the Establishment. 3rd, That 
 unless Episcopacy is endowed it cannot advance far. 4th, 
 That if it attempts to get an endowment, we must check- 
 mate it by trying the same for our churches in England, 
 and we would do more harm to Episcopacy in England, 
 than they can to Presbyterianism in Scotland." 
 
 " The infidel and the superstitious equally disregard the 
 authority of evidence. The one disbelieves in spite of 
 evidence for the thing rejected ; the other believes, in 
 spite of the want of evidence, for the thing received. 
 Hence Popery and Infidelity are so closely allied. Sub- 
 mission to the authority of evidence is the only safeguard 
 against either. 
 
 " Sabbath morning. I put some bread for the birds on 
 the window, and thought if God made me so kind to 
 birds, He must be kind to His own creatures to His 
 own children. By-and-by two chaffinches came and 
 fought for the bread, and one was beaten off ; and yet there
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 155 
 
 was abundance for both. Alas ! how many who are richly 
 provided for by God thus fight about the bread of life, 
 rather than partake of it together in peace and thankful- 
 ness. The robin is eating, but with what terror ! picking 
 and starting as if an enemy were near. Thus do Christians 
 partake as if the Lord grudged what He gives as if He 
 would not rejoice that they took abundance." 
 
 " The best consistency is to be consistent to one's self, 
 by acting every day up to the light of that day. To be 
 governed not by any fixed point ab extra, but by the 
 conscience ab intra, which will vary its judgments with 
 every change of our position. The traveller who guides 
 his steps in relation to one object, such as a mountain, 
 who wishes to keep always at the same distance from that, 
 may, indeed, keep moving and apparently advancing, but 
 he is travelling in a circle round the one object ; but he 
 who is guided by the path will always be changing his 
 relative position, and every step makes him inconsistent 
 with the scenery ; but he moves on and on, and advances 
 into new countries, and reaches his journey's end. 
 
 "Know thyself, and be true to thyself! Thou art in 
 the way of truth. 
 
 " The only consistent mariner is he who steers by the 
 compass, though he is drifted leagues out of his course." 
 
 " If Christ did not die for all men, how can it be said 
 that God willeth all men to be saved ? Can He will any 
 to be saved for whom there is no atonement ? 
 
 " If Christ did not die for all men, in what sense is He 
 said to be the Saviour of all men, though specially of 
 those who believe ? 
 
 " If Christ did not die for all men, how can all men be 
 commanded to believe ? What are they to believe ? Is 
 this not inviting to a supper insufficient to feed all 
 the guests if they came ? If it is said ' God knows
 
 156 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 they won't come.' I reply, this is charging God with 
 conduct man would be ashamed of. If He died, and 
 they may, yet won't believe, this is moral guilt, not 
 natural inability. It is the guilt of the drunkard who 
 cannot give up drinking ; not the guilt of the man 
 without legs who cannot walk, which is no guilt, at all." 
 
 " Sin, like an angle, does not become greater or smaller 
 by being produced ad infinitum." 
 
 " It is a pleasing thought that there cannot be different 
 kinds of minds, as there are different kinds of bodies. 
 Bodies have no type of perfection, to which they are in a 
 greater or less degree conformed ; no normal form after 
 which they are modelled, their degrees of perfection 
 depending on the nearness to which they come to this 
 model. The zoophyte, or the hydra polype, is as perfect 
 an animal as the elephant, as its parts are perfectly con- 
 structed in relation to the end it is destined to fulfil in 
 the creation. But it is not thus with mind. It has a 
 type an image ; and that is God. And to this image it 
 must, whenever found in a right state (one according to 
 God's will and intention), be in conformity. To no in- 
 tellect in the Universe can the relation of numbers be differ- 
 ent from what it is to ours. It is impossible that God would 
 ever create intellects to which two and two would be any- 
 thing else than four. So in regard to moral things, right 
 and wrong are still the same in the planet Herschel, or in 
 heaven, as on earth. Wherever beings exist that can know 
 God, they must be like God. We thus recognise in 
 the angels the same minds and sympathies with ourselves. 
 When they sing praises as they announce man's redemp- 
 tion, we perceive the same minds, with the same senti- 
 ments and reflections as our own ; and thus, too, mind 
 becomes a conductor which binds us to the whole universe 
 of rational beings. Every mental and moral being is born 
 after one image God."
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 157 
 
 Letter to DR. DONALDSON, when requested to take the chair at a Burns 
 Festival, at Newmilns : * 
 
 Dec. 1839. 
 
 "Only consider the matter seriously as a Christian 
 man, and say how we can, with the shadow of consistency, 
 commemorate Burns after sitting down at the Lord's 
 Supper to commemorate the Saviour ? I have every ad- 
 miration for Burns as a poet ; but is it possible to separate 
 the remembrance of his genius from the purposes for 
 which it was so frequently used, or rather prostituted ? I 
 would, I daresay, have admired and ^ondered at the mag- 
 nificent picture which Satan exhibited to the Saviour, had 
 I beheld it ; but that would not be a reason why it would 
 have been allowable to have commemorated the genius 
 and power of the mighty being who had delighted my 
 senses with his picture, without any reference to the good, 
 or evil, intended to be done, or actually accomplished, by 
 the splendid work itself. In the same way, however much 
 I admire the beautiful poetry of Burns, I never can for- 
 get that, in a great many instances (and these affording 
 me most brilliant examples of his powers) it has been an 
 engine for vice ; for over what vice does he not throw the 
 colouring of genius ? 
 
 " I would willingly say nothing against him, unless I 
 am thus publicly called upon to commemorate him pub- 
 licly and to say something for him. I cannot, I dare not, 
 as a Christian minister, do this ; neither can I but in the 
 strongest manner disapprove of any dinner to his memory. 
 What I have said would, I well know, in the estimation of 
 the world, be termed cant ; but with the vast majority of 
 thoughtful, well-informed Christians, it is a self-evident 
 truth. Excuse this very hurried note, written amidst 
 many labours. You may make what use you please 
 of it." 
 
 * It is interesting to compare his convictions at this period as to 
 the proper course of duty with the position he assumed at the Burns' 
 Centenary in 1859. (See Chapter XIV.)
 
 t 5 8 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 From his JOURNAL : 
 
 " August 4<th. Went with Clerk to preach at Kilmorry, 
 a station on the west side of Ardnamurchan. Had a fine 
 view of the West Hebrides from the summit of the hill. 
 The place where he preaches is very curious. 
 
 "Before I went into church I sat down on a knoll to 
 gaze on the scenery. I heard the sound of praise rising 
 from the primitive edifice, and the lash of the waves of the 
 great Atlantic on the shore, and between the hymn and 
 the ocean and the majestic scenery around there was per- 
 fect oneness. They all praised God. But the dead cannot 
 
 VIEW NEAR KILMORRY. 
 
 praise Him ; and what a lonely churchyard that one was ! 
 One stumbled upon it. I never saw such rude graves. I 
 could not discover one name or one inscription. Among 
 heather and weeds, you find a small spot raised above 
 the surface, and a turf of heather over it, ill-cut and 
 rudely put on. There is a fearful negligence shown here 
 of the remains of humanity. The churchyards are not 
 inclosed, and the graves are more rude than any I have 
 seen in any country. There is one grave in that remote 
 churchyard in which a woman lies whose history will 
 only be known at the great day. She was called Lowland 
 Mary. About forty years ago she came, no one knew 
 whence, to this remote spot. She was then a young and
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 159 
 
 pretty woman. She became a servant to a respectable 
 gentleman tenant, and supported herself for thirty years. 
 She was pleasant and communicative on every point but 
 one, and that was her own personal history. Whenever 
 she was asked who or whence she was, she got into a high 
 state of excitement, almost mad. The most she ever said 
 was that her friends could support her, and insinuated 
 that they were well off. It was supposed she was landed 
 from some ship. She lived for years a solitary woman, 
 and died a pauper this year. Clerk was sent for to see 
 her and could not go. Her history was never told. 
 
 " I received the following information about Skye from 
 a thoroughly reliable source : 
 
 "To disregard the ordinances and sacraments of the 
 Church has come to be looked upon by the islanders as 
 characteristic of religious life. The superstitious terror 
 with which fanaticism has invested the receiving of Bap- 
 tism or the Lord's Supper has led men to show their 
 reverence by the strange method of avoiding their observ- 
 ance. The teaching of my cousin, Mr. Koderick Macleod, 
 minister of Bracadale commonly called Mr. Rory was 
 the prime cause of this state of things. He held extremely 
 strict and exclusive views as to who should be allowed to 
 partake of the sacraments of his Church. He believed, 
 and acted with unbending rigour, on the principle that a 
 minister should admit no one to these Christian privileges 
 without being fully satisfied in his own mind that the 
 applicant was truly regenerate, while doing so he refused 
 to make known the tests by which he judged of men's 
 spiritual state. The immense majority of the people, not 
 only in Bracadale, but throughout the island, gradually 
 succumbed to his rule ; and while continuing nominally 
 attached to the Church of Scotland, yet rarely asked for 
 her sealing ordinances, and either grew indifferent to them, 
 or regarded them, especially the Lord's Supper, with such 
 dread, that no consideration would induce them to partake 
 of them. 
 
 " Thus, in the parish of Bracadale, with a population 
 of 1,800, the communicants have been reduced to eight 
 persons. In the neighbouring parish of Dmrinish the
 
 160 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 communion was never administered from the year 1829 s 
 till 1840 ; while in other parishes the administration was 
 irregular, and the number of communicants incredibly- 
 small.' 3 ''' There are hundreds of people unbaptized, and 
 who, even in mature age, evince no desire to receive the 
 sacred rite. 
 
 " There is a numerous class of lay preachers, called ' The- 
 Men,' who do much to keep up the flame of fanaticism by 
 fierce denunciations of those whom they reckon unworthy 
 communicants, and of the pastors who dare to admit any 
 to Christian privileges but such as have received their 
 imprimatur. These " Men" are of various characters and 
 talents. . Some of them are animated by a zeal that is 
 genuine if not enlightened, leading lives of strict piety, 
 and gifted with a wonderful flow of natural eloquence ; 
 while others have nothing to show but a high-sounding 
 profession of faith, sometimes combined with great worth- 
 lessness of character. These separatists wear a distinctive 
 dress, carrying a long blue cloak, and putting a red hand- 
 kerchief round their heads in church. They judge 
 spiritual character more by such tokens as Sabbatarian 
 strictness than common morality. 
 
 " Our way home was by a different but as wild a path, 
 which only Highland horses like Diamond and Brenda 
 
 * The anomalous state of things described as existing in Skye in 
 1842, continues to the present day. There are now hundreds of 
 persons in the island many of them fathers and mothers, some of 
 them grandfathers and grandmothers who were never baptized, 
 while the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is looked upon by 
 many with indescribable dread. This gloomy view of the Holy 
 Communion prevails generally throughout the north Highlands; 
 but, as far as I know, Skye is the only place where baptism is 
 BO generally neglected. As an instance of the baneful effects of 
 these feelings, even after the erroneous views on which they are 
 founded have been given up, a clergyman relates that when he 
 once asked a parishioner who had come from the north Highlands to 
 become a communicant, he was startled by the reply, " Please say no 
 more. I cannot answer you. I have no doubt that what you say is 
 true ; but I tell you that if you had asked me to commit the greatest 
 sin, you could not have frightened me half so much as by inviting me 
 to sit at the table of the Lord." Yet this man was not only intelli- 
 gent and well-read, but of a truly serious mind and excellent cha- 
 racter.
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 161 
 
 could travel. I could not have believed it without my 
 having seen the inimitable way in which they picked 
 their steps among the loose stones, and walked over 
 ledges of wet rock. We had one magnificent prospect on 
 our way back from the summit of the ridge. It was like 
 the crater of an immense volcano wild, silent, savage. 
 
 " 7th, Sabbath of the Communion. The day was wet and 
 stormy, but it was a pleasant day to us all. The English 
 congregation, amounting to about twenty, met in the 
 drawing-room of the Manse. There I preached to them 
 and administered the sacrament. It was a small but 
 solemn meeting, and had a reality about it which I liked. 
 It seemed more like primitive times than anything of the 
 kind I ever saw. And query had no ordained minister 
 been in the parish, and had the parish been removed 
 beyond St. Kilda, and had my worthy and intelligent 
 friend, Mr. Clerk, senr., set apart the bread and wine by 
 prayer for sacramental use, and had that company partaken 
 of the same in order to remember Christ, would this have 
 been a 'mock sacrament/ even though no ordained 
 minister were present ? 
 
 " Ilth. Set off upon an expedition to Loch Shiel. 
 
 " A fresh breeze of north wind was blowing up Loch 
 Sunard. We went rattling along under a snoring breeze ; 
 passed Mingarry Castle and Sthrone McLean, connected 
 with which there is a sad story. McLean was a famous 
 freebooter when Mclan was in possession of Mingarry 
 Castle. Mclan's wife was fair and vain. McLean was 
 handsome and cunning. He, the enemy of her husband, 
 Avon her affections. She agreed to admit him to the castle 
 upon a certain night to murder her husband, on condition 
 that he would marry her. McLean accordingly entered 
 the castle at night and murdered the old chief. Mclan, 
 however, left an only son, and McLean insisted upon the 
 woman putting to death the son, who alone seemed to 
 stand in the way of his subjecting the district to his own 
 sway. The woman agreed to this, and, accompanied by 
 McLean, reached the wild precipice to throw her child over 
 into the ocean which foamed beloAV. The mother took 
 the child in her arms. She twice swung it in the air to 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 i6z LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 cast it from her ; but not doing so, she was asked by 
 McLean why she delayed. 
 
 " ' The child,' replied the unfortunate woman, ' smiles 
 in my face whenever I attempt it.' 
 
 " ' Turn then your face away and look not at its smiles,' 
 was the bandit's reply. 
 
 " The woman did so, and the child was thrown over the 
 rock. She had no sooner accomplished the deed than 
 McLean turned upon her and said 
 
 " ' Away, horrid woman ! You who could thus murder 
 your husband and child might murder me !' 
 
 " We soon came in sight of Aharacle, which struck me 
 very much as being wild, peculiar, and picturesque. 
 
 VIEW FROM AHAKAGLE. 
 
 Aharacle is at the end of Loch Shiel. It is a flat, dark 
 moss surrounded by hills, with a fine view of Rum in the 
 background. 
 
 " It affords a curious instance of the singular crys- 
 tallizing process which the results of the Reformation 
 have undergone, that Papists and Protestants occupy 
 nearly the same territory as they did then. All 
 the Papists are on the north side, and the Protestants 
 upon the south side of Loch Shiel. The parish of Ard- 
 namurchan, which in Papist times contained many parishes, 
 extended (until lately) as far north as Arisaig, about sixty 
 miles as the crow flies, with I daresay five hundred miles 
 of sea-coast. 
 
 " We set off for Glen Finnan at four. We pulled for two
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 
 
 163 
 
 or three miles between low flat banks with low ranges of hills 
 near ; but there was a grand view ahead, clusters of moun- 
 tains, with dark gullies, towards which we were steering in 
 high hope. After sailing some miles the lake seemed closed 
 by a green point intensely green when contrasted with 
 the dark, heathy, rocky mountains which now began to 
 gather round us and above us on every side. We 
 soon discovered from the ruins and crosses which caught 
 our eye that this was Eilean Finnan, of which we had heard 
 so much. It is, indeed, a touching spot, fit place for 
 meditative thought. There are remains still on the island 
 of the old religious establishments, but they are ruins only. 
 Gravestones are scattered around, chiefly, if not altogether, 
 
 \ 
 
 LOCH SHIEL. 
 
 belonging to the Koman Catholic families in the district. 
 One was the grave of a bishop. Another had a skeleton 
 carved out on the stone. Another was a plain bit of wood 
 not a foot high. Kude stone crosses of slate and of 
 modern workmanship were placed here and there. Until 
 a few months ago, when it was removed for safety by 
 the popish proprietor, a small bell remained from time im- 
 memorial in a window in the ruins beside three skulls, one 
 of them belonging to a notorious character in the olden 
 time, Ian Muideartach. These skulls have been buried. 
 One thing struck me much about the churchyard, viz., 
 that the rude spokes which had carried the different coffins 
 for burial were deposited beside their respective graves, 
 each grave having a rude spoke on each side of it. In con- 
 
 M 2
 
 j 64 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 teinplating that green island with its ruins, I could not re- 
 strain those feelings which prompted me to offer up in my 
 heart a tribute of praise to the forgotten religionists who had 
 here lived and died. They may have been in comparative- 
 darkness, they may have erred from the truth but some 
 light they had, and here they made it shine amidst the 
 surrounding darkness of a barbarous age. Some truth they 
 had, and they gave it to others. This island, with its build- 
 ings, its matin and vesper bells, its processions, its prayers,, 
 its ceremonies, was a visible religion ; it Avas a monument 
 a,nd pledge of something beyond man, a link connecting 
 another world with this ; and it must at least have kept before 
 the minds of the barbarian clans who prowled in the neigh- 
 bouring mountains gazing upon it from their summits, or 
 listening to its bell calling to early prayer the truth that 
 there was a God, and reward and punishment beyond the 
 grave, and that the eye of One who hated sin gazed upon 
 them. Popery with its symbols was a pioneer to Protestantism. 
 It was in some respects better calculated to attract the 
 attention of men in a rude and savage state. When man 
 is a child, he speaks as a child; but he should now, in these 
 days of light and intelligence, put away childish things. 
 
 " After a pull of twenty-four miles we reached, about ten 
 o'clock, the head of the loch, and saw the tall monument 
 rising like a ghost in the darkness. 
 
 "The first thing which attracted my notice in the morning 
 was the monument erected to commemorate Prince Charlie- 
 unfurling his standard to regain the throne of his ancestors. 
 This romantic enterprise was begun on this spot. 
 
 "And where now are all those fine fellows who, full of 
 enthusiasm and of hope, came streaming down these valleys 
 and covered those scattered rocks ? Where those Highland 
 chiefs, the last monuments in Europe of the feudal times, 
 who met here full of chivalry, and of all the stirring thoughts 
 connected with such a romantic and hazardous enterprise ? 
 And the young Chevalier himself, with his dreams of 
 ambition and of kingly thrones never to be fulfilled ? 
 How strange that the intrigues of a vicious Court should 
 have disturbed the quiet of this solitary glen, and that 
 he, who was then all freshness and manliness, should have-
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 165 
 
 changed Locli Sliiel and its warriors for an opera and 
 Italian dissipation ! Charlie after all was never my dar- 
 ling. He had all the kingly bearing, with all the low 
 running and tyrannical spirit, of the Stuarts. 
 
 "We left the head of Loch Shiel with a stiff breeze in 
 our teeth. Having seen the picturesque outline of the 
 mountains which were hanging over us so that the eagle 
 perched upon their summits might almost look into our 
 boat both in the evening when their forms mingled with 
 the dark shadow of the lake, and their summits glowed 
 with crimson and gold, and also at night when their giant 
 forms stood in close column, their stature reaching the sky 
 on every side of us, we were glad to see them now half 
 robed in mist, and bedewed with many a snowy rill. After 
 .a stiff pull we reached Aharacle about two, and soon found 
 ourselves again on the banks of Loch Sunard." 
 
 To JOHN MACKINTOSH : 
 
 LOTJDOTJX MANSE, October 8th, 1842. 
 
 " You are in a glorious country. There is, I think, a 
 finer combination and loveliness in the scenery of the 
 Lakes than in our West Highlands, with the exception of 
 our majestic sea views ; our castled promontories, scattered 
 islands, rapid tides, glimpses of boundless horizons, and 
 far-winding sea coasts are, I think, unrivalled for sublimity. 
 But there is a snugness, and what Carlyle calls a ' Peace 
 reposing in the bosom of strength,' in the lake scenery, 
 w r hich, with the exception of some parts of the Tyrol, one 
 sees nowhere else. 
 
 " Have you seen Wordsworth? He is a perfect Pan of 
 the woods, but a glorious creature. Such men elevate my 
 views of the Supreme Mind more than all the scenery of 
 -earth." 
 
 " WHAT though we are but weary pilgrims here, 
 Trav'lers whose place of rest is not below ; 
 Who must along the path of sorrow go ; 
 For those we cherish and regard as dear 
 With weak hearts trembling betwixt hope and fear : 
 Yet, mourning brother, wherefore should we know
 
 1 66 LIFE GF NORM AN MACLEOD. 
 
 That rayless grief which broodeth o'er despair ? 
 
 For still a lot most full of bliss is ours ! 
 Sweet commune with the good which are and were, 
 
 Virtue and love, high truth, exalted powers, 
 Converse with God in deep, confiding pray'r, 
 
 An ever-present Lord to seek and save, 
 The word which quickens more than vernal showers, 
 
 A Father's house beyond the hollow grave I" 
 
 To JOHN MACKINTOSH, at Cambridge. 
 
 LouDOUif, Decemler, 1842. 
 
 " I feel with you that our ' inner men ' did not com- 
 mune sufficiently when you were here. There was more 
 a rubbing of surfaces than a melting together of two 
 souls. It was only after you went away that I began to 
 grieve over undone work, and unsaid things, and half said 
 things. But when I have time I will send you broken 
 images of my thoughts, that you can patch together half 
 crystallized opinions that will enable you to guesss the 
 form which they are tending towards. There are many 
 points in theology upon which I somehow think you are 
 destined, like myself, to undergo a change, and about 
 these I am very anxious to communicate with you ; 
 such as the universality of the atonement, the nature of 
 saving faith, the doctrine of assurance, and the sacraments. 
 I have been reading, writing, meditating, preaching, and 
 praying upon these subjects, and I feel the necessity of 
 having such clear definite ideas upon them as will stand 
 examination. 
 
 " I am busier than ever. I have been preaching 
 round the parish upon Thursday evenings. At all those 
 meetings I collect for religious purposes. Last Thursday 
 I collected 31s. 6d in a small schoolroom ! I have also- 
 don't laugh commenced a course of lectures on geology 
 for the Newmilns weavers ! It will extend to about ten 
 lectures. 
 
 " I have never engaged in any duty, for I call it duty, 
 which has given me such pleasure. You know that there-
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 167 
 
 has always been a set of shrewd, well-read, philosophical 
 weavers here vain, but marvellously well informed, and 
 half infidel who were very civil when I went to see 
 them, but would never come to church. They were 
 generally Chartists, and talked very big about the ' priests ' 
 not wishing the people to become well informed, and so on. 
 Well, I hardly knew how to get to windward of these men, 
 but I knew they had formed themselves into a ' Philo- 
 sophical Institution' and sometimes got men to lecture 
 to them from Kilmarnock. I hinted to one of them 
 that I would willingly lecture. They sent a deputa- 
 tion to request me to do so. I agreed. Subject, geology. 
 I have for the last ten years been fond of the science, and 
 luckily I had just finished a two months' course of reading 
 on it, and had a large collection of all the best books. 
 Well, not to make my story long, up I went to the village 
 on the appointed night, expecting to find the members of 
 the Institution only assembled, but I found the school- 
 house crammed with one hundred and fifty people ad- 
 mitted by penny tickets, and about fifty people outside ! 
 You can have no idea, unless you knew the excitability of 
 our people, of the interest these lectures have created : they 
 speak of nothing else ; old fellows stop and touch their 
 hats and thank me. When I finished my second, men who 
 used to avoid me, gave me three rounds of cheers ! 
 and last Sabbath night I saw some of the philosophers in 
 church for the first time. They have got the dissenting 
 church for me to lecture in. I have got Buckland's map 
 copied on a large scale, and we begin a spring course, 
 to not less, I am persuaded, than six or seven hundred 
 people ! I think this is a practical lesson. Let a minister 
 use every means to come in contact with every class, to 
 win them first on common ground, and from thence 
 endeavour to bring them to holy ground. Only fancy a 
 fossil fern from the coal, the solitary specimen in the 
 rmneralogical cabinet of the institution, going the round 
 of Newmilns as an unheard-of curiosity ! Poor souls ! 
 if you knew how I do love the working classes. 
 
 " Dec. 30th. The former part of this letter was written 
 a week ago. It proves to you what a slow coach I am. I
 
 1 68 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 wanted to have written to you about our unfortunate 
 Church, but the subject is too important to be dealt with 
 in a letter. I have seen nothing published upon this 
 subject which so completely expresses my own views as 
 Morren of Greenock's letters to his congregation. If I can 
 get them, in a complete form I will send them to you. My 
 principles may be shortly stated. The Church, as an inde- 
 pendent power in spiritual things, agrees in forming an 
 alliance with the State to act in reference (for example) to 
 the induction of presentees into parishes in one particular 
 way, out of fifty other ways she might have chosen, all being 
 agreeable to the Word of God. This particular way is em- 
 bodied in an Act of Parliament a civil act and conse- 
 quently implies an obligation on the part of the two con- 
 tracting parties, the Church and State, to obey its enact- 
 ments. Of this civil act the civil courts are alone the 
 constitutional interpreters, and we must either obey their 
 interpretation or walk out. I wish the law was modified, 
 but I can live under it. I believe there must be a large 
 secession. No Government can yield to their demands. 
 
 " Write to me soon. This is a wild night. It is late. 
 My communion is on the second Sabbath of January. 
 Pray for me." 
 
 From his JOUENAL : 
 
 " I heard, the end of last week, that T B and 
 
 D T were ill and dying. Neither of them sent 
 
 for me, but I determined, thank God, to see them. I 
 felt a particularly strong desire to do so. Here let me 
 record for my guidance a rule Always when a fitting 
 opportunity arrives be sowing the seed. Read the Gospel 
 in private, in season and out of season, and God may bless 
 it when least expected by you. I went to see B. first, and 
 found him dying. Most earnestly did I urge upon him 
 a free salvation, and the truth that God has good-will 
 to man. I then went to T.'s. He had been a cold, 
 heartless man, a Chartist, and his son was the only man 
 in Newmilns (except his brother) who " cut " me, and who 
 was very uncivil to me both in his father's presence
 
 / 
 
 EARLY MINISTRY IN LOUDOUN. 169 
 
 and^in his own house. Indeed, I had to leave him on 
 ground of incivility. To this man's house I felt I 
 must go. But I went in prayer, leaving it to God, and 
 conscious that I went from a sense of duty. But oh how 
 chastened was D. ! lamenting neglected opportunities, and 
 serious and thoughtful about salvation. His son entered 
 at the end of my visit. D. shook hands with me, and his 
 son, mild and civil, thanked me cordially for my visit. 
 Always do duty trusting to God, who will make light arise 
 out of darkness. 
 
 " Saturday Evening, 29th. I was last week at Kilninver 
 burying dear old Dr. Campbell,* who died upon the 17th. 
 My father is the best travelling companion I know, so full 
 of anecdote and traditionary tales." 
 
 * Father of the late John Macleod Campbell, D.D.
 
 CHAPTEE YIII. 
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 
 
 fTHHE Disruption of 1843 forms an interesting and 
 J- curious page in modern ecclesiastical history. 
 The enthusiasm and stern devotion to duty which led 
 hundreds of good men to leave the Church of their 
 fathers, and peril their all for conscience sake, formed 
 a startling spectacle in the midst of the materialism 
 of the nineteenth century. It was no wonder that the 
 appeal made to the generous sympathies of the nation 
 when the people saw so many of their most revered 
 ministers sacrificing manse and glebe and stipend 
 for what they believed to be their duty received a 
 generous response. And if the commencement of the 
 Free Church was a remarkable illustration of the un- 
 dying l perfervidum ingenium Scotorum' no less has 
 her subsequent history been characterized by rare 
 wisdom and energy. Every Christian man must un- 
 grudgingly recognise the great good which she has 
 accomplished. The benefits which have attended her 
 devoted labours are too palpable to require enumera- 
 tion. Her rapid multiplication of the means of grace at 
 home and abroad, the wisdom of her organization, the 
 boldness of her enterprise, the splendid liberality of 
 her members, and the worth and ability of many of her
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 17 r 
 
 ministers, have conferred untold blessings, direct and 
 indirect, on the cause of religion. She has not only been 
 a distinguished missionary agent, but she has power- 
 fully stimulated the zeal of other Churches. 
 
 Yet it would be untruthful not to recognise the 
 evils which, we believe, accompanied the Disrup- 
 tion. Ecclesiastical strife, which introduced dis- 
 cord into every parish and into thousands of families, 
 not only greatly destroyed the frank cordiality of 
 social life in Scotland, but converted every com- 
 munity into a set of mutually suspicious factions, and 
 thus did grievous damage to the Christian spirit of 
 the country. Eor the zeal with which the claims of 
 Church and party were advanced was too often 
 characterized by a bitterness of temper, a violence 
 of language, and a virulence of sectarian animosity, 
 which promoted anything but Christian life as exem- 
 plified by humility, justice, and charity. When there 
 was such denunciation of ecclesiastical opponents that 
 their loyalty to the will of Christ was questioned; 
 and when there was added to such presumption of 
 judgment, the frequent refusal, in word and practice, 
 to recognise the Establishment as a true branch of 
 Christ's Church, an acerbity was imparted to the 
 controversy which was far from being edifying to- 
 the public. This rivalry of the sects also tended 
 to weaken the authority and impair the discipline 
 of all Churches, and diminish, the feelings of rever- 
 ence with which the sacred office of the ministry 
 used to be regarded. Those, moreover, who value a 
 national testimony to religion not as a mere theory,, 
 but as exemplified in practical legislation, must regret
 
 1 72 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 the perilous issues which, have ensued from the jealousy 
 and division of the Churches in Scotland. Although 
 there is, perhaps, no free country really so united in 
 its creed, yet there are few where it has been more 
 difficult to settle even such matters as education with- 
 out risking every guarantee for religion. 
 
 It is certainly from no desire to re-open contro- 
 versies, which, thank God, have in a great measure 
 lost their bitterness, that these things are referred to 
 here. Most of those who took a leading part in the 
 warfare have entered into their rest, and f seeing eye 
 to eye' have learned to love one another in the 
 fellowship of the Church glorified. It is therefore 
 peculiarly painful to recall a time of misunder- 
 standing and bitterness. But in describing the part 
 taken by Norman Macleod during years of keen and 
 important debate, historical truthfulness, as well as 
 the duty imposed on his biographer of throwing as 
 much light as possible on the motives which then 
 actuated him, and which led to the strong expressions 
 of opinion sometimes to be found in his journals and 
 letters, make it necessary to re-create, to a certain 
 extent, the atmosphere which then surrounded him. 
 If there are hard words sometimes uttered by him, 
 it can be asserted, with all truth, that they owe their 
 character chiefly to his intense desire for tolerance 
 and love between Christian men and Christian 
 Churches, and from detestation of that party-spirit 
 which is ever so destructive of right Christian feeling. 
 
 For the sake of clearness, therefore, as well as of 
 illustrating the position taken by Norman Macleod 
 during this discussion, we shall state, as briefly and
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 173 
 
 impartially as possible, the points at issue in a con- 
 troversy which agitated Scotland to its centre, drove 
 into hostile camps those who had been previously 
 united by the most sacred ties, and is still affecting 
 the public and private life of the kingdom. 
 
 The tide of fresh intellectual life which passed over 
 Europe in the early part of the nineteenth century, 
 causing in France the Eevolution of 1830, and in 
 Britain the Eeform Bill of 1832, manifested its 
 effects in almost every sphere in which the voice 
 of the populace could be heard. It told with 
 power upon all religions and all Churches, and as 
 might have been expected, had a marked influence on 
 the Church of Scotland, whose government from the 
 first had been democratic. With the quickening of 
 political and intellectual life, there was also a revival, 
 in the best sense, of spiritual religion. The earlier 
 movements of this new life were towards objects of 
 missionary enterprise, in which both parties in the 
 Church vied with each other. The India Mission, the 
 Education and Colonial Schemes, inaugurated by the 
 leaders of the ' Moderates,' were heartily supported 
 by the * Evangelicals,' who, at the same time, led 
 by Dr. Chalmers, were urging on Church extension 
 with splendid tokens of success. The spirit of party 
 was at this time chiefly manifested in the defence 
 of Church Establishments against the Voluntaries, 
 and the war, carried on mainly by the future Non- 
 Intrusionists, was characterized by great argumentative- 
 ability, and by no little intolerance 01 spirit towards- 
 dissent. This campaign against the Voluntaries was 
 closely connected with the events which followed
 
 i 7 4 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 within the Church and which led to its dismemberment. 
 For the desire to popularise the Establishment as much 
 as possible, and to show that her constitution ensured 
 the same freedom and independence of government 
 which belonged to dissenting communities, gradu- 
 ally led to a series of legislative enactments, on the 
 part of the General Assembly, which raised the fatal 
 questiones vexatce that produced the secession. 
 
 Divested of the entanglements into which they fell, 
 and viewed apart from the strict chronological order 
 of events, the questions which ultimately divided the 
 Church may be thus stated : 
 
 I. They had reference to the constitutional power 
 of the Church. 
 
 II. To practical legislation. 
 
 I. The two parties into which the Church was 
 -divided had divergent beliefs as to the nature of the 
 spiritual independence which of right belonged to the 
 Church. 
 
 The Non-Intrusion party maintained that in all 
 questions, the subject-matter of which involved what 
 was spiritual, the jurisdiction of the Church courts 
 was exclusive, and that their sentences were un- 
 challengeable, even when it was asserted by a party 
 complaining, that the laws and constitution of the 
 Church itself were being violated. The Church had 
 also, according to them, the right to declare what was 
 spiritual, and was in such cases quite free, not only 
 to decide on the merits, but to change the forms of 
 law regulating her procedure. They denied, more- 
 over, that the Civil Courts had power to pronounce 
 any decision which could touch the spiritual sentence,
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 175. 
 
 even in cases where a civil right was so involved 
 that it could not easily be separated from the 
 spiritual. The Ecclesiastical Courts were to stand 
 to the Civil very much as the Court of Arches stands 
 to Chancery. 
 
 They claimed, in short, for the Church constitu- 
 tional powers co-ordinate not with the Civil Courts 
 only, hut with the State a right not only to make 
 new laws, but to be the interpreter of her own laws 
 in every case where the question involved that which 
 was spiritual, although civil rights were affected by it. 
 
 In all such things she was to be responsible to Jesus 
 Christ alone as the Head of the Church. 
 
 The position of the other party was equally clear. 
 They believed as firmly as their brethren in the duty of 
 accepting no law which inferred disloyalty to the re- 
 vealed will of the Great Head. They also claimed for 
 the Church undisputed liberty in the exercise of her 
 judicial functions. But they further asserted that when 
 the Church, after due deliberation, had settled her own 
 constitution, and had come to terms with the State as 
 to the conditions on which she should accept establish- 
 ment, and had satisfied herself that there was nothing 
 in the statutes so establishing her which inferred 
 disloyalty to conscience and the Word of God, she 
 had then become bound by contract, and had no right 
 proprio motu to legislate in such a manner as to nullify 
 her own constitution and the statutes to which she 
 had agreed. These laws had become her laws, and 
 held her in a certain fixed relationship, not only with 
 the State, but with her own members and every 
 individual who had a locus standi before her courts,
 
 176 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 whether minister, communicant, patron, or heritor. 
 All these, the constitutional party maintained, had a 
 right to see that they had the privileges of law, that 
 they were tried by properly constituted courts, and 
 with the observance of such forms of process as 
 statute law and the practice of the Church herself 
 prescribed. They also maintained that any one who 
 deemed himself aggrieved by an infringement of law, 
 was entitled to the protection of the Civil Courts. 
 "When disputes arose not respecting what the laiv 
 ought to le, but as to what was the existing law 
 by which the Church Courts and the members of the 
 Church were equally bound, they held that this, 
 being a purely legal question, fell of necessity to 
 be determined by a court of law. It was but the 
 law of contract applied to matters ecclesiastical, and 
 the tribunal which could alone definitely settle what 
 the terms of contract were must, in their view, be the 
 courts of the country charged with the authoritative 
 interpretation of law. While they yielded nothing to 
 their opponents in claiming spiritual independence for 
 the Church, they were of opinion that that independ- 
 ence, and the allegiance due to the great Head, were 
 best secured by maintaining intact the constitution 
 which the Church had adopted and which the State 
 had, at the suit of the Church, confirmed. They 
 held that no change could be made without the 
 consent of all parties interested, and that to concede 
 to any majority, which happened to obtain ascendancy 
 in the General Assembly, power to alter the consti- 
 tution of the Church, either as to doctrine or disci- 
 pline, was not legitimate independence, but licence
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 177 
 
 which, if carried to its logical consequences, might 
 ultimately destroy the Church. 
 
 Such were the different ideas of jurisdiction and 
 of spiritual independence which were held by the two 
 parties. They soon found an ample field for dis- 
 cussion in the questions which arose during the ' Ten 
 Years' Conflict.' 
 
 II. The Assembty of 1834 was the first in which 
 the ' High party ' gained a majority over the * Mode- 
 rates,' and their victory was signalised by the passing 
 of two Acts, which laid the train for all the disastrous 
 consequences that ensued. 
 
 (a) The first was the Veto Act. 
 
 Although lay patronage had always been distasteful 
 to a section of the clergy, and unpopular with the vast 
 majority of the people, yet, with the exception of a. 
 comparatively short period, it had been in some form 
 or other enforced by statute, and recognised in the' 
 practice of the Church ever since her establishment. 
 The Act of Queen Anne, at all events, had been in 
 force for more than one hundred and twenty years. 
 The forms to be observed in the settlement of ministers 
 were also of express enactment. It was the duty of 
 Presbyteries to take all presentees on trial, and, if 
 found qualified, to induct them, unless such objections 
 were tendered by the parishioners as should approve 
 themselves valid to the court. The liberty of judgment 
 was to lie with the Church courts alone, without right 
 of appeal. 
 
 But in 1834 the party which had become dominant 
 in the General Assembly, professing to give greater 
 effect to the will of the people, and to prevent the 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 recurrence of such, scandals in the working of the law 
 of patronage as had occurred during the cold period 
 of the eighteenth century, passed an Act which 
 practically got quit of patronage by a side-wind. 
 This was the Yeto Act, by which power was given 
 to a majority of the male communicants^ being heads 
 of families, to veto the settlement of a particu- 
 lar minister without assigning any reason, Pres- 
 byteries being at the same time enjoined to accept 
 this Yeto as an absolute bar to all further proceed- 
 ings. In this manner they hoped to secure non- 
 intrusion, and nullify the evil effects of patronage. 
 The power of judgment was thus transferred from 
 the Church Courts to the male communicants, being 
 heads of families; and the quality of the judg- 
 ment was altered from one supported by reasons, 
 to that of a Yeto pronounced without any grounds 
 being assigned. The majority in the Assembly 
 which passed this law certainly believed they had 
 constitutional power so to legislate. But not only 
 did a large and influential minority no less than 
 one hundred and thirty-nine against a majority of 
 one hundred and eighty-four protest against it as 
 ultra vires, but Chalmers himself had doubts of its 
 legality, while he supported its adoption. After the 
 passing of the Act, the constitutional party offered no 
 factious opposition ; they allowed it a fair trial, and 
 in several instances it was acted upon without ques- 
 tion. But at last, in the Auchterarder case, its com- 
 petency was challenged by a patron and presentee, and 
 the question was brought to an issue by a declaratory 
 action in the Civil Court. The patron asserted that
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 179 
 
 Ms civil right, secured by statute, had been infringed, 
 and the presentee that his privilege as a licentiate 
 of the Church to be taken on trial by the Presby- 
 tery had been denied. On the question of law thus 
 submitted to them, the civil courts first the Court 
 of Session and then the House of Lords decided 
 that the Veto Act was ultra, vires. The ecclesi- 
 astical majority then professed themselves willing to 
 give up the temporalities, but refused to take the 
 presentee on trial, or to proceed in any way with his 
 settlement. In all this, however, the State never 
 interfered, and the Courts of Law pronounced their 
 decision only because it was asked regarding the 
 proper interpretation of a statute. No one sought 
 to fetter the judgment of the Ecclesiastical Courts as 
 to the fitness or unfitness of the presentee for the 
 benefice, or as to the validity of the objections which 
 the people might bring against him. All that was 
 insisted on was that the Presbytery and the Pres- 
 bytery alone was bound to try the suitability of 
 the presentee and that it was illegal to accept the 
 simple Yeto of ' heads of families being communi- 
 cants ' as a sufficient bar to induction.* The domi- 
 nant party in the Assembly, however, would not 
 listen to this reasoning. They claimed spiritual inde- 
 
 * Even the Act, 1690, c. 23, which, is appealed to in the Free 
 Church Claim of Eights as if it wera the very charter of the liberties of 
 the Church, while it vests patronage in the heritors and elders giving 
 them the right to propose a minister to a congregation for their 
 approval expressly requires disapprovers ' ' to give in their reasons 
 to the effect the affair may be cognosced upon by the Presbytery of the 
 Bounds, at whose judgment and by whose determination the calling 
 and entry of the particular minister is to bo ordered and concluded." 
 The Veto Act, however, conferred on the people the right to reject a 
 presentee without any trial and without assigning any reasons.
 
 i8o LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 pendence, and absolutely refused obedience to the 
 Civil Court. 
 
 The next step irretrievably involved both parties. 
 This was taken in the well-known Marnoch case. The 
 Presbytery of Strathbogie, acting on the injunctions 
 of the General Assembly, but contrary to the judg- 
 ment of a majority of their own number, and not- 
 withstanding the decision of the House of Lords in 
 the Auchterarder case, refused to take a presentee on 
 trial. Upon this the presentee complained to the 
 Civil Court. Before this tribunal the majority of 
 the Presbytery appeared and stated they were satis- 
 fied that by the laws of the Church they were 
 bound to take the presentee on trial, but that they 
 were restrained by an order of the superior Eccle- 
 siastical Court. The Court of Session, however, told 
 them that such an order was ultra vires, and ordered 
 them to proceed. Their own convictions as to their 
 duty being thus confirmed by a judicial sentence, they 
 unfortunately without waiting to throw the respon- 
 sibility on the Assembly took the presentee on trial, 
 and having found him duly qualified, inducted him. 
 For this act of disobedience to their injunctions 
 the General Assembly deposed the majority of the 
 Presbytery. The constitutional party, on the other 
 hand, who were in a minority in the Assembly, 
 accepting the decision of the Civil Court as a con- 
 firmation of what they had themselves all along 
 maintained to be the law of the Church, felt 
 themselves bound to treat the ministers, who had 
 been deposed for obeying that law, as if no eccle- 
 siastical censure had been passed. They appealed,
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 181 
 
 in short, from the decision of the dominant majority 
 to the obligations which the statutes establishing the 
 Church imposed. Matters thus came to a dead-lock, 
 and both sides found themselves in a position from 
 which it was almost impossible to retreat. 
 
 (I)) Another proceeding of the same General 
 Assembly of 1834 led even more decidedly to a similar 
 conflict for by the law then passed affecting Chapels 
 of Ease, a formal right had been given to Ministers 
 of quoad sacra or non-parochial churches, to sit in 
 Presbyteries, Synods, and Assemblies. The theory of 
 Presbyterian parity, and some precedents which had 
 not at the time been challenged, lent countenance to 
 the Act. But its legality was disputed by the pa- 
 rishioners of Stewarton, in 1839, and, after trial, the 
 Court of Session found it unconstitutional and incom- 
 petent. As Presbyteries are Courts which possess 
 jurisdiction not only in matters spiritual, but in civil 
 matters, such as the building and repair of Manses, 
 Churches, and the examination of schoolmasters it 
 was evident that any parishioner or heritor or school- 
 master, as well as minister, was entitled to object to 
 any one sitting as a member of the Court who had no 
 legal right to do so. The Non-Intrusion party, how- 
 ever, once more claimed supremacy for the General 
 Assembly. The Church, and the Church only, they 
 said, had the right to determine who should sit in her 
 Courts ; but the Court of Session held that it was 
 a violation, of the law of the land as well as of the 
 constitution of the Church itself, to allow any minister 
 to act as judge in a Presbytery who was not the 
 minister of a parish, and issued interdict accordingly.
 
 i8z LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 Confusion thus became worse confounded. With 
 the view of reconciling parties, measures were pro- 
 posed in Parliament for the settlement of minis- 
 ters, in which the utmost latitude was given to- 
 the liberty of the people to object. One point alone 
 was stipulated, the Church Courts must decide 
 whether the objections to the presentee were good 
 or bad, and their decision was to be final. But 
 even this was not satisfactory. Nothing short of 
 such a liberum arlitrium must be given to the people- 
 as has been commemorated in the song 
 
 " I do not like thee, Dr. Fell, 
 The reason why I cannot tell." 
 
 The extreme party had taken their position, and it 
 was not easy to recede from it. The l Ten Years' 
 Conflict' waxed louder and fiercer as it approached its- 
 lamentable close. A Convocation of the Free Church 
 party was held to mature measures for the final 
 separation. Deputations were appointed to visit 
 every parish whose minister was of the opposite party, 
 and to stir up the people so as to prepare them for 
 secession. The language used by these deputies was 
 not unfrequently of the wildest and most reprehensible 
 description. The choice they put before the country 
 was i Christ or Caesar. 7 Motives of the most mer- 
 cenary description were too often attributed to the 
 ministers who dared to abide by the Establishment. 
 There was kindled, especially in the North High- 
 lands, a fanaticism the intensity of which would now 
 appear incredible. It was, in short, a period of untold 
 excitement.
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 183 
 
 Norman Macleod was for a long time unwilling to be 
 dragged into the controversy, and pursued his parochial 
 duties with increasing earnestness, without entering 
 into the strife which was raging around him. He was 
 unfitted alike by temperament and by conviction for 
 being a ' party man,' and until nearly the end of the 
 conflict his sympathies were not greatly roused by 
 the action of either side. He felt that the High 
 Churchmen or ' Evangelicals ' were, on the one hand, 
 exaggerating the importance of their case, for he had 
 seen noble types of Christianity in England and 
 Germany under forms and conditions widely different 
 from what were pronounced in Scotland essential to 
 the existence of the Church. His common sense 
 condemned the recklessness with which the very 
 existence of the National Church was imperilled 
 for the sake of an extreme and, at the best, a 
 dubious question of ecclesiastical polity. In whatever 
 way the dispute might be settled, his practical mind 
 saw that nothing was involved which could hinder 
 him from preaching the Gospel freely, or interfere 
 either with his loyalty to the Word of God, or with 
 the utmost liberty in promoting the advancement of 
 Christ's kingdom. His whole nature was opposed to 
 what savoured of ultramontane pretensions, however 
 disguised, and knowing how easily l presbyter ' might 
 become 'priest writ large,' he was too much afraid 
 of the tyranny of Church Courts and ecclesiastical 
 majorities, not to value the checks imposed by con- 
 stitutional law. He was, moreover, repelled by the 
 violence of temper, the unfairness of judgment, and 
 the spiritual pride, displayed by so many of the
 
 1 84 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 'Evangelicals.' He had known and loved too 
 many excellent Christian men among the so-called 
 1 Moderates,' not to be shocked by the indiscriminate 
 abuse which was heaped on them. 
 
 On the other hand, he had such reverent love for 
 Chalmers, the leader of the 'Evangelicals,' and for 
 many of the eminent men associated with him, that 
 he was for a time led to sympathize with their side, 
 without adopting the policy they advocated. Although 
 he afterwards perceived the inconsistency of the utter- 
 ances of Chalmers in this controversy with the whole 
 of his previously declared opinions on Church and 
 State,* yet there was a boldness displayed by the 
 party at whose head was his old teacher, and a 
 warmth and zeal for the advancement of the Kingdom 
 of Christ, which appeared, to his eyes, in favourable 
 contrast with the proverbial coldness of the ' Moderates.' 
 
 He did not, however, publicly commit himself to 
 a side, nor did he, indeed, carefully examine the 
 question, until the thickening of the storm compelled 
 him to do so. A speech delivered by Mr. Whigham, 
 then sheriff of Perth, opened his eyes to the true 
 nature of the issue set before the Church. He went 
 home to Loudoun, shut himself up in his study, 
 plunged into the history and literature of the contro- 
 versy, and fairly thought out for himself the con- 
 clusions which determined his line of action. 
 
 In April, 1843, a small section of the Church, 
 known by the sobriquet of 'The Forty,' or 'The 
 Eorty Thieves,' attempted to take a middle course 
 between extremes. They refused to identify the 
 
 * " Third Crack about the Kirk," passim.
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 185 
 
 principle of Non-Intrusion with the Ye to Act, or 
 with its spirit, and were ready to accept as a com- 
 promise such an arrangement as afterwards became 
 law through Lord Aberdeen's Bill, by which the 
 utmost freedom was declared to belong to the Presby- 
 tery to decide on the suitableness of each presentee 
 to the particular circumstances of the parish to which 
 he had been nominated by the patron. They equally 
 differed from the extreme 'Moderates,' who were 
 content with existing law, and who did not desire 
 any further popularising of the Church. ' The Forty ' 
 would undoubtedly have been content had patronage 
 been done away altogether, and the bone of contention 
 for ever removed. 
 
 Shortly after the declaration of ' The Forty,' Nor- 
 man intimated to Dr. Leishman, its leader, his wish 
 to append his name, expressing the characteristic 
 hope that 'The Forty' would soon become another 
 '45, to revolutionise the policy of the Church. 
 
 At last the war came to his own door, and he 
 was roused to a public defence of his principles. A 
 deputation had been sent to his parish, for the pur- 
 pose of promoting secession, and of driving the people 
 from his ministry. He at once addressed his pa- 
 rishioners on the disputed Question with such effect, 
 that their loyalty was secured almost to a man. lie 
 next wrote a pamphlet suited for the common people. 
 It was in the form of a dialogue, conducted in pithy 
 Scotch, and entitled, 'A Crack about the Kirk.'* Its 
 wit and clearness of statement at once attracted atten- 
 tion, and it passed rapidly through several editions. 
 
 * See Appendix B.
 
 1 86 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 The first * Crack ' was speedily followed by two 
 others, which were hardly so racy in style, though 
 perhaps quite as powerful in argument. 
 
 About the same period he found himself placed in 
 a position of painful responsibility. The case which 
 had determined the non-eligibility of Chapel Ministers 
 to sit in Presbyteries had been that of Stewarton, in 
 the Presbytery of Irvine. He was moderator of the 
 Presbytery when the election of commissioners, to sit 
 in the ensuing General Assembly of '43, was to take 
 place. As moderator it was his duty to keep the 
 actings of the Presbytery in due form; and as the 
 decision of the Court of Session satisfied him that 
 the ministers of Chapels quoad sacra had no legal 
 position in the Ecclesiastical Court, he declared 
 his determination not to admit their votes, and in- 
 timated that, should they insist on retaining their 
 seats at the meeting of Presbytery, he would then 
 separate, with all such members as should adhere to 
 him, and constitute the Court from a roll purged of 
 the names of all not legally qualified. 'A circum- 
 stance had come to his knowledge,' he said, * since 
 the last meeting that materially weighed with him in 
 the step he was about to take at this juncture. 
 It had been declared by the public organs of the 
 Non-Intrusionists,* and he heard it stated frequently 
 in private, and never heard it contradicted, that it was 
 the intention of the party which was about to secede, 
 not to retire merely as a section of the Church, but, 
 by gaining a majority in the Assembly, to declare the 
 connection between Church and State at an end, and, 
 
 * Vide the Presbyterian Review, April, 1843.
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. ifcy 
 
 moreover, to excommunicate those who remained in 
 the Church as by law established. He would by 
 all constitutional means, and at all hazards, do all 
 that in him lay to prevent the venerable Establish- 
 ment to which he was attached from being annihi- 
 lated, and himself and his brethren from being 
 held up to their people as excommunicated minis- 
 ters. And to attain this object he felt it neces- 
 sary for the members of Presbytery to send none but 
 legally qualified commissioners to the next Assembly, 
 and he saw no other possible course for accomplishing 
 this than separating from their quoad sacra brethren. 
 He would go further, perhaps, to evince his love and 
 attachment to the Church of his fathers than by merely 
 giving up a stipend ; and to separate from his brethren 
 with whom he had associated in the Presbytery, 
 
 was as sore a trial as any he had yet met with 
 
 While he gave the utmost credit to his brethren on the 
 opposite side for the sincerity of their intentions, he 
 claimed the same credit from them for his conduct in 
 this matter, as being dictated by a conscientious sense 
 of duty.' He accordingly separated with those who 
 adhered to him, and the first split in the Church took 
 place. 
 
 He was a member of the famous Assembly of '43, 
 and used to recount the strange vicissitudes of that 
 eventful meeting. He gives some reminiscences in 
 letters and journals, but they are meagre compared 
 with those to which his friends have frequently 
 listened. i The sacrifices,' he often said, ' were cer- 
 tainly not all on one side.' With indignant energy 
 he portrayed the trial it was to the flesh to keep by
 
 1 88 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 the unpopular side and to act out what conscience 
 dictated as the line of duty. If it was hard to go 
 out, it was harder to stay in. It would have been 
 a relief to have joined the procession of those who 
 passed out amid the huzzas of the populace, and who 
 were borne on the tide of enthusiasm, greeted as 
 martyrs and regarded as saints, in place of remaining 
 by the apparent wreck of all that was lately a pros- 
 perous Church. The heart sank at the spectacle of 
 those empty benches where once sat Chalmers and 
 "Welsh and Gordon, and such able leaders as Candlish 
 and Cunningham ; while the task of filling up more 
 than four hundred vacant charges, and reorganizing 
 all the foreign missionary agencies of the Church, 
 which had in one day disappeared, was terribly dis- 
 heartening. There was no encouragement from the 
 outside world for those who began with brave hearts 
 to clear away the wreck. Scorn and hissing greeted 
 them at every turn, as men whose only aim was 'to abide 
 by the stuff.' One unpopular step had to be resolutely 
 taken after another, and the impolitic legislation of 
 the last ten years reversed. Unless there had been 
 in his mind a deep sense of duty, Norman Macleod 
 was the last man in the world to undertake the dreary 
 task which for many a day was assigned to him and 
 to his brethren. But he did not hesitate. Although 
 his heart was burdened by its anxieties, he took his 
 place from that day onward as a 'restorer of the 
 breach,' and was spared to see that the labours of those 
 who endeavoured in the hour of danger to preserve the 
 blessings of an Established Church for the country 
 had not been thrown away.
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 189 
 
 And the history of both Churches has since then 
 amply vindicated the position taken by the party 
 which was then ready to move for reform without 
 disruption. The policy of 'The Forty' has been 
 practically followed by the Church for several years 
 past, and it is that, on the one hand, which has led to 
 the gradual removal of the difficulties affecting Chapels 
 of Ease, by erecting them into Endowed Parishes quoad 
 sacra, and which, on the other, has obtained from 
 Parliament a total repeal of the Law of Patronage. 
 The problems which disturbed the Church have thus 
 been settled by patient and devoted labour, conducted 
 in a spirit of toleration and charity towards others, 
 and with an honest endeavour after reconstruction 
 on a sure and national ground. 
 
 It is not too much to say that to many minds 
 the history of the Free Church has presented a 
 marked contrast to this. In spite of her great energy, 
 they believe that she has failed to solve the difficulty 
 she herself raised as to the relationship of Church 
 and State. In the Cardross case, her claim to spiri- 
 tual independence within her own denomination was 
 judicially denied. May it not therefore be questioned 
 whether, after little more than thirty years' existence, 
 she does not really find herself without a logical 
 position between Voluntaryism and the Establishment? 
 
 Norman Macleod made two speeches during the 
 memorable Assembly of 1843 the first being in refer- 
 ence to a motion of Dr. Cook for rescinding the Veto. 
 A distinguished minister of the Church, who was 
 then a student, records the deep impression which 
 this speech made. The courage and Christian en-
 
 i go LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 thusiasm of its tone, he says, inspired confidence in 
 the hearts of many who were almost despairing, and 
 for his own part greatly confirmed his loyalty. When 
 he heard it he exclaimed, ' There is life in the old 
 Church yet,' and gave himself anew to its ministry. 
 Only a condensed report remains of this speech, but 
 the following extract gives some idea of its bearing : 
 ' Difficult as the task is which those who have left 
 us have assigned to us, I, for one, cheerfully, but yet 
 with chastened and determined feelings, accept of it. I 
 do so, God knoweth, not for my own ease and comfort. 
 If I consulted them, or any selfish feeling, I would 
 take the popular and easy method of solving all 
 difficulties, by leaving the Establishment ; but I am 
 not free to do so. I glory in declaring that this is 
 not a Free Presbyterian Church. "We are not free to 
 legislate beyond the bounds of the constitution ; we 
 are not free to gratify our own feelings at the expense 
 of the good of the country. Neither are we free from 
 the weaknesses and infirmities of humanity its fears, 
 despondencies, and anxieties. No ! we are bound, 
 but bound by honour, conscience, and law by the 
 cords of love and affection to maintain our beloved 
 Established Church, and, through it, to benefit our dear 
 fatherland. And I am not afraid. By the grace of 
 God we shall succeed. We shall endeavour to ex- 
 tinguish the fire which has been kindled, and every 
 fire but the light of the glorious Gospel, which we 
 shall, I hope, fan into a brighter flame. And the 
 beautiful spectacle which was presented to us on 
 Sabbath evening in the dense crowd assembled here 
 to ask the blessing of God on our beloved Church,
 
 THL DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 191 
 
 enabled me to distinguish, amid the flames the old 
 motto flashing out, ' Nee tamen consumebatur.' We 
 shall try to bring our ship safe to harbour, and if we 
 haul down the one flag l Eetract ! No, never !' we shall 
 hoist another, ' Despair ! No, never ! ' And if I live 
 to come to this Assembly an old man, I am confident 
 that a grateful posterity will vindicate our present 
 position, in endeavouring, through good report and bad 
 report, to preserve this great national institution as a 
 blessing to them and to their children's children.' 
 
 To the REV. A. CLEEK, Ardnamurchan. 
 
 LOTJDOUN MANSE, February 18th, 1843. 
 
 " How thankful ought you to be for your lot being cast 
 in a parish which is known only to a few sea-fowl, to Sir 
 John Barrow, or the Trigonometrical Survey ! No convoca- 
 tionist can find you out no Witness or Guardian news- 
 paper has any conception where you are no Commission 
 would know where to send for you if they wished to depose 
 you. The Church and State may be severed during your life 
 ere you hear of the dissolution, or suffer by it. Happy recluse ! 
 fortunate eremite ! Pity a poor brother who is tossed on 
 the sea of Lowland commotion. He needs both pity and 
 sympathy. 
 
 " To be serious for this is too serious a time for joking 
 I am most anxious to give you an account of my personal 
 adventures in this troublous time, and to lay before you, 
 for your kind, candid, and prayerful advice, the position in 
 which I may very soon be placed. You know how earnestly 
 I have tried to keep out of this Church question. Not 
 that I was by any means indifferent to its importance, for it 
 is connected with the question of the age (as it has been 
 the question of ages gone by, viz., the relation of Church 
 and State, and their mutual duties), and which, in one form 
 or other, is discussed over Europe. Neither was I indolent 
 in acquiring information on the subject, as my extensive 
 collection of pamphlets, my Church history notes, my
 
 192 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 underlined Books of Discipline, Acts of Assembly and of 
 Parliament, my repeated conversations with men of both 
 parties, and my own conscience, can testify. But my heart 
 does not sympathize with controversy. I hate it. It is the 
 Avorst way of getting good. It is at best a sore operation ; 
 rendered, perhaps, necessary by the state of the body 
 politic but nevertheless a sore operation ; and I hate the 
 cutting, flaying, bleeding, connected I fear, inseparably 
 with all such modes of cure. Besides, whatever opinion 
 I might have of their system of Church and State govern- 
 ment, I really do not like the animus of the Edinburgh 
 clique. There is a domineering, bullying temper about many 
 of them, a sort of evangelical method of abusing, and a con- 
 scientious way of destroying a man's character and making 
 him have the appearance of being evil, which I loathe. 
 The cold, gentlemanly Moderate, in spite of his many faults, 
 is more bearable to my flesh and blood than the loud- 
 speaking high professor, who has as little real heart for 
 
 religion as the other. I would rather than or 
 
 . The one may be a Sadducee, the other looks like a 
 
 Pharisee. I would sooner have the glacier than the volcano. 
 Pardon me, Archy, for saying this, but I am heartily vexed 
 with what I have lived to see done under the cloak 
 of Evangelism. I now begin to understand how the 
 Puritanism of Charles I.'s time should have produced 
 libertinism in the reign of Charles II. aye, and the 
 persecution too. Well, I am digressing from my theme. 
 I said that I wished to keep out of this row, and to do 
 my Master's work and will in my dear, dear parish. I 
 hoped to be let alone to win souls quietly in this sweet 
 bay where we only felt the pulse-beating of that great 
 ocean which was roaring and raging outside. But no ! 
 The country must be raised and excited, and my parish, 
 of course, did not escape. When absent at Kilninver, I 
 heard that B. of L. and W. of B. had been making arrange- 
 ments for a meeting, both in Newmilns and Darvel. The 
 evening came B. was unwell, and W. alone arrived. The 
 place of meeting was the Secession Church in Newmilns 
 (contrary to Mr. Brace's mind), and the Cameronians' 
 meeting-place in Darvel. I went to the first meeting, at
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 193 
 
 seven o'clock. Newmilns, you know, has nearly two thou- 
 sand inhabitants, besides the country round. There were 
 about a hundred in church ; of these, sixty were Chartists, 
 and the rest Dissenters and Churchmen. W. spoke for 
 an hour very tamely and very lamely, I thought, but 
 was perfectly civil. If you only heard his arguments ! 
 The gist of the first part of his speech was this : The 
 Church ought to obey the Bible the Bible says, ' Beware 
 of false prophets ;' ' Try the spirits,' &c. These are com- 
 mands, duties which must be performed, and necessarily 
 imply liberty and power on the part of the Christian 
 people to judge. The ergo was the amusing thing from 
 these premises ergo, the Church passed the Veto Act ! 
 which gave the privilege to the male heads of families to 
 object ! He went on thus until he came to that which a 
 sausage has the end, and then said that if any elders 
 or communicants present wished to sign their names to 
 certain resolutions they would have an opportunity, and 
 mentioned how successful he had been in other parishes. I 
 could stand this no longer, but sprang up to the visible 
 astonishment of W. and told the people if they 
 had any confidence in me not to give him one name, and 
 I would take an eurly opportunity of satisfying them 
 that the question was a much more difficult one than it 
 
 was represented to be by Mr. W . He said nothing, 
 
 but gave the blessing ! for what, no one knew, for he did 
 not get one name ! In Darvel, however, he got twenty 
 or so. Well, on Sabbath, after explaining my position, 
 I intimated a meeting with my people upon the Tuesday 
 following. I had been reading hard for weeks on the sub- 
 ject, and had the facts at my finger ends. The evening 
 came, and the church was crammed with all sects and 
 parties. I do believe I never had a greater pressure on 
 my soul than I had before this meeting. I did not so 
 much possess the subject as the subject possessed me. 
 Between anxiety to do right, and a feeling of degradation 
 that I should be looked upon by even one Christian brother 
 as inimical to the Church of Scotland, not to speak of the 
 Church of Christ, I was so overcome that during the 
 singing of the Psalm 
 
 VOL. i. o
 
 194 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 1 Therefore I wish that peace may still 
 Within thy walls remain,' 
 
 I wept like a very child. I spoke, however, for three- 
 and-a-half hours, and not a soul moved ! Never did I see 
 such an attentive audience. 
 
 " The result has been most gratifying. Of ten elders 
 not one has left me ! This is singular, as I believe 
 only two in the whole town of Kilmarnock have refused 
 to join the Convocation. The people are nearly unanimous, 
 or, at all events, are so attached to me personally that they 
 are about to present to me a gold watch and an address 
 from all parties. I would be very ungrateful to God if I 
 were not both gratified and humbled by this proof of my dear 
 people's good- will to me. 
 
 " So far all has been well in my parish. But here 
 comes a row in the Presbytery, which I greatly fear will 
 be followed by more serious consequences. I am Moderator. 
 You know, of course, the decision in the Stewarton case. 
 At the first meeting after that decision, when the Inter- 
 locutor from the Court of Session was laid upon the table, 
 it was moved that the names of the minister and elder 
 affected by it should be struck off the roll. A counter- 
 motion was made and carried, that the business of the Pres- 
 bytery be suspended, and the case referred to the Com- 
 mission for advice. Against this finding we all (i.e., the 
 ' Moderates ') protested. At that meeting the ' Moderates ' 
 had a minority of the lawful members of court. But at 
 next meeting we are satisfied that we shall have a majority 
 among the lawful members, i.e., exclusive of all the Quoad 
 Sacra ministers. What is to be done ? ' A question to be 
 asked.' At a private meeting, by the advice of counsel, it 
 was proposed and, I fear, agreed to that I should insist 
 on the legal roll only being read when the vote is taken 
 regarding the admission of the ministers Quoad Sacra to the 
 court that, in the event of a legal majority agreeing to 
 dismiss them, we should adjourn the meeting for a few 
 minutes, then constitute the court aneAV, and, if any Chapel 
 minister insisted on remaining in spite of our decision, to 
 turn him out. This is, in all truth, decided enough.
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 195 
 
 " The reasons for it are : 
 
 " 1. By thus forming ourselves into a legal Presbytery 
 by the vote of a legal majority, we are enabled to stop the 
 appeal to the House of Lords on the Stewarton case the 
 decision on which by the Court of Session we know there 
 is not the slightest chance of being reversed and which 
 we know there is no intention of following out, the 
 appeal only being to gain time- but which is throwing 
 obstacles in the way of those members in other presbyteries 
 who, but for the appeal, would form themselves into con- 
 stitutional courts. 
 
 2. We would thus send moderate men (in the right 
 sense of the word) to next Assembly. This is of great 
 consequence, as it is understood the Aberdeen Banner 
 makes no secret of it that the Assembly may declare the 
 Church severed from the State and hold as schismatics all 
 who differ from that dictum, authoritatively uttered by the 
 Assembly. Now we wish to have a set of decent fellows 
 to be presided over by the Commissioner. These are the 
 reasons for our movement, in addition to the more obvious 
 one that all our proceedings, quoad civilia at least, are de 
 facto null and void as long as these ministers are with us. 
 
 " On the other hand, will not this step settle the 
 question as to whether both parties can remain together any 
 longer? 1. We separate. 2. The Commission meets and 
 suspends us. 3. We deny the right of a body illegally 
 constituted to do so. 4. We send Commissioners to tha 
 Assembly. 5. Our party receives them, the other party 
 rejects them. 6. The receiving party appeals to the Com- 
 missioner as to which is the Established Church, and then 
 comes the split and all this by my vote and determina- 
 tion as Moderator ! ! ! 
 
 " Is this not a fix for a quiet-living man like me to be 
 placed in? Is it not enough to make a man's hair grey? 
 What is to be done ? ' I would/ as Sir John says, ' you 
 would practise an answer.' 
 
 " Our meeting is on the first Tuesday of March. Send 
 me your opinion, as a Christian man, before that. How do 
 you think I can best discharge my duty to the law, the 
 Church, my people, and to myself, and consequently to God ? 
 
 o 2
 
 196 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 You observe I take for granted the principle on which 
 you need not argue that in any question relating to the 
 privileges granted by the State to the Church, neither the 
 Church, on the one hand, nor the State, on the other, is 
 the j udge ; but a third party, namely, the Civil Courts, 
 whose duty it is to say what the Statute Law is. There- 
 fore, I hold their decision in the Stewarton case right de 
 jure. At the same time I will use every effort to get the 
 ministers of Quoad Sacra churches legally into the Church. 
 The decision just makes us fall back to what we were 
 before '34. 
 
 I have some thoughts of splitting the difficulty in the 
 Presbytery by asking leave to withdraw from the Court, 
 protesting against all consequences which may follow from 
 letting these men in ; and if the other party do not 
 agree to this, then to run my big jib up and bear away for 
 another Presbytery. I am satisfied that a great mass of 
 the community is sick of this business. The people feel 
 no practical evil and no nation was ever yet roused to 
 revolution by a mere theory. Had it not been for indul- 
 gences and such like practical evils Luther would not have 
 had material with which to begin the war, though, after it 
 was once begun opinions could keep it agoing. If the 
 Covenanters had not been shot and bayoneted, no theory 
 regarding Church or State would have made them sleep in 
 moss-bogs or fight at Drum clog. 
 
 " What did you think of C. of C. saying, ' The Lord 
 Jesus Christ will have left the Church when we go' ! One of 
 the Eothesay ministers, I am told, said the other day, that the 
 Devil was preparing a cradle in hell for the opposition ! 
 Yet I daresay, in a century after this, we shall have some 
 partisan historian writing whining books about these 
 persecuted, self-denying, far-seeing saints, and describing 
 all who oppose them as lovers of the fleece, dumb dogs, and 
 all that trash." 
 
 To his sister JANE : 
 
 "I ani very doivie and cast down not because I am alone, 
 for I love the bachelor life every day more and more, and
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 197 
 
 delight in the independence with which I can rise, eat, 
 read, write when I like ! but this Church of ours is going 
 between me and my sleep. 
 
 " There was a private meeting of our party the day 
 before yesterday at Irvine. All that was done was strictly 
 private but most important ; and only think of this just 
 think of it that I, Norman Macleod, shall certainly be 
 OBLIGED to make THE move which will beyond a doubt 
 first separate the Church into two parts ! ! This is in con- 
 fidence. It is making my head grey. As Strong says, I 
 am this moment the Archbishop of Canterbury. My simple 
 vote as Moderator will decide the game one way or another. 
 In short, the hurricane is only beginning. The explosion 
 is to come, and 1 1 ! ! must fire the train. Well, I think 
 I will get enough of acting now, and no mistake. Sus- 
 pension, and anathemas loud and deep from the Witness, 
 are all before me as possibilities. You can fancy my 
 cogitations, my working out of problems. David Strong 
 came here and spent yesterday with me. He went away 
 to-day. We had a delightful walk together. He goes with 
 
 us, and we feel as one. I gave a great blowing up to , 
 
 who said with a sneer when he heard me express my 
 many difficulties, ' Oh, it is quite plain that Macleod 
 does not like it !' ' Like it !' I said, turning round on him 
 like a tiger, ' let me assure you, sir, that I look upon it as 
 one of the sorest trials that has ever come my way, and 
 that I would give a year's stipend and ten times more to 
 get quit of it.' All the others backed me." 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 EDINBURGH, Thursday Morning, Half-past Seven, May, 1843. 
 
 " The day has come, beautiful in the physical world, but 
 thundery and ominous in the moral one. All the ' Con- 
 vocationists ' are going out. They have been unanimous. 
 No vote is to be taken on any point. They lodge a pro- 
 test and walk. The excitement is prodigious. I am very 
 sad, but in no way frightened. Many are acting from fear 
 of public opinion as much as anything else. . . ."
 
 198 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 Thursday Evening, May 18, 1843. 
 
 " They are off. Four hundred and fifty ministers and 
 elders, one hundred and fifty members. Three have gone 
 since the Queen's letter was read. Welsh's sermon was 
 the beau ideal of one. Everything in their conduct was 
 dignified. 
 
 " God bless all the serious among them. The row is 
 only beginning. I am to protest against the Strathbogies. 
 I am lighter than in the morning, though very dotvie. I 
 think we MAY, by God's blessing, survive. An immense 
 croAvd in the New Assembly. Welsh, and then Chalmers, 
 moderator. The procession was solemn, I am told. Some 
 sad, but others laughing ! The contrast between the old 
 and the young was very striking. 
 
 p.S. They are out of the Church." 
 
 " I take my stand for Constitutional Keform. We 
 are at our worst. IF we survive this week we shall swim. 
 How my soul rises against those men, who have left us 
 to rectify their blundering, and then laugh at our inability 
 to do so." 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 Tuesday, May 23. 
 
 "I have but five minutes. The Strathbogie case is 
 over, thank God ! I think we may swim. It was to me a 
 terrible night. I spoke till half-past twelve P.M. I voted 
 twice yesterday against my old friends. I could not help 
 it. I followed my own judgment. Great gloom, but not 
 despair. Four hundred and fifty have this day for ever 
 abandoned the Church." 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 Thursday. 
 
 " No one but a member of Assembly and of such an 
 Assembly as the present can understand how difficult a 
 thing it is to command quiet time and quiet thoughts, so as 
 to be enabled to write a legible and interesting letter. I 
 am unfit for the task.
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 199 
 
 " We are going ahead slowly ; our disagreeable work 
 is now nearly over. We yesterday reached zero, when 
 the whole Free Presbyterians formally resigned their status 
 -as parish ministers. I believe I intensely realise the posi- 
 tion of our Church, which some of the Aberdeenshire 
 ' Moderates ' do not. The best temper prevails in the 
 Assembly upon the whole, but upon our weak side there is a 
 general gloom when contemplating the awful task before us 
 of filling up four hundred and thirty vacancies, in the face of 
 -an agitation conducted by four 'hundred and thirty sworn, 
 .able, energetic enemies. I look forward to five years as 
 the period of reaction. We shall have, 1, fearful religious 
 excitement or hysterical revivals, the women and ladies 
 leading ; 2, starvation from the effect of voluntaryism ; 3, 
 ecclesiastical tyranny ; 4, a strong united combination of 
 all Dissenters against ' all the Establishments of this coun- 
 try,' to borrow 's words ; and when these features of 
 
 this secession begin to manifest themselves then, but not 
 till then, will the tide fully turn. 
 
 " I wait in hope and with patience. I am ashamed at 
 the cowardice and terror of many of our ministers. I feel 
 the secession deeply, but I am possessed with a most 
 chivalrous and firm determination to live and die fighting 
 for this bulwark of Protestantism, this ark of righteousness, 
 this conservator of social order and religious liberty, the 
 dear old Kirk. 
 
 " May God help us, and then I will not fear what man 
 can do. I trust that posterity will vindicate our doings. 
 
 It is for future generations we are now suffering. 
 
 lias tried to cut up my speech, but he must have 
 known that I never meant what he alleges. But 
 there is, I grieve to think it, a great want of honour 
 amongst a certain set of these men. I am just informed 
 that I am to be offered an Edinburgh church. This will 
 put a finish to my troubles. I dare not think of the 
 subject. I hope I have one feeling a desire to sacrifice 
 myself for my country ; but whether will I do most good, 
 in Loudoun, dear Loudoun, or here? As to the living, 
 poor as it is, and much as I have to pay, I could bear 
 with it."
 
 200 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 May 21, 1843. 
 
 " I am at present, I begin to suspect, Bather a black 
 sheep among the ' Moderates,' because I dare to have a 
 mind of my own, and to act as a check, though a 
 fearfully trifling one, on their power. Another day 
 is coming ; and, come what may, there shall be one free 
 Presbyterian in Scotland who will not give up his own 
 understanding or conscience to living man. 
 
 " I intend to give my farewell speech on Monday. We 
 have been as cold as ice and looking as if we were all to be 
 shot. The Free Church is carrying it on most nobly. They 
 know human nature better than we do. But defence never 
 has the glory of attack. I leave all to posterity, and am not 
 afraid of the verdict. I saw a tomb to-day in the Chapel of 
 Holyrood with this inscription, ' Here lies an honest man.' 
 I only wish to live in such a way as to entitle me to have 
 the same eloge. 
 
 " My Father is off. My soul is sick." 
 
 From his JOURNAL : 
 
 "June 2nd, 1843. I have returned from the 
 Assembly of 1843, one which will be famous in the 
 annals of the Church of Scotland. Yet who will ever 
 know its real history ? The great movements, the grand 
 results, will certainly be known, and everything has 
 been done in the way most calculated to tell on posterity 
 (for how many have been acting before its eyes !) ; but 
 who in the next century will know or understand the ten 
 thousand secret influences, the vanity and pride of some, 
 the love of applause, the fear and terror, of others, and, 
 above all, the seceding mania, the revolutionary mesmerism, 
 which I have witnessed within these few days ? 
 
 "It was impossible to watch the progress of this schism 
 without seeing that it was inevitable. 
 
 " To pass and to maintain at all hazards laws, which by 
 the highest authorities were declared to be inconsistent 
 with and subversive of civil statutes, could end only in 
 breaking up the Establishment. So Dr. Cook said. So Dr.
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 201 
 
 McCrie said in his evidence before the House of Commons. 
 The Procurator told me that when the Veto Law was first 
 proposed, Lord Moncrieff gave it as his opinion that the 
 Church had power to pass it ; that he was unwilling to go 
 to Parliament for its approval until it was certain that its 
 approval was necessary, but that should this become 
 apparent, then unquestionably the Church ought to apply 
 for a legislative . enactment. This advice was not taken, 
 and all the subsequent difficulties have arisen out of the 
 determination to force that law. 
 
 " The event which made a disruption necessary was the 
 deposition of the Strathbogie ministers for obeying the 
 interpretation of statute law given by the civil court, 
 instead of that given by the Church court. The moment 
 one part of the Church solemnly deposed them, and 
 another as solemnly determined to treat them as not 
 deposed, the Church became virtually two Churches, and 
 their separation became inevitable. 
 
 " Thursday, the 18th, was a beautiful day ; but a general 
 sense of oppression Avas over the town. Among many of 
 the seceding party, upon that and on the successive days 
 of the Assembly, there was an assumed levity of manner 
 a smiling tone of countenance, which seemed to say, 
 ' Look what calm, cool, brave martyrs we are.' There 
 were two incidents which convinced me that the old 
 and soberer part of the seceders had a very different feel- 
 ing from the younger and more violent, regarding the mag- 
 nitude and consequence of this movement. I was in St. 
 Giles's half an hour before Welsh began his sermon ; two 
 
 or three benches before me and , with a few 
 
 of this hot genus omne, were chattering and laughing. 
 During the singing of the Paraphrase old Brown (dear, 
 
 good man) of St. John's, Glasgow, was weeping ; but 
 
 was idly staring round the church. So in the procession 
 some were smiling and appeared heedless, but the old men 
 were sad and cast down. Welsh's sermon was in ex- 
 quisite taste, and very calm and dignified ; but its senti- 
 ments, I thought, were a century ahead of many of his 
 convocation friends. His prayer at the opening of the 
 Assembly was also beautiful. The Assembly presented a
 
 202 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 stirring sight. But still I was struck by the smiling of 
 several on the seceding side, as if to show how light their 
 hearts were when, methinks, they had no cause to be so 
 at the beginning of such a great revolution. The subse- 
 quent movements of the two Assemblies are matters of 
 history. The hissing and cheering in the galleries and 
 along the line of procession were tremendous. 
 
 " Never did I pass such a fortnight of care and anxiety. 
 Never did men engage in a task with more oppression of 
 spirit than we did, as we tried to preserve this Church for 
 the benefit of our children's children. 
 
 " The Assembly was called upon to perform a work full 
 of difficulty, and to do such unpopular things as restoring 
 the Strathbogie ministers, rescinding the Veto, &c. We were 
 hissed by the mob in the galleries, looked coldly on by many 
 Christians, ridiculed as enemies to the true Church, as 
 lovers of ourselves, seeking the fleece ; and yet what was 
 nearest my own heart and that of my friends was the wish 
 to preserve this Establishment for the well-being of Britain. 
 While ' the persecuted martyrs of the covenant ' met amid 
 the huzzas and applauses of the multitude, with thousands 
 of pounds daily pouring in upon them, and nothing to do 
 but what was in the highest degree popular ; nothing but 
 self-denial and a desire to sacrifice name and fame, and all 
 but honour, to my country, could have kept me in the 
 Assembly. There was one feature of the Assembly 
 which I shall never forget, and that was the fever of seces- 
 sion, the restless nervous desire to fly to the Free Church. 
 No new truth had come to light, no new event had been 
 developed, but there was a species of frenzy which seized 
 
 men, and away they went. One man ( , of ) said 
 
 to me, ' I must go ; I am a lover of the Establishment, but 
 last autumn I signed the convocation resolutions. All my 
 people will leave me. I never will take a church left 
 vacant by my seceding brethren. If I do not, I am a 
 beggar. If I stay, I lose all character. I must go ;' and 
 away he went, sick at heart ; and many I know have 
 been unconsciously led step by step, by meetings, by 
 pledges, by rash statements, into a position which they 
 sincerely lament but cannot help. There are many un-
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 203 
 
 willing Latimers in that body. This I know right well. It 
 amuses me, who have been much behind the scenes, to read 
 the lithographed names of some as hollow-hearted fellows 
 as ever ruined a country from love of glory and applause. 
 But there are also many others there who would do honour 
 to any cause. 
 
 " What is to be the upshot of this ? 
 
 " 1. The first rock I fear is fanaticism in Ross-shire and 
 other parts of the country, such as has been witnessed only 
 in America. I have already heard of scenes and expres- 
 sions which would hardly be credited. (Nov. The riots in 
 Ross-shire show that this has been fulfilled !) 
 
 "2. A union with all the Voluntaries to overthrow the 
 Establishments of this country. 
 
 " 3. Ecclesiastical despotism on the part of the laity and 
 influential clergy. 
 
 "4. The consequence of this will be, the retiring of the 
 more sober-minded from their ranks. 
 
 "5. Action, excitement, and perpetual motion are abso- 
 lutely necessary to the existence of this Free Church ; and 
 it is impossible as yet to foresee whether it will blow up 
 itself, or blow up the whole British constitution, or sink 
 into paltry dissent. 
 
 " I hope it will also stir up the Establishment and 
 purify us, make us more self-sacrificing and self-denying 
 than ever, and so all these disasters may advance the 
 Redeemer's glory. 
 
 " Aug. 14. What an important period of my personal 
 history has passed since I wrote my last Diary ! Since 
 the division in the Presbytery of Irvine until this moment 
 the troubles in the Church, the writing of pamphlets, the 
 disruption, the Assembly, the preachings, the attending 
 meetings, the refusing of parishes, has altogether formed 
 a time long to be remembered. 
 
 " Let me try and jot a mere table of contents. 
 
 " 1. PUBLIC LIFE. 
 
 "I.I was Moderator of the Presbytery when it separated 
 on the business of the ministers of Quoad Sacra churches.
 
 204 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 I moved to retire, probably never as a presbytery to meet 
 again ! I did this, after much hesitation and many deep 
 and, I hope, prayerful anxieties, (1) Because I believed 
 tkatit was law. (2) Because while it Avas the law, as stated 
 by the courts of the country, which I conceive were 
 alone competent to do so, and so the condition on which 
 the Church was established, it did not interfere with the 
 law of Christ, as I see nothing in the New Testament which 
 makes it necessary for ministers to rule in Church courts. 
 The preservation of the Establishment I felt to be more 
 necessary. (3) It was the avowed intention of the High 
 Church party to get the majority in the Assembly by means 
 of the Quoad Sacras (the appeal to the Lords being a sham, 
 and as such dropped immediately after the commissioners 
 were elected), and then, as the Assembly of the National 
 Church, to dissolve the connection between Church and 
 State, excommunicating those who might remain. 
 
 " In these circumstances I saw only one path open for 
 me, i.e., to form ourselves into a separate Presbytery, and 
 send proper commissioners to the Assembly. 
 
 " 2. I was a member of the Assembly. It is now a 
 matter of history. 
 
 " The ' Moderates ' were too much blamed. I opposed 
 them. I could do so. I was a free man, but they were 
 pledged. They could act only as they did in treating the 
 Strathbogie deposition as null and void, i.e., wrong being 
 on Avrong grounds and in rescinding the veto. I believe the 
 Act of '79, respecting the admission of ministers of other 
 Churches to our pulpits, AA T as restored for this reason, 
 viz., had this Act not been restored, and had a Aveak brother 
 in the Establishment been asked for the use of his pulpit 
 by a Free Churchman, he must either have given it or 
 refused it. If he did the first, it A\ r ould have been made 
 the lever for overthroAving the interests of the Church in 
 that parish. If he did the last, he would be held up to 
 the scorn of the people as a coAvard or a tyrant. Nothing 
 
 is more ludicrous than 's assertion that by this Act 
 
 the Church has excommunicated Christendom ! Why, 
 he and his party were in poAver nine years Avhile the 
 existing law Avas the law of the Church !
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 205 
 
 " The last Assembly saw the Church at its lowest ebb. 
 The reforming party was represented by our poor fifteen. 
 They alone by vote and dissent opposed the ' Moderates,' 
 and formed a kind of nucleus for a strong party. We are 
 now as Dr. Thomson was twenty years ago. But the limits 
 of the powers of the Establishment are better denned. We 
 have already received a lesson not to reform beyond these 
 limits ; but I believe next Assembly will exhibit a strong 
 party determined to popularise the Church as far as possible 
 within these limits, and, if possible, to extend them. For 
 my own part, I think it is a principle, a political neces- 
 sity, to make the Church acceptable to the people, as far 
 as Bible principle will permit. I rather think the 
 struggle against patronage is to be renewed, and that 
 twenty years will see its death. The question will soon bo 
 tried a republican Church Establishment or disestablish- 
 ment. I would sooner have the first. If we attempt to 
 recede we shall be crushed like an old bandbox. 
 
 " The reason why I can conscientiously remain in the 
 Church is simply because I believe I have spiritual liberty 
 to obey every thing in God's Word. I know of no verse 
 in it which I cannot obey as well as any seceder can. This 
 suffices me. 
 
 " During this controversy I published two small brock ures 
 entitled ' Cracks about the Kirk for Kintra Folk.' The first 
 sold Avell. It went through eight editions one thousand 
 each, the second through four. They die* much good. 
 
 "Since the disruption I have been offered the first charge 
 of Cupar, Fife ; Maybole ; Campsie (by all the male com- 
 municants) ; St. John's, Edinburgh ; St. Ninian's, Stirling- 
 shire ; Tolbooth, Edinburgh ; and the elders and others 
 in the West Church, Greenock, have petitioned for me. 
 As yet I have refused all but the last two. These have 
 only come under my notice last week. 
 
 " I shall ever bear on my heart a grateful remembrance 
 of the kindness and deep Christian affection shown to me 
 by the people here. When I nearly accepted Campsie, I 
 found many whom I thought rocks, sending forth tears, 
 and gathered fruit from what appeared stony ground. 
 God has, I believe, blessed my ministry. Now, all this
 
 206 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 and ten times more than I can mention occurred just 
 as I had made up my mind not to go to Campsie. 
 
 " Oct. IQth. I was elected on the 16th of September to 
 the Tolbooth Church, Edinburgh, unanimously. On the 
 17th of the same month the Duke of Buccleuch's Commis- 
 sioner, Mr. Scott Moncrieff, came here and offered me the 
 parish of Dalkeith. 
 
 " On the very day of my election to Edinburgh, I went 
 to see Dalkeith ; and on my return home I sent a letter 
 accepting it. One reason among others for preferring 
 Dalkeith to Edinburgh is, that I prefer a country 
 parish to a town because I am in better health, and 
 because the fever and excitement and the kind of work 
 on Sabbath days and week days in Edinburgh would do 
 me much harm, bodily and spiritually. 
 
 " But why do I leave Loudoun dear, dear Loudoun ? 
 Because 
 
 [Here follows a blank page, and on it this entry : 
 
 ' 1845. Reviewing this, I find this page blank. Why, 
 I cannot tell ; perhaps hardly knew. But I know I was 
 convinced that I ought to accept Dalkeith, and I do not 
 repent as far as Dalkeith is concerned but, poor 
 Loudoun ! " 
 
 To REV. WM. LEITCH : 
 
 July 21, 1843. 
 
 " I have been fearfully occupied of late. Indeed I am 
 sick sick of books, pamphlets, parsons, and parishes. 
 Would we had an Inquisition ! One glorious auto-da-fe 
 would finish the whole question ! 
 
 "As to the question, I think we are now at dead ebb in 
 the country, and that for the time to come the tide will 
 change, and in a century or so such is the genius of 
 restless Presbyterianism it will begin to ebb again. Our 
 ecclesiastical maxima and minima seem to alternate or 
 oscillate every hundred years or so. I hate by the 
 way above all things a Presbyterian revolution. There 
 is always something Chartist or fanatic about it. The
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 207 
 
 jus divinum being stamped upon every leading eccle- 
 siastic, everything in the civilised world must be over- 
 thrown which stands in the way of his notions being 
 realised. I think the present Establishment has indirectly 
 saved the monarchy." 
 
 To his sister JANE : 
 
 EJRKTON (OAMPSIE), Saturday Night, 1843. 
 " I am very, very low. I have preached in that place 
 to-day, and have been in the Manse. Manse and glen are 
 sleeping in the pale moonshine. I am oppressed to the 
 earth with thoughts and feelings. The voices of the departed 
 are ringing in my ears. I have suffered more than I can 
 tell. It is horrid ; dearest, I never could live here !" 
 
 To JOHN MACKINTOSH, at Cambridge : 
 
 LOTJDOTJN MANSE, August 30, 1843. 
 
 " Oh, for a day of peace one of those peaceful days 
 which I used to enjoy when a boy in the far west. Such 
 days are gone, fled. I cannot grasp the sense of repose I 
 once felt that feeling, you know, which one has in a 
 lonely corry or by a burnie's side far up among the 
 mountains, when, far from the noise and turmoil of 
 mortal man, and the fitful agitations of this stormy 
 life, our souls in solitude became calm and serene as the 
 blue sky on which we gazed as we lay half asleep in 
 body, though awake in soul, among the brackens or the 
 blooming heather. Could Isaak Walton be a member of a 
 Scotch Presbytery or General Assembly ? he who ' felt 
 thankful for his food and raiment the rising and setting 
 sun the singing of larks and leisure to go a-angling ' ? 
 Dear old soul ! ' One of the lovers of peace and quiet, and 
 a good man, as indeed most anglers are.' Isaak never 
 would have been a member of any committee along with 
 
 and Co. That is certain. Don't be angry, 
 
 dear John ! Do let me claver with you, and smile or cry 
 just as I feel inclined. We shall slide into business and 
 gravity soon enough. 
 
 ". ... As to Non-intrusion, unless history lies, we 
 have guaranteed to us now more than we ever acted on
 
 zo8 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 for a hundred years, and as much as the Church, except 
 during a short period, ever had. We can reject a 
 presentee for any reason which we think prevents him 
 from being useful ; and this is all the power the Church 
 ever had. Simple dissent was never considered as itself a 
 sufficient reason for rejecting a presentee. 
 
 " As to spiritual independence. In spite of all the Court 
 of Session can do, or has done, there is not a thing in 
 God's Word which I have not as much freedom to obey in 
 the Church as out of it. I cannot lay my hand on my 
 heart and say, ' I leave the Establishment because in it I 
 cannot obey Christ, or do so much for His glory in it as out 
 of it.' I thank God I was saved from the tearful excitement 
 into which many of my friends were cast during May. I 
 have been blessed in my parish. 
 
 " Banish the idea of my ever ceasing to love you as long 
 as you love truth. You know my latitudinarian principles 
 in regard to Church government old clothes. I value 
 each form in proportion as it gains the end of making man 
 more meet for Heaven. At the same time I cannot incur 
 the responsibility of weakening the Establishment that 
 bulwark of Protestantism that breakwater against the 
 waves of democracy and of revolution that ark of a 
 nation's righteousness that beloved national Zion, lovely 
 in its strength, but more beloved in the day of its deso- 
 lation and danger." 
 
 From his JOURNAL : 
 
 "Dec. 3, 1843, Sabbath Night, past Eleven. The last 
 communion Sabbath is over which I shall ever enjoy 
 as minister of this parish. The congregation is dismissed 
 whither, oh whither ? How many shall partake of the 
 feast above ? 
 
 " I can hardly describe my feelings. I felt as if I had 
 been at the funeral of a beloved Christian friend, where I 
 had experienced deep and unfeigned sorrow, but mingled 
 with much to comfort and cheer. 
 
 " I thank a gracious God for the support He has given. 
 And though I wept sore and had a severe day, I did not
 
 THE DISRUPTION CONTROVERSY. 209 
 
 repent of the choice I had made. Dear, dear Loudoun 
 has been an oasis during these five years. But ' I am a 
 stranger and a sojourner, as all my fathers were,' and I only 
 pray God that my vows made this day may be performed, 
 that my sins may be forgiven, and that I may ever retain 
 a lively sense of the mercies I have received. 
 
 " There is a Church here, by the grace of God. Oh, 
 that God may keep it by His power, and send a pastor 
 according to His mind to feed it. 
 
 "Dec. IQth, Sabbath night, eleven. This has been a 
 solemn, yet a calm, peaceful, and I hope a profitable day 
 for myself and the people. My last Sabbath in Loudoun 
 as its minister ! What a thing it is to write the last leaf 
 of the book of my ministry, that has been open for nearly 
 six years ! 
 
 " The parting with my evening congregation quite over- 
 came me. I had a good greet in the pulpit when they 
 were all going out, and I hope my prayers for forgiveness 
 and acceptance were heard and answered. 
 
 " The coming home at night with dear Jane (beloved 
 companion more than sister of all my sunshine and 
 shade) was the most affecting of all. The night was a 
 dusky moonlight. About a hundred Sabbath-school 
 children had collected round the church gate, surrounded 
 by groups of women, and all so sad and sorrowful. As we 
 came along, some one met us every twenty yards who was 
 watching for us ; and I shall never forget those suppressed 
 sobs and clutchings of the hand, and deep and earnest 
 ' God bless you ! ' ' God be with you ! ' 
 
 " How many thoughts press upon me ! The sins of the 
 past. Thou knowest ! The mercy and love of God. The 
 singular grace shown to me at this time. The good 
 effected by me by such a poor, vile, sinful worm. The 
 gratitude of my people for the little I have done. The 
 fear and trembling in entering on a new field of labour ; 
 the awful passing of time ; the coming Judgment ! 
 
 "Dec. 13th. The last night in my study in my dear 
 Manse of Loudoun, the scene of so many anxieties and 
 communings of sweet intercourse, of study, of sinful and 
 unprofitable thoughts ! 
 
 VOL. i, p
 
 zio LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 " I have had three days of the most deeply solemn 
 and anxious scenes I have ever witnessed in this world ! 
 Oh, what overwhelming gratitude and affection ! Let me 
 never, never, never, O God, forget what I have seen and 
 heard ! 
 
 " I have done good more than I knew of. May the 
 Lord advance it, and bless the seed ; may He keep the 
 beloved young Christian communicants, the rising Church. 
 The Good Shepherd is always with them, and they will be 
 fed as He pleases."
 
 CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 DALKEITH, DECEMBER, 1843 - JUNE, 1845. 
 
 town of Dalkeith, which, formed by far the 
 
 X 7 * 
 
 most important part of his new parish, had then 
 
 a population of 5,000. Its principal streets are chiefly 
 occupied by prosperous shops and the houses of well- 
 to-do tradesmen ; but the ' wynds ' behind these, and 
 the miserable * closes ' which here and there open 
 from them, consist mainly of the dens of as miserable 
 a class as can be found in the purlieus of Edinburgh 
 or Glasgow. There were well-farmed lands in the 
 country district of the parish, and one or two 
 collieries with the usual type of mining village 
 attached to them. There were in the town numerous 
 churches belonging to various denominations, from the 
 Episcopal chapel to the representatives of the chief 
 forms of Presbyterian dissent. But still the charge 
 which devolved upon the parish minister was a heavy 
 one. Two churches belonged to the N Church of Scot- 
 land, but only one of these was then open for worship ; 
 and the parish, which has since been divided, was 
 of great extent. The old parish church, now beau- 
 tifully restored, but at that time choked with galleries, 
 rising tier above tier behind and around the pulpit, 
 
 p 2
 
 212 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 was a curious example of Scotch vandalism. There 
 was, however, something of the picturesque in the 
 confused cramming of these 'lofts' into every nook 
 and corner, and bearing quaint shields, devices, and 
 texts emblazoned in front of the seats allotted to dif- 
 ferent guilds. The Weavers reminded the congrega- 
 tion of how life was passing l swiftly as the weaver's 
 shuttle,' and the Hammermen of how the Word of 
 God smote the rocky heart in pieces. 
 
 The characteristics of his new charge were very 
 different from those of Loudoun. He was aided and 
 encouraged in his work in Dalkeith by many in every 
 rank of life, and he formed life-long friendships with 
 families remarkable at once for their culture and reli- 
 gious warmth. But the working men of Dalkeith did 
 not show the keen intellectual interest in public ques- 
 tions evinced by the weavers of Newmilns and Darvel, 
 nor were they possessed of their intellectual enthusiasm 
 and love of books. The prevailing tone of mind was 
 solid, dull, and prosaic. There was, besides, a stratum 
 of society low enough to be appalling. The very 
 names of some of the l Yennels ' in the town, * Little 
 Dublin,' and the like, indicated the character of their 
 inhabitants. In such haunts there was to be found 
 an amount of poverty, ignorance, and squalor, easy to 
 reach so long as the question was one of almsgiving, 
 but which it appeared almost impossible to reform. 
 
 Yet the missionary labour among the lapsed classes 
 of Dalkeith, on which he now entered, formed useful 
 training for his future work in Glasgow. In Dalkeith 
 he made his first efforts in the direction of that con- 
 gregational organization, which was subsequently
 
 DALKEITH, DECEMBER, iZ^JUNE, 1845. 213 
 
 developed with such success in the Barony. He held 
 special week-day meetings to impart information to 
 his people respecting missionary enterprise at home 
 and abroad, and established associations for the syste- 
 matic collection of funds in support of the work of 
 the Church. He also sought to utilise the life and 
 zeal of the communicants by giving them direct labour 
 among their poor and ignorant neighbours. He per- 
 sonally visited both rich and poor, and opened mission 
 stations in three different localities, where regular 
 services were held on Sundays, and sewing and evening 
 classes were taught during the week. He formed 
 a loan-fund to help those who were anxious to help 
 themselves, and although often disappointed, yet ex- 
 perience, on the whole, confirmed his belief as to the 
 benefit of frankly trusting working-men with means 
 for providing for themselves better houses and better 
 clothes. Drunkenness vyas, as usual, the root-evil of 
 most of the misery, and he strained every effort to 
 grapple with its power. He did not join any temper- 
 ance society, but in order to help those he was trying 
 to reform, he entered with them, for a considerable 
 period, into a compact of total abstinence. The re- 
 sults of these experiences he afterwards gave to the 
 public in a tract entitled " A Plea for Temperance." 
 
 The seat of the noble family of Buccleuch is near 
 the town of Dalkeith, and the town in many ways 
 depends on the Palace. The gates of the Park stand 
 at the end of the Main Street, and lead into a wide 
 demesne, affording to many families unlimited walks 
 through forests of oak and beech, stretching for several 
 thousand acres along the picturesque banks of the
 
 214 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 Esk. Few noblemen realise more fully than the 
 Duke of Buccleuch the responsibilities attached to 
 property, or are more anxious to discharge faithfully 
 the duties of their high station. His generosity, his 
 chivalrous honour and lofty tone of mind endear him 
 personally to all Scotchmen. Yet, even with so 
 favourable an example, Norman Macleod perceived 
 the grave practical evils attending that alienation of 
 the nobility and gentry of Scotland from the national 
 religion which has become of late years so preva- 
 lent. The causes that have mainly produced this 
 result are easily discovered. It is natural that among 
 men educated in England, and accustomed to the 
 liturgy of her venerable Church, many should find 
 the bald simplicity and extempore prayers of the 
 Church of Scotland distasteful. The forms of worship 
 which are so dear to the mass of the people, are un- 
 edifying to them. Nor is it to be wondered at if 
 the cheap and ugly barns, which the heritors of Scot- 
 land have frequently erected as parish churches, should 
 so offend the tastes of these heritors themselves as to 
 drive them away from the ungainly walls. The eccle- 
 siastical disputes too, which have recently torn Scot- 
 land asunder, have perhaps repelled not a few, and 
 made them seek the peaceful retirement of a commu- 
 nion which has not been identified for centuries with 
 any national movement. However this may be, the 
 great Earls and Barons who used, by their presence, 
 to give an importance to the deliberations of the General 
 Assembly scarcely second to that of the debates of 
 Parliament, have now few representatives on her 
 benches, so that those of the clergy who have struggled
 
 DALKEITH, DECEMBER, 1%^JUNE, 1845. 215 
 
 under many difficulties to increase the usefulness, ele- 
 vate the tone, and improve the services of the Church, 
 have been left without that support from the higher 
 classes to which they naturally deem themselves 
 entitled. And Norman Macleod deplored the division 
 which had grown up between the nobility and the 
 people for reasons besides those which affect the 
 stability of the national Church. He saw that what 
 absenteeism was doing in Ireland in subverting the 
 loyalty of the masses was, in a smaller degree, yet 
 unmistakeably, being accomplished in Scotland. l The 
 aristocracy do not know what they are doing,' he used 
 frequently to say ; l they are making themselves the 
 most powerful instruments for advancing democracy 
 and of ruining the influence of their own order.' He 
 felt, with more than his usual warmth, that those 
 loyal attachments which spring up when common 
 sympathies and associations unite class with class, and 
 which are so much calculated to sweeten the atmo- 
 sphere of social and political life, are severely checked, 
 when those who ought to be leaders in all that affects 
 the deeper life of the people, live as foreigners and 
 aliens, and by refusing to worship with their Presby- 
 terian countrymen, throw discredit, not merely on the 
 National Church, but on the national faith. Pecuniary 
 or political support, however largely accorded, cannot 
 counterbalance such personal alienation. 
 
 From the proximity of Dalkeith to Edinburgh he 
 was able to study the working of the committees 
 entrusted with the control of the various agencies of 
 the Church, and to lend his aid in reconstructing 
 her missions. The impressions produced by this
 
 2i6 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 experience were not encouraging, for while lie enter- 
 tained a profound personal respect for the good men 
 who guided the business of the Church, he groaned 
 aloud over the want of power and enthusiasm. He 
 soon learned that there were causes for the slowness 
 of progress lying deeper than faults of management, 
 and his lamentations passed from the committees in 
 Edinburgh to the indifference of many in the ministry, 
 and of the Church at large. Morning, noon, and night 
 his thoughts turned towards the revival of the zeal and 
 the development of the resources of the Church. " I 
 am low low about the old machine no men, no 
 guides, no lighthouses, no moulding master-spirit.'' 
 Consumed with anxieties, he was glad when the 
 opportunity was offered of making himself useful in 
 Church business. The first work assigned to him, as 
 well as the last, was in connection with the India Mis- 
 sion. He was sent in 1844 to the north of Scotland 
 along with Mr. Herdman* to organize associations 
 for the promotion of female education in Hindostan. 
 
 To his sister JANE : 
 
 DALKEITH, Friday, December 15, 1843. 
 
 " Well, it is all over ! I am now minister of Dalkeith ; 
 and may God in His mercy grant that it may be ail for 
 His own glory ! I received a most hearty welcome, and 
 was rejoiced to get hold of not a few hard, horny fists, 
 and also the trembling hands of some old women. There 
 is work for me here, I thought, and some usefulness 
 yet by God's grace." 
 
 * Now the Eev. Dr. Herdman, of Melrose, who was, in 1872, 
 appointed his successor in the management of the Indian mission.
 
 DALKEITH, DECEMBER, rt^JUNE, 1845. 217 
 
 Fiom his JOURNAL : 
 
 DALKEITH, December 1G, 1843. 
 
 " I was yesterday inducted into my new charge. Another 
 change another reat waterfall in the stream of time. 
 
 O O 
 
 " I am weary of controversy and strife, and I shall 
 devote my days and life to produce unity and peace 
 among all who love Christ. I pray that God may make 
 me more useful and holier noAV than I have ever been 
 before, that I may be th means of saving others." 
 
 "Dec. 31st, Sabbath. The first Sabbath in my new 
 parish and last night of the year. In an hour, forty- 
 three with its solemn changes will have passed, and the 
 unknown forty-four have begun. The grate before which 
 I sit was in Campbeltown ; I was toasted before it the 
 night I was born. time ! O changes ! My head 
 aches ! " 
 
 August 5, 1844. 
 
 " I have been very busy ; my catechism""' will be out 
 this week, and will be only three-halfpence ; it is, I think, 
 simple and good. I am very anxious to write a tract 
 to leave in sick-rooms, both for the use of the sick and, 
 what I think is much wanted, for the use of those around 
 the sick who may wish to be of service to them, but who 
 hardly know what to do. I would point out passages of 
 scripture for them to read, and give short comments upon 
 these passages and a few simple prayers." 
 
 To his sister JANE : 
 
 INVERNESS, August, 1814. 
 
 " I feel that in all the congregations I have addressed, 
 and in all the meetings, there is little very little real life ! 
 A great amount of coldness ; at least, I think so. To 
 form Missionary Associations is like giving good spectacles 
 to those whose eyes are nearly out ; they will not cure the 
 disease. The ' eye-salve ' must first be applied before 
 
 * A Catechism for Churchmen, on the Doctrine of the Headship of 
 Christ, which he published after the " Cracks about the Kirk."
 
 2i 8 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 mucli good can be done ! hence, what we need is preach- 
 ing the gospel. This is an apparent truism ; but, alas I 
 truisms are what people attend to least. On Tuesday 
 I went to Elgin. The weather this week was magnificent ; 
 the air clear and bracing ; the Moray Firth ' gleaming like 
 a silver shield ;' the great line of precipice of old red 
 sandstone, which forms a rocky wall to Caithness, all clear 
 and well-defined. Held our meeting at one ; about fifty 
 ladies present, and several of the clergy. Formed the 
 Association. Sermon at night tolerably well attended. 
 Saw Patrick Duff's fossils from the old red ; beautiful, 
 very beautiful. Fish with the scales glittering as if the 
 fish were caught yesterday. 
 
 " Next day found the coach full. A fair in Torres. 
 Got a lift in a Free Churchman's gig. Had much talk 
 with him, and could not blame the man ; but blamed 
 the clergy, old and new. Reached Nairn at twelve. 
 John Mackintosh came down to the inn. He is mad 
 about Germany and the Germans ; he even smoked. 
 Dined at Geddes, after forming an Association. Thurs- 
 day was a glorious day. John and I drove off by the 
 coach to Inverness. Had a good meeting. Our mission 
 is now nearly over. I am very thankful I have come ; 
 thankful for the encouragement given by the clergy and 
 the people, and thankful for having been enabled to preach 
 the truth." 
 
 To JOHN MACKINTOSH : 
 
 DALKEITH, October, 1844. 
 
 " Geddes is now one of the bright points in the world 
 which lies in darkness, to which my spirit will often 
 turn for light ; but not your intellectual light, though 
 of that there is abundance, but heart-light. I am every 
 day hating intellect more and more. It is the mere 
 gleaming of a glacier clear, cold, chilly, though magni- 
 ficent ; and then ' Come, no more of this, an' thou 
 
 lovest me, Hal.' I detest essay letters ; but I love a 
 smoke, and I love thee, dear John, and thy house, and 
 even Ben Wyvis, and all the happy group that showed 
 it to me ; and I love all that loves me down to my
 
 DALKEITH, DECEMBER, i%^JUNE, 1845. 219 
 
 devoted cat ; and when any do not love me, I pity them 
 for their wanting so large an object for their affections ; 
 and so I wish, above all things, to bear about with me 
 a heart which I would not have shut by sin or by 
 vanity, and always open, dear John, to thee. Well, I 
 had such a day and night .with Shairp ! I went to 
 Houstoun. We talked and you know my powers in 
 that sort of wordy drizzle we talked the moon down. 
 We talked through the garden, and along the road, and 
 up the avenue, and up the stair, and in the drawing- 
 room, and during music, and during dinner, and during 
 night, and, I believe, during sleep ; certainly during all 
 next morning, and even when one hundred yards asunder, 
 he being on the canal bank, and I in the canal boat. 
 What a dear, noble soul Shairp is ! I do love him. 
 Would that our Church had a few like him. We want 
 broad-minded, meditative men. We want guides, we 
 want reality, we want souls who will do and act before 
 God ; who would have that disposition in building up the 
 spiritual Church, w T hich the reverential Middle Age masons 
 had when elaborately carving some graven imagery or 
 quaint device, unseen by man's eye, on the fretted roof 
 of a cathedral they worked on God's house, and before 
 God ! " 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 DALKEITH, October, 1844, half-past nine A.M. 
 
 " ' There is poetry in everything.' True, quite true, 
 Emerson thou true man, poet of the backwoods ! But 
 there is not poetry in a fishwife, surely ? Surely there is ; 
 lots of it. Her creel has more than all Dugald Moore's 
 tomes. Why there was one I mean a fishwife this 
 moment in the lobby. She had a hooked nose. It seemed 
 to be the type, nay the ancestor, of a cod-hook. Her 
 mouth was a skate or turbot humanised ; her teeth, selected 
 from the finest oyster pearl ; her eyes, whelks with the 
 bonnets on bait for odd fish on sea or land ; her hands 
 and fingers in redness and toughness rivalled the crab, 
 barring him of the Zodiac. Yet she was all poetry. I
 
 220 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 had been fagging, reading and writing since 6 A.M. 
 (on honour !) had dived into Owen, was drowned in 
 Edwards, and wrecked on Newman my brain was 
 wearied, when suddenly I heard the sound of ' Flukes ! ' 
 followed by ' Had dies !' (a name to which Haidee was as 
 prose). I descended and gazed into the mysterious creel, 
 and then came a gush of sunlight upon my spirit visions 
 of sunny mornings with winding shores, and clean, sandy, 
 pearly beaches, and rippling waves glancing and glittering 
 over white shells and polished stones, and breezy head- 
 lands ; and fishing-boats moving like shadows onward from 
 the great deep ; and lobsters, and crabs, and spoutfish, and 
 oysters, crawling, and chirping, and s'pouting out sea 
 water, the old ' ocean gleaming like a silver shield/ The 
 fishwife was a Claude Lorraine ; her presence painted what 
 did my soul good, and as her reward I gave her what I'll 
 wager never during her life had been given her before 
 all that she asked for her fish ! And why, you ask, have 
 I sat down to write to you, beloved John, all this to 
 spend a sheet of paper, to pay one penny, to abuse ten 
 tickings of my watch to write myself, like Dogberry, an 
 ass ? Why ? ' Nature,' quoth d'Alembert, ' puts ques- 
 tions which Nature cannot answer.' And shall I beat 
 Nature, and be able to answer questions put to me by 
 John Nature's own child ? Be silent, and let neither of 
 us shame our parent. Modesty forbids me to attempt 
 any solution of thy question, dear John. Now for work. 
 My pipe is out !" 
 
 To his sister JANE : 
 
 DALKEITH, 1844. 
 
 " I have been horribly busy. As for next week, I can- 
 not see my way to the end of it. I am to be at the top 
 of my speed, and no mistake. I have got a beautiful 
 third preaching-house in a close, so that I have the three 
 best points in the town occupied, and I will clear the way 
 for a missionary. I am going to develope one of my 
 theories regarding the best method of teaching the lower 
 orders, by getting pictures of the life of Christ, the Lord's
 
 DALKEITH, DECEMBER, rt^JUNE, 1845. 221 
 
 Prayer, and Ten Commandments printed in large type, 
 and hung up on the walls. I have more faith in the 
 senses than most Presbyterians. 
 
 " Need I assure E of the impossibility of my saying 
 
 anything like what is reported of me ! No I said the 
 fightings of ' all sects and parties were disgusting infidels 
 even,' and so prejudicing Christianity in their minds. 
 
 " I am very jolly because very busy. Breakfast on bread- 
 and-milk every morning at eight ; dine at two jollily." 
 
 Letter to the late SIB JOHN CAMPBELL, of Kildalloig, on the birth of a 
 son and heir. 
 
 " Officer of the Watch. The commodore is signalling, sir. 
 
 " Captain. What has she got up ? 
 
 " Officer. No. 1, sir. ' An heir apparent is born.' 
 
 " Captain. Glorious news ! All hands on deck. Bend 
 on your flags. Stand by your halyards, Load your 
 guns ! All ready fore and aft ? 
 
 " All ready, sir. 
 
 " Hoist and fire away ! 
 
 " Three cheers ! ! ! 
 
 " Load. Fire ! Three cheers ! ! ! 
 
 " Load again. Fire ! 
 
 " Three tremendous cheers ! ! ! 
 
 " For the Laird of Kildalloig ! 
 
 " It is impossible to do justice to the sensation which 
 was created in every part of the ship. The vessel her- 
 seif made one of her best bows, and for once ceased to 
 look stern. The sails, though suffering much from the 
 bight of a rope, for which the doctor' had stuck on 
 them a number of leeches and recommended wet sheets, 
 nevertheless ' looked swell ' and much pleased as the
 
 222 
 
 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 top gallants said sweet things into their lee earing. 
 The royals, though rather high and complaining of the 
 truck system, waved their caps. The 
 chain-cable sung ' Old King Coil,' 
 while the best-bower cried encore ! 
 (anchor). The capstan began to 
 make love to the windlass, who was 
 thought to be a great catch, but who 
 preferred the caboose on account of 
 his coppers. The boatsivain took the ship round the waist, 
 but got it pitched into him for his impertinence. He said 
 it was all friendship. The binnacle was out of his wits 
 
 with joy quite non-compass. The wheel never spoke; 
 he had more conning than any in the ship, and was afraid 
 of being put down, or getting hard up. The cuddy gave 
 a fearful bray. The cat-of-nine-tails gave a mew which 
 
 was heard a mile off, and 
 scampered off to the best- 
 bower, which was embracing 
 the cat-head and sharing its 
 stock with it. The life-buoy 
 roused up the dead lights, 
 who rushed and wakened the 
 dead eyes, who began to weep 
 changed into wedding gar- 
 
 tears of joy. The shrouds 
 
 ments. The two davits said they would, out of compli-
 
 DALKEITH, DECEMBER, iS^JUNE, 1845. 223 
 
 ment to the laird, call themselves after the two Johns. 
 
 The companion got so in love 
 
 with marriage that he swore 
 
 he would not be cheated by a 
 
 mere name, but get another 
 
 companion as soon as possible. 
 
 The long-boat sighed for a punt, 
 
 and began to pay his addresses 
 
 to the cutter. The launch got 
 
 so jealous that he kicked the 
 
 bucket ; while the stuab declared 
 
 he would turn cleanly, and try 
 
 and earn a good character so as 
 
 to get spliced to a holy-stone. 
 
 The guns offered their services to all hands, and promised 
 
 that they w r ould marry all and sundry can(n)onically, 
 
 and each give a ball on the 
 
 occasion. The block-heads alone 
 
 were confused, but even they 
 
 said they Avould contribute their 
 
 sheaves. The very man-holes 
 
 spoke lovingly of the fair sex ; 
 
 and the false keel for once spoke 
 
 truth, saying he never saw such 
 
 fun, but that he would be at 
 
 the bottom of all this mystery.
 
 *2 4 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 " What the effects of all this might have been no one 
 can tell if all the above marriages had taken place ; but 
 
 just as all parties were 
 ready for being spliced" 
 (the marliny-spikes acting 
 as curates), it was found 
 every gun was deep in port. 
 But in the meantime the 
 captain summoned all on 
 deck and gave the following short but neat speech : 
 " ' My men, Fill your glasses ! Drink a bumper to 
 the health of the young Laird of Kildalloig. 
 May he swim for many a long year over 
 the stormy ocean on which he has been 
 launched. May neither his provisions nor 
 cloth ever fail him. May he ever be 
 steered by the helm of conscience, and go 
 by the chart of duty and the compass of 
 truth ; and may every breeze that blows 
 and every sea that dashes carry him nearer 
 a good haven ! ' 
 " Hurrah !" 
 
 To his MOTHER : 
 
 DALKEITH, Sunday, 1845. 
 
 " After working very hard during the week, I rose to- 
 day at half-past six, studied till nine, taught my school 
 till eleven, preached forenoon and afternoon long sermons, 
 had baptisms, slept for an hour, preached for an hour to 
 fifty outcasts in the wynd, was my own precentor and clerk, 
 and here I am as fresh as a lark a pulse going like a 
 chronometer, and a head calm, and clear and cool as a 
 mountain spring. But my chief reason for writing you 
 to-night is to tell you a story which has amused me. 
 
 " On coming home this evening I saw a number of boys 
 following and speaking to, and apparently teasing, a little- 
 boy who, with his hands in his pockets and all in rags, 
 was creeping along close by the wall. He seemed like a 
 tame caged bird which had got loose and was pecked at
 
 DALKEITH, DECEMBER, 1*4$ JUNE, 1845. 225 
 
 and tormented by wild birds. His cut was something 
 like this. I asked the boys who he was. ' Eh ! he's a wee 
 boy gaun' about begging, wi'out 
 faither or mither !' He did seem 
 very wee, poor child a pretty 
 boy, only nine years old. I found 
 him near my gate and took him 
 in. I asked him to tell me the 
 truth. He said his father was 
 alive a John Swan, in Kirkaldy ; 
 that his ' ain mither ' was dead ; 
 that he had a stepmother ; that 
 ' a month and a week ago ' he left 
 them, for they used to send him 
 to beg, to drink the money he 
 got, and to thrash him if he 
 brought none in ; and that they sent him out one evening 
 and he left them. He got threepence from a gentleman 
 and crossed in the steam-boat to Leith. He had heard 
 that he was born in Kirkhill near this, 'and that his 
 mither lived there wi' him when he was a bairn.' He 
 reached a stable, and there he has been ever since, begging 
 round the district. Poor infant ! Jessie, my servant, once 
 a servant in some charitable institution, was most minute 
 in her questionings about Kirkaldy ; but his answers were 
 all correct and very innocent. Well, a few minutes after, 
 Jessie came in. ' What,' said I, ' are you doing with the 
 boy ? ' ' Oo, I gied him his supper, puir thing, and am 
 making a shake-down for him ; and, ye see, I saw he 
 was verra dirty, and I pit him in a tub o' water, and he's 
 stannin in't ee' noo till I gang ben. That's the way we 
 used to do in the Institution. Eh ! if ye saw the boys frae 
 the Hielans that used te come there ! Keep me ! I 
 couldna eat for a week after cleannin them ; and wee 
 Swan is just as bad. I wadna tell ye hoo dirty he is, 
 puir bairn ! I couldna thole tae pit him tae his bit bed 
 yon -way. I cast a' his duds outside the door, and sent 
 Mary Ann straight up tae the factor's for a sack for him ; 
 
 for ye see whan we washed them in the Institution ' 
 
 ' Be off/ said I, ' and don't keep the poor fellow in the tub 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 longer.' I went in, a few minutes ago, and there I found 
 him, or rather saw something like a ghost amongst mist, 
 Jessie scrubbing at him, and seeming to enjoy the work 
 with all her heart. ' How do you like it ? ' ' Fine, fine ! ' 
 
 But just as I wrote the above word, 
 the door was opened and in marches 
 my poor boy, paraded in by Jessie 
 a beautiful boy, clean as a bead, 
 but with nothing on but a large 
 beautiful clean shirt, his hair 
 combed and divided ; and Jessie 
 C ^ gazing on him with admiration, 
 
 J^ ^ _^ Jf / Mary Ann in the background. The 
 
 poor boy hardly opened his lips, 
 he looked round him in bewilderment. ' There he is,' 
 said Jessie ; ' I am sure ye' re in anither warld the 
 night, my lad. Whan wer ye clean afore ? ' ' Three 
 months syne.' 'War ye ever as clean afore?' 'No.' 
 ' What will ye do noo ?' 'I dinna ken.' 'Will ye gang 
 awa and beg the night.' ' If ye like.' ' No,' said I, ' be 
 off to your bed and sleep.' Poor child, if his mother is in 
 heaven she will be pleased ! 
 
 " If charity covers a multitude of sins, Jessie Wishart 
 will get her reward. " 
 
 From his JOURNAL: 
 
 "January, 1845. Of nothing do we stand more in 
 need in this poor country at this moment than of a man 
 who knows and loves the truth, and who would have the 
 courage to speak out with a voice which would command 
 a hearing. I think we are in a forced, cramped, fettered, 
 unnatural state. It is notorious to every honest man, 
 who will open but a corner of even one eye, that we havo 
 received a terrible shock by the Secession. It is very 
 possible that had there been no Secession, the Establish- 
 ment might have been in the end more irrevocably shat- 
 tered, as an Establishment, by the High Church forces 
 within, than she is or can be by these same forces acting 
 on her from without. This is a ' may be ' only ; but it
 
 DALKEITH, DECEMBER, i^JUNE, 1845. 227 
 
 is no 'may be,' but a most serious fact, that the with- 
 drawal of these men has left us fearfully weak. In what 
 respects ? 
 
 " 1. There are many parishes left with mere skeleton 
 congregations. In some parts of Sutherland and Ross-shire, 
 the skeleton has dwindled down to a bone a mere fossil. 
 
 " 2. The best ministers, and the best portion of our 
 people have gone. Lots of humbugs, I know, are among 
 them ; but, as a general fact, this is true. 
 
 " 3. The ' moderate ' congregations will soon make 'mode- 
 rate' ministers. The tone will insensibly be lowered. 
 
 " 4. We have many raw recruits ; and they are thinking 
 more of the drawing-room paper and the fiars"* prices than 
 of the Church. 
 
 " 5. We have no Jieads to direct us ; not one command- 
 ing mind, not one trumpet voice to speak to men's inner 
 being and compel them to hear. There are, I doubt not, 
 many who would do right if they knew what was right to do, 
 Like some regiments during the war, we have gone into 
 battle with our full complement of men, and the slaughter 
 has been so great that ensigns have come out majors and 
 field-officers, with rank and uniform, but without talent 
 or experience. 
 
 "But the Free Church is as crammed with error as 
 we are, though of a different and less stupid kind. 
 Vanity, pride, and haughtiness, that would serve Mazarin 
 or Richelieu, clothed in Quaker garb ; Church ambition 
 and zeal and self-sacrifice that compete with Loyola : and 
 in the Highlands specimens of fanaticism which May- 
 nooth can alone equal. This is not so characteristic of 
 the people as of the clergy, although it is met with among 
 deacons, and the clever tailors and shoemakers of the 
 party, and some of the Jenny Geddes type ; but many 
 of the people follow them because they somehow think 
 it safer, while they follow their own kind hearts also, 
 and love good men and good ministers of all denomina- 
 tions. 
 
 " I fear much that this great excitement, without 
 
 * The average annual value of grain by which the stipends of 
 parish ministers are determined. 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 Christian principle, will produce reaction with sin ; and 
 that our nation will get more wicked. Alas ! this is 
 drawing rapidly on in the Highlands. The Establishment 
 cannot save that poor country, for the mass of the clergy 
 are water-buckets. The Free Church cannot save it, for 
 they are firebrands. 
 
 " What should we do ? 
 
 " Not lean on the aristocracy. They have but one eye, 
 and it looks at one object the landed interest. If they, 
 as a body, support the Establishment, it is on much the 
 same principle that they support guano because it helps 
 to make men pay their rents. 
 
 " Not on Government. Peel is a trimmer, and would 
 for the time ' save the country.' 
 
 " Not on numbers. Holiness is power. The poorest 
 man who is great in prayer is, perhaps, a greater man in 
 affecting the destinies of the world than the Emperor of 
 Russia. We need quality, not quantity ! 
 
 " On missions ? Good ! So are spectacles, if we have 
 eyes ; so are steam-engines, if they have steam. 
 
 "We require an Inner Work in the hearts of clergy 
 and people. We need life, and not mere action ; the 
 life of life, and not life from galvanism. If we were right 
 in our souls, out of this root would spring the tree and 
 fruit, out of this fountain would well out the living water. 
 But until we attend to this, mere outward action will but 
 blind and deceive. 
 
 " The next two years will be years of severe trial to the 
 Church. 
 
 " We want earnest men, truth-loving and truth-speak- 
 ing men, and so ' having authority, and not as the 
 scribes.' We want a talented, pious young Scotland party. 
 We must give up the Church of the past, and have as our 
 motto the Church of the future. 
 
 " The soldering between the Free Church and Dissenters 
 has all along been false based on love of popularity and 
 self-interest, and hatred to the Establishment. 
 
 "February 7th. The spirit of the ecclesiastical move- 
 ment will never be knoAvn ; it is a noxious gas, which, 
 however, cannot be fixed in any material substance that
 
 DALKEITH, DECEMBER, i^JUNE, 1845. 229 
 
 will convey it to posterity. If it could be confined like 
 chlorine, and conveyed like a bleaching powder to our 
 grandchildren, it would bleach their faces white. You can 
 always tell what a man says or does ; but can you tell in 
 a history his lowering look, his fidgety expression, his 
 sneaky remarks, his infinite littleness and fierceness and 
 ianaticism which have made up three-fourths of the man, 
 which have given a complexion to his whole character, 
 which have annoyed a whole neighbourhood ? These 
 things evaporate in a generation, and what posterity gets 
 has been pickled and preserved on purpose for it a made- 
 up dish, spiced and peppered and tasted by the knowing 
 hands, tried by cooking committees, and duly manufactured 
 for the next age, and directed to be opened by those only 
 who are ready to praise the dish and to vow that it is just 
 the kind of thing which was common at every table in Scot- 
 land ! And so, when any Fraser Tytler or Walter Scott, 
 or any other historian, picks up the debris of dishes, very 
 different, but once found perhaps in every house ' Oh ! 
 that was a chance meal, an unfortunate repast, a mere 
 hurried lunch ; not at all characteristic. Open our fore- 
 fathers' preserved pots. They are in our cupboard. These 
 are the specimens of the true viands.' ' history, what 
 a humbug art thou !' Once we leave the Bible, history is 
 but bubbles on the stream, or mountains in mist." 
 
 To EGBERT SCOTT MONCEIEFF, ESQ. : 
 
 March 11, 1845. 
 
 " The Duke has offered 70 a year to pay a missionary. 
 This is kind and generous, like himself. But I have no 
 missionary ; and, perhaps, at present, one is not much 
 needed, and if he were, I cannot get a man who is worth 
 the money. In these circumstances, the 70 is of no 
 use to the parish ; but my conviction is, that the half 
 of this sum might be judiciously used in another way. 
 I shall explain what I mean. You know that the grand 
 obstacle in the way of filling our church with the poorer 
 classes is the want of clothes. This is the excuse they 
 make. In a great many cases it is the true cause of
 
 2 30 LIFE OF NORM AN MACLEOD. 
 
 their neglect of ordinances. I know well, that of the 
 hundreds here, who attend no place of worship in the 
 world, a great per centage would, in their present state of 
 depravity, absent themselves from public worship if they 
 had all the clothes that their bodies could carry. There 
 are too many drunken men and women (the worst of the 
 two) who would pawn their clothes, and, if they could, 
 v/ould pawn themselves, for drink. But, I also know very 
 many who I honestly believe would never be absent one 
 day from the house of God, if they had the means of 
 appearing there decently clad. There are parents who, 
 during sickness, have pawned their clothes for food to give 
 their children ; and who, living from hand to mouth, have 
 never been able to recover them. There are others who 
 are industrious women especially who cannot from 
 their small wages earn them. Such people attend my 
 mission stations regularly. They have implored me to 
 enable them to appear in church. One asks a pair of 
 shoes, another a pair of trousers, another a shawl, another 
 a gown ; and they have done so with tears. I have 
 twenty or thirty persons in these circumstances on my 
 list. Now, I have assisted some of these out of my own 
 pocket, and these persons are regularly in church. Why 
 not employ (until we get a missionary) a part of this fund 
 in supplying the wants of the best of such people ? You, 
 perhaps, may think that I may be deceived ; possibly, I 
 may. But as I have been for some years constantly 
 amongst such people, I am not easily deceived. And 
 may we not be deceived with a missionary, and lose the 
 .70 in a lump ? There is a chance of being deceived 
 in some cases, and of losing a pound here and one-and- 
 sixpence there ; but on the other hand there is a greater 
 chance of reclaiming people to habits of order and de- 
 cency, of bringing into godly habits, parents who never 
 have been in church since they were children, who have 
 never been at tl>3 sacrament, and whose children are un- 
 baptized. Is it no, worth while to make the trial ? Unless 
 something like this is done, my visiting of the parish is 
 almost mere sham. I pass through the people like a stick 
 through water. They receive me kindly, and they are
 
 DALKEITH, DECEMBER, 1843 JUNE, 1845. 231 
 
 just as they were when my back is turned. You ask 
 me, then, what I want ? I'll tell you : I want a sum of 
 money in my own hand to try the experiment for one 
 year. The Duke gives me 70 for the good of the parish ; 
 if he gets the good, he will not care, I am sure, how the 
 money is expended. Let me only have the half. I will 
 give you an account of how I spend it. I will show you 
 the results, and I am willing to stake my stipend that a 
 dozen missionaries, trudging about with their gaiters and 
 umbrellas, and preaching long, dry sermons, won't do so 
 much good at first as 35 spent in my way." 
 
 To his MOTHER : 
 
 DALKEITH, March, 1845. 
 
 " Everything goes on smoothly. I have, ranged before 
 me, a series of really beautiful coloured lithographs for my 
 mission station. We are taught by the eye, as well as by 
 the ear. The more ignorant we are, the less able are we 
 to form ideas. Children in years and children in know- 
 ledge are the better of pictures ; so think the Papists, who 
 know human nature well. But they err, not in dealing 
 with people who are children as children should be dealt 
 with, but in keeping them children. 
 
 " There is a marked change in the town, whatever the 
 reason may be. The police sergeant told me yesterday 
 that the change during the last three months is incredible. 
 Instead of ten a week in the lock-up for drunkenness, 
 he has not had one case for a month ; while the streets, 
 formerly infested with low characters, are now as quiet as 
 possible. This is gratifying, and should make us thank 
 God and take courage. 
 
 " My geological lectures are over, I gave the twelfth last 
 night ; it was on the wisdom of God as displayed in the 
 structure of the world, and I do think it must have been 
 interesting even to those who knew nothing of the subject." 
 
 To his sister JANE : 
 
 DALKEITH, 1844. 
 
 "I had a meeting on Monday last to petition against 
 Maynooth ; I intimated it from my pulpit. The meeting
 
 232 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 was good. I made a long speech ; was all alone. Al- 
 though I believe I am the first, and, as far as I know, 
 mine is the only parish, belonging to our Church that 
 has petitioned, I am so thankful I followed my own 
 sense and did it. The fact is, we have passed through 
 a revolution, the most serious by far in our time. Sir 
 Kobert has sapped the basis of Establishments ; he has 
 capsized the principles of his party ; he has alienated from 
 him the confidence of the country, and inflicted a sore blow 
 upon Protestantism. I declare solemnly I would leave my 
 Manse and glebe to-morrow, if I could rescind that terrible 
 vote for Maynooth. I cannot find words to express my 
 deep conviction of the infatuation of the step. And all 
 statesmen for it ! Not one man to form a Protestant 
 party ! not one ! God have mercy on the country! " * 
 
 From his JOUENAL: 
 
 " March 27th. The connection between a right physical 
 and right intellectual and moral state is a question of vast 
 importance in connection with the supremacy and advance- 
 ment of the Christian Church, i.e., the good and happiness 
 of man. If it be true that through bad feeding, clothing, 
 hard work, &c., there is a retrogression of the species, or 
 families of the species, and vice versa, how important that 
 a country, especially a Church, should attend to the physical 
 wants of the people ! I have heard it alleged that 
 criminals, generally speaking, are an inferior race physically. 
 Query, how much has Christianity advanced the human 
 race by stimulating that charity that ' does good unto all 
 men, especially unto those who are of the household of 
 faith ?' The defect of most systems for benefiting man has 
 arisen not so much from the presence of a bad element, 
 as the absence of a good from a minus, not a plus 
 from forgetting that man is an intellectual, social, moral, 
 active, and sentient being, and that his Avell-being is 
 advanced just in proportion as ah 1 these different parts of 
 his nature are gratified. Better drainage, ventilation, poor 
 
 * Compare with these reflections the opinions expressed in Chapter 
 XHL, May, 1854.
 
 DALKEITH, DECEMBER, i%4.$JUNE, 1845. 233 
 
 laws, deal with his sentient part ; and so far good. Read- 
 ing-rooms, lectures, mechanics institutes, cheap litera- 
 ture, deal with his intellectual, and are good too. Amuse- 
 ments, coffee-houses, and some of the above, deal with 
 his social, and are likewise good. The axiom, 'give the 
 people always something to do/ deals with his active 
 powers ; the gospel and all the means of grace, with his 
 moral nature ; and as this is the mainspring of all he 
 thinks and does, it is the most important of all ; but it 
 alone, as a system of truth separated from a system of 
 action, which includes all reform, will not do. To 
 preach a sermon, and refuse meat to the starving 
 hearers, is mockery ; and so says St. James. To this I 
 add, the necessity of a living, wise and Christian agency 
 coming constantly into contact with men. 
 
 " It is a glorious night ! ' The moon doth with delight 
 look round her. and the heavens are bare.' How won- 
 derful is the majestic calm of nature! how awing to the 
 spirit this steadfast and unhalting march of God's plan in 
 nature and providence ! Man's wrath stays it not ; many 
 storms disturb it not. The stars twinkle as they did on 
 Eve or on the waters of the Deluge. How comforting to 
 think of the Mighty Hand which is guiding all ! ' Be still, 
 and know that I am God ! ' 
 
 " December 29th, During this past year I have preached 
 one hundred and twenty-six times in my own parish, 
 besides sermons in mission stations. Helped to found 
 thirty Missionary Associations for the support of Female 
 Education in India, in Elgin, Forres, Nairn, Inverness, Fort 
 William, Helensburgh, Dunoon, Perth, Dundee, Kilmarnock, 
 Coldstream, Hawick, Greenock, and besides delivering 
 addresses in Largs, Glasgow, Campsie, Dalkeith, Edin- 
 burgh College, have written the ' Churchman's Catechism,' 
 (3,000 sold)."
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1845. NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 THE General Assembly of 1845 having determined 
 to send a deputation to British North America, 
 to visit the congregations connected with the Church 
 of Scotland in these colonies, the late Dr. Simpson of 
 Kirknewton, Dr. John Macleod of Morven, and Nor- 
 man Macleod of Dalkeith, were appointed deputies. 
 They accordingly sailed from Liverpool in June, and 
 were absent on this duty for five months. The pur- 
 pose of the deputation was to preach to the many 
 congregations which had been deprived of their 
 clergy during the recent ecclesiastical troubles, and 
 to explain, when called upon, the views which had 
 determined the policy of those who had remained 
 by the Church of their fathers. They determined 
 not to utter a disrespectful word regarding their Free 
 Church brethren, and while firmly vindicating their 
 own Church, to do nothing likely to interfere with 
 the usefulness of any other Christian body. 
 
 Their labour travelling, preaching, and addressing 
 meetings was severe. As a specimen of the work 
 which fell to him in common with the others, he 
 records what was done during one week. l On
 
 1845- NORTH AMERICA. 235 
 
 Friday, I preached and travelled sixteen miles; 
 Saturday, preached once ; Sunday, preached and gave 
 two addresses to communicants at the Lord's Table; 
 Monday, preached again ; Tuesday, travelled thirty- 
 two miles and spoke for an hour and a half; "Wed- 
 nesday, travelled forty-three miles and spoke for two 
 hours ; Thursday, preached and travelled twenty-five 
 miles ! ' 
 
 The following extracts are taken from the letters 
 he wrote during his sojourn in America : 
 
 To his sister JANE : 
 
 On board the Commodore, going to 
 LIVEEPOOL, 1845. 
 
 " We had a happy dinner at Glasgow. Mother sad, until 
 ' I calmed her fears and she was calm.' Don't you love 
 your mother ? What is she ? Not a nice body she is 
 too large in soul and body for that. Not a nice soul she 
 has too much sense and intelligence for that. Not a nice 
 woman she has too much enthusiasm and also piety for 
 that. A lady is not the word for my mother's income 
 was always small, good soul ; and though she could furnish 
 ten ladies with what is lady-like and keep to herself what 
 would serve to adorn a minister's house, lady is not the 
 word. My mother ! That's it ; and don't you love her ? 
 I do ; and let me tell you that in these days the fact is 
 worth knowing. 
 
 " Liverpool, Half -past Eleven p. M. The Bell Buoy 
 struck me much. As the waves rise the bell rings. I 
 cannot tell you the effect it had on my imagination 
 when I first heard it. The sun was setting, attended by 
 a glorious retinue of clouds. Ships in full sail and 
 pilot boats were sailing in relief, and crossing and re- 
 crossing between us and the red light. I heard a most 
 solemn and touching chime ; then silence ; and the ding 
 dong again came over the sea. I can hardly express the 
 strange thoughts it suggested. One could not but think
 
 236 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 of it in nights of storm and darkness ringing its note 
 of warning to the sailor, and its note of welcome too, and 
 perhaps its funeral dirge. It was so on the awful 7th of 
 January, when the New York Liner was shipwrecked on 
 these banks ; when the fine fellow of a captain got de- 
 ranged as he discovered that the light-ship, his only guide, 
 was driven from her moorings ! I could not but think it 
 was alive and cold and lonely : that it had all the feeling 
 of being deserted on a waste of waters like what poor 
 Vanderdecken had, who hailed every ship, but no one 
 came to his aid ; and so the bell chimed and chimed for 
 company, but it only proved a warning to all who heard 
 it to sail away ! " 
 
 AT SEA. 
 
 " When I looked into Dr. Simpson's cabin, I saw a poor 
 emaciated man, evidently dying of decline, in one of the 
 berths. I spoke kindly to him, and found he was an Ameri- 
 can who had left Boston for his health, thinking a sea 
 voyage would do him good. But he was now returning 
 in a dying state. In the evening, the captain seeing 
 how ill he was, removed him to a berth nearer the air. 
 I saw him again in the evening and got into conversa- 
 tion with him about the state of his soul. He seemed 
 very ignorant but teachable. He had attended a Unitarian 
 Chapel. I promised to read with him and to come to him 
 any hour he wished ; gave him my name and told him 
 I was a clergyman. He seemed very grateful. He said 
 his father was alive, but his mother was dead ; and she 
 used to speak to him every day on these things. Poor 
 fellow ! Perhaps it was in answer to her prayers, that in 
 his last hours he had beside him those who spoke to him 
 the truth. 
 
 "Saturday 21st. Poor was speechless this morn- 
 ing. He died at nine o'clock. I am very thankful that I 
 did not delay speaking to him. 
 
 "Sabbath 22nd. Rose early. The morning was breezy. 
 The coffin was covered by a flag and placed on a plank 
 near the port. The sailors who attended were dressed in 
 their white trousers, and many of the passengers were
 
 1845. NORTH AMERICA. 237 
 
 gathered round. We read together the church service for 
 the burial of the dead. When we came to the portion of 
 the service when the body is committed to the deep, the 
 plank was shoved forward with the coffin on it, and one 
 end being elevated the coffin slid down and plunged into 
 the ocean ; a splash, and his remains were concealed for 
 ever till the day that the sea shall give up its dead. 
 
 " I read the Church of England service in the forenoon 
 to an excellent congregation, and John preached on the text 
 ' How shall we escape ? ' ' 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 "Friday. Saw icebergs for the first time in my life. 
 The first time we sighted them they were gleaming like silver 
 specks on the horizon ; but their bulk soon became visible. 
 Nothing could exceed the majesty and beauty of those 
 masses coming from some mysterious source, and floating 
 silently on the mighty ocean. We passed within two hundred 
 yards of one. The side next the western waves was hol- 
 lowed into large caves, the precipice being only about twenty 
 feet high. The mass was of the purest alabaster white you 
 can conceive, gleaming and glistening in the setting sun ; 
 the waves were dashing against and undermining the 
 island ; but as the sea rolled up foaming into these marble 
 caves, it was of the deepest and purest emerald. The 
 union of the intense green and pure white was exquisitely 
 beautiful. 
 
 " In the afternoon the breeze increased, thick fog rolled 
 over us. We were all solemnized by the danger of com- 
 ing thump upon an iceberg, which all agreed might take 
 place, and, if so, instant destruction would follow. A 
 group of passengers met round the capstan under cover, 
 and near the funnel for warmth, for the air was piercingly 
 cold, and every man seemed to vie with the others in telling 
 dismal stories, chiefly from his own history, of tempests 
 and shipwrecks and vessels on fire and destruction by ice- 
 bergs. The scene in the saloon was really striking. One 
 of the passengers was playing the guitar beautifully, and 
 it was strange to look round the group listening to him.
 
 238 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 Men from every part of Europe a missionary bronzed with 
 the sun of India, Protestant clergy and Catholic, officers 
 and merchants, all met, having a common sympathy, only 
 to scatter and never meet again ; without, were storm and 
 mist and floating ice-islands ! How like it was to each one 
 of us, floating on this mysterious sea of life, gleaming now 
 beneath the sun, and again tossed about and covered by 
 darkness and storm, and soon to melt and disappear in the 
 unfathomable gulf where all is still ! 
 
 " I retired to rest with sober, and I trust profitable, re- 
 flections. There was of course the feeling of possible 
 danger which might be sudden and destructive. I com- 
 mitted myself to the care of Him Who holds the winds in 
 the hollow of His Hand. I read with comfort the 103rd 
 Psalm. I awoke, however, in the middle of the night, and 
 how I longed for the morning ! How helpless I felt, and 
 how my life passed before me like a panorama ! 
 
 " Saturday. You know my love of steam engines, and 
 certainly it has not been lessened by what I have seen in 
 the Acadia. What a wonderful sight it is in a dark and 
 stormy night to gaze down and see those great furnaces 
 roaring and raging, and a band of black firemen laughing 
 and joking opposite their red-hot throats ! and then to see 
 that majestic engine with its great shafts and polished rods 
 moving so regularly night and day, and driving on this huge 
 mass with irresistible force against the waves and storms of 
 the Atlantic ! If the work glorifies the intellect of the 
 human workman, what a work is man himself ! 
 
 " Sunday. Having kept my watch with Dalkeith time, 
 I have had much enjoyment in following the movements 
 of my household and my flock, following them with my 
 thoughts and prayers ; and the belief that at the hours of 
 public prayer there were some true hearts praying for me 
 was very refreshing. 
 
 " Monday. Another magnificent day ; a fine breeze and 
 all sail set. I have had some hours of most entertaining 
 and deeply interesting conversations : one hour or so with 
 the bishop, in which we entered fully and freely upon all 
 the disputed points in the Romish Church, another hour 
 with Unitarians, all most useful and instructive. The
 
 1845. NORTH AMERICA. 239 
 
 passengers drank our healths with three times three. I 
 
 leave the boat with regret. 
 
 * # * * * # * 
 
 " Pictou, Friday Night. This has been a truly delight- 
 ful day in all respects. We went to church ; it is a neat build- 
 ing capable of holding about eight hundred. As we drew 
 near we saw the real out-and-out Highland congregation ; 
 old men and women grouped round ; one or two of them 
 were from Mull, and asked about all my aunts and uncles. 
 It looked like speaking to people who had been dead. 
 But the scene in the church was most striking. It was 
 crammed, and the crowd stood a long distance out from 
 the doors. Such a true Highland congregation I never 
 saw, and when they all joined in singing the Gaelic 
 Psalm how affecting was it ! John preached a splendid 
 sermon in Gaelic, and I preached in English to the same 
 congregation. 
 
 " Monday. Yesterday is a day never to be forgot- 
 ten ; I do not think it possible to convey the varied, 
 solemn, and strange impressions which were made upon my 
 mind. The weather was beautiful. Many hundreds had 
 remained in town all Saturday night. On Sabbath morning 
 dozens of boats were seen dotting the surface of the calm 
 bay, and pulling from every part of the opposite shore 
 towards Pictou. About one thousand people crossed dur- 
 ing the forenoon. Hundreds on horseback and on foot, 
 in gigs, cars, carts, were streaming into town. At eleven 
 o'clock, Dr. Simpson and I went to the church in 
 our pulpit gowns, I in my dear old Loudoun gown, which 
 has covered me in many a day of solemn battle. The 
 church could not contain anything like the congregation. 
 Dr. Simpson preached and exhorted the first communion 
 table, I exhorted other two, and this was all, for the 
 Ross-shire notions of communion are prevalent here. I 
 occupied some time in my second address in trying to 
 remove such sinful and superstitious ideas as are enter- 
 tained by many. While Dr. Simpson gave the concluding 
 address I went to the tent ;* it was on a beautiful green 
 
 * The 'tent' is a species of movable pulpit used for open-air 
 services in Scotland.
 
 240 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 hill near the town, overlooking the harbour and neigh- 
 bouring country. When I reached it I beheld the most 
 touching and magnificent sight I ever beheld. There 
 were (in addition to the crowd we had left in the church) 
 about four thousand people here assembled ! John had 
 finished a noble Gaelic sermon. He was standing with his 
 head bare at the head of the white communion table, and was 
 about to exhort the communicants. There was on either 
 side space for the old elders, and a mighty mass of earnest 
 listeners beyond. The exhortation ended, I entered the 
 tent and looked around ; I have seen grand and imposing 
 sights in my life, but this far surpassed them all. As 
 I gazed on that table, along which were slowly passed the 
 impressive and familiar symbols of the Body broken and 
 Blood shed for us all in every age and clime as I saw the 
 solemn and reverent attitude of the communicants, every 
 head bent down to the white board, and watched the ex- 
 pressions of the weather-beaten, true Highland countenances 
 around me, and remembered, as I looked for a moment to 
 the mighty forests which swept on to the far horizon, that 
 all were in a strange land, that they had no pastors now, 
 that they were as a flock in the lonely wilderness as these 
 and ten thousand other thoughts filled my heart, amidst 
 the most awful silence, broken only by sobs which came 
 from the Lord's Table, can you wonder that I hid my 
 face and ' lifted up my voice and wept ? ' Yet how thank- 
 ful, how deeply thankful was I to have been privileged to 
 see a sight here in connection with the Church of Scot- 
 land which the Highlands of Scotland, even the Lowlands, 
 could not afford ! Oh that my father had been with us ! 
 what a welcome he would have received ! An address 
 signed by two thousand has this moment been presented. 
 Forty deputies from the Churches came with it. 
 
 " loth. We reached Gareloch, fifteen long miles off, 
 about three o'clock. When we reached the summit of a 
 hill, we saw the church on the opposite declivity ; rows of 
 gigs and horses showed the people had come. I spoke 
 an hour and a half on the Headship of Christ. Thank 
 God! we said all the good we could of our opponents, 
 and nothing bad. While John was speaking, I went out
 
 1845. NORTH AMERICA. 241 
 
 to rest myself. I strolled for about a quarter of a mile, 
 and stumbled on the tent, used sometimes in preaching. 
 You could not imagine a more striking spot for a forest- 
 preaching. It was in a forest bay. The tent was shaded 
 by the trees, which swept in a semicircle around it. 
 Immediately before it was a cleared knoll, capable of 
 accommodating four thousand people, with stumps of trees 
 and large bare stems rising over them. I was told many 
 thousands have sat on that knoll, hearing the word; and 
 when I visited it in quiet and silence, and pictured to 
 myself the scene which a communion Sabbath evening 
 would present, it made me feel how unspeakably great 
 was the blessing of the preached gospel in the wilderness 
 how it truly made it bloom and blossom as the rose ! 
 And how fearful seemed the sin of being a covetous 
 Church, grudging to send the bread of life to a poor, 
 morally starving people ! 
 
 " Wednesday, IQth. Rose at five, and started to preach 
 at Wallace, forty-three miles off. Another gig, with a lady 
 and gentleman, accompanied us all the distance 'just to hear 
 the sermon and address !' The day got fearfully hot, about 
 85 in the shade; it has kept at 80 ever since ! The 
 drive was the more sultry as we had to keep through forest 
 almost the whole way. But with coat and waistcoat off, 
 blouse and straw hat on, and a good supply of cigars, I got 
 on jollily ; the roads were so so. By clenching my teeth, 
 and holding on now and then, the shocks were not so 
 bad. While the horse was baiting, about twelve miles from 
 Pictou, I walked on, gathering strawberries, which are 
 everywhere in abundance, and keeping off a few mosquitoes 
 by smoking. I saw a log-hut near the wood, and entered 
 it. A man met me, evidently poor, who could hardly speak 
 a word of English ; yet he was only five years old when he 
 left Mull ! He was married, and had six children. He 
 seemed amazed when I spoke Gaelic : welcomed me to 
 the house. But he no sooner found out who I was than 
 I was met by a storm of exclamations expressing wonder 
 and delight. He told me two of his children were un- 
 baptized ; and, as the gig had come up, I left him with the 
 promise of returning to him next day on my way home. 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 " We baited the horses at an old fellow's house, who came 
 here when a boy from Lockerbie in 1786. What changes 
 had taken place here since then ! He remembered only six 
 'smokes,' where there are now probably forty or fifty thou- 
 sand one house only in Pictou ; no roads, &c. He said 
 he was driven out of Isle St. John, now Prince Edward's 
 Island, by the mice, in 1813. A mice plague appeared 
 in that year over all Nova Scotia and Prince Edward's 
 Island. They filled the woods and villages ; they filled 
 houses and crawled over beds, nibbled the windows of 
 shops, ate up crops and herbage ; they swam rivers ; they 
 were met in millions dead in the sea and lay along the 
 shores like coils of hay ! If a pit was dug at night it was 
 filled by morning. Cats, martens, &c., fed on them till 
 they died from over-gorging. Oh ! it makes me sick to 
 think of it. Yet such was one of the forms in which 
 
 danger and starvation met the early settlers. 
 
 ***** 
 
 "Thursday, 17th. We soon reached the poor High- 
 lander's house where I was to baptize the child. The 
 gigs drove on to an inn to bait the horses, and I 
 entered the log-house. I gave him an earnest exhor- 
 tation, and baptized both his children. They were neat 
 and clean. It was strange to hear them talk Yankee- 
 English, and the father Gaelic. I was much affected 
 by this man's account of himself. He had much to 
 struggle against. He had lost a cow, and then a horse, 
 and then .a child. Little wood had been cleared, and he 
 was due thirty pounds for it. ' But,' he said, handing me 
 a large New Testament, 'that has been my sole comfort.' 
 I was much struck on opening it to find it a gift from 
 'the Duke of Sutherland to his friends and clansmen in 
 America.' What blessings may not a few pounds confer 
 when thus kindly laid out. The tears which streamed 
 down that poor man's face while he pointed to that fine 
 large printed Testament would be a great reward to the 
 Duke for his gifts, had he only witnessed them as I did. 
 The poor fellow accompanied me on the road, and parted 
 from . me with . many prayers and many tears. It is this 
 parting with individuals and congregations every day,
 
 1845. NORTH AMERICA. 245 
 
 never to meet again, which makes our mission so 
 solemn and so mingled with sadness. As a congrega- 
 tion dismisses, you can say with almost perfect cer- 
 tainty, ' There they go ; when we meet next it will be at 
 
 Judgment !' 
 
 -x * * # 
 
 " Charlotte Town. Stalking up the town we met some 
 Morven men. The following conversation amused me as 
 exemplifying a strong Churchman. A great rough fellow, 
 a teetotaler (?), was the speaker. His name was Campbell. 
 
 " Campbell. ' Is my Uncle Donald alive ?' 
 
 " John. ' No. He is dead.' 
 
 " C. (very carelessly). ' Aye, aye. Is my Uncle Sandy 
 alive?' 
 
 "J". 'No ; he is dead too.' 
 
 " C. 'Aye, aye' (but no mark of sorrow), 'and what are 
 his children doing ?' 
 
 " J. 'Indeed, they are the only Free Churchmen in the 
 parish !' 
 
 " C. (opening his eyes and lifting up his hands), ' Save 
 us ! is that possible !' The death of his uncles was 
 evidently a joke in comparison with the horrible apostasy 
 of his children. 
 
 "Tuesday. This has been a very strange day ; but that 
 you may understand it, I must give you a little bio- 
 graphy. There was a man, McDonald, a missionary some 
 twenty years ago, in the braes of Glen Garry. I believe, 
 chiefly from his having been given to intoxication, he 
 was obliged to resign his mission, and came to Cape 
 Breton, and staid for a year or two. After suffering 
 great mental distress, he became a perfectly sober and 
 steady man. He began preaching among the .High- 
 landers. His preaching had great effect. He separated 
 himself from the other clergy, because he thought them 
 careless and bad. His sect became stronger and stronger. 
 Many wild extravagancies attended the 'revivals' under 
 him, crying out and screaming-fits of hysteria, which 
 were attributed to extraordinary influences. The result, 
 however, has been that three thousand people, including 
 fifteen hundred communicants, adhere to him ; he has 
 
 T> 9 
 
 4 i
 
 244 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 eight churches built and twenty-one prayer-meetings 
 established ; no lay-preaching ; elders in all the churches ; 
 sacraments administered. He keeps all a-going, and has 
 never received more than 50 a-year on an average. He 
 is laughed at by some, ridiculed by others, avoided by the 
 clergy ; but all admit that he has changed, or been the 
 means of changing, a thousand lawless, drunken people into 
 sober, decent godly livers. This man, then, ordered all his 
 churches to be put at our service, and sent an invitation 
 through his elders for me to preach. Of course I will 
 preach wherever I am asked in a popish church, if they 
 will let me. The worse the field the more the need of 
 cultivation. I reached the church about twelve ; McDonald, 
 with his snow-white locks, surrounded by a crowd, met me. 
 ' I rejoice,' he said, taking off his hat, ' to see here an 
 ordained minister of the Church of Scotland. I bless God 
 for the day. I appeal to you, my people, if I have not 
 preached the doctrines of the Confession of Faith, if I 
 have not kept you from Baptists, Methodists, and every 
 sect, for the Church of your fathers. Welcome, sir, here.' 
 I said we would talk after sermon. I entered the humble 
 wooden kirk ; it was seated for about three hundred, and 
 was crammed by a decent and most attentive audience ; 
 twelve elders sat below the pulpit. McDonald, with a strong 
 voice, led the psalmody, he and his elders standing. After 
 service, I went with him to a farm-house. He gave me all 
 his history, and we discussed all his doings. I frankly told 
 him my opinions. He has had a hard time of it. ' Often,' 
 he said, and his lip quivered with emotion, ' have I, on a 
 communion season, preached, and served tables, for eight 
 hours in that church, no one with me, and no food eaten 
 all the while.' He seems now to feel the loss of not being 
 in fellowship with the Church, and the responsibility of 
 leaving so many sheep without a shepherd ; and, if any good 
 minister came to this neighbourhood, he is anxious to be 
 readmitted. When I parted from him, he burst into tears, 
 thanking me for my ' kindness and delicacy to him,' and 
 rejoicing in my having been with him. His people, they 
 say, are very proud of it. Well, I would fain hope a real 
 work has been done here. If there have been extravagancies,
 
 1 8 45 . NORTH AMERICA . 245 
 
 how many such were at Kilsytli and other places ; and 
 surely better all this folly, with such good results, than 
 cold and frigid regularity with no results but death. 
 Better to be driven to the harbour by a hurricane that 
 carries away spars and sails, than be frozen up in the 
 glittering and smooth sea. There are many things con- 
 nected with McDonald's sect I don't approve of. Two of 
 his elders came to Charlotte Town to bid me farewell I 
 gave them many frank, and, I thought, unpleasant advices. 
 But to my surprise, when parting, the old men put their 
 arms about my neck, and imprinted a farewell kiss on my 
 cheek. . . . 
 
 "Boston. I have been actually three days in Boston. 
 Do you not think I am now well entitled to give a sound 
 opinion upon American manners ? I have lived in one of 
 her hotels, heard two of her preachers, seen two of her 
 Sabbath-schools I have driven in her cabs and omni- 
 buses, visited her jails and lunatic asylums, smoked her 
 cigars, read her newspapers, and visited Lowell, and may 
 I not be permitted to guess what sort of people they are ? 
 I was prepared upon Saturday to pronounce a judgment 
 on the whole nation ; but, happening to be wrong in my 
 first opinion, I shut up my note-book. I had mounted 
 the box of a coach ; the driver sat on my left hand ; he 
 said he always did. Just as I had noted the great fact that 
 * all drivers in America sit on the left side of the box,' I 
 thought I would ask what was gained by this. ' Why, I 
 guess,' replied Jonathan, 'I can't help it; I'm left-handed.' 
 I learned a lesson from this : to beware how I generalise. 
 
 " Our visit to Boston was a very agreeable one. I had 
 ready access to men from whom I received much informa- 
 tion. There is a Sabbath-school Union in Massachusetts, 
 which I visited on Sunday, examining their books, &c., and 
 I shall bring home with me all that is better in their system 
 than in our own. On Monday, along with Mr. Rodgers, I 
 visited the American Board of Missions. On the way to it 
 I had a good deal of conversation with him on Voluntaryism. 
 I was struck with one remark. He said, ' Our forefathers, 
 having suffered from the tyranny of Prelatists, went to 
 the other extreme of too preat ecclesiastical freedom. You
 
 246 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 were wise in having kept your Books of Discipline and 
 Confession of Faith.' The American Board interested me 
 much. There is a large building appropriated exclusively 
 for missionary machinery. In the upper floor there are 
 three rooms two of these are for the library, consisting 
 of volumes of history and accounts of the different countries 
 where their missions are ; in short, every book that can 
 be of any use or interest to a missionary. In the other 
 room, there is a very interesting museum of objects of 
 natural history from the different parts of the world where 
 their missionaries labour ; and what is more interesting, 
 pagan spoils, gods from the South Seas, scalps and toma- 
 hawks, &c. I was struck with the many little evidences 
 of extensive missionary operations a large room being 
 filled with boxes directed to the missionaries in different 
 parts of the world, and a large press kept for holding com- 
 munications from different missionaries. 
 
 "September 1st. I am now fourteen miles from La Chute. 
 One of the most striking features of Lower Canada is its 
 Popery and Frenchism. One feels much more in a foreign 
 country here than in the States. The houses are French, 
 the same as we see in Normandy. There are many 
 beautiful large handsome churches, gay crosses by the 
 wayside, nunneries and colleges. The riches of the church 
 are immense. Popery is to me the mystery of iniquity. 
 It awes me by its incomprehensible strength. If I could 
 to-morrow believe that it is possible to believe on the 
 authority merely of the Church, and that private judgment 
 were not my duty, I would turn Papist. It is so sweet 
 to the carnal heart to be freed from responsibility. But 
 only think of that system with its priests and fine 
 churches and colleges everywhere ! Why, two hundred 
 years ago, the Jesuits had in Quebec, in the midst of 
 forests, a college like the College of Glasgow. The savage 
 Indian must have heard their matins, as he prowled 
 on the trail of an enemy. While I conversed with my 
 intelligent friend Singras in his room, I could not help 
 expressing my wonder, and I am sure he was sincere 
 as he offered up, with sparkling eyes, a prayer for my 
 conversion, and asked me to allow him to pray for me.
 
 1 84.5 . NORTH AMERICA . 247 
 
 If I am wrong-, O Protestant ! pardon my heretic heart, 
 which must believe that many a sincere and spiritual soul 
 knows and loves God, even when the follies and infirmities 
 of old Adam make him sing hymns to the Virgin or adore 
 the sacrifice of the mass. But I did not say this to Singras, 
 but prayed God to bless him and make him a Protestant. 
 
 " But I must resume my travels. There are beautiful 
 fields between Eustache and La Chute. It was at Eustache 
 the rebels made their last stand. They fortified the 
 church. It was burnt by our troops, and one or two hun- 
 dred burnt or shot. A Yorkshireman's account of the 
 battle to me was this : ' The lads tried to cross the ice, 
 intending to attack the volunteers. They didn't ken the 
 right uns were oop oonder t' tree. "Weel, as thea rebels 
 gied across, the right sodgers fired a ball. Gad ! it 
 scored the ice as it hopped along, and over that score 
 none o' t' rebels wad gang for life, but ran back tae d' 
 choorch, where they were boomed hang 'em ! ' 
 
 " Perth, Sabbath Evening. I have had the hardest 
 week's Avork I ever had. I have gone about ninety miles 
 sailing, and a hundred and twenty-seven driving, often 
 in lumber waggons without springs, over the worst possible 
 roads have held fourteen services, and now, after having 
 preached three long sermons to-day, I am, thank God ! 
 well and happy. 
 
 " I have seen much, and enjoyed myself. I have had 
 peeps into real Canadian life ; I have seen the true Indians 
 in their encampment ; I have sailed far up (one hundred 
 and fifty miles above Montreal) the noble Ottawa, and seen 
 the lumber-men with their canoes and the North-Avesters 
 on their way into the interior, some to cut timber, and 
 some to hunt beaver for the Hudson Bay Company ; I 
 have been shaken to atoms over 'corduroy' roads, and 
 seen life in the backwoods ; and I have been privileged 
 to preach to immortal souls, and to defend my poor and 
 calumniated Church against many aspersions. 
 
 "Perth, Monday Evening. A journey of twenty-four 
 miles is ended, and I have spoken two hours and a half. 
 This angry spirit of Churchism which has disturbed every 
 fireside in Scotland, thunders at the door of every shanty
 
 248 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 in the backwoods. I went to Lanark to-day to front it. 
 The roads were fearful ; my hands are sore holding on by 
 the waggon ; but such a delicious atmosphere, not a cloud 
 in the sky, and so fresh and bracing. The delightful Sep- 
 tember weather is come ; the air is exhilarating almost to 
 excitement. Then, in going through the forest, there is 
 always something to break what would at first appear 
 to be intolerable monotony. There are tall majestic 
 trunks of trees which draw your eye upwards till it rests 
 on their tufted heads, far up in the sky ; or the sun 
 is playing beautifully among the green Heaves, or some 
 strange fire suddenly appears ; or you catch glimpses of 
 beautiful woodpeckers, with gay plumage, running up the 
 tree, and hear the tap-tap-tap, like a little hammer ; or 
 you see a lovely pet of a squirrel, with bushy tail and bright 
 eyes, running a race with you along the fence, stopping 
 and gazing at you, then running with all his might to pass 
 you, then frisking with its tail and playing all kinds of 
 antics ; or you halt and listen to the intense silence, and 
 perhaps hear an axe chop-chop-chop, the great pioneer of 
 civilisation ; and then you suddenly come to a clearance, 
 with fine fields, and cattle with tinkling bells, and happy 
 children, and pigs, and perhaps a small school, and maybe 
 a church, and almost certainly meet a Scotchman or a 
 Highlander, who says, ' Gosh bless me, am bheil shibse 
 mac Mr. Tormoid.' If you see a miserable shanty and lots 
 of pigs, expect to hear ' Erin go bragh.' 
 
 " Markham, twenty miles from Toronto, 20th September, 
 Saturday Night. I preach to-morrow in Toronto. What 
 a variety of opinions are here congregated ! Churchmen 
 and dissenters of all kinds, as at home. I always preach 
 the gospel, insisting in every place that to believe this and 
 live is all in all ; that the whole value of Churches consists 
 in their bringing the living seed, the word, in contact with 
 the ground, the heart ; that the Church itself is nothing but 
 as a means towards effecting the end of making us know, 
 love, and obey God. I try to bring men into the Church 
 of Christ, and make the question of the Church of Scotland 
 a secondary matter. In explaining the Church question 
 (which, along with the sermon, occupies perhaps three or
 
 1845. NORTH AMERICA. 249 
 
 four hours) I avoid all personalities, all attacks, and give full 
 credit to my opponents ; and I think I have not said a 
 word which I would not say if these opponents were my 
 best friends, and were sitting beside me. Indeed I know 
 that a Free Church preacher was (unknown to me) present 
 at one of my longest addresses, and that he said he could 
 not find fault with one expression. I am thankful for this. 
 You know how I hate Churchism, and that is one reason 
 why I think this Free movement so dangerous. But one 
 of the saddest feelings is that experienced at parting. I 
 have generally ended my address by such a sentiment 
 as this : ' Yet all this is not religion ; it is only about 
 religion. My sermon was on the real work. The true 
 battle is between Christ and the world between be- 
 lievers and unbelievers ; that was the battle which I have 
 been fighting while preaching. But this painful and 
 profitless combat is between Christian brethren. The 
 Church controversy is a question on non-essentials, on 
 < meat and drink.' But ' the kingdom of God is not meat 
 and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy 
 Ghost.' I have seen many on their dying beds. I never 
 heard any rejoice that they belonged to this or that 
 Church ; but if they were glad, it was because they were 
 in Christ. It is almost certain that, when you and I meet 
 next, it will be in the presence of Christ Jesus. If we 
 are glad then, it will not be because we have been in an 
 Established or Free Church, but because we are in the 
 Church gathered out of every nation. And if on that day 
 I can look back with joy to this day's work, it will not be 
 because of what I have said upon the Church of Scotland, 
 but to what I have said about Christ Jesus.' Yes ; these 
 partings are sad and solemn ! But the satisfaction is great to 
 have told the honest truth in everything. We part always 
 with good-will, and with many kind wishes and prayers. 
 
 "The little Manse is always affecting to me. It is gene- 
 rally a small wooden house ; no carpets poor, poor. O 
 honest Poverty! let me never contemplate thee but with a 
 tearful eye of sympathy and love. Who would laugh at 
 
 poor S with his little school, broken up by the Free 
 
 Church, and his wife and bairns looking poor and sad ?
 
 2 50 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 Who would smile but in love at M , with his old 
 
 housekeeper, Kirsty, and his half bottle of port, which he 
 said 'should be sound (looking at the glass between him 
 and the light), but it had been six months drawn, and 
 
 perhaps had been spoiled ? ' Who would despise poor 's 
 
 ' study,' albeit there was in it but few books, an old chair, 
 and rickety table ? Yet he himself was there, with a large 
 head and heart, and fit to minister to any Church on earth. 
 Who would laugh, though he had only a tin teapot and no 
 ewer to the basin? Honest souls! your reward is little 
 in this world ; and most blameable will we at home be if we 
 do not assist you, the pioneers of civilisation in the forest ! 
 
 " I shot the Long Sault rapid. A noble sight. The 
 St. Lawrence, the king of streams, becomes compressed 
 between rocky islands and a rocky shore. The result is a 
 wavy, foaming current roaring like a big burn after a 
 spate. Away goes the large steamer, four men at the 
 wheel forward, and four men at the tiller astern ; down 
 she whirls, the spray flying over her bows, and she going 
 seventeen miles an hour. She cannot stem it, but she 
 shoots it nobly. It is a fine sight to see the majestic 
 stream, crossed and angry and plunging and foaming like 
 a pettish brook The brook can be opposed ; but what 
 power will stem the fury of the St. Lawrence ? 
 
 "Saturday, \Qth. This day's sail was 'beautiful ex- 
 ceedingly.' It was through the Lake of the Thousand 
 Isles. I had, from reading ' Honison's Sketches of North 
 America,' when a boy, a vision of beauty and glory and 
 undefined grandeur connected with this same lake. Like 
 most things which appear fair to the fancy, the reality did 
 not come up to the dream, but still it was very beautiful. 
 
 " From Kingston we proceeded by steam to Toronto, 
 up the bay of Quinte to Belleville. This bay is one of 
 the fair scenes in Canada. The moon rose in glory and 
 majesty, and I was loth to quit the deck for the confined 
 crib in the small cabin. While walking on the upper deck, 
 I heard a number of voices joining in a Gaelic chorus. I 
 went down and there found a dozen Highlanders. After 
 they were finished, the following conversation took place, 
 I speaking in high English.
 
 NORTH AMERICA. 251 
 
 " ' Pray what language is that ?' 
 
 " ' Gaelic, sir.' 
 
 " ' Where is that spoken ? ' 
 
 "'In the Highlands of Scotland.' 
 
 " ' Is it a language ?' 
 
 " ' It's the only true langidge. English is no langidge 
 at all, at all.' 
 
 " ' It must be banished ; it is savage.' 
 
 " ' It's no you, or any other, will banish it.' 
 
 " ' Pray let me hear you speak a sentence of it. Address 
 a question to me.' 
 
 " ' Co as a thanaig thu ?' ( Where do you come from, T) 
 
 " 'Thanaig mis as an Eilean Sgianach!' (I come 
 from the Isle of Sky e.) 
 
 " ' 0, fheiidail ! 'Se Gael tha am.' (Oh goodness ! He 
 is a Highlander /) 
 
 " These men had never been in Scotland. They were all 
 Glengarry men, and were of course rejoiced to meet me. 
 
 " The number of Highlanders one meets, and of those, 
 too, who are from the old homes of Morven and Mull, is 
 quite curious. At Toronto there came to^ see us, first, 
 three men from Mull who had been forty years in Canada, 
 and could speak hardly a word of English ; but each was 
 linked some way to my grandfather's house, and they 
 laughed and cried, time about, telling stories about the 
 ' water-foot ' of Aros. Then came an old servant from 
 Campbeltown ' Ochanee ! ochanee!' remembering, I 
 believe, all the shirts I had when a boy. Then a man 
 from Morven entered. ' Do I know your father ? Tor- 
 moid Og ! It's me that knows him.' My uncle found a 
 woman, near Lake Simcoe, who was longing to see him. 
 When he entered she burst into tears. She had on a 
 Highland plaid and a silver brooch. He thought he knew 
 the brooch. It was Jenny M'Lean's, the old hen-wife at 
 Fiunary, given her by my uncle Donald before he died ; 
 and this woman was Jenny's sister ! It is like a resur- 
 rection to meet people in this way. And these form the 
 strength of the country. As long as the old stock remains, 
 all is sound and well. Old associations, the old church, 
 the old school, the simple manners, the warm attachments
 
 252 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 of a time almost vanished from Scotland, survive here. 
 May they not be blasted by the fierce fire of Churchism, 
 which is annihilating the social habits of Scotland, and 
 converting her peasantry into bigots, and her loyal people 
 into fanatic democrats ! 
 
 At I met old Dr. M . He had a frightful 
 
 stammer. I asked how they spent the Sabbath, having no 
 Minister ? He said, ' I t-tried to col-col-lect the pe-pe- 
 people to hear a ssss-sermon ; but, after reading one, 
 s-somehow or other they did not c-come to hear me again ! 
 It was t-too b-bad ! ' Poor fellow ! fancy him reading a 
 sermon !* 
 
 " In crossing the Lake, I saw on the horizon a light 
 feathery cloud of a peculiar shape. It was the spray of the 
 Falls of Niagara ! 
 
 " This is my last letter from America. God be praised 
 for all his mercies to an unworthy sinner. I shall give 
 you my next journal viva voce." 
 
 On their return from America, the deputation re- 
 ceived a hearty welcome from the Church, and the 
 thanks of the Assembly were accorded to them for 
 the manner in which they had fulfilled their duty. 
 Crowded meetings were held in Edinburgh and Glas- 
 gow, to receive their account of the Colonies. The 
 effects of their visit were long felt in Canada, and 
 many pleasing tokens occurred in after years of the 
 deep and lasting influences produced by the pre- 
 sence and teaching of the deputies. 
 
 * He used to tell another Btory of this good old gentleman. 
 They were driving together through the forest on a frightfully hot day, 
 and the Doctor in a tremendous heat, from the conjoined labour of 
 whipping his horse and stammering, began to implore Norman Macleod 
 to send them a minister. " We d-d-don't expect a v-v-very c-c-clever 
 man, but would be quite pleased to have one who could g-g-give 
 us a p-p-plain every-day s-s-s-ermou like what you g-gave us your- 
 self to-day!"
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE, AND TOUR IN PRUSSIAN POLAND 
 AND SILESIA. 
 
 FT1HE excitement caused by the Disruption had not 
 J- yet calmed down, for the animosity of party 
 spirit still burned with a heat almost unparalleled even 
 in the ecclesiastical history of Scotland. Those who 
 had once been intimate Mends passed one another with- 
 out sign of recognition, and family life was embittered 
 by parents and children, brothers and sisters, taking 
 adverse sides on the Strathbogie case, or on the powers 
 of the Civil Magistrate. 
 
 This reigning spirit of intolerance stirred the 
 keener feelings of Norman Macleod far more than 
 the questions which divided the rival Churches. 
 However decided his views may have been as to the 
 merits of the controversy, he cared infinitely more for 
 the maintenance of just and kindly feelings between 
 Christians, than for anything in dispute between eccle- 
 siastical parties. He did not grudge the success ;, 
 of the Free Church, and he lamented the conduct of 
 those who refused sites for her churches. But he 
 protested with utmost vigour against the spirit of 
 intolerance which was too often displayed by the
 
 254 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 Church of the Disruption, and on some occasions 
 he spoke and wrote in strong terms against its 
 bigotry. ' I am not conscious of entertaining any 
 angry or hostile feeling towards the Free Church 
 as ' a branch of Christ's Catholic Church.' I desire 
 that God may help all its labours, both at home 
 and abroad, for advancing that l kingdom which is 
 righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.' I 
 respect many of its ministers and I enjoy the friend- 
 ship of many of its members. I admire its zeal and 
 energy. I have no sympathy with the alleged attempts 
 to embarrass any of its ministers or the ministers of 
 any Church on earth when seeking accommodation 
 for themselves or their adherents. My remarks are 
 directed solely against that proud and intolerant spirit 
 which says to the Church of Scotland, ( Stand back, I 
 am holier than thou,' and which has corroded so many 
 hearts formerly kind and loving. I detest Church 
 controversy; it is rarely profitable to writer or 
 reader ; it is apt to darken our minds and injure our 
 best affections. Let these men, in one word, love 
 Christians more than Churches, and the body of Christ 
 more than their own, and they will soon discover that 
 separation from a Church, and protesting against a 
 Church, are quite compatible with union with that 
 very Church, on the ground of a common faith, and 
 co-operation with it for the advancement of a common 
 Christianitv.' 
 
 tt 
 
 He was, in truth, utterly weary of ecclesiastical 
 strife, and when, during his visit to America, he 
 heard of the proposed formation of the Evangelical 
 Alliance, he hailed with delight a project which not
 
 EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 255 
 
 only harmonized with his own deepest feelings, but 
 promised to have a specially beneficial effect in healing 
 the divisions of Scotland. 
 
 The Alliance was then in the freshness of its youth, 
 and when he came home he threw himself with his 
 whole heart into the movement. The narrowness 
 of spirit, which afterwards repelled him from its 
 ranks, had not, as yet, displayed its presence.* He 
 was profoundly touched by the atmosphere of Christian 
 brotherhood which prevailed at the preliminary con- 
 ference held in Birmingham, and he was still more 
 impressed by the imposing assembly of delegates 
 from all parts of the world which met afterwards 
 in London. He had already seen much of the world, 
 but he had now the privilege of becoming acquainted 
 with some of the most eminent representatives of home 
 and foreign Churches, and gained such an insight into 
 the vital principles and character of these Churches as 
 only contact with living men could give. By means 
 also of the Evangelical Alliance he established a 
 friendly relation with many of the great missionary 
 bodies of England, and, on their invitation, went for 
 several years to London to attend the May meetings, 
 or to preach the annual sermon in connection with 
 some of their societies. His influence increased as his 
 power became known, and his own faith and courage 
 were mightily strengthened by the enlarged sympathies 
 he gained from co-operation with other Christians. 
 
 * See Chapter XVI. May 25th, 1863.
 
 256 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 To his MOTHER : 
 
 DALKEITH, 6th March, 1846. 
 
 "I am not lazy or careless far less indifferent; but 
 writing letters is uncongenial to me. I fancy that when I 
 say, ' we are all well, and love you, and are always thinking 
 of you and speaking of you,' that I have said all that is 
 required ; and that the state of the weather, the health of 
 dogs and cats, and the jog-trot adventures of every day, 
 cannot merit a record on paper. There are a thousand 
 things I would like to say not to write that abominable 
 scratch, scratch, scratch ! that heavy, lumbering bread-and- 
 butter style of conveying stories and facts which need the 
 eye, the voice, the grace notes and touches which give 
 them life ! It is after all but another edition of Laura 
 Bridgman, a speaking from the tip of the fingers, and 
 giving glimpses of thought. 
 
 " Now here I am with yards of paper before me, and 
 6,000 people round me a romance in every close, a tale 
 in every family requiring volumes and not pages. Jane 
 will tell you what a coach-horse life I lead, and how diffi- 
 cult it is for me to get time to pour out my heart, though 
 full to the brim, into yours, which I verily believe would 
 never be so full as to make you call ' stop/ though all 
 your children were to write to you by the steam press. 
 
 " But what news can I give you ? ' Can I not tell what 
 is doing in the house ? ' Yes ; but are you serious in say- 
 ing you wish to hear ? ' Yes, quite serious.' Then, if so, 
 you have little to think about. But, as far as I know, the 
 following is the state of the house : 
 
 "As to the attics, one is locked up, and in the other 
 your youngest son slept last night under the influence of 
 a lesson in Latin and a plate of porridge. In the next 
 floor, one bedroom is cold and empty. Another room was 
 occupied last night by your firstborn. As you may like 
 to know how he passed the night, I'll tell you. Having 
 resolved to be abstemious in his eating ' Why now are 
 you that ? ' My dear mother, a man's liver is the better 
 of it. It keeps him cool, makes him sleep well, and wake 
 light and hearty. Well, having resolved to be abstemious,
 
 EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 257 
 
 I took one and a half Welsh rabbits to my supper the 
 cheese (being next to milk) was laid on thick. I was soon 
 asleep. ' Did you dream ? ' No. ' No nightmares ? ' No. 
 ' What did you do ? ' Sleep, according to an old habit. 
 
 " Lower floor study occupied by your son, one pipe, a 
 dog and cat, books, &c. Other rooms empty. Cellars 
 rubbish, broken glass and starved rats. 
 
 " Are you wiser now ? ' And what is doing outside ? ' 
 My dear, that outside is a big word. The sky is blue ; 
 the birds are singing ; carts are passing on the road ; men 
 and women are drinking ; some crying ; some starving ; 
 some dying. That word has tolled me back to being ! 
 I can be merry no longer. I was laughing beside you, 
 but now I am in real life. I see sad scenes, and hear sad 
 things, and my heart is not light. So I shall not write 
 anything more to-day but my sermon." 
 
 To his MOTHEE : 
 
 DALKEITH, June 3rd, 1846. 
 
 " I cannot let my birthday pass without saying God bless 
 thee for my birth and up-bringing and the unceasing- 
 love and goodness which has beamed upon me from your 
 heart and which has gladdened my life on earth, and next 
 to the grace of God has helped to prepare me for the life 
 in Heaven which I hope, through the mercy of God in 
 Christ, to share with yourself, arid perhaps with all who 
 have shared our domestic joys." 
 
 To Hs Sister JANE : 
 
 EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE CONFERENCE AT BIRMINGHAM, 
 4 o'clock, Wednesday, April. 
 
 " I have been in two ' Sessions ' of the Conference, and 
 I take half an hour's breathing time to write to you my 
 first impressions. You ask how I liked it ? I reply that 
 it was one of the happiest evenings I ever spent on earth. 
 Never in any company had I the same deep peace and joy, 
 and the same broken-heartedness for sin. Oh ! what a 
 prayer was that of Octavius Winslow's ! It stirred iny 
 deepest feelings, and made the tears pour down my cheeks. 
 
 VOL. I. s
 
 2 5 8 LIFE OF NORMAN MA CLEOD. 
 
 How I wished that you could have been there ! And then 
 to see so many on their knees and to hear the ' Amens ' 
 of acquiescing, sympathising, and feeling spirits ! I would 
 have gone ten times the distance to have enjoyed all- 
 I did. 
 
 "About 120 are present to-day. Candlish, Guthrie, 
 Hamilton, are there, but I have not yet spoken to any. I 
 am more afraid to-day. I fear that they are growing too 
 fast outwards. As long as we deal with God, we seem 
 omnipotent in Him and through Him, but our attempts at 
 work professedly for Him seem to me highly dangerous as 
 yet. I pray God that all may go on well. The prayer 
 and praise are glorious. It has developed in me an affec- 
 tion which hitherto I have only manifested but partially 
 very partially and that only in words because of a lack 
 of opportunity. I mean, love to ministerial brethren. I 
 feel like a man who had brothers but they had been 
 abroad and he had never seen them before. I feel too, 
 how much knowing the brethren comes from seeing them ; 
 ' the brother whom he hath seen ' increases love to Him 
 who is unseen." 
 
 To his Sister JANE : 
 
 Conference at London, Wednesday, May 25th. 
 
 " Everything goes on pleasantly and well. The Frees, 
 honest fellows, are not here. They are a loss, for they 
 have good heads for business. 
 
 " Bickersteth, dear man, is in the chair, and Bunting, 
 noble man, is now speaking. Angel James is about to 
 follow, and Dr. Raffles has finished. It is mere chat, like 
 a nice family circle, and I hope that our Elder Brother is 
 in the midst of it." 
 
 To ELIZABETH PATTERSON.* 
 
 At Sea, on his way to London, 6 P.M., Wednesday, August. 
 " How rich is that grace which can not only give peace 
 to ourselves, but also make us share His own joy in giving 
 
 * Among the many members of his flock in Dalkeith who encou- 
 raged him in his work, there was one who, unable herself to take an
 
 EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 259 
 
 good and happiness to others ! None but He could make 
 you, a weak creature, without hands or feet or tongue, 
 stretched on a bed of pain able not only to be an 
 example to us of faith and patience, but an inexpressible 
 strength to us, as you have many a day been to me. 
 Well, dear, His own work, whatever it be, will be perfected 
 in you, and by you ; and then, but not till then, He will 
 perfect you in Himself. But as long as you can please 
 and glorify Him more on earth than in Heaven, you will, 
 I am sure, be content to stay ; and I hope we shall all 
 be taught by your meek compliance with His will to 
 comply with it too, when He takes you hence or takes us. 
 He Who has hitherto so wonderfully helped you, is able 
 surely to help you to the end. The Hand which holds 
 all the ocean I see around me, which sustains this 
 blue sky over my head, can uphold and sustain your 
 weak body, for it is more precious than all this big 
 world. It is a redeemed body. The mountains may depart ; 
 His love never ! Every drop of the ocean will be exhausted ; 
 His love never! The Heavens will depart like a scroll, 
 but they who do His will shall abide for ever ! Let us 
 praise Him ! May He be with you day and night !" 
 
 active share of duty, yet perhaps really strengthened him more than 
 any other. Elizabeth Patterson had been an invalid and a sufferer 
 for several years before he came to the parish, and during the eight 
 years of his ministry there, she was only once or twice out of bed. 
 She required the constant care of her widowed mother and her 
 loving sisters. She was frequently so weak when he visited her, 
 that she could not speak but in a whisper ; yet that always 
 expressed kindness towards others, or meek resignation to the will 
 of God. She seemed to forget herself in the interest she took in 
 Christ's kingdom, caring for the good of the poorest child in Dal- 
 keith as well as for the advance of religion over the earth. It was 
 no wonder that such a character drew forth his sympathies. He often 
 spoke of the comfort and strength he got from witnessing her faith 
 and courage, and from knowing that she and her family, and her 
 good friend Mrs. Porteous, were ' instant in prayer ' on his behalf. 
 Often, after a weary day's work in filthy closes, he would find 
 refreshment and gain new hopefulness at the bedside of this holy suf- 
 i'erer. She and her family afterwards went to St. Andrew's, but until 
 the time of her death in 1863, he kept up his friendship with her, 
 and sometimes went from Glasgow to visit her on her weary sick-bed. 
 
 S 2
 
 z6o LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 To Ms Sister JANE : 
 
 LONDON, August. 
 
 " The Alliance has been formed. Such a scene of prayer, 
 shaking of hands, and many weeping ! 
 
 " I met a man this morning with a towering forehead, 
 having 'the harvest of a quiet eye,' and 'a most noble 
 carriage.' I was introduced to him, and he said, ' I know 
 your name, and I am glad to have seen your face.' I 
 replied, ' Sir, I have long revered you, and now rejoice 
 to grasp your hand.' Then we for a short time discoursed 
 about our Church, and when, in explanation of our position, 
 I said, ' I fear I must call the Free Church the party of 
 Presbyterian Puseyism,' he seized my arm, and said, ' You 
 have taken the words out of my mouth. I wrote to the 
 King stating the same thing. I think they are making 
 the Church an idol.' Who was this ? Bunsen." 
 
 LONDON, August 4th, 1845. 
 
 "I have just time to say that our Alliance goes on 
 nobly. There are 1,000 members met from all the 
 world, and the prayers and praises would melt your heart. 
 Wardlaw, Bickersteth, Tholuck, say that in their whole 
 experience they never beheld anything like it. I assure 
 you many a tear of joy is shed. It is more like Heaven 
 than anything I ever experienced on earth. The work is 
 done, a work in our spirits which can never be undone. 
 The Americans have behaved nobly. I am appointed chair- 
 man of one of the future meetings for devotion, an honour 
 to which I am not entitled except as representing my 
 Church. I would the whole world were with us ! No 
 report can give you any idea of it. I am half-asleep, as it 
 is past midnight. I have to meet Czersky at breakfast at 
 eight." 
 
 To Ms MOTHER : 
 
 " My mind and heart are almost wearied with the excite- 
 ment of this time. Meetings every day conversing, 
 smoking with Germans, French, Americans, &c. all
 
 EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 261 
 
 in love and harmony. Tholuck, Kheinthaler, Earth, 
 Cramer, from Germany ; Monod, Fisch, Vernet, from 
 France ; Cox, Kirk, Skinner, Paton, Emery, De Witt, 
 Baird, from America. It would take hours to tell you my 
 news." 
 
 From his JOURNAL : 
 
 September, 1846. 
 
 " What an eventful year has this been to me ! In June, 
 1845, I crossed the great Atlantic, and returned home in 
 safety in November. Since then I have had much to do 
 with colonial matters. I have received, with my colleagues, 
 the thanks of the Assembly. I have visited Birmingham 
 as a member of the Evangelical Alliance. I have been 
 thrice in London once to address five meetings on our 
 Missions, and once as a Member of the Select Com- 
 mittee of the Alliance, and the third time attending the 
 Alliance itself. I have, besides, written four articles for a 
 Magazine, spoken at four public meetings in Scotland, and 
 I have not neglected my own parish. I trust I may now 
 have some time to devote my whole energies to this homo 
 work, and to publishing religious tracts. I have gained 
 more than I can express by intercourse with the world. 
 In America, and at the Alliance, I have mingled more 
 with other minds got hold of more than during my 
 whole lifetime. 
 
 " What has been done by the Alliance ? 
 
 "1. Brethren have met and prayed together ; they 
 have become acquainted and learned to love one another. 
 Is this not much ? If the tree must grow from within 
 if Love is to be the fountain of all good to the Church 
 and the world is this not much ? Is it not almost all ? 
 Was not every one at the Alliance melted by the harmony 
 and love that prevailed ? What holy and happy hours were 
 these ! Often was that room in Birmingham and London 
 felt to be the house of God, the gate of Heaven ! 
 
 "2. Was it not much to have agreed upon a basis, and 
 to have presented to the Papist so much harmony upon 
 cardinal doctrines ? All who had any dealings with the 
 Popish Church felt this.
 
 262 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 " 3. May not a louder voice now speak to the world 
 than has spoken for a time ? 
 
 " The happiest and proudest day I ever spent was the 
 day I presided in London over the Evangelical Alliance." 
 
 To PRINCIPAL CAMPBELL, of Aberdeen : 
 
 DALKEITH, September, 1846. 
 
 " I received your brochure yesterday. I do not quite 
 agree Avith you in some points. I think there may be all 
 the one-ness which Christ ever intended to exist in the 
 Church, without that kind of visible unity which you 
 seem to contend for. The grand problem is how to obtain 
 the greatest amount of one -ness in essential doctrine 
 in affection in work with the greatest amount of personal 
 and congregational freedom as to government and worship. 
 We may begin by assuming that denominations must exist. 
 Let us try to give the disjecta membra unity. Find the 
 unknown quantity x, which is to be the bond of union. 
 Here they are : legs, arms, heads, eyes, ears, scattered 
 about. What form of body will unite them, leaving to 
 each his individuality ? ' Heaven alone knows ; I don't. 
 In the meantime we must do what we can. 
 
 " I preached the anniversary sermon for the Wesleyans in 
 their large chapel in Edinburgh. Such a crowd ! Long 
 before the hour every crevice was choked. Up the pulpit 
 stairs, and filling all the passages. As Southey says of 
 the rats, 
 
 ' And in at the windows, and in at the door, 
 And through the walls in hundreds they pour, 
 From within and without, from above and below, 
 And all at once to the Bishop they go.' 
 
 " I am the first Established minister who has preached 
 in their church." 
 
 The death of his old teacher, Dr. Chalmers, deeply 
 moved him, and, when addressing the Lay Association 
 of the Church of Scotland, he took the opportunity of
 
 EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 263 
 
 paying a tribute to the memory of this great and good 
 man 'whose noble character, lofty enthusiasm, and 
 patriotic views will rear themselves before the eyes 
 of posterity like Alpine peaks, long ater the narrow 
 valleys which have for a brief peiiod divided us are 
 lost in the far distance of past history.' 
 
 To his MOTHER : 
 
 June, 1847. 
 
 " Another third of June ! and another, and another it 
 may be until there is no son to write and no mother to 
 write to, and the passing birthdays of time are lost in the 
 new birth of an endless day. 
 
 " You would be grieved for dear old Chalmers. I am 
 sure you will sympathize with what I said about him at 
 our public meeting on Tuesday. I was grieved that later 
 differences prevented, I think foolishly, any notice being 
 taken of his death in our Assembly. The motives for our 
 doing so might have been, perhaps, misunderstood. There 
 is a great power at work, called Dignity, which sometimes 
 appears to me to be like General Tom Thumb, the dwarf, 
 acting Napoleon. I may be misinterpreted, too I don't 
 care. A man's head at least mine may deceive a 
 hundred times a day a man's heart never ! I never felt 
 the Tightness or wrongness of any thing strongly, without 
 its really turning out to be the right or the wrong I thought 
 it was. Dear old man ! He is among congenial minds 
 for the first time he never breathed his own native air 
 till now never felt at home till now. I intend going to 
 his funeral. I hope the Free Church will have the taste 
 not to attempt to make it sectarian Chalmers belonged 
 to Scotland. I am just going to write a funeral sermon 
 on him. I feel he is a father and brother a thousand 
 times more than men whom I address as ' Fathers and 
 Brethren.' 
 
 " This is a glorious day. The hawthorn is bursting into 
 wreaths of snow ; 'the birds are busy in the woods'; the 
 butterflies are glinting among the bushes ; and everything 
 is lovely.
 
 2t>+ LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 " Is my father with you ? I need not say that he is 
 inseparably connected with you in my thoughts to-day, for 
 I am sure a kinder father no children ever had. I am 
 thankful that he fixed upon the Ministry for me. I declare 
 I do not remember a day when I thought it possible that 
 I could be anything else than a Minister nor do I remem- 
 ber any other profession which for a moment I ever wished 
 to adopt unless in school, when I once desired to be a 
 bandmaster ; at another time, a Ducrow galloper on horses ; 
 and, lastly, and more especially, a Captain of a man-of-war ! 
 
 "My dear, I remember long ago, when there was a 
 minister of the name of Macleod in Dalkeith." 
 
 To ME. JAMES M'PHERSON, Loudoun : 
 
 DALKEITH, June 30th, 1847. 
 
 " I do not feel that I am separated from my beloved, 
 tenderly, deeply beloved flock, who have either left Lou- 
 doun for Heaven, or left the Establishment for another 
 branch of Christ's visible Church. I feel we are united by 
 bonds far closer than we understand ; bonds w r hich Christ 
 has cast around us, which He will lovingly keep around 
 us, and which He will not let the world or ourselves sever. 
 And oh ! how I long for His coming ; when we shall all be 
 together again ; when we shall know even as we are known, 
 and be for ever with Himself ! "
 
 EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 265 
 
 From Ms JOURXAL : 
 
 "July 4, '47- I never felt more overwhelmed by work 
 than during the five weeks which preceded my Communion. 
 I was concerned for the Assembly, that it should do God's 
 will. I was convener of the committee appointed to select 
 and send off a deputation to the Colonies, which are ever 
 present to me. I had public sermons to preach in Glasgow 
 and Edinburgh. I had to speak the truth, and fitting 
 truth, at the Lay Association and Female Education Meet- 
 ings. The Evangelical Alliance was coming. I was to 
 speak there. Then there were preparations for the Com- 
 munion, and a great deal of sickness in the parish. At 
 home, my own dear brother, George, was ill, and my 
 mother and I going, in thought, to the graves at Campsie. 
 In short, I never had such a pressure upon me. I could 
 have wished to bury my head in the grave. 
 
 " To add to this, on the Wednesday before my Com- 
 munion, ten minutes after leaving our Session meeting, 
 good Mr. Bertram, my elder, fell down dead ! It was, 
 indeed, a very trying time ; yet I had much inward peace. 
 I felt as if outside of the house there were wind and storm, 
 which beat into the ante-chambers ; but that there was 
 within a sanctuary which they did not and could not reach. 
 I experienced a strange combination of great trouble and 
 perfect peace. And how graciously has God brought me 
 through all ! The Assembly was very good ; its debates 
 calm and truthful, its decisions, as far as I can see, just and 
 righteous. The deputation to America was selected after 
 much correspondence. I am since vindicated for having 
 proposed and carried their appointment. They have 
 received an enthusiastic welcome, and they themselves 
 acknowledge that their mission was needed. My public 
 sermons were w r ell received, and I hope did good. I spoke 
 as I wished, i.e. the truth which I desired to communicate 
 to the Lay Association, and at the meetings for Female 
 Education in India, and of the Evangelical Alliance. I was, 
 at home, able to strengthen and comfort dear Mrs. Bertram. 
 I never had a more peaceful and delightful Communion. 
 My dear George is recovering. Oh, how my prayers have
 
 266 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 been answered Thou, God, knowest ! I have passed through 
 all this in peace. I thank God. For I do feel that His 
 supporting grace can alone enable one to meet the sorrowing 
 burden of humanity. The flesh would say, fly, hide thy- 
 self, partake not of those cares and troubles. But this is 
 not the voice of the Spirit. The Spirit of Jesus would 
 have us carry the care, and the anxiety, and the sorrow of 
 the world, all the while giving us His peace that peace 
 which He had even when He wept at Bethany and over 
 Jerusalem, and went about doing good, and mourned for 
 unbelief. 
 
 " Faith in an eternal life with God, must, I think, arise 
 necessarily out of love to Him here. Did I only know 
 that David loved God, I would, without further evidence, 
 believe that he had full assurance of life beyond the grave." 
 
 " To me the greatest mystery next to the mystery of God's 
 will is my own ! It is of all truths the most solemn to re- 
 cognise the possession of a responsible will which because 
 it is a will can choose, and because of sin does choose, what 
 is opposed to the will of God. 
 
 " The existence and influence of Satan are not more mys- 
 terious than the existence and influence of bad men. Evil 
 is the mystery not evil agents and evil influence. Con- 
 sidering all things, perhaps, a Demoniac in the synagogue, 
 a wicked Judas in the Church, is a greater mystery than 
 Satan. 
 
 " The great difference between the law and the gospel is, 
 that the latter brings a power into operation for producing 
 that right state of mind love to God which the law 
 commands but cannot effect. 
 
 " Christ is the living Avay, the eternal life, as He gives to 
 us His own life and Spirit. To be as He was is the only 
 way to the Father. 
 
 " God is surely revealing Himself to all His creatures. 
 I cannot think that there is even a Bushman in Africa 
 with whose spirit the living God is not dealing. The 
 voice of God is speaking though they may not hear it ; 
 yet they may hear it, and so hear it as to know the living 
 and true God.
 
 EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE, 267 
 
 " St. Paul said that God had appointed the bounds of 
 men's habitations that they might seek after Him. This 
 implies that to find Him was possible. 
 
 " I will never agree to the sensuous philosophy which 
 insists on all teaching coming through materialism. Edu- 
 cation is to lead out, to draw out, what I may already 
 possess. 
 
 " God has made us for joy ! Joy is the normal state of 
 the universe. This only makes Christ's sorrow more terrible. 
 Man's joy and God's joy must be one. ' Ye shall be as 
 gods.' Yes ; but not by the Devil's teaching. 
 
 " What dreadful suffering must Christ have endured 
 from want of human sympathy ! How alienated is man 
 from God, when Peter and the apostles were so alienated 
 from Christ. ' I am not alone, for the Father is with me/ 
 but none else ! " 
 
 The movement in favour of a reformed Church, 
 inaugurated in Poland by Konge and Czersky, was 
 at this time awakening much interest among Pro- 
 testants. Both Eonge and Czersky had been present 
 at a meeting of the Alliance, and as some members of 
 that body were anxious to obtain reliable information 
 on the subject, jSTorman Macleod was asked to accom- 
 pany the late Dr. Herschell of London on a visit to 
 the principal congregations of the new communion. 
 
 NOTES OF A VISIT TO PRUSSIAN POLAND AND SILESIA 
 
 IN AUGUST, 1847. 
 To his FATHER : 
 
 " During my short stay abroad I intend to address all 
 my letters to you, in the hope that they may contain 
 something interesting, which mav, perhaps, induce you to 
 bear with that peculiar hieroglyphical character which I 
 generally use in writing, and which, through your excellent 
 example, I have studied from my earliest infancy. I must
 
 268 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 begin at the beginning whether or not I shall continue 
 to the end is another question. 
 
 " At York we visited the Castle and all its horrors saw 
 old and young confined in stone courts, hard stone under 
 foot, hard stone on every side, stone and iron surrounding 
 them during the day and night, and we in sunshine and 
 breeze, with joy above and around us. Saw the condemned 
 cell, with its iron bed and cold walls, the only view being 
 through thick bars, upon a small green spot with rank 
 grass, surrounded by walls, where the wretched occupant 
 must be laid on the day of his execution, along with those 
 who have gone before him to the same sad spot. A 
 burying-place which contains the bodies of those only who 
 have been executed is a sad and solemn sight. 
 
 " From this we passed to the Minster once more. And 
 what a change from the cell and the graveyard, and the 
 cut-throat Museum, to that gorgeous pile of pinnacle and 
 tower, with its long-drawn aisles and stained windows, 
 ' red with the blood of kings and queens,' and quaint de- 
 vice and carved imagery, and full of glorious anthems and 
 chanted prayers ! A very shadow, I thought, of that state 
 of grandeur and glory into which the gospel brings us 
 out of the horrid prison and condemned cell, and grave- 
 yard without hope." 
 
 ****** 
 
 " I pass over the many interesting conversations held 
 in Berlin with Neander, Uhden, Kuntze. 
 
 " We obtained, however, little information from them 
 regarding the present state of the Reform movement. All 
 parties seemed indifferent to it. All parties rejected Ronge. 
 Sydow called him ' ein ausgeblasener Narr,' and despised 
 both the man and his opinions, and considered them only 
 a little better than Popery. 
 
 " Saturday morning we posted sixty-two miles, to Schnei- 
 demuhl, where we arrived the same evening about eight 
 o'clock. We found Czersky waiting for us. 
 
 " Upon Sabbath morning, at ten, we went to his church. 
 As we entered the people were singing one of Luther's 
 hymns, with as is usual in German churches loud and 
 harmonious voices, led by an organ and a tolerably good
 
 EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 269 
 
 choir. About 120 were present. The passages and all 
 round the altar were strewed with flowers, which we 
 learned afterwards was a token of gladness at seeing us 
 amongst them. 
 
 " When the psalm was nearly concluded Czersky entered. 
 He was dressed in priest's garments ; in a long black cloth 
 gown, which came down to his toes and was buttoned in 
 front, and over this a jacket of white muslin beautifully 
 worked, with wide sleeves, and coming down to his waist. 
 He knelt and prayed in silence before the crucifix, and 
 then preached. 
 
 " We held a conference with the elders at Czersky' s 
 house, in the morning. About twelve were present. The 
 chief objects of the meeting were to ascertain their state 
 of mind towards Czersky, and above all to exhort them 
 upon certain points which, we believed, required the 
 advice of neutral parties in whose good-will perfect con- 
 fidence could be placed. Mr. Herschell and I spoke our 
 minds fully. 
 
 "Though our conference lasted nearly two hours, we were 
 listened to throughout with the utmost patience. Not a 
 word was spoken unless we asked a reply. When these 
 replies were given, Czersky seemed anxious that we should 
 hear the opinions of his elders as well as his own. These 
 opinions were most satisfactory. From this meeting, and 
 from a private conversation which I had with Czersky 
 during a short walk in the fields on Sabbath, as well as from 
 familiar intercourse with him on the following days, I am 
 convinced that there is perfect confidence placed in him by 
 his people, and that he is a most simple-hearted, sincere 
 man. Though he will never be a great leader, he will 
 prove a true Avitness ; and if he cannot attack, he certainly 
 will resist error. After the meeting we remained and took 
 tea with himself and his wife. We were much struck with 
 the humble and poor house in which he lives. Everything 
 indicated a man who had not at least made money by his 
 change. 
 
 " Our Sabbath evening's work was closed by a call upon 
 the old Lutheran minister, who was just retiring to rest. 
 He received us very kindly, was frank and full of good
 
 2 70 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 humour ; and while he deplored the number of churches in 
 the town instead of one (his own), he bore the strongest 
 testimony to Czersky, declaring him to be, in his opinion, 
 a simple, honourable, upright, pious man. This was most 
 satisfactory. 
 
 " Having determined to take Czersky with us to Posen, 
 we all met next morning in the hotel, and were early on 
 our way, by courier post with four horses. We had a 
 journey of sixty miles before us. The day was scorch- 
 ing. Our road lay along flat plains or through forests, and 
 poor Polish villages. It was so sandy and rough that 
 we could not make sometimes more than six miles an 
 hour. The whole of this day's journey reminded me of 
 America, more especially when our road lay through the 
 forest. 
 
 " Post is, in many respects, an abler man than Czersky. 
 He is an able speaker, has read and thought much, and 
 is as firm a believer in positive Christianity as Czersky. 
 Family worship is common among his people. His con- 
 gregation numbers about 740, old and young. 
 
 " The results of our inquiries into this movement in 
 Poland may thus be summed up : 
 
 " 1. Numbers : There are fifteen Christian Catholic con- 
 gregations in Poland, each numbering upon an average 
 300 souls, old and young. The numbers in four principal 
 stations are, respectively, Posen 745, Schneidemuhl 400, 
 Bromberg 600, Thorn 400. Post has sometimes 1000 in 
 summer. 
 
 " 2. All the clergy in Poland are for positive Chris- 
 tianity, and will have nothing to do with Ronge. 
 
 " 3. They are not yet united, but wish to form a Pres- 
 bytery. 
 
 "4. This movement should be helped and strengthened. 
 The people and ministers are poor. They could get on 
 better by joining the Established Church ; but they desire 
 church freedom, and they think that they are in a better 
 position to act as a Mission, having reference to the Church 
 of Home, than if they were to become absorbed in the 
 State Church. 
 
 " We left Posen on Thursday morning, and slept that
 
 EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 271 
 
 uiglit at Lissa, half way to Breslau. We reached Breslau 
 in the evening of Friday. 
 
 " We determined to drive out next day to Hiinen, to see 
 Dr. Theiner, whom all parties acknowledge to be the most 
 learned and able man connected with this movement. He 
 was out walking when we arrived. His old servant, how- 
 ever, went for him, while we sat beneath the shade of some 
 orange-trees in the little flower-garden. 
 
 " By-and-by we saw approaching, with quick steps, a 
 man of the ordinary size, upwards of fifty, with a long 
 German surtout, a cap with large scoop, spectacles, and his 
 long hair, sprinkled with grey, flowing behind. He ushered 
 us into a large room, which, in its thorough confusion, 
 reminded us of Neander's chairs and tables, covered with 
 books, and the whole room as if it was the temporary 
 receptacle for a library hastily carried into it, along with 
 some furniture, during a fire. The first look of Theiner 
 filled me with confidence and affection ; the large manly 
 brow, the twinkling black eyes and gentle smile, every 
 feature expressive of eagerness, thought, tenderness, and 
 simplicity. He gave us his opinions fully and frankly. He 
 spoke of Ronge with unmeasured terms of contempt as 
 ' ein nicht wurdiges elendes Geschdpf.' He spoke of Czersky 
 and Post with the greatest respect, declaring his conviction 
 that they were honest men. His own position now was 
 one of literary activity. 
 
 " In the evening of Sabbath I heard Ronge. After 
 reading a few cold, formal prayers, he commenced his 
 sermon. His delivery is lifeless, without fire in eye or 
 action ; hesitating, uninteresting. One was puzzled more 
 and more to discover what the elements were in this man 
 which could rouse the populace. 
 
 " I expected to have met Ronge according to appoint- 
 ment m the evening, but he sent an apology by his 
 friend. Dr. Beusch, with whom we had a very long con- 
 versation and dispute. His opinions, like those of 
 Ronge, are ultra-rationalistic or rather, pantheistic ; 
 and it was hardly possible to get a common standing 
 ground. The whole system seemed to be a mixture 
 of socialism and Deism gilded with the morality of the
 
 272 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 Bible, and having a strong political tendency towards 
 communism. 
 
 " Such is Ronge-ism. It is bad, but who is to blame ? 
 Popery first. It is evident that the whole of this false 
 system is a reaction from Popery ; that it has been moulded 
 into its present form in the conscious presence of Popery. 
 The materialism of the one has given birth to the anti- 
 symbolical and attempted spiritualism of the other. What 
 the result is to be no one can tell. It cannot stand as it 
 is. It must advance to Quakerism and Spiritual Pietism, 
 and end in Socialism, or its serious people be absorbed in 
 a deeper and more evangelical movement. There does not 
 appear to be connected with this part of the movement one 
 man capable of giving it a good direction. One has only 
 to hope that the Bible and hymn-book may help to save 
 some of the poor people, who, I doubt not, are better than 
 their ministers. 
 
 " I have now, within two years, seen the practical work- 
 ing of various Churches, and come into contact with the 
 clergy of various denominations. I have seen the war of 
 weak sects in the backwoods and lonely settlements of the 
 Colonies, and voluntaryism in its poverty and in its 
 grandeur in the United States. I have watched well the 
 temper and tendency of the Free Church in Scotland, 
 especially in the Highlands. I have met in the freest and 
 most friendly communion, for days together, the Dissenters 
 of England at the Evangelical Alliance. I have examined 
 the workings of Episcopacy during a year's residence in 
 England. I have seen Popery in every part of Germany 
 from Vienna to Berlin, in France and Belgium, Ireland and 
 America. I have examined into the German Church, and 
 the result of all has been to deepen my attachment to my 
 own Church to fill me with unfeigned gratiude to God for , 
 the Protestant Evangelical Presbyterian Established Church 
 of Scotland. It is Protestant, without any toleration of 
 Popish error within its bosom. It is Evangelical, and 
 equally removed from formal orthodoxy, or canting 
 methodism, or icy rationalism. It is Presbyterian, and 
 in possession of a free and vigorous government which 
 occupies a middle point between the power of one bishop
 
 EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 273 
 
 or of one congregation. It is Established, and so nou 
 dependent for its support on the people, while, for the 
 discharge of all the functions of a Christian Church, inde- 
 pendent of civil government by virtue of her constitution. 
 What Avant we then ? Nothing but the power of the living 
 Spirit of God, to enable ministers, elders, and people to use 
 the high talents God has given us for the good of Scotland, 
 of the Christian Church, and all to the glory of God. ' If I 
 forget thee, Oh Jerusalem, may my right hand forget her 
 cunning ! ' ' 
 
 VOL, L
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 
 
 18481851. 
 
 AS this Chapter must embrace the close of his 
 ministry in Dalkeith, it affords a fitting occa- 
 sion for forming an estimate of the influences which 
 then affected his views and character. It was a time 
 of mental growth more than of literary or public 
 work. He had more leisure for study than he ever 
 afterwards possessed. His travels in America and 
 on the Continent, and his intercourse with represen- 
 tatives of almost every variety of Church, had enlarged 
 his sympathies, and given him a living grasp of the 
 questions at that time affecting Christendom. His 
 spiritual life also, chiefly from the care with which 
 he cultivated devout habits, became higher and more 
 even in tone. 
 
 The two men who had most influence on his 
 opinions were Thomas Arnold, and his own relative, 
 John Macleod Campbell. Arnold's Life had just been 
 published, and the manliness, the healthy common 
 sense, the unswerving truthfulness and Christian faith- 
 fulness of the great Head Master of Rugby, touched 
 him profoundly ; while the struggle which the book
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 275 
 
 recounted against the sacerdotal pretensions of the 
 * Young Oxford ' school, on the one hand, and against 
 the narrower section of the * Evangelicals,' on the 
 other, had more than a historical interest for him ; for 
 these two extremes, under different outward forms, 
 were equally loud-voiced in Scotland, and in Arnold's 
 writings he found a copious armoury for the defence 
 of his own position at home. 
 
 John Macleod Campbell was in many respects a 
 contrast to Arnold. If the latter was clear and 
 trenchant, the former was meditative, abstract, pro- 
 found, almost to obscurity. Even when jSTorman was 
 a student, Campbell used to have long and earnest 
 conversations with him in his lodgings. He was 
 then Minister of Row, and involved in those contro- 
 versies which issued in his lamented deposition an 
 act almost barbarous in its intolerance, and by which 
 the Church deprived herself of one of the greatest 
 theological minds, as well as one of the holiest char- 
 acters she ever possessed. The intimacy between the 
 two cousins had of late years become closer, and it 
 continued to deepen to the last hour of their lives. 
 Campbell had a greater influence on Norman's views 
 than any other theologian living or dead, and was 
 reverenced by him as being the most heavenly-minded 
 man he ever knew. There was no one at whose feet 
 he was more willing to sit and learn. Campbell's 
 influence was not, however, so positive and direct then 
 as it afterwards became. His great work on the 
 Atonement was not yet published. A little book, 
 called * Fragments of Exposition,' written partly by 
 him and partly by his friend, the late thoughtful and 
 
 T 2
 
 276 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 accomplished Professor Scott, of Manchester, was the 
 chief contribution Campbell had as yet made to the 
 theology of the day. But his conversation was rich 
 in suggestive ideas, which had a great effect in 
 determining the tendency of Norman's theology. 
 
 There was one style of teaching which was especi- 
 ally characteristic of his later ministry in Dalkeith, 
 and of his earlier time in the Barony. He felt that 
 the metaphysical and doctrinal preaching which was 
 still prevalent in Scotland, had led men to deal 
 with abstractions, ideas, names, rather than with the 
 living God ; and so he tried to produce a greater 
 sense of the personal relationship of the Father, Son, 
 and Spirit. The dealings of an earthly father with 
 his child were continually used to illustrate what 
 the Heavenly Father must, in a far higher sense, feel 
 and do j and he evermore pressed his hearers to enter- 
 tain the same trust and confidence towards Christ, as 
 would have been proper and natural had He been 
 present in the flesh. Such tender thoughts of the 
 Father and the Son found fullest expression in his 
 prayers, which, while most reverent, were so real that 
 they sounded as if spoken to One visibly present. 
 Their perfect simplicity never degenerated into famili- 
 arity. Their dignity was as remarkable as their 
 directness. These views had also a marked influence 
 on his character. What the Personal Christ must love 
 or hate became the one rule of life. This divine love 
 inspired a deep ' enthusiasm of humanity.' He seemed 
 to yearn over men in the very spirit of Christ so 
 patient, considerate, and earnest, was he, in seeking 
 their good.
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 277 
 
 His sermons at this time conveyed the impression 
 of greater elaboration than those of his later years. 
 One remarkable characteristic was the restraint he 
 put on the descriptive faculty with which he was so 
 richly endowed. He could very easily have produced 
 great popular effect by indulging in pictorial illustra- 
 tion, but he held this in strict subordination to the 
 one purpose of impressing the conscience; and even 
 then, the touches of imagination or of pathos, which 
 so often. thrilled his audience, were commonly limited 
 to a sentence, or a phrase. 
 
 There were other men, besides .Arnold and Camp- 
 bell, who more or less influenced his views at this 
 time. There was Struthers, the author of ' The Sab- 
 bath ' a rare specimen of the old Scotch Covenanter, 
 stern but tender, of keen intellect and unbending prin- 
 ciple, and full of contempt for the nineteenth century. 
 Norman took great delight in exciting Struthers to 
 talk on some congenial theme, to describe, with shrill 
 voice and pithy Scotch, the good old days, to denounce 
 with indignation the degeneracies and backslidings of 
 modern times, to anathematize Voluntaryism as prac- 
 tical Atheism, and declare Sabbath schools 'the greatest 
 curse the Almighty ever sent to this covenanted land 
 undermining family life and destroying the parental 
 tie.' If there was exaggeration, there was also good 
 sense in many of Struthers' s reflections, especially as 
 to the past and present of the working classes. He 
 had been himself an operative for many years, and his 
 remarks on questions affecting the working classes 
 were not lost on his hearer. In contrast to Struthers 
 there was John Campbell Shairp, now the well-known
 
 278 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 Principal of St. Andrew's, who, recently returned from 
 Oxford, and full of enthusiastic memories of the men 
 and the opinions then influencing the finer minds of 
 the University, made Norman feel as if he had per- 
 sonally known Newman, Stanley, Jowett and Clough. 
 Shairp, with his keen sympathetic temperament, was, 
 moreover, so saturated with many of the new views, 
 and so earnest in his search after truth, that he stimu- 
 lated his friend to study many subjects in which 
 he would otherwise have taken little interest. John 
 Mackintosh also, his deep-souled and dearest friend, 
 then preparing, after his Cambridge career, for the 
 ministry of ike Free Church, was a frequent visitor 
 at the Manse, and by his conversation, as well as by 
 his letters when travelling in Italy and Germany, 
 inspired the very atmosphere of poetry and literature 
 which he was himself breathing. 
 
 To this list the name of another must be added, 
 who touched more closely on his life as a minister 
 of the Church of Scotland. Ever since the Dis- 
 ruption Norman had mourned the deadness of the- 
 Church, and deplored the lack of men fit to guide its- 
 councils or quicken its life ; but in Professor James 
 Eobertson, he found one who had both head and heart 
 to be a Church leader. With a keen intellect, great 
 power as a debater, and a singular grasp of principles 
 an enthusiast in philosophy as in theology he 
 was, withal, simple as a child towards God, true and 
 loving towards man, and heroic in the self-sacrificing 
 devotion with which he laboured for the Christian 
 welfare of his country. He was a patriot more than a 
 churchman; and, in supporting him, Norman felt he
 
 LAST FEARS AT DALKEITH. 279 
 
 was following no narrow ecclesiastic, but one who 
 had regard to the good of the nation as the grand aim 
 of a National Church, and whose warm heart beat with 
 a courageous and generous faith. Eobertson was just 
 beginning his appeal to the Church and country for 
 the endowment of 150 parishes. His aim seemed 
 Utopian to the timid minds of many, who could not 
 believe that the Church, so recently shattered, could be 
 roused to the accomplishment of such a work ; but to 
 others, the boldness of the proposal was one of its 
 chief recommendations. Norman and he became 
 attached friends. Long were the hours of friendly 
 discussion they enjoyed, lasting far into night, when 
 the conversation would range from criticism of Fichte, 
 of whose philosophy Eobertson was an enthusiastic 
 admirer, to questions of expediency touching some 
 1 overture ' to the Assembly. Eobertson was the only 
 man Norman ever regarded as his ecclesiastical leader. 
 
 From his JOURNAL : 
 
 " What precise relation does revelation without, bear to 
 revelation within the book to the conscience ? 
 
 " Is anything a revelation to me which is not actually a 
 revealing a making known to me, or, in other words, 
 which is not recognised as true by me ? 
 
 " Do I believe any spiritual truth in the Book, except in 
 so far as I see it to be true in conscience and reason ? Is 
 my faith in the outward revelation not in exact proportion 
 to my inward perception of the truth uttered in the letter ? 
 
 " Wherein lies the difference between assenting to the 
 Principia of Newton, because written by a great mathema- 
 tician and not because I see them to be true, and my 
 assenting to the Bible, because written by inspired men 
 and not because I see how truly they spoke ?
 
 28o LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 " Whether do I honour Newton more by examining, 
 sifting, and seeing for myself the truth of his propositions, 
 or by merely taking them on his word ? 
 
 " Can any revelation coming from without, be so strong 
 as a revelation from spirit to spirit ? Could any amount of 
 outward authority be morally sufficient to make me hate a 
 friend, or do any action I felt to be morally wrong while 
 apprehending it to be wrong ? It might correct me as to 
 facts which depend entirely upon testimony and not upon 
 spiritual truth. 
 
 "... I have just received some merry thoughts from 
 a blue-bell, which out of gratitude I record. 
 
 "How long has that bell been ringing its fragrant music, 
 and swinging forth its unheard melodies among brackens 
 and briars, and primroses and woodroof, and that world of 
 poetic wild scents and forms so many so beautiful 
 which a tangled bank over a trotting burn among the leafy 
 Avoods discloses ? Spirits more beautiful than fairies behold 
 those scenes, or they would be waste. That bell was ring- 
 ing merrily in the breeze when Adam and Eve were mar- 
 ried. It chimed its dirge over Abel, and has died and 
 sprung up again while Nineveh and Babylon have come and 
 gone, and empires have lived and died for ever ! Solomon, 
 in all his glory, was not like thee. 
 
 "What an evidence have I in this blue drooping flower, of 
 the regularity and endurance of God's will since creation's 
 dawn ! Amidst all revolutions of heaven and earth ; hur- 
 ricanes and earthquakes ; floods and fires ; invasions and 
 dispersions ; signs in the sun, moon, and stars ; perplexity 
 and distress of nations ; nothing has happened to injure 
 this fragile blue-bell. It has been preserved throughout all 
 generations. The forces of this stormy and troubled earth, 
 which have rent rocks, have been so beautifully adjusted 
 from age to age, that this head, though drooping, has not 
 been broken, and this stalk, though frail, still stands erect. 
 This is ' central peace subsisting at the heart of endless 
 agitation.' 
 
 " The blue-bell swung in breezes tempered to its strength 
 centuries before the children of Japheth spied the chalky 
 cliffs of Dover. It has been called by many a name from
 
 LAST FEARS AT DALKEITH. 281 
 
 the days of the painted warrior to the days of Burns ; but 
 it has ever been trie same. It will sing on with its own 
 woodland music to all who can hear its spirit song, until 
 time shall be no more. The blue-bell may sing the funeral 
 knell of the human race. 
 
 " If there be no enduring spirit in man, no flowers of 
 immortality more lasting than the flowers of earth, verily 
 all flesh is more worthless than grass. 
 
 " April. It is curious to compare old and new maps, 
 and to mark the progress of discovery. The blank space 
 of ocean is followed by a faint outline of a few miles of 
 coast, marking the termination of an intrepid voyager. 
 Then further portions of the same coast are laid down at 
 intervals as supposed islands. Then, by-and-by, those 
 portions are connected, and the outline of a great conti- 
 nent begins to be developed. The ' undiscovered ' passes 
 to the region of the known and familiar. Then follow the 
 exploring of bays, the tracing of rivers, and the inland dis- 
 coveries of mountain, plain, wood and pasturage, until at 
 last we have an Australia mapped into settlements, dotted 
 with towns and villages, divided into bishoprics and parishes, 
 inhabited by old friends as prosperous emigrants, issuing its 
 newspapers, and becoming an important member of the great 
 family of man. Thus is it with the Bible. What progress 
 is being made in the discoverv of its meaning ! How much 
 
 O v O 
 
 better- acquainted is the Church of Christ now with its 
 spirit, its allusions, its inner and outer history, than the 
 same Church during any former period ! What a far more 
 true and just idea of the mind of Christ, as manifested in 
 and by the Apostolic Church, have we now than the Church 
 of ; -ie fourth and fifth centuries possessed ? Distance has 
 increased the magnitude, extent, the totality and grandeur 
 in the heaven-kissing mountain range. Individually, I 
 find in daily study of the Bible, a daily discovery. W 7 hat 
 was formerly unknown becomes known, and what seemed 
 a solitary coast becomes part of a great whole, and what 
 seemed wild, and strange, and lonely, becomes to me green 
 pasture and refreshing water the abode of my fireside 
 affections. And surely I shall read the Bible as an alphabet 
 in Heaven. It was my first school-book here, and I hope it
 
 282 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 will be my first there. What ! shall I never know the 
 Spirit which moves the wheels, whose rims are so high 
 that they are dreadful ? 
 
 " The only true theory of development is the develop- 
 ment of the spiritual eye for the reception of that light 
 which ever shineth." 
 
 " Craufurd Pt4ory, May llth. I leant against a great 
 tall pine to-day. The trunk moved as the top waved in 
 the wind. The many branched top with its leaves, use- 
 less, albeit, was dependent on the rooted stem ; it ' moved 
 all together, if it moved at all.' But was not the stem 
 dependent on the top also ? Had the top been cut off, 
 how long would the stem have been of becoming rotten ? 
 Let the people beware how they brag about the roots, and 
 the dependence of the uppermost branches upon them. 
 All is a goodly tree. May it only be the planting of the 
 Lord ! That so being it may bring forth the fruits of 
 righteousness. 
 
 " . . . . Christ's love is not His life, death, resurrection, 
 ascension, promises. It is that in which they all live, 
 move, and have their being ; and my faith in His love is a 
 higher thing than faith in anything whereby He manifests 
 it. It is faith in Himself in what He is, and not merely 
 in what He does." 
 
 The political disturbances on the Continent during 
 1848 had, of course, great interest for him ; but he was 
 struck still more by the outburst of discontent at 
 home, as revealing a condition of society for which 
 the Church of Christ was in a great measure respon- 
 sible. His impressions on this subject were deepened 
 by what he saw when he was in Glasgow during a 
 serious riot. Suddenly the leading thoroughfares 
 were swept by a torrent of men and women of a type 
 utterly different from the ordinary poor. Haggard, 
 abandoned, ferocious, they issued from the neglected
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 283 
 
 haunts of misery and crime, drove the police into 
 their headquarters, and, for a while took possession 
 of the streets. In this spectacle Gorman recognised 
 the sin of the Churches which had permitted the 
 growth of such an ignorant, wretched, and dangerous 
 population. There was no horror perpetrated during 
 the first French Revolution that he did not believe 
 might have been repeated by the mob he saw in 
 Glasgow; and although the Chartist movement was 
 connected with a very different class of the com- 
 munity, it also suggested serious thoughts as to the 
 future of the country, and the duty incumbent on the 
 Church. 
 
 " April, 1848. 
 
 " The Chartists are put down. Good ! Good for jewel- 
 lers' shops and 'Special' heads; good, as giving peace and 
 security. Each one upon Kennington Common might have 
 spoken Bottom's intended prologue for Snug in his cha- 
 racter of Lion. ' Ladies, or fair ladies, I would wish you, or 
 entreat you, not to fear, not to tremble : my life for yours. 
 If you think I come hither as a lion, it were pity of my life. 
 No, I am no such thing. I mm a man as other men are ; 
 and there, indeed (quoth Bottom), let him name his 
 name, and tell them plainly he is Snug, the joiner.' But 
 this same Snug, the joiner, though no lion, is still a man 
 as other men are and so is each of the 10,000 or 20,000, 
 or, according to common computation, 200,000, Snugs on 
 Kennington Common each a man like other men, each 
 having a body finely fashioned and tempered, which in 
 rags shivers in the cold, while the ' Special ' goes to his 
 fireside, with triumph draws in his chair, saying, ' the 
 scoundrels are put down ; ' a body that can gnaw from 
 hunger, and has not perhaps tasted food for twenty-four 
 hours, while my respected and rather corpulent friend, 
 the good ' Special,' growls that he will be kept from dinner, 
 and can only take a hurried lunch in the cluj), John 
 taking charge of his baton. Nay, honest Snug has a heart ;
 
 284 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 his friend Nick Bottom, the weaver, has his Thisbe at home, 
 whom he loves, and though he is an ass, his wife loves 
 him as much as Titania ever did his namesake. Does 
 the 'Special' love Mrs. Smith and the young Smiths, 
 more than these do Mrs. Snug and Mrs. Bottom, and the 
 young Snugs and young Bottoms ? The Nell of the one 
 and the Joan of the other think more of these same 
 scoundrel Chartists than of all the world beside. Each 
 dot in that huge mass on Kennington Common is the 
 centre, the only one, perhaps, of household admiration. 
 Daddy Special, thou art a good kind soul of a father 
 and a husband thou wouldst not crush the cat's paw 
 with thy baton didst thou know poor Snug and Bottom 
 thou wouldst not show thy family the way to break their 
 heads. These are men like thyself, not lions. They are 
 men, and so responsible and immortal beings. It is this 
 which makes the heart bleed, and which makes us hear with 
 anxious spirit the news of all that these men wish, say, try, 
 and accomplish, and all that is done to put them down. 
 
 "We demand from them patience while starving 
 do we meet their demands for bread ? We demand from 
 them obedience to law do we teach them what they 
 are to obey ? We demand from them love of man 
 have we taught them the love of God ? What is the 
 nation to do for these men, who made the nation anxious, 
 and the Exchange of the world oscillate and the hero 
 of a hundred fights put on his armour ? Here in the 
 midst of us is a mighty power, felt, acknowledged 
 what is doing to make it a power for good ? Put down ! 
 It is the putting down of a maniac, not his cure ; and 
 what if the maniacs increase and obtain the majority, and 
 put down the keepers ? Special ! what hast thou ever 
 done for thy brother ? Ay don't stare at me or at thy 
 baton thy brother, I say ! Now don't get sulky ; I am 
 not ungrateful to thee, nor am I disposed to fraternise 
 with Duffy and O'Connor, though I call Snug and Bottom 
 brothers. But, I ask, hast thou ever concerned thyself 
 about thy poor brother how he was to be fed and clothed 
 or if neither, how he was to endure ? How he was to 
 be taught his duties to God and man and, if not, how he
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 285 
 
 was to be a loyal subject to Queen Victoria, and a sup- 
 porter of the Bench of Bishops ? Honestly, friend hast 
 thou ever taken as much thought about him as thou hast 
 taken in thy kindness about thyself and myself, in defend- 
 ing us on the 10th? Hast thou ever troubled thyself 
 about healing his broken heart as thou hast about giving 
 him a broken head ? And yet thou art not a bad man, 
 but a good, kind soul. But, friend, we are all forgetful, 
 and all selfish ! 
 
 " Selfish ! This lies at the root of the whole evil, as it 
 lies at the root, indeed, of all evil. That a great evil 
 exists in the present state of our country is certain. 
 Where shall we see such poverty and ignorance, with 
 their results of misery and discontent and readiness to 
 attempt anything to get quit of both, as in our free and 
 Christian country ? Everywhere the same every town, 
 every village, has its ignorant and wretched men. The 
 bees who fly about the hive, and buzz and sting, and die 
 in the snow in winter, during some momentary sunshine, 
 are few in comparison with those who remain torpid and 
 dying from cold and exhaustion in the unknown and un- 
 seen cells. The ignorance of masses of our people is 
 unknown to all but those who, like myself, come into 
 contact with them. I can, at this moment, mention 
 four parents who came to me for baptism, who were as 
 ignorant as heathen, never having heard of Jesus Christ, 
 and knowing nothing of God or immortality. Everywhere 
 pest and canker spreading, deepening, increasing and, 
 unless cured in God's way, punishing terribly and righte- 
 ously punishing in God's way. Principle and self-interest 
 prompt the same question what shall we do ? where is 
 the cure ? 
 
 " Is the cure less taxation ? How this, when thou- 
 sands of your most dangerous men tax themselves 
 70 per cent, for drink ! Is the cure high wages ? Ask 
 the manufacturer if his safe men and true men are 
 generally among those who have high wages. Is the 
 cure school instruction ? But what security of any 
 good have we in mere intellect without God ? More 
 churches ? Get your men first who will enter them.
 
 286 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 More ministers ? Neither can cure poverty, and minis- 
 ters must be good and wise. Suffrage ? Humbug. 
 
 " Not one of these is itself sufficient, but all are good 
 when taken together. We must have schools, and any 
 schools better than none, any education better, infinitely 
 better than none. But not to dwell upon what all admit 
 and feel, yet I would ask, why is not each factory com- 
 pelled -to have its large school and its large church ? Both 
 to be for the workmen. Let the Church be threefold 
 Popish, Episcopalian, and Presbyterian, and let there be 
 no fixed minister, but let the clergy in the town take time 
 about in the evenings too, and none admitted but in 
 working clothes. 
 
 " Yet there is to me a more excellent way, and that is 
 love ! The true and only cure seems to me to lie in the 
 personal and regular communion of the better with the 
 worse man with man until each Christian, like his 
 Saviour, becomes one with those who are to be saved ; until 
 he can be bone of their bone, sympathize, teach, weep, 
 rejoice, eat and drink with them as one with them in tho 
 flesh. The world will not believe because it cannot see 
 that Christianity is true, by seeing its reality in the mar- 
 vellous oneness of Christ and people. 
 
 " The world, if ever it is to be reformed by men and 
 through men, can only be so by the personal intercourse 
 of living men living epistles, not dead ones. Love, meek- 
 ness and kindness, forbearance, unselfishness, manifested in 
 human souls, uttering themselves by word, look and deed, 
 and not by mere descriptions of these sentiments or essays 
 upon them, can alone regenerate man. The living Church 
 is more than the dead Bible, for it is the Bible and some- 
 thing more. It is the Bible alive. It is its effect, its 
 evidence, its embodiment. God has always dealt through 
 living men with men, and He Himself deals with them 
 through a Personal Spirit. When Christ left the world He 
 did so that He might for ever dwell in it in His people. 
 
 "Neither money nor schools nor tracts nor churches 
 can ever be substituted for living men. It is this we 
 want. It is this the lanes and closes want. Not ministers 
 merely going their rounds, like policemen, with black
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 287 
 
 clothes and white neckcloths ; not elders taking statis- 
 tics, or deacons giving alms, or ladies tracts all good (what 
 should we have been without these, the only salt hitherto !) ; 
 but we want Christians, whether they be smiths or shoe- 
 makers, or tailors or grocers, or coach-drivers or advocates, 
 to remember their own responsibilities, their immense 
 influence for good, and to be personal ministers for 
 good. The separation outwardly of society is terrible. 
 Only see the old and new towns of Edinburgh ! What a 
 type of British society ! It used not to be so. In the old 
 town and in the olden times, families of different grades 
 used to live in the same tenement, and poor and rich were 
 thus mingled together in their habitation and in their 
 joys. So is it now in many villages, and in many parts of 
 the country. But generally there is a wide separation, 
 bridged over by tracts, or societies, or money (sparingly) .; 
 but not by the living Church of Christ. The full heart 
 and the full mind do not meet to empty themselves (there- 
 by becoming fuller) into the void heart and the void mind. 
 We have words on the philosophy of life, instead of life 
 itself. We are selfish, I say, and willing to pay for it 
 rather than to part from it. We subscribe for volumes of 
 music instead of breathing forth, in the habitations of sad 
 and bad men, ' the still music of humanity.' When shall 
 we learn to imitate, or rather to share, the love of Him who 
 was love itself, who. ' knowing that all things were given 
 Him of the Father, that He came from God and went to 
 God,' what then ? Oh marvellous condescension, because 
 marvellous love, ' girded Himself with a towel and washed 
 the disciples' feet ! ' 
 
 " The question in regard to elevating man is not so 
 much what is good for him, as how the good is to be given 
 to him. What he should have must correspond to what 
 he needs. As an animal and in the body he needs food 
 and clothing, air and light, and water and exercise ; as a 
 social being he needs society ; as a sentient being he needs 
 things pleasing to the senses ; as an active being he needs 
 something to occupy him ; as a moral being he needs God 
 over all and in all, blissful and blessing. Let all man's 
 wants be met. But the link between the supply and the
 
 288 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 demand (or the soul which should demand), is the man who 
 has already found the supply. If the question ever arises 
 between the animal and the immortal, the first must yield. I 
 hate giving in to the principle that hunger entitles a man, 
 not to our sympathy and our charity, as men and Chris- 
 tians ; but entitles him to be anything or nothing, a thief 
 or seditious. ' A man's life is more than meat.' ''' 
 
 To J. C. SIIAIRP, Esq., Bugby, who had sent a Eeview of " Struthers's 
 Autobiography" : 
 
 May lltli, 1848. 
 
 " As to Struthers, I fear you have missed the man. 
 He is so completely a formation in an old structure of 
 society, or rather an old organism in one, so thoroughly 
 Scotch, so thoroughly antique, that unless you had been 
 familiar with the genus, you could not classify him. I 
 rejoice in his crudities about kirks. The very oddity of 
 the garments which encase his Old Mortality soul delights 
 me. The feature which I wished you to delineate was 
 that manly independence, that godly simplicity of the 
 peasant saint, which is so beautiful. Just read again his 
 early days as a herd, his first day of married life, his 
 first entrance into Glasgow, and then remember how true 
 the man is. He is a genuine man, and as perfect a speci- 
 men of a class of Scotchmen passing away (and soon to be 
 driven off the road like the old coaches by steam) as the 
 pibroch is a specimen of old music, or the small bog 
 myrtle of a Highland scene." 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 CRATJFUED PRIORY, May \\tli. 
 
 " I have not written to your friend, Mr. Temple, because 
 I found I could not receive him at my house with any com- 
 fort or satisfaction. I came here for change of air, and 
 propose returning home the end of the week, in order to 
 attempt a little Sabbath duty before going off to ' summer 
 high,' upon the Western Hills for a few weeks. I have 
 run away from the General Assembly to which I was elected 
 a member, preferring to drink in the spirit of solitude,
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 289 
 
 and to feast my inward ear upon ' unheard melodies/ rather 
 than to sit, ' dusty and deliquescent,' listening to the 
 debates of my most worthy and orthodox, but still prosy 
 and cock -sure -of -every thing, brethren. All this lengthy 
 explanation is to account for my apparent heathenish want 
 of Temple service and unkindness towards your friend. 
 
 " I have found it very good to have been withdrawn for 
 some time from outward work. What I have lost in body 
 doing, I have gained in soul being. I have felt how con- 
 siderate and loving it was in Christ to have asked His dis- 
 ciples to go with Him and ' rest awhile,' because so many 
 were coming and going that they had not time even to eat. 
 In this struggle between the unseen and seen God, and 
 things apart from or out of God it is good to be outwardly 
 separated from the seen and temporal, as a means of being 
 brought more into contact with the unseen and eternal. I 
 have not had such enjoyable Sabbaths for a long time. 
 Such peace and repose was unearthly. We ministers in 
 Scotland cannot always enjoy our Sabbaths. We have too 
 much giving and too little receiving. The only way to 
 get good for ourselves is to preach peacefully, without at- 
 tempt at fine things, and in the sight of God and for His 
 glory. Two books I read during my sickness your friend 
 Stanley's 'Apostolic Age,' and the last edition of Hare's 
 'Guesses at Truth.' This last rather disappointed me. 
 It did not, as a whole, send me far on, nor did it come up 
 to my idea of what the Hares could have done under the 
 cover of a title which left such a mighty field for vigorous 
 speculation. I was delighted with Stanley. The style 
 perhaps is rather too intensely artistic. But it is a well put 
 together, manly, fresh, truthful book. I have no doubt of 
 his success in seizing the features of the old giants. I was 
 charmed with his idea of each apostle becoming a guiding 
 star to different times, or different ages finding their wants 
 supplied by one more than the rest. I am satisfied, and 
 have been for some time, that this is the age of St. John. 
 Unless the Church gets wholesome spiritual food given to it, 
 its next development will be mysticism. Nothing outward 
 in government, creed, or mode of worship can satisfy the in- 
 creasing hunger in the Church ; all are seeking something 
 
 VOL. i. u
 
 290 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 which they find not, yet know not hardly what they seek. 
 I think that something is unity. But of what kind ? 
 Nothing can satisfy but one : unity of mind with Christ,, 
 and so with one another. I hope the breakings up in 
 Protestantism may lead to it. The breaking up of fleshly 
 unity (i. e. anything apart from God) often leads to spiritual 
 unity. Each part being driven to God (in its conscious 
 weakness) for that strength, and good, and peace, and joy, 
 earth has failed to give, becomes thereby more united 
 spiritually to every other part so doing. 
 
 " I dare say you do not understand me, for really I have 
 no brain, and no patience either to think or write. I ought 
 not to attempt it. I only wish you were beside me, that 
 I might splutter out my thoughts about the re-action 
 which the outivardness of our orthodoxy is producing, 
 and which the worst kind of Germanism, and the pan- 
 theism of Emerson, are meeting and dissecting, but which 
 St. John's Gospels and Epistles can alone so meet, as to 
 sanctify and save. But my brain, John, my brain ! 
 
 " I am wearied, I can write no more. The day is lovely. 
 John Mackintosh is here enjoying himself much. We are 
 with my brother John, in Craufurd Priory. The trees are 
 scattering their blossoms in the breeze ; the leaves are 
 transparent ; the bees and birds alone disturb the silence 
 of the woods. I have had a short enjoyable lounge on 
 mossy sward. I seldom think when walking. I am, as 
 Emerson says, ' a transparent eyeball.' 
 
 " A great study of mine during my sickness has been 
 that mighty deep Christ's temptation taken in connec- 
 tion with the history of the first temptation, the history of 
 the Israelites, Christ's own history, and the history of the 
 Church and of each Christian." 
 
 An illness, brought on by overwork, compelled him 
 to give up preaching for a time. He went for change 
 of air to his father's house at Shandon, on the pic- 
 turesque banks of the Gareloch, and there, in his 
 rambles by burn and brae, thought out those views of
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 291 
 
 the temptation of Christ which were afterwards pub- 
 lished. 
 
 From his JotTRXAL : 
 
 " Shandon, May. How beautiful is everything here ! 
 It is a very world of music and painting. In the melody 
 of the birds, in the forms and beauty of the landscape, in 
 the colouring of the flowers and dressing of the trees, there 
 seems a vindication of the pursuit of the fine arts. They 
 are God-like ; but how demon-like when the artist recog- 
 nises nature no longer as the ' Art of God,' but as the art 
 of Satan for satisfying the soul without God ; then Eden is 
 Eden no longer we are banished from its tree of life. 
 
 " How many things are in the world yet not of it ! The 
 material world itself, with all its scenes of grandeur and 
 beauty, with all its gay adornments of tree and flower, 
 and light and shade with all its accompanying glory of 
 blue sky and fleecy cloud, or midnight splendour of moon 
 and stars all are of the Father. And so, too, is all that 
 inner world, when, like the outer, it moves according 
 to His will of loyal friendships, loving brotherhood 
 and the heavenly and blessed charities of home, and all the 
 real light and joy that dwell, as a very symbol of His own 
 presence, in the Holy of Holies of a renewed spirit. In 
 one word, all that is true and lovely and of good report 
 all that is one with His will, is of the Father, and not of 
 the world. Let the world, then, pass away with the lust 
 thereof ! It is the passing away of death and darkness 
 of all that is at enmity to God and man. All that is of 
 the Father shall remain for ever." 
 
 To his sister JAXE : 
 
 SHANDON, May, 1848. 
 
 " I have been yearning here for quiet and retirement. 
 I got it yesterday. I set off upon a steeple-chase, scenting 
 like a wild ass the water from afar. But heather, birch, 
 and the like, were my water in the desert. I found all. 
 I passed through the upper park and entered a birch wood. 
 I traced an old path, half trodden whether by men or 
 
 u 2
 
 292 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 hares I could not tell. It led me to a wee burn. In a 
 moment I found myself in the midst of a poem ; one of 
 those woodland lyrics which have a melody heard and un- 
 heard, which enters hy the eye and ear, goes down to the 
 heart, and steeps it in light, pours on it the oil of joy, and 
 gives it ' beauty for ashes.' This same mountain spirit of 
 a burn comes from the heather, from the lonely home of 
 sheep, kites, and ' peas weeps.' It enters a birch wood, and 
 flows over cleanest slate. When I met it, it was falling with 
 a chuckling, gurgling laugh, into a small pool, clear as liquid 
 diamond. The rock shelved over it and sheltered it. In 
 the crevices of the rock were arranged, as tasteful nature 
 alone can do, bunches of primroses, sprouting green ferns, 
 and innumerable rock plants, while the sunlight gleaming 
 from the water danced and played upon the shelving rock, 
 as if to the laughing tune of the brook, and overhead 
 weeping birches and hazels, and beside me green grass and 
 wood hyacinths and primroses. All around the birds were 
 singing with ' full-throated ease,' and up above, a deep blue 
 sky with a few island clouds, and now and then, far up, a 
 solitary crow winging across the blue and silence. Now this 
 I call rest and peace. It is such an hour of rest amidst toil 
 as does my soul good, lasts and will come back with a 
 soothing peacefulness amidst hard labour. 
 
 " I felt so thankful for my creation, my profession, my 
 country, my all, all, all. I only desired something better 
 in the spirit. 
 
 " Pray don't smile at my burn ; but when I feel in love, 
 I delight to expatiate upon my beloved ; and I am mad 
 about my burn." 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 SHANDON, May 23, 1848. 
 
 " To-day I set off on a cruise to discover a glen about 
 which there were vague traditions at Shandon. It was 
 called Glen Fruin, which, in ancient Celtic, I understand, 
 was the Glen of Weeping. Dr. Macleod. a Gaelic autho- 
 rity who is with us (a great friend, by-the-bye, of my 
 mother's), says that the bodies of the dead used to bo 
 carried through the said glen, from some place to some other
 
 LAST FEARS AT DALKEITH. 293 
 
 place hence weeping. Well, I set off. Behold me, stiff 
 in the limbs, my feet as if they were ' clay and iron ' hard, 
 unbending, yet weak ; but the head of gold, pure, pure gold ; 
 though now, like Bardolph's, unfortunately uncoinable. 
 Behold me, puffing, blowing, passing through the upper 
 park. Bathed ere I reached the birch wood, and soon re- 
 clined near my burn, with Shakespeare as my only com- 
 panion. But even he began to be too stiff and prosy. 
 The ferns, and water, and cuckoo beat him hollow ; so I 
 cast him aside, and began creeping up the burn, seeking 
 for deeper solitude, like a wild beast. I was otter-like in- 
 deed in everything save my size, shape, and clothes, and 
 having Shakespeare in my pocket. Then I began to gather 
 ferns, and found beautiful specimens. Then I studied the 
 beautiful little scene around me, and was so glad that I 
 dreamt, on and on, listening to that sweet inland murmur. 
 
 " The power of the hills is over me ! Away for Glen Fruin, 
 two miles uphill ! Hard work ! Alas, alas ! that I should 
 come to this ! Try it ! Be off ! So off I went and on 
 and on. Green braes there march dykes there withered 
 heather there mossy. Very near the first ridge which 
 bounds the horizon. Puff, puff on, on ! ' Am I a 
 bullet ? ' On at last I must lie down ! 
 
 " This will never do ! Go ahead, Norman ! Get up get 
 on ! I do think that, on principle, I should stop ! Go ahead. 
 What's that ? ' Cock, cock, ocJc, whiz-z-z-z ' Grouse ! 
 That's cheering. What's that? 'Wheadleoo, wJieadleoo' 
 a curlew ! Hurrah, we are going ahead ! Another pull ! 
 The loch out of sight. Something looming in the far dis- 
 tance. Arran Hills ! So, ahead, my boy limbs better 
 steam up the spirit of the hills getting strong the ghosts 
 of my fathers and my mothers beckoning me onwards. 
 The moor getting boggy soft more hags first rate! 
 Ladies don't walk here. This is unknown to dandies. 
 Another hill. And then up I am! Now, is not this 
 glorious ? Before me, pure Loch Gare and beyond the 
 most sublime view I almost ever saw. Terraces apparentty 
 of sea and land the sea a mirror. Vessels everywhere 
 the setting sun tinging the high peaks of Arran, kissing 
 them and the hills of Thibet with the same glow, lay-
 
 294 
 
 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 ing the one asleep with a parting kiss, and with an- 
 other waking up her eastern children. There's poetry 
 for you ! 
 
 " The great hills of Arran, ' like great men,' as Jean Paul 
 says, ' the first to catch, the last to lose the light.' Was, 
 not all this glorious ? not to speak of the sea, and ships, 
 and solitude. Do you know I never think at such times. 
 I am in a state of unconscious reception, and of conscious, 
 deep joy. No more. 
 
 " Glen Fruin lay at my feet, with sloping green hills like- 
 the Yarrow ' bare hills,' as Billy says ; but like all such 
 hills, most poetical and full of ' pastoral melancholy.' Well,. 
 
 I shall only state that I came down, in case you imagine: 
 that I am there still. And when I came down, what then ? 
 Most amiable and most literary crammed a listening audi- 
 ence with Wordsworth, Tenrrvson, and Shakespeare. 
 
 " Now have I not much cause to thank God for all His 
 mercies ? and, dear, I have done so. I have been truly 
 happy. My study has been the Temptation, still so full of 
 wonders. I have not been in the least troubled about the 
 Assembly, except so far as to make me remember it in my 
 prayers yes, both Assemblies, I am glad to say. These 
 glorious scenes are in harmony only with a spirit of love.
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 295 
 
 God's reign over all men, throughout all ages, and God's 
 reign of love in our hearts, when believed, gives peace. 
 
 " I wish to be back in time to prepare for the Commu- 
 nion. The scenes of beauty and the time of retirement 
 which I have had are in perfect keeping with again hearing 
 'the still sad music of humanity,' in our miserable closes and 
 vile abodes. The Lord left His glory and rest to dwell with 
 men ; and by the cross He entered into more glorious rest, 
 were that possible." 
 
 To JOHN C. SHAIKP, Esq., Eugby : 
 
 SHANDON, May 25. 
 
 " In the midst of sovereign hills silence is most becoming, 
 and then I never can think at such times. I grow as uncon- 
 sciously as plants do beneath the sun and shower. But oh ! 
 the life and joy ! The man who begins to doubt anything 
 on a mountain top except his own powers, who begins to 
 question instead of contentedly receiving, who speaks of 
 the authority of books and professors, who, in short, does 
 not love and rejoice, should be pitched over the first rock, 
 or have such a hiding given him with weeping birch as 
 will send him howling to Glen Fruin (' the Glen of Weep- 
 ing ') ! I am every day getting better. I suffered from an 
 affection of the membrane which covers stomach, chest, and 
 brain, and practically all creation when it (the membrane) 
 is out of order ! I am certain Hamlet's liver or membrane 
 was affected ! " 
 
 From his JOTJEXAL : 
 
 SHAJTDON, June 3. 
 
 " Was there ever a period in which it was more neces- 
 sary for men who love the good of our National Zion to 
 meet together in prayer and sober, earnest thoughtfulness, 
 to consider the state of our country and the present state 
 of the Church, our dangers, difficulties, weaknesses, duties, 
 comforts ? 
 
 "Might not such questions be considered as bearing 
 upon that mighty one of education : the training up of
 
 296 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 an efficient ministry ; an efficient system of Sabbath schools ; 
 the infusing a healthier life and love into our clergy ; the 
 development of Congregational, Presbyterial, Synodical, 
 and Assembly life ; the bringing forward of the intelligent 
 laity ; the best mode of dealing with the poor Highlands 
 with the masses in towns ; what is needed in our 
 theology in our times with reference to Germany and 
 England ; what are our duties to Dissenters, to the Church 
 of England, to the Continent. If we only could get men 
 to think, and think earnestly, in this terrible crisis, I should 
 be at ease." 
 
 To his sister JA^E : 
 
 DALKEITH, 
 
 " I feel terribly my loneliness, especially as preventing 
 me from enjoying literary society. I began pondering in 
 my mind whether there was any one in the town who 
 could share my pleasure in reading 'The Prelude/ and 
 ' In Memoriam,' or have a talk with me about the tenden- 
 cies of the age. Of all my acquaintances, I thought Mrs. 
 Huggins probably the most spirituclle, and off I went with 
 ' The Prelude.' I found her in her usual seat by the fireside, 
 her face calm and meditative, her thumbs still pursuing 
 their endless chace after each other as if each had vowed 
 an eternal revenge of his brother. There was an air of 
 placid repose in her time-worn features, combined with an 
 intellectual grandeur, caught from her long residence with 
 the late illustrious Mr. Huggins, and also a nervous twitch- 
 ing of the features, with an occasional lightning flash about 
 the eye, which I have no doubt was occasioned by living 
 near the powder-mills for thirty years. I was disappointed 
 with her views of poetry. I read the Introduction, and the 
 following conversation ensued : 
 
 " '/. We have here, I think, a fine combination of the 
 poet with the poetic artist.' 
 
 " ' H. I wadna doot. How's yer sister ? ' 
 
 " ' /. Well, I thank you. She has been a long time 
 cultivating the ideal under me ; but her talent is small, 
 her genius nothing.'
 
 LAST FEARS AT DALKEIT1L 297 
 
 "'H. Is her cock (cough) 
 better ? ' 
 
 " ' /. Rather, Mrs. Huggins. 
 But, pray, how do you like 
 Wordsworth ? ' 
 
 " ' H. I dinna ken him. 
 Whar does he leeve ? In Petti- 
 grew' s Close ? Is he the sticket 
 minister ? ' " 
 
 To his brother GEORGE (advising him on the choice of 
 a profession) : 
 
 DALKEITH, November 6, 1848. 
 
 ..." We must assume then, that, whatever we eat or 
 drink, or whatever we do, it must be for God's glory ; or, 
 to make this plainer, I assume that Christ has for every 
 man 'his work' a something in His kingdom to do 
 which is better suited to him, and he to it, than any other. 
 Happy is the man who finds what his work is and does it ! 
 To find it is to find our profession, and to do it is to find 
 our highest good and peace. 
 
 " My faith is, that there is a far greater amount of reve- 
 lation given to guide each man by the principles laid down 
 in the Bible, by conscience, and by Providence, than most 
 men are aware of. It is not the light which is defective, 
 it is an eye to see it. 
 
 " For instance : Christ calls us outwardly and inwardly 
 to our profession, and those two calls, when they coincide 
 (when, like two lines, they meet at one point), determine a 
 profession to any man who will be at all determined by 
 the will of the Redeemer. The outward call is made up of 
 all those outward circumstances which render the profession 
 at all possible for us, and which render any one profession 
 more possible than another. With this principle you are 
 at no difficulty, of course, in determining a thousand pro- 
 fessions or positions in society which are not possible for 
 you, and to which, consequently, you are not called. I 
 need not illustrate this, it is self-evident. But as in your 
 case two or three professions may present themselves to 
 you which appear all possible nay, at first sight, all
 
 2 9 8 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 equally possible in sucli a predicament you would require 
 carefully to apply the above rule, in order calmly to con- 
 sider which is most possible, on the whole, for you. Among 
 the outward circumstances which, as I have said, combine 
 to make up this outward call, may be mentioned bodily 
 health, the likings of friends, interest of the family, means 
 of usefulness, &c. 
 
 " But there is also the inward call to be considered. 
 By this I mean a man's internal fitness for the profession ; 
 and this of course makes the problem a little more com- 
 plex, yet not impossible of solution. A man might put 
 such questions as those : 
 
 " Which profession gives the greatest scope for the de- 
 velopment of my whole being, morally, intellectually, 
 socially, actively ? Again ; am I fitted for this as to talent, 
 principle, education ? In which could I best and with 
 greatest advantage use all the talents Christ has given me, 
 and for which He will make me responsible, so that not 
 one talent shall be laid up in a napkin or buried, but that 
 all may be so employed that He can say to me, ' Well done, 
 good and faithful servant ? ' This is the way of looking- 
 at the question ; and I do not think it difficult to apply it 
 practically with the assistance of God's good spirit. I tell 
 you candidly, that, as far as I see, you have to decide- 
 between the ministry and the medical profession. 
 
 " I need not tell you which I love most. I would not 
 exchange my profession for any on earth. All I have seen 
 of the world in courts and camps, at home and abroad, in 
 Europe and America, all, all makes me cling to it and love- 
 it the more. My love to it is daily increasing. I bless 
 and praise God that He has called me to it. Would only 
 I were worthier of the glory and dignity which belong to- 
 it ! I find in it work most congenial to my whole being. 
 It at once nourishes and gives full scope to my spirit. It 
 affords hourly opportunities for the gratification of my 
 keenest sympathies and warmest affections. It engages my 
 intellect with the loftiest investigations which can demand 
 its exercise. It presents a field for constant activity in 
 circumstances which are ever varying, yet always interest- 
 ing, and never too burdensome to be borne. It enables
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 299 
 
 me to bring to bear all I know, all I acquire, all I love, 
 upon the temporal and eternal well-being of my fellow- 
 men, and to influence their peace and good for ever. It 
 brings me into contact with high and low, rich and poor, 
 in the most endearing and interesting relationships in 
 which man can stand to man : a sharer of their joys and 
 sorrows, a teacher, a comforter, a guide. Do you wonder 
 that with all my care and anxiety (which are burdens 
 worthy of man) I should be happy all the day long '( I 
 envy no man on earth, except a better Christian. A minister 
 of the gospel ! Kings and princes may veil their faces before 
 such a profession. It is to have the profession of angels, 
 and to be a fellow-worker with Christ. Excuse me, if for- 
 getting you for a moment, I have expressed the deep convic- 
 tions of my soul as to what I feel this profession to be. I do 
 not mean to say that I have no wish to influence you ; I have. 
 For I would sooner see you an officer in Christ's army a 
 plain Scotch minister though he be than any other thing 
 on earth which I can suppose it possible for you to have. 
 
 " Add to all this, the loud call for such men as you to 
 join the Church ! Oh, George, if you kneAV how I have 
 looked forward to your being with me ! How I have 
 rejoiced in the prospect of seeing us three brothers carry 
 the Banner of the Cross together in our poor but beloved 
 country ! I somehow cannot give up the hope yet. Better 
 days are coming. They would come soon, had we more 
 such men as you." 
 
 From his JOURNAL : 
 
 "November 6. Twenty-six cases, and eighteen deaths 
 (no recoveries), from cholera at Loanhead. The Cholera 
 Hospital preparing here. 
 
 " ' Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose soul is 
 stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.' Amen. 
 
 "December 21. I hear two cases have occurred here 
 last night. 
 
 " Lord give me grace to do that which is right. My 
 trust is in thee. Thou art my refuge, and my fortress, 
 rny God, and having Thee as my sure and unchanging good, 
 I am not afraid of the ' pestilence that walketh in darkness,
 
 300 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 nor of the destruction which wasteth at noonday.' Lord 
 direct my steps ! Preserve me from the vanity and vain- 
 glory which might wickedly lead me to expose myself to 
 danger, and from the selfish fear which would drive me 
 from my duty. ' Lead me in truth, teach me,' and may I, 
 at this trying time, be and do that which is right as Thy 
 son and ministering servant, and whether by life or death 
 may I glorify Thee for living or dying I am Thine, 
 through Jesus Christ ! Amen. 
 
 " December 31, Sabbath night. I am here all alone 
 upon the last Sabbath, almost the last hour, of 1848. 
 
 " What a year of world-wonders this has been, with 
 political revolutions in every part of Europe ! In Britain, 
 famine, pestilence, riots, and rebellion. 
 
 " It has been an all-important year to me ! During 
 the year I can say, that as far as I know, I have not 
 for a day or at any time consciously resisted what I 
 knew to be right, setting my heart upon evil. I do not 
 say that I have done any one thing perfectly. Every day 
 has disclosed manifold imperfections, sloth, pride, vanity, 
 ambition, shortcomings in all things but I have been 
 alive. To what is this owing? I rejoice to write it 
 let it be seen by angels and devils to the free and 
 boundless and omnipotent grace and infinite love of God. 
 
 " I have been reading those old diaries. May I not try 
 (in much ignorance) to sum up some practical lessons from 
 dear-bought experience ? 
 
 1. I had inadequate views of Christ's cross. I saw a 
 work done for me a ground for pardon an objective 
 reality ; but I did not se so clearly the eternal neces- 
 sity of the cross in me, oi' sharing Christ's life as mine, of 
 glorying in the cross as reflected in the inward power it 
 gives to ' be crucified to the world, and the world to me.' 
 
 2. I was dealing too little with a Personal Saviour 
 had too little (or no) confidence in His love to me indi- 
 vidually, and in His will and power to free from sin by 
 making me like Himself. 
 
 " Light dawns, life comes ! I have faith in the lovo 
 of God to me, that I even I shall be ' perfect ' as my 
 Father in Heaven is perfect.
 
 LAST FEARS AT DALKEITH. 301 
 
 " What have I lost by my wilful and rebellious sin ! I 
 have during these years come in contact with many 
 thousands in different parts of the world, in the most in- 
 teresting circumstances, in domestic and in public life, in 
 sickness, family distress, and on death-beds. How much 
 good has been lost and evil done, by the absence of 
 that real earnestness of word, look, temper, teaching that 
 all, which can only come from a soul in a right state with 
 God, and which never can be imitated, or would be so 
 only by hypocrisy. What good, and peace, and happiness 
 have I lost to myself ! 
 
 "There is another thing presses itself upon me. I 
 know as surely as I know anything, that all my sin has 
 emanated from myself, and yet I do believe God has 
 brought more good to me in the latter end by this very 
 life than could perhaps have been brought in any other 
 way. I would shudder in writing this if it appeared to 
 be the slightest excuse for my iniquities. These, I repeat 
 it, were mine. But I think I have a glimpse of that marvel 
 of Providence by which evil while it is nothing but evil 
 is yet by infinite wisdom and love made, like a wild 
 stream, an instrument of God. 
 
 " Let me not forget to mention three men from whom I 
 have received unspeakable good Thomas Arnold, Alex- 
 ander Scott, and dear John Campbell. 
 
 " I go to Glasgow to-morrow. Cholera rages, but I join 
 my family, casting my care on God. Lord Jesus, my ever- 
 present and ever-loving Saviour, I desire to abide in Thee, 
 to trust in Thy life, Thy grace, Thy character, Thy ways. 
 
 " Lord I am thine ! for time and eternity. Amen and 
 Amen." 
 
 The condition of the Church still weighed heavily 
 on him. Church questions were in his eyes secondary 
 to the grand end for which all Churches exist, the 
 raising up of living Christians ; and so day and night 
 he pondered over the best methods for stimulating a 
 healthy zeal. There were many clergymen in his own
 
 302 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 neighbourhood and elsewhere, who sympathized with 
 him in his anxieties, and with whom he frequently 
 exchanged ideas on this subject. But as there was 
 no organ through which the Church might address 
 her members on questions of Christian life and work, it 
 w r as resolved that a magazine should be started, con- 
 taining papers for Sabbath reading, and to be sold at 
 the lowest possible price. He thus became editor of 
 the Edinburgh Christian Magazine, a monthly periodical 
 published by Messrs. Paton and Eitchie, in Edinburgh. 
 Short sermons, papers on social and scientific subjects, 
 biographies, missionary intelligence, articles upon 
 parochial and church organization, and notices of 
 books, formed the contents. 
 
 The Christian Magazine never attained a very large 
 circulation ; but the editor was well satisfied in 
 having an audience of 5,000 families to which he 
 could address himself, and there can be no doubt that 
 the appeals made in its pages on behalf of missionary 
 enterprise, and organized parochial work, did much to 
 quicken a religious life which was broad and tolerant 
 as well as earnest. 
 
 Many of the articles and stories which he afterwards 
 wrote for Good Words, appeared in an embryo form in 
 the l Blue ' Magazine, as it was popularly called ; but 
 the greater portion of his contributions consisted of 
 short, practical papers intended for the firesides of 
 Churchmen. During the first year of the magazine 
 (1849-50), he wrote more than twenty articles, and 
 among these a useful series on Family Education, 
 which was afterwards expanded into a volume.* 
 
 * " The Home School."
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 303 
 
 A series of papers on Drunkenness, which he con- 
 tributed during 1850-5.1, was reprinted under another 
 title.* 
 
 He was a member of the General Assembly of 1849, 
 and spoke at considerable length on Education, the 
 Continental Churches, India Mission, and Endow- 
 ment. In his speech on the last named subject, he 
 expressed, with great energy, his favourite idea of the 
 Christian congregation being a society charged with 
 the blessed mission of meeting the manifold evils of 
 society, physical and social as well as spiritual, and 
 urged the necessity of bringing living Christian men 
 into personal contact with the poor, the ignorant, and 
 the ungodly. His reflections during the disturbances 
 of 1848, and the deep impression made on him by the 
 Glasgow mob, found a voice for themselves on this 
 occasion. 
 
 " The question appeared to him to lie between the needy 
 masses upon the one hand, and those who were able to 
 help them upon the other between those who were poor 
 temporally and spiritually, and those upon whom God had 
 bestowed temporal and spiritual blessings. The object of 
 endowed territorial work was to bring them in contact 
 upon the field of the Christian Church. They wished 
 the poor to meet the rich there, that the rich might assist 
 them ; they wished the ignorant to meet the well informed 
 there, that they might receive of their knowledge. They 
 wished the suffering, the destitute, and the afflicted, to 
 meet the kind, and sympathizing, and Christian-hearted 
 there, and from that union of fulness and emptiness, to 
 enable those who have, to give to those who stand in need. 
 Every man in that vast mass of humanity had immense 
 
 * "A Plea for Temperance."
 
 5 04 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 influence, and if he could not be made great for good he 
 might be made great for evil. The hand that could use 
 the hammer, could seize the firebrand ; the tongue that 
 could sing praises to God, might become voluble in blas- 
 phemy and sedition. The man with a strong head and 
 heart, but uninformed, might gather his fellow-workmen 
 around him in hundreds and thousands he might speak 
 to them of the separation between man and man, with an 
 eloquence that rung in every man's heart, because they felt 
 it to be true ; he might speak of those who were in comfort, 
 but who did not care for those in misery; he might speak 
 of those who were educated, but who cared not for those in 
 ignorance : and that mass might become like a mighty 
 
 O J O v 
 
 avalanche set loose from its cold solitude, and descending 
 into their valleys, crush the commercial prosperity and 
 institutions of the country ; and all the while they would 
 feel it to be a righteous punishment, on the part of a 
 righteous God, for their selfishness and apathy." 
 
 From ids JOTTENAL : 
 
 " I call individualism the embodiment of all those 
 theories which would throw man back upon himself, make 
 himself the centre, and referring all things to that centre, 
 measure all things from it. It sees no law, no rule, no end, 
 no will beyond self. The grand text of Emerson, ' I am a 
 man,' is (in his sense of the phrase) its expression. What 
 is society to me ? What is Luther ? What is the Church, 
 or the Bible, or Christ, or God ? ' I am a man.' This is 
 Selbststandigkeit with a vengeance ! A man refuses to 
 recognise or worship the personal God, and ends by wor- 
 shipping himself. 
 
 " Self-destruction is the opposite of this, and expresses 
 the essence of those systems by which the individual is 
 annihilated. Popery is its ecclesiastical ideal, and despot- 
 ism its civil. The Jesuit maxim, ' be in all things a dead 
 man,' is the opposite pole from Emerson. If the one 
 system deifies man, the other annihilates him, though it 
 must in justice be added, as a professed means of ulti- 
 mately deifying him. Socialism seems to me to be the
 
 LAST FEARS AT DALKE1TH. 305 
 
 Devil's tert-ium quid. It would seek to fill up the longings 
 in man after union in something higher or something 
 beyond himself, and at the same time afford him the 
 fullest out-going for his individualism. It is society sacri- 
 ficed to the individual. Romanism would have the indi- 
 vidual sacrificed to the society called the Church. These 
 two poles are always producing each other. It is 110 
 wonder that the ecclesiastical and civil systems which would 
 destroy the individual should produce the re-action of 
 pantheism and republicanism, which would embody man's 
 individualism religiously and civilly. 
 
 " What is the Christian Tertium Quid ? 
 
 " 1. Unity with a personal God revealed in a personal 
 Saviour. This destroys individualism in so far as it estab- 
 lishes personal responsibility, and places the man as a part 
 of a system, in which not he, but a personal God, is the 
 centre, a God Whom we ought to love and serve. Indi- 
 vidualism cannot co-exist with the ideas of ought to love 
 and serve. These destroy Selbststdndigkeit. To recognise 
 the existence of light, is at once to give up the notion 
 that the eye exists for itself, and by itself, as a self- 
 sustaining and self-satisfying organ. 
 
 " 2. Union with man through God. I say through 
 God, because we can only find our true relationship to any 
 point within the circle by seeing our mutual relationship 
 to the centre, God our Creator, as the bond which unites 
 us to man. God our Father is the bond which unites us 
 to all His true children. The family, the neighbourhood, 
 the citizenship, the state, are the outlets of our social 
 tendencies to men, in God our Creator. 
 
 " The Church is specially the outlet of our social ten- 
 dencies to God our Redeemer. There is here a healthy 
 union of our individualism with socialism. The indi- 
 vidual is preserved. His personality is not destroyed it is 
 developed. Free-will, responsibility, the necessity of seeing 
 and knowing for himself are recognised. In H;aven he 
 can say, ' I am a man.' His union with God is essential 
 to the development of his individuality, just as light is 
 essential to the health of the eye. The social life is also 
 preserved. The attraction of God renders the attraction 
 
 VOL. r. x
 
 306 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 of man necessary. The family relation appointed by God, 
 is the school in which men are trained for the family of 
 man. The child, in spite of himself, finds himself a 
 brother, or son, and enters life a part of a system, to whose 
 well-being he must contribute his portion by the sacrifice 
 of self, and in this very sacrifice find himself enriched. 
 The necessity of labour is another bond, and so is the 
 necessity of living. The man must remain poor in head 
 unless he receives knowledge, and poor in pocket unless he 
 receives work, and poor in heart unless he receives love. 
 And all this receiving implies giving, whether it be faith, 
 or work, or love, in return ; and thus bond after bond 
 draws man out of himself to man. 
 
 " No wonder Pantheists and Socialists hate the personal 
 God, the family, the Word, the Church." 
 
 To Mr. JAMES M'PnEKSON (an Elder in Loudoun) : 
 
 DALKEITH, February 17, 1849. 
 
 " I need hardly tell you that I very sincerely sympathise 
 with you, and with all my dear old friends who are now in 
 the midst of such sore and solemn trials. I fancy myself 
 among you, going from house to house. I see your faces, 
 and know how you will all think and feel. I wish you 
 would let me know who have been carried off. From my 
 parish visitation book, I can recall the face and character 
 of every one I knew in the parish, as well as I could the 
 day I left it, and I feel anxious to know who have been 
 removed. 
 
 " How soothing to feel that we are not lost in the big 
 croAvd, that our case is not overlooked by Him who is 
 guiding the stars but that His eye of love rests upon us, 
 and that He is attending to each of us as really and truly 
 as He did to Martha, and Mary, and Lazarus whom He 
 loved ! " 
 
 To Jomr MACKINTOSH (in Rome) : 
 
 DALKEITH, December 2o, 1849. 
 
 "Your letter inflamed my blood and fired my brain, 
 and unless I knew from experience that ' we may not hope
 
 LAST FEARS AT DALKEITH. 
 
 307 
 
 from outward forms to live the (what ?) passion and the joy 
 (life ?) whose fountains are within/ I should certainly 
 have been unhappy. Dear John, all our happiness flows 
 from our blessed Redeemer. He divideth to each, gifts, 
 talents, place, work, circumstances, as seemeth good to 
 himself. Blessed is the man who can trust Him, and 
 take what He gives, using it for the end for which it is 
 given. So, dear John, I will not envy thee ! Thine is 
 Home, mine is home. Thine the glories of 'the past, mine 
 labour for the glories of the future without the past. 
 Thine the eternal city with all all art, music, ruins, 
 visions, ideal day dreams, choking unutterable reminis- 
 cences ; a spiritual present, impalpable, fascinating ; 
 all all that would make me laugh, weep, scream, sing 
 all, and more are thine. So be it. Mine is a different 
 lot, but both are given us by Him, to be used for His king- 
 dom and glory ; and darling, thou wilt so use them, I 
 am sure The spirit of the greatest man Home ever held 
 within her walls, even that old tent-maker, he who after 
 his wintry cruise came weary and careworn up the Appian 
 way his humble and heroic spirit will be thine ! and His, 
 too, by Whom he lived ! For this day ('tis past 12 A.M. !) 
 reminds me Christ is born, and the world of Cicero and 
 Ca3sar is not ours, but a world unseen by the eye, unheard 
 by the ear ; a world whose glories are in dim wynd and 
 dusky tenement as much as in Rome. So, dear John, I 
 will do His will here, and thou there, and if we be faithful, 
 we shall have a glorious life of it together somewhere else 
 and for ever ! Yet, would I were with thee ! It is my 
 weakness ; I can guide it only, change it I cannot. 
 
 " Everything in our land is flat, stale, and unprofitable. 
 Don't believe me. I presume it is the best land on earth ; 
 but I have not moved for months from home. 
 
 " What of the Jews in Rome ? Let us labour for them, 
 but confess that their day is not yet come, nor, I think, 
 dawned. This is my latest conclusion. Keep thy heart, 
 dearest. Were I in your place, I believe I should be ruined ; 
 thus I see Christ's love in keeping me at home. Popery ! 
 ' The Bible without the spirit is a, sundial by moonlight.' 
 Well done, old Coleridge ! I have long believed that 
 
 x 2
 
 3o8 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 Popery will be the pantheistic re-action of the latter days. 
 Presbyterianism in our country is a poor affair. If there is 
 to be a Church for man to embrace taste, intellect, genius, 
 and inspire love, veneration, awe, and if that Church is to 
 be a visible one, our Free and Bond won't be among the 
 number. We are sermonising snobs. But I rave and run 
 on. Don't believe me. Short of heaven there is no ideal 
 Church. I am sure of this, that I am right in loving 
 Christ, and in loving Christians, and the souls of men 
 for His sake. Beyond this twilight, farther on darkness ! 
 What are you doing now ? Gazing on the moon, feasting 
 on Christmas rites, seeing, hearing ? Ah, me ! " 
 
 From his FATHER : 
 
 HOFFAT, 1849. 
 
 " It would truly give me real delight if you could go 
 to London and act as my substitute, and in such a good 
 cause. The poor Highlands and Isles are as worthy of 
 your efforts as Germans or Jews or Indians, and they 
 require it just as much. The only legacy I can leave you, 
 is an interest, a heart-felt interest in that poor people 
 whose blood flows in your veins. Do, my dear fellow, 
 think of it." 
 
 From his NOTE-BOOK: 
 
 "A Work for 1850. January 18. It is now being 
 impressed upon minds, slow to learn from anything but 
 facts, that the Church of Scotland is daily going down hill. 
 W"e are weak, weak politically, weak in the hearty attach- 
 ment of any class upper, middle, or lower, learned, earnest 
 or pious to us, as a Church ; there is no State party 
 who care one farthing for us on great, national, and 
 righteous principles. Yet all this w r ould not necessarily be 
 evil if we were strong Godward. Nay, it might prove a 
 blessing, the blessing which oft springs from a sore chas- 
 tisement. But I cannot conceal from myself that we have 
 reached the depth immediately below which is destruction, 
 of being weak towards God in faith, love, hope, devoted- 
 ness, and in simple-mindedness for His glory. I cannot
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 39 
 
 say what amount of good may exist in the Church. God 
 knoweth how many hidden ones it may contain ! and He 
 may see many tears shed in secret, and may hear many 
 groans for the sins of Jerusalem, and many prayers may 
 enter His ears for her peace and prosperity. But sin can 
 be seen. The evil is manifest, and what is bad is visible. 
 There is sloth and an easy indifference as to the state of the 
 Church. No searching, as far as man knows, to find out 
 our sins. No plans, no strivings to meet difficulties and 
 evils, to do our work as we should do. Everywhere dis- 
 union, separation, men flying from social questions which 
 affect the body, and even the good men seeking relief in 
 the Spiritual selfishness of personal and parish work, as if 
 terrified to look at things within and around. 
 
 " In these circumstances the work I would propose 
 would be a convocation of a number (however small) to 
 inquire into the state of Zion ; to seek out and apply a 
 remedy ; above all, to do the work of works, of lying pros- 
 trate befoe God, and asking, in earnest prayer, 'Lord, 
 what wilt thou have us to do ?' ' 
 
 To MRS. DEXNISTOUN : 
 
 DAI.KEITH, Stpt. 4th, 1850. 
 
 " I am here all alone Skye my only * companion if 
 I except my constant friends in the book-shelves who chat 
 with me day and night. I am very jolly, because very 
 busy ; not that I by any means advocate this bachelor 
 life, for unless I looked forward to my sister's return, I 
 would instantly advertise, my parochial visitations pre- 
 venting me for some time from personally attending to 
 this duty ; I often think FalstaiFs resolution was not a 
 bad one, ' I'll turn a weaver and sing psalms ! Before I 
 lead this life longer, I'll sew nether socks, and foot them 
 too !' 
 
 "The only defect in Skye is, that I never can get him 
 to laugh. He is painfully grave. He seems sometimes 
 to make an effort, but it passes off like electricity by his 
 tail, which becomes tremulous with emotion." 
 
 * A favourite terrier.
 
 3 io LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 The following bit of nonsense was sent as a quiz 
 on some members of the home household, who were 
 fascinated by the description of primitive life and 
 domestic happiness in the Landes of France as com- 
 municated by a French friend. 
 
 August, 1850. 
 
 "It requires no small effort in me to write to you. 
 It disturbs my deep repose ; it ruffles my ' calm,' ' so 
 very calm from day to day.' It causes movement of 
 my hand and thought in my brain which are habitual to 
 neither ; but as you kindly wish me to write to you, 
 and flatter me with the assurance that my beloved 
 parents will not consider an epistle from me an irreverent 
 intrusion upon their time, I shall forthwith give you a 
 simple account of my daily habits. I go to bed about 
 ten or half past ; it depends on circumstances. I awake 
 about eight, and lie thinking till about nine or ten. This 
 morning I fancied that I became a poor man, and sold 
 my books and took a little cottage somewhere, with 
 small rooms and nice roses, and one cow and some hens ; 
 and then I just thought how sweet it would be to have 
 mamma and papa, and all my brothers and sisters, and 
 nephews and nieces, and uncles and aunts, all to live 
 together for a long, long time, and to lie on the grass and 
 to feed the pigs and the little hens, and dig the garden, and 
 make our own clothes and shoes. My uncles would make 
 the shoes and the clothes, and all my sisters and aunts 
 would spin, and darling George and Donald would write 
 poetry and work in the garden and sing, and dear papa 
 and mamma would sit in large arm chairs and give us their 
 blessing every morning and evening, and tell us nice stories 
 about the Highlands, and I would keep accounts and 
 everything in order! Everything would be within our- 
 selves. And then we should see all our friends and rela- 
 tions, quietly, comfortably, and there would be no bustle, 
 no dirty railroads or towns all grass and vegetables and 
 plenty. My blessing upon such peaceful domestic happiness !
 
 LAST FEARS AT DALKEITH. 
 
 I know my venerated father will rejoice at my picture. 
 
 I am no more the \vild man 
 
 bnt this 
 
 or this 
 
 01 not intellectual 
 
 1 never meddle with politics or 
 
 church affairs. It does one no 
 
 good I think. ' Bless me,' says I 
 
 to Elizabeth Story, ' what is life 
 
 worth if we cannot have peace ? 
 
 What is the good of all this rant 
 
 .and bustle ? ' 'It rises my nerves,' 
 
 says she. 'And mine too,' says I. 
 
 ' It's no wonder,' says she. ' 'Deed 
 
 it is not,' said I. ' It would be a wonder if it didn't,' 
 
 says she. ' Wouldn't it ? ' says I. ' In course it would,' 
 
 says she. ' I would think so,' says I. ' And no one 
 
 would differ from you, sir,' says she. ' I believe not,' 
 
 says I. ' I would at least think so,' says she. ' I am 
 
 certain of it,' says I. ' I make no doubt myself at all of 
 
 it,' says she. ' Nor anybody else,' says I, and thus we 
 
 spend a quiet, peaceful, calm half-hour."
 
 3i z LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 The beginning of this year, 1851, was marked by two 
 events which had an important influence on his future 
 life. On the 23rd of January he heard, with great pain, 
 of the death of his valued friend, Dr. Black, minister 
 of the Barony, Glasgow, and in a few weeks afterwards 
 he learned that the congregation were anxious that 
 he should be presented to the vacant parish. Dr. 
 Black had on his death-bed expressed the desire 
 that Norman Macleod should succeed him, and the 
 people were now unanimous in petitioning Govern- 
 ment to that eifect. 
 
 To his FATHEE : 
 
 January 3lst, 18.31. 
 
 " I mean strictly to avoid all movement on my own 
 part in regard to the Barony ; nor do I wish you to 
 move in it. The session and people know me. They are 
 acquainted with iny preaching and public character. If 
 the parish is offered to me in such an unanimous way as 
 will satisfy my mind that I am the choice of the parties 
 most interested in obtaining a minister, I shall feel it my 
 duty to accept it. If there is a canvass dividing the con- 
 gregation, I shall forbid my name to be mentioned. I am 
 willing to go or stay, as God shall see it to be best for my 
 own good, and the good of souls." 
 
 To his MOTHER : 
 
 1851. 
 
 " Believe me I am disciplined to be a far more peaceful 
 man than I was. My ambition has been sobered by ex- 
 perience. I know what I am not and what I am. I am 
 not a man of genius, or of power, or of learning, and can 
 do nothing great in the world's sense ; but by the grace of 
 God I can be kind and good, and earnest and useful ; and 
 can bring the souls of dying men to their Saviour for 
 rest and peace. If God gives me the ten talents of the 
 Barony, I shall not receive them with fear as if He were
 
 LAST FEARS AT DALKEITH. 315 
 
 a bard master, but with solemn thankfulness and humble 
 praise, hoping by His grace to make them ten talents more. 
 So, dear, your prayers have been heard." 
 
 In the following month, and while the question of 
 the Barony was still in suspense, the unexpected 
 tidings reached him that John Mackintosh was dying 
 at Tubingen. There was no man on earth whom 
 Norman loved more tenderly, and the news over- 
 whelmed him. All other engagements were at once 
 thrown aside, and on the llth of February he started 
 for the Continent. It had been deemed advisable to 
 remove Mackintosh from Tubingen to the picturesque 
 little town of Cannstadt, in the neighbourhood of 
 Stuttgart, and Norman remained there until the 7th 
 of March, when he went for a brief visit to Dr. Earth, 
 the famous missionary, at Calw. On the 10th he 
 returned to Cannstadt, and bade farewell to Mackin- 
 tosh on the morning of the llth. That very evening, 
 with a swiftness that was quite unexpected, the end 
 came, and while Norman, in ignorance of the event, 
 was prosecuting his journey homewards, his dearest 
 brother had entered into rest. 
 
 From Ms JOURNAL : 
 
 " February 7. This has been a day of heavy affliction, 
 for I have heard of the death-sickness of my darling John 
 Mackintosh my more than friend a part of my own 
 soul. 
 
 " This day also brought intelligence of what I was led to 
 expect ; that there is such perfect unanimity among the 
 Barony people as will insure me the parish. But to enter 
 it over the body of my dear friend Dr. Black, and John 
 dying ! Oh, my Father ! teach me !
 
 3H LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 " My dear friend ! Never, never have I knoAvn his 
 equal, never ! So pure, so true and genuine, so heavenly- 
 minded and serene, so young and joyous, yet so old and 
 sober ; so loving and utterly unselfish, a beautiful, beauti- 
 ful character ; the modesty and tenderness of a gentle girl, 
 with the manly courage of a matured Christian ; knowing 
 the world, yet not of it ; mingling in it with a great 
 broad-heartedness, yet unstained by a single spot ; warm 
 and refreshing and life-giving as the sun, yet uncontami- 
 nated by all it shone on. But I cannot utter my reve- 
 rential and loving feelings towards my dearest and best ; 
 and can it be that Tie, he is dying ! I feel the whole 
 earth slipping away from me and only Jesus remaining." 
 
 "Tuesday, February II. This day I intend going to Tu- 
 bingen to see my dear John. I am not conscious of any 
 selfish motive, unless the craving desire to see, help, and 
 comfort, and, it may be, bid farewell to my dearest friend 
 be selfishness. 
 
 "What shall be the end thereof? " 
 
 To JOHX MACKINTOSH, at Cannstadt (written after leaving him on the 
 Friday, March 7th, to return on the Monday morning to spend 
 his last day with him) : 
 
 , half-past Jive P.M., Friday, March *th, ISol. 
 
 " Well, darling John ! More for my own comfort than 
 yours, yet also to cheer you up a bit, I embrace the first 
 moment given me to tell you my news. Like the woman 
 who shows Roslin Chapel, I must begin at the beginning 
 i.e., from Stuttgart. 
 
 " I found myself at half-past nine in an Eihuagen with 
 two horses, and no passenger but myself. Opposite me 
 was an old conductor who had grown grey in the service 
 of that mysterious Prince of Thurn und Taxis, whose 
 dominions seem to be Eihcagens and extra posts, and his 
 subjects Schwagers and conductors. My companion was 
 most agreeable ; blessed me when I sneezed, offered me 
 Schnapps from his flask, and gladly took the half of my 
 dinner from me, by way of showing his love to me. He 
 was a thorough Swabian, and therefore I did not always 
 understand him, but I managed by a series of nods, inti-
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 315 
 
 mating ' I wouldn't wonder/ ' I suppose so,' to impress 
 him profoundly with my intelligence. 
 
 " The road was uphill, the day cold, and very snowy. The 
 scenery consisted of bare white fields, with cloaks and hats of 
 fir plantations, here and there a steeple. I passed through 
 sundry villages, but I hardly know yet where I am. Calw 
 is in some valley beside some river, having streets, Gast- 
 hauser, and magistrates ; and, it is said, four thousand 
 inhabitants. The whole city is for the present concen- 
 trated in dear Dr. Barth. He received me with open 
 arms, hugged me, kissed me, and did my heart a power of 
 good in five minutes. He had an excellent dinner waiting 
 and two friends to meet me. 
 
 " For the last hour I have been enjoying the dear man's 
 society and examining his house, and I assure you it is 
 worth a visit. He has a suite of five rooms, entering one 
 into the other. The first is a bedroom ; the second a 
 sitting-room ; the third his study ; the fourth, a nice bed- 
 room ; the fifth a missionary museum. A more jolly 
 ideal housey you never were in ! Everything about it 
 enlarges the mind, and drives one's thoughts to every 
 part of the globe. The pictures of missionaries and mission 
 scenes that cover the walls of the rooms, the maps, plans, 
 books, all are enlarging to the spirit. The very clock 
 which is now ticking beside me is itself a poem. It has 
 in its dial one large watch surrounded by four small ones. 
 The middle one counts German time. The others the 
 time at Pekin, Otaheite, New York, and Jerusalem ! At 
 this moment it is a quarter to six here ; five minutes to 
 one A.M. in Pekin (the emperor snores !) ; half-past seven 
 P.M. in Jerusalem (the sun is shining softly on Olivet) ; 
 a quarter-past six in Otaheite ; ten minutes past mid- 
 day in money-making New York. (Wall Street is full 
 of business !) 
 
 " The missionary museum is exceedingly interesting. 
 It would take days to examine it fully. The fruits, 
 dresses, minerals, idols, &c., are from mission stations. 
 One little trifle struck me. It was a bit of pure white 
 marble from the basement stone of Solomon's temple. 
 It shows, I think, that the whole temple must have
 
 3i 6 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 been of white marble (which I never knew before) ; 
 and if so, how pure, how glorious in the sun's rays what 
 a beautiful type of Christ's Church ! 
 
 " Dr. Earth received a letter at dinner-time from the 
 Bishop of Jerusalem. He keeps up a correspondence with 
 missionaries in all parts of the world, and knows more of 
 the men and their missions than any other man living. 
 
 " Nine P.M. We have had much delightful conversation 
 regarding missions and missionaries. Our very supper 
 tasted of the work, for it consisted of reindeer tongue sent 
 by the Labrador missionaries ! 
 
 " And now, darling, I must stop. You know how 
 much my thoughts, my prayers, my heart and spirit, all are 
 with you. Every hour the parting becomes more real, 
 more solemn. Nothing keeps up my heart but that which 
 keeps up your own ' It is God's Avill His sweet will ! ' 
 
 " How glorious, how intensely blessed, to feel that we are 
 in Christ, all of us ! Oh, those blessed days I have passed 
 with you ! Heaven, in spite of all darkness. Is it memory 
 already ? It is not. I am with you, beside you, among 
 you all. Oh, my dearest of brothers, may Jesus shine on 
 you day and night, and may you shine through His 
 indwelling. God bless you, dearest. Farewell." 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 CARLSRUHE, Saturday Evening, half-past six, 
 March Sth, 1851. 
 
 " DEAREST AND BEST OF EARTHLY BROTHERS ! 
 
 " I left dear old Earth this morning at ten. I do think 
 that he and his house are the most perfect ideals of what 
 missionary archbishops should be and should have. Only 
 picture the old fellow resting his feet on a stuffed tiger from 
 Abyssinia, giving me at breakfast honey from Jerusalem, and 
 a parting glass of wine from Lebanon ! Is it not perfect ? 
 And then his apostolic look and conversation ! What a busy 
 man he is ! Besides superintending the books published 
 by the Calwer Verein (most of which he has Avritten him- 
 self), he edits five journals monthly one for the young, 
 of eighty pages, and four missionary journals making 
 fifty-six pages ; in all, one hundred and thirty-six pages
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 317 
 
 every month ! His books have been translated into seven- 
 teen ^i^erent languages. It is really most ennobling and 
 elevating to one's spirit to see that old man, so plain and 
 simple, yet, there in his humble house, corresponding with 
 every part of the globe, watching day by day the spread 
 of Christ's kingdom, visiting with his spirit and heart every 
 scene of missionary labour, and thoroughly acquainted 
 with them all. This is being a king indeed. Surely ' we 
 can make our lives sublime ' by doing the work Christ has 
 given us. I think Earth is more of a prince, a governor, 
 a general, than any of the reigning monarchs of Europe. 
 He has made me feel more how grand and glorious a 
 position in the universe a true-hearted minister may occupy. 
 May God make me such, and ' I shall pity Caesar.' 
 
 " Well, dear, after embracing and re-embracing, I parted 
 very thankful. He loves you very much, and it was such a 
 comfort to have one with me who did so, and who, with 
 me, would thank our most gracious Lord in your behalf. 
 
 " I got into a half-open cab at ten. It was snowing 
 and very cold, and we contemplated taking a sledge. But 
 the Schwager promised he would convey me safely. The 
 road was execrable. Nothing out of the backwoods worse. 
 We took three and a half hours to drive twelve miles. It 
 lay at first along a valley which must be exquisite in 
 summer, and then passed up and over a high hill, thick 
 with trees, which showered the snow upon us as their 
 branches swept over the cab. Once or twice I made up 
 my mind for a jolly good upset, but the Schivager, by 
 hanging on occasionally on the up-side, preserved the 
 equilibrium." 
 
 To 
 
 OFF MAINTZ, ten o'clock, Wednesday, March \1tli, 1851. 
 " How my spirit lingers in that lonely room where I 
 was last with him before five yesterday morning ! It was 
 very solemn and very memorable. The candle was in 
 the other room, and I asked him in the dark how he 
 was. He had passed another night of weary tossings 
 to and fro. Yet to hear him say in the darkness, 
 'I wish I could sing! I should give glory to God!' I
 
 3 )8 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 feel that we have taken in but very partially the heaven- 
 sent lesson taught us, in that beautiful character. But 
 such a lesson can only be truly learned by a patient and 
 cheerful following of Christ, seeing what He would have 
 us . outwardly do and inwardly be. To see, to do, to 
 be, requires that right state of spirit which is main- 
 tained by a daily waiting on Christ and a strength- 
 ening of our faith in Him, as our only sure and our 
 best guide in all things, as giving us in everything the 
 best things for us, and in His own way. It is not necessary 
 for us to impose burdens on ourselves, to whip ourselves 
 with cords, or to cast ourselves on a funeral pile. God is 
 rich in mercy, and He may sanctify us by what He gives 
 as well as by what He takes away ; nor is it necessary for 
 us to pain our hearts by determining what we shall do in 
 such and such circumstances. The Lord shuts us up to 
 one thing : ' Do what is right ; if you wish it, I will 
 teach thee.' Each day has its own duties, and trials, and 
 difficulties. God does not tell us to take care of the 
 week, month, or year, but of the day or hour ; not of the 
 next possible mile of the journey, but of the certain step 
 which must be taken for the present. We require grace 
 to receive His mercies as much as to receive His chastise- 
 ments ; in neither case to doubt His love, never to think 
 He gives the former grudgingly, or the other severely. 
 
 " I had a superb sleep last night ; but, what was very 
 odd, I started up and lit my candle the very minute (twenty 
 minutes to five) at which John's bell had rung on Tuesday 
 morning." 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 Passing the Sieben Gebirge. 
 
 " I have really had a happy day toddling down this 
 glorious stream. The sun was bright, and things looked 
 tolerable. I cannot say that any poetic feeling was stirred 
 up. The castles in spite of me suggested vulgar impres- 
 sions of immense barons, all boots and beards, rioting and 
 drinking, and thinking only how Baron A. could be 
 swindled or Baron D. murdered ; what tocher La 
 Baronne E. had, and whether she could be purchased for
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 319 
 
 the hopeful, turnip-faced, blustering young Baron Swilling- 
 beer. Then those vineyards are indissolubly interwoven 
 in the fancy with tables-d'hote. The imagination pictures 
 myriads of drinkers in all lands longing to suck their 
 juices. The whole land seems to be robbed from poetry 
 and the Middle Ages, and consigned for ever to barrels 
 and wine-bibbers. There was not an Englishman on board, 
 and that relieved the prose a little. 
 
 " I met two girls who were emigrating to America. 
 How happy they were, poor things, when I told them that 
 I had been in the town to which they were going, and 
 that it was so handsome, and that they would go across 
 the ocean as easy as to Stuttgart, for thence they came, 
 and my heart was stirred for them ; and then (good 
 creatures) they asked me if I had met their Schwager. I 
 told them, possibly. They at once treated me as a brother, 
 and showed me their letters. I really made them very 
 happy by my pictures of the calm ocean and glorious 
 America. 
 
 " I had a long talk with an old sailor on board, quite 
 a character. I opened his heart with cigars, and he was 
 very communicative. He spoke in broken sentences, 
 each delivered in an under voice very confidentially to me, 
 while he always turned up his eyes to heaven, kept his 
 elbows by his side, and wriggled his wrists as if a thousand 
 mysteries lay far beyond his brief communications. ' An 
 old cloister that hate the priests ceremonies (many 
 wriggles) the best cloister is the heart (great confidence). 
 Stop her! (to the engineer}. Democrats! (fearful wriggles') 
 the Jesuits did the whole. In old times they forgave 
 the sins of thieves and murderers,' and he ran off, looking 
 over his shoulders, winking hard, and his two hands in 
 perpetual motion. Soon I felt a tap on my back ' The 
 Protestant ministers not much better too learned don't 
 care for the people they give words words but what 
 do they ?' (wrists, eyes, all going, and immense confidence.) 
 ' The people are best. Ach, Herr, we must make the heart 
 our church minister all and love God and man.' He 
 darted off to take soundings. I left him, but we are yet 
 to smoke together. Oh, this great heart of humanity !
 
 320 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 How grand it ever is when it is real ! What a magnificent 
 study is man, and how elevating at all times to realise 
 one's brotherhood, to rise like a hill above the earth's sur- 
 face, and to converse with other hills, and to feel that both 
 are rooted in the common earth, and are beneath the same 
 sun, and are refreshed with the same dew ! 
 
 " While I thus write, partly to relieve my own heart 
 and partly to take your thoughts for five minutes from 
 your present sorrows, I am dragged back to the dear group 
 at Cannstadt. 
 
 " Perhaps this may find you in the midst of more than 
 ordinary sorrow, when amusing words will sicken you. But 
 it may be quite otherwise. Oh ! trust, trust. Dearer, 
 infinitely dearer is he to his own Lord and brother than 
 he can be to us." 
 
 Surely 'tis all a dream ! Is this the Rhine ? 
 Is this majestic pile of ruin old St. Goar ? 
 That far-oif rush of water Lurlei's roar ? 
 Oh, what a joyous life of lives w y as mine, 
 When those dear castled hills of clustering vine 
 First flashed upon me hi the days of yore ! 
 Such glorious visions I can see no more ! 
 For though within a holier light doth shine, 
 Yet this deep sorrow veils it as a cloud, 
 Casting from shore to shore a sombre shroud, 
 That scarce a trace of the old life is found. 
 Into one wish my thoughts and feelings blend, 
 To be with those dear mourners who surround 
 The dying-bed of my best earthly friend. 
 
 From his JOUENAL : 
 
 DALKEITH, April 11. 
 
 " My memory can never require to be refreshed by a 
 record of those memorable days of intense life, when days 
 were years, and hours months. For ever shall I vividly 
 remember the rushing journey, the burning fever of mor- 
 bid anxiety as I hurried on and on from this to the Rhine
 
 LAST YEARS IN DALKE1TH. 321 
 
 along that river darkened by mist from the Rhine to 
 Stuttgart, and then by moonlight, which seemed to light me 
 to my grave, to Tubingen, until after midnight I stood out- 
 side his door and had some rest, when I felt he was there. 
 Shall I ever forget the meeting ? the horror of darkness- 
 folloAved by prayer, by hopes, by heavenly gleams from 
 unexpected sources, by fears and sore stragglings. And 
 then his room, and our daily on-goings, the screen, the 
 big chair, the table with its books, watch, thermometer, 
 the stove, himself seated on the bed, the brown plaid, the 
 shut eyes, the head inclined to one side, the peaceful 
 smile, the resigned and meek look, the ' dearie ' kiss, the 
 whispered holy things, the drawing-room too, and the piano,, 
 the life in death, the sunshine ' that never was on sea or 
 land.' Then came Tuesday the llth, and at early dawn 
 the last farewell, while at evening thou wast with thy 
 Father ! " 
 
 To : 
 
 DALKEITH, Sunday. 
 
 " All hail ! The Lord is risen. The world is redeemed, 
 and that coffin shall be broken, and that darling body be 
 glorified, and we shall be with him and all in Christ for 
 ever. And, oh, the calm joy of assurance, deep as in the 
 existence of God, that on this lovely spring Sabbath, when 
 flowers are bursting forth, and birds are singing, and the 
 sun is shining, in this world of sin and death, he, our- 
 beloved darling, is really in life and strength and intel- 
 ligence and unutterable joy, remembering us all, and' 
 waiting for us ! Will he not feel so at home ? Is he not 
 breathing his own delicious air ? I see him now with a 
 sunny look of joy, gazing on his Lord, praising Him,, 
 meeting every moment some new acquaintance new, yet 
 old. Oh ! this is not death ; it is life ! ' life abundantly.' " 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 " Tuesday, 17th March. What can man say or do T 
 Leaving Cannstadt, leaving it in such silent company ! My 
 spirit is with you all day, often, often in the watches of the 
 night. At four this morning I was praying for you." 
 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 322 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 To the SAJIE : 
 
 " Wednesday Afternoon. I have been thinking much 
 of that luggage and those things of his. It is strange, 
 inexpressibly strange to see dead things only, and not to 
 see the living one. Yet was it not so when Christ rose ? 
 The linen clothes and the napkin, left in order behind, 
 and He gone ! But our dear one lives ! and I can so well 
 fancy him smiling at those poor remembrances of sin and 
 sorrow, which are nevertheless to us signs of faith 
 triumphant in death. I am sure when our day of death 
 comes, if we have time to think, the room at Cannstadt 
 will be strength to us." 
 
 From his JOURNAL : 
 
 " April llth. We buried him on Wednesday last, the 
 9th. The day was calm and beautiful. The sky was blue, 
 with a few fleecy clouds. The birds were singing : every- 
 thing seemed so holy and peaceful. His coffin was accom- 
 panied by those who loved him. As I paced beside him 
 to his last resting-place, I felt a holy joy as if marching 
 beside a noble warrior receiving his final honours. Oh, 
 how harmonious seemed his life and death ! I felt as if 
 he was still alive, as if he still whispered in my ear, and 
 all he said for he seemed only to repeat his favourite 
 sayings was in beautiful keeping with this last stage of 
 his journey : ' It is His own sweet will ;' ' Dearie, we 
 must be as little children ;' ' We must follow Christ,' and 
 so he seemed to resign himself meekly to be borne to his 
 grave, to smile upon us all in love as he was lowered 
 down, and as the earth covered him from our sight, 
 it was as if he said, ' Father ! Thou hast appointed all 
 men once to die. Thy sweet will be done ! I yield to 
 Thine appointment ! My Saviour has gone before me ; 
 as a little child I follow ! ' And there we laid him 
 and rolled the sod over him. Yet the birds continued 
 to sing, and the sun to shine, and the hills to look 
 down on us. But long after earth's melodies have 
 ceased, and the mountains departed, and the sun va-
 
 LAST YEARS IN DALKEITH. 323 
 
 nislied, that body shall live in glory, and that beautiful 
 spirit be 
 
 " ' A Memnon singing in the great God light.' 
 
 " ' 0, sir, the good die first ; 
 And those whose hearts are dry as summer's dust 
 Burn to the socket ! ' 
 
 "0 God of infinite grace, help me help us, weak, 
 trembling, infirm, ignorant, to cleave fast to Thee in all 
 Thy ways to be led by Thy Spirit in whatever way He 
 teaches us, and to glorify Thee in body and soul, by life or 
 by death. Amen." 
 
 " July. This is my last Sabbath in Dalkeith, and this 
 Sabbath ends another great era in my life. 
 
 "The last six months have been to me concentrated 
 life. I have lived intensely. I have lived ages all end- 
 ing with my bidding farewell this day to a devoted and 
 loving people ! When I glance over the last twenty years I 
 think I have some idea of life in its most striking, wild, 
 and out-of-the-way phases. I fancy I have seen it in 
 its strangest hues, and into its depths more than most 
 people ; often too much so for my own happiness." 
 
 Letters to : 
 
 "It is often as difficult for me to think of making hap- 
 piness without ' conditions ' as it is for you, perhaps much 
 more so ; but we know that if we really yield ourselves to 
 God's teaching within and without in our hearts and in 
 our circumstances and know that it is His will, and not 
 ours merely, i.e. that it must be, or ought to be (for with 
 Christians must and ought are one), then we shall have 
 peace, for we shall have fellowship with the will of God. 
 You cannot feel yourself more an infant than I do. 
 
 "... What is devotedness ? It is not a giving up, but 
 a full and complete receiving in the best possible way (i.e. 
 in God's way) of the riches of His bounty. It is being 
 first in sympathy with God, judging and choosing, rejoicing 
 with Him ; and then consequently resting satisfied with 
 all He wills us to be, to do, to receive, give up, suffer or 
 enjoy." 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 Sunday Night. 
 
 " Duties are the education for eternity, which is endless 
 duty. 
 
 " Our pleasures are in exact proportion to our duties. 
 
 " All religion is summed up in one little word, Love. 
 God asks this ; we cannot give more, He cannot take less. 
 
 " I have been reading Luther's ' Haus-Postille,' and have 
 been much amused by his hits against false monkish 
 humility. 
 
 " It is not humility to ignore whatever good God gives 
 us or makes of us ; but to receive all from Him, thank 
 Him for all, and use all according to His permission or 
 command. 
 
 " So let that keep us up, and guide us." 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 May 29. 
 
 " . . . . Oh for the clear eye to discern those eras in 
 life, those turning points, and to hear the voice of love 
 and wisdom and holiness (by hints unmistakable by the 
 pure mind), saying, ' this is the way, walk in it ! ' Oh 
 for the humble heart to fall into God's plan, whatever 
 it be, be it life or death ! 
 
 " .... It will soon be all over with me at most 
 twenty or thirty years. Let me bravely do my duty, and 
 then, Hurrah ! 
 
 " After leaving you I went to the Assembly, and then 
 went in search of my poor invalid. Got the house with 
 some trouble ; and then where next ? To his grave. And 
 there, with many tears and many prayers, I did get much 
 peace. The sunlight from that holy spot comes over me. 
 I heard him speak to me ' Be as a little child ! Follow 
 do not lead. Live in the Spirit ! ' ' Yes/ I said, ' yes, 
 darling, thou wouldst say the same things now, and maybe 
 thou art near me.' And I blessed God for his words 
 earnestly prayed that they might be realised ; and they 
 shall be. We shall follow his faith. If we liked to please 
 him on earth much more now. But we have a better
 
 LAST YEARS IN DALKEIIH. 323 
 
 Brother our own Lord with us. To please Him in all 
 things is heaven ; to displease Him, Hell ! " 
 
 To the SAME, after preaching his ' trial ' sermon 
 in the Barony : 
 
 GLASGOW, May 18, 1851. Sunday Evening. 
 
 " Another milestone in this awful journey is over 
 another bend in the great stream has swept me nearer the 
 unfathomable gulf. 
 
 "I had such a crowd passages, stairs, up to the roof! 
 That is but a means, not an end. Yes ! I had one of 
 those high days which sometimes are granted to me ; 
 when I feel the grandeur of my calling and forget man, 
 except as an immortal and accountable being ; when the 
 heart is subdued, awed, blessed ! I believe souls were 
 stirred up to seek God. I was dreadfully wearied done 
 up but I cared not. I felt, ' the night cometh work ! ' 
 Is it not strange and yet it is not that, as usual, the 
 moment I entered the pulpit and saw that breathless 
 crowd, Cannstadt arose before me, and remained there all 
 the day ! He was a vision haunting me, yet sobering me, 
 elevating me ; pointing always upward ; so purifying, so 
 solemnising and sanctifying ; and I felt dear friends with 
 me, bidding me be good and holy ; and when the great 
 song of praise arose, my heart rose with it, and I felt all 
 that is good will live, and we shall have a great, an 
 endless, and blessed day in Heaven. On earth I know 
 
 not what may be. God's will be done ! 
 
 x -x * # -x 
 
 " As to distraction in prayer, how / know this, and 
 have to struggle against it ! but it is not good, and dare not 
 be allowed, but must be conquered. 
 
 " To do this, (1) Have a fixed time for prayer ; (2) Pray 
 earnestly at commencement against it ; (3) Divide the 
 prayer, so as to have confession for a few minutes, then 
 thanksgiving, &c. This gives relief to the strain on the 
 mind. I speak as a man who looks back with horror at 
 my carelessness in secret prayer. Backsliding begins in 
 the closet, and ends where ? "
 
 3 z6 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 DAXKEITH, Saturday Morning. 
 
 " I think that Baxter's seventh chapter in the ' Saints' 
 Best' is something far, far beyond even himself. One 
 should get it by heart ; it is such a chapter as that so- 
 earnest, so searching, so awfully solemn and true which 
 humbles, and stirs up, and makes one feel intensely ' I 
 have not yet attained,' and resolve more firmly to do this 
 ' one thing,' press on, and on ! Why, what do we 
 expect ? To be glorified with Christ ! equal with St. John 
 and St. Paul this or devils ! To press on is to realise 
 more blessedness and glory, more joy and perfect peace ! 
 Oh, how weak I am a very, very babe ! But it required 
 Omnipotence to make me a babe." 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 DALKEITH, Sunday Evening. 
 
 " What a day of hail and snow ! I was so struck at 
 one time to-day. The heavens were dark ; the hail came- 
 booming down, and rushed along the ground like foam 
 snatched by the storm-blast from a wintry ocean ; but the 
 moment it ceased, there was such a sweet blink of sun- 
 shine, and instantly the woods were full of melody from a 
 whole choir of blackbirds ! We, too, should sing when 
 the storm is over ! but why do we not beat the birds,, 
 and sing while it lasts ? ' Are we not better than the 
 fowls ? yet God careth for them ! ' 
 
 " I have preached in England and Ireland, America and 
 the Continent, in all sorts of places on sea and land, in 
 huts and palaces, to paupers and to nobles I sometimes 
 feel a curiosity to know the results ! and I shall know 
 them ! It is a noble, a glorious work ! I praise God 
 for giving me such a ' talent,' and only pray that while I 
 preach to others I may not be a castaway ! But, no ! I 
 know I shall not praise to his omnipotent Grace ! 
 
 " I h ave for years been a very busy man, but I never 
 for an hour sought for work it was always given to me. 
 I know your active spirit is one of the features of your 
 character, but be patient, and only by God's grace keep 
 your mind in that most necessary state which will 
 discern the Lord's voice when He calls. I have great faith
 
 LAST YEARS AT DALKEITH. 327 
 
 in what I call signs indescribable hints, palpable hints, 
 that ' this is the way, walk ye in it.' One cannot, before 
 they come, tell what they shall be ; but when the ' fulness 
 of the time ' conies when the Lord has appointed us to do 
 anything, something or other occurs that comes home 
 instantaneously to us with the conviction, ' the Lord's time 
 has come ! I have to do this ! ' " 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 10 P.M. Sunday. 
 
 " Shall I tell you all I have been doing to-day ? 
 
 " I went to bed at one (A.M.), for my time had been 
 broken up all day, and in the evening I did the honours 
 
 to . By the way, in all our judgments and criticisms 
 
 of people, we should ever see them in their true relation- 
 ships to us. The world has one set of rules, the Church 
 another. Distinguish between gifts and endowments, and 
 the use which is made of them. See things in their 
 spiritual rather than their earthly relationships. I do not 
 say that one can entirely forget the latter, or that when 
 combined with the former (I mean the gift with the grace) 
 they do not make God's creature much more beautiful; but 
 accustoming ourselves to these thoughts, our judgments and 
 mode of thinking and speaking about people will every 
 day be modified and brought by degrees into greater 
 harmony with God's judgments. I have had sore struggles 
 with this ; but intercourse with the good, especially among 
 the working classes, has gradually moulded my feelings 
 into a quieter state. And how has all this been so 
 rapidly suggested ? I cannot help smiling, yea laughing, at 
 
 poor having been the cause ! But I often feel sore if I 
 
 have seemed to speak unfeelingly or unkindly, or in a worldly 
 way of any one or for any cause, who I feel is a believer. 
 
 " I am only at one in the morning yet ! I rose at half- 
 past seven, read, &c., till half-past eight. Went to my 
 Sabbath school at nine. Preached twice. Went in the 
 evening with Jane to read part of my sermon to dear 
 Elizabeth Patterson, and had worship there, after paying 
 a visit to an old woman, who I believe was really brought, 
 as she says herself, to the knowledge of Christ by me
 
 328 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 when she was sixty-three, and whom I admitted for the 
 first time as a communicant ! " 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 Tuesday Evening, June 26. 
 
 "By fellowship is meant one-mindedness, sympathy, agree- 
 ment. It is not the submission of a servant to a command 
 because it is a command. It is more, much more than 
 this. It is the sympathy of the friend with the friend, 
 seeing and appreciating his character and plans, and enter- 
 ing into them with real heart satisfaction. It is the 
 ' amen,' the ' so let it be,' of the spirit. ' I have not called 
 you servants, but friends.' To have this fellowship two 
 things are needed : first, knowing our master's will, and 
 secondly, having that mind and spirit in us which neces- 
 sarily sympathises with it. 
 
 "It is delightful to stand in spirit beside Christ, and 
 look outwards from that central point, and see things as 
 He sees them. This is having His ' light ' and ' life,' and 
 therefore so living and seeing as He does ; and while we 
 do so, He has fellowship with us ! There is something 
 very grand I think in this high calling, to be made par- 
 takers of Christ's mind and joy ! It is such godlike 
 treatment of creatures ! It shows the immense benevo- 
 lence of Christ, to create us so as to lift us up to this 
 sublime position, to make us joint heirs with Himself in 
 all this intellectual and moral greatness and blessedness." 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 "Have just come in to breathe a little after visiting 
 sick. How beautifully Christ's example meets us and 
 suits us in everything. In visiting the sick poor one 
 endures innumerable petty sufferings from the close den, 
 bad air, and fifty things which are sometimes almost in- 
 sufferable to our senses and tastes. But when one is 
 disposed to fly, or get disgusted, the thought comes of His 
 washing His disciples' feet, and living among wretched 
 men. ' He who was rich ' from whom all taste and the 
 perception of the beautiful has come ! He who was heir of 
 all things. Yet, with His human nature, what must He have 
 ' put up with ' in love !
 
 LAST YEARS IN DALKEITH. 329 
 
 "It is difficult to separate the real from the accidental. 
 But when I see a poor ugly unlearned Christian, I some- 
 times think that if the heart and spirit remained as 
 they were yet if that face by some magic power was 
 made beautiful, that tongue made to speak nicely, that form 
 made elegant, the manners refined, the cottage changed to 
 a palace, in short, if the real person was put in a better 
 case, how altered would all seem. So in the reverse, if 
 George IY. had a squint eye, hump back, ragged clothes, 
 vulgar pronunciation, manner, &c., what a revolution! 
 Yet will there not be a revolution in the good and the bad 
 like this ? Thus you see I try and idealise poor Lizzie S., 
 ;ind some of my poor Christian bodies, and if possible see 
 kings and queens shining through their poor raiment. 
 
 " You never beheld a more peaceful, lovely evening. Oh ! 
 it is heavenly. The large pear-tree is bursting into blos- 
 som, the willows are richly yellow in the woods, and the 
 birds are busy with their nests, 
 
 " ' Singing of summer with full-throated ease.' 
 
 Everything is so calm, so peaceful ; why is not man's 
 throbbing heart equally calm ? Why do we not always 
 sing with the birds, and shine with the sun, and laugh 
 with the streams, and play with the breeze ? It is, I sup- 
 pose, because much sorrow must belong to man ere he can 
 receive much joy. Yet when the true life is in us, there is 
 always a sweet undersong of joy in the heart ; but it is 
 sometimes unheard amidst the strong hurricane. 
 
 " The calls I am from time to time receiving from those 
 to whom I have done good are most delightful. I begin 
 to think that the seed has taken better root than I had 
 thought. Praise God for it ! " 
 
 To the SAME : 
 
 Friday NigM, 12. 
 
 " Free salvation. Justification by faith alone. John did 
 not see this for a time. When he saw it the burthen was 
 removed for ever ! Unbelief is dishonouring to God. 
 You glorify Him by reposing on Him, and heartily 
 trusting Him : trusting His teaching in the Word, con-
 
 330 LIFE OF NORMAN MACLEOD. 
 
 science and providence. Eemember you have a living 
 Saviour, and a loving one, always the same. 
 
 " Confess Christ, and commend the gospel by calm peace 
 as well as by words. Aim at passing Christian judgments 
 upon things, and beware of worldly judgments. Aim at 
 seeing persons in their relation to Christ, and to nothing 
 lower. 
 
 " I have had two days' visitation since you went away. 
 You have no idea of the overwhelming interest of such 
 days among our brothers and sisters. What a volume of in- 
 tense romance each day contains ! How good, how contented 
 it makes you ; how it corrects selfishness ; how deeply it 
 makes you feel your responsibility ; what treasure you lay 
 up ! Let me see ; can I convey to you, in a few lines, 
 specimens of my cases ? 
 
 " 1. A husband sick, has hardly spoken for months ta 
 his wife and family sellish, jealous; I got them reconciled; 
 promises to have family worship. 
 
 "2. A woman in low spirits, all alone, cried bitterly ; 
 told me in agony she frequently planned suicide. Made 
 her promise to go through a course of medicine, and 
 always to come to me when ill. 
 
 " 3. A bedridden pauper horrid house. 
 
 " 4. An infidel tailor very intelligent. Had read Alton 
 Locke, &c. An hour with him. I shook him heartily by 
 the hand is to come to church. 
 
 " 5. An idiot pauper a half-idiot sister a daughter- 
 in-law of latter, who is very wicked, says ' she will take 
 her chance ' for eternity, was impressed by all I said 
 yesterday, but came here to-day tipsy, but knowing, how- 
 ever, what she was saying. 
 
 " 6. A mother very anxious had a long talk with her, 
 she received good and comfort. And so on, and so on. 
 Oh, for unselfish, Christian hearts to live and die for the 
 world ! How far, far are we from Him who left the 
 heavens and became poor and lived among such to lift 
 us up ! Alas, alas ! how unlike the world is to Him ! 
 It has no tears no labours, no care for lost man. We 
 are selfish and shut-up. Christians hardly know their 
 Master's work in the world ! "
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A. 
 
 In a series of autobiographical reminiscences which he 
 dictated in old age to one of his daughters, Dr. Macleod's 
 father gives, among others, the following amusing and 
 characteristic pictures of his youth : 
 
 "I received the rudiments of my education in the manse of 
 Fiunary from tutors who were hired by my father from time to 
 time ; but we were often for months without any instruction, 
 except the little we could receive from himself when his time, 
 which was very much occupied with parish matters, could permit. 
 He generally spent three or four days of the week on horseback, 
 and always came home much fatigued ; but he usually contrived to 
 give my elder brother and me a lesson. He seldom shaved above 
 twice in the week, except something extraordinary came in the 
 way, and it was during the process of shaving, which generally 
 exceeded an hour, that we were drilled in our Latin lessons. He 
 was an admirable Latin scholar, and had a great portion of the 
 Latin classics Horace, Virgil, and Ovid committed to memory. 
 He was very partial to Buchanan's Latin Psalms, a portion of which 
 we generally read on Sabbath morning. My father was unfortu- 
 nate in most of his tutors ; one of them, a monster in temper, came 
 to us from Aberdeen. I shudder at the recollection of his cruelty. 
 My brother Donald, one of the most amiable and interesting fellows 
 that ever lived, was an excellent scholar and superior to his tutor, 
 who, I suppose on that account, formed a fearful prejudice against 
 him, and chastised him unmercifully, and often without cause, and 
 that in remote places where there was no one to witness his 
 conduct. His savage treatment of this dear lad brought on a 
 spitting of blood, from which he never recovered. I was not a 
 good scholar, and was much more given to play than to study, yot
 
 332 APPENDIX. 
 
 I received my full share of flogging ! This cruel man had a won- 
 derful power over us, and took solemn promises from us that we 
 should not tell our parents of his conduct. A singular circum- 
 stance, which deeply impressed me at the time and which I cannot 
 forget, brought his conduct to light, and caused his dismissal from 
 my father's family. He asked us to accompany him upon a Satur- 
 day to the house of Killundine, where one of his pupils then lived, 
 and who is almost the only one of my early companions still alive. 
 We went to Killundine, by the shore, on the line where the new 
 public road now runs. I was dressed in a kilt, but had no hose or 
 stockings on. We came to the cave below Laggan, known by the 
 name of ' The Dripping Cave,' which could not be entered but 
 through a wild jungle of briars, thorns, and nettles. It was said 
 that this cave was the abode of some wild man of the wood, and 
 that he had lately been seen at the entrance of it. I admitted to 
 my tutor that I believed this story ; on which he ordered me to 
 pass through this thicket and enter the cave, in order, as he said, 
 to disabuse my mind of such a belief in the superstitions of the 
 country. I remonstrated as to my inability to do so in the dress 
 which I then wore ; but he cut a rod in the wood, with which he 
 compelled me to proceed. I did so, while all my feet and legs 
 were torn and bleeding from the effects of the thorns. On reaching 
 the entrance of the cave, what was my horror on observing the 
 figure of a tall, old, grey-headed man rising from his bed of straw 
 with a scarlet night-cap on ! But he, hearing my cries and sobs, 
 addressed me in the kindest manner naming me, for he recognised 
 me at once. This dispelled my fear, and I resolved to abide with 
 him in the cave rather than return to my companion. I told him 
 all that had happened to me. He roared after the tutor, and 
 vowed vengeance against him. He informed me that the tutor had 
 taken to his heels in the direction of the Manse. The good old 
 man carried me in his arms out of the brushwood, and insisted that 
 I should go on to Killundine, accompanying me himself a great 
 part of the way. This venerable man had been unfortunate in his 
 money transactions as a cattle dealer, and was concealing himself 
 for some time, till an arrangement should be made with his 
 creditors. I reached the house of Killundine in a sorrowful plight, 
 where the thorns were exti-acted from my limbs, and where I 
 remained for the night. Thus were the cruelties of our tutor 
 brought to light, his conduct to my brother became known, and he 
 was dismissed. The only apology that can be found for him was, 
 that he was labouring under mental disease ; he died soon after in 
 the lunatic asylum. My father continued to give me lessons when
 
 APPENDIX. 333 
 
 his time admitted of it (especially during shaving times). He 
 followed a practice, which I at the time abhorred, of making me 
 translate the classics into Gaelic. He himself had an exquisite 
 taste in the selection of vocables, and I thus became a good Gaelic 
 scholar. 
 
 " In the summer of 1799 the late General Norman Macleod 
 (grandfather to the present chief) came to the Manse of Morven, 
 on his way to the Isle of Skye. My father had been for some time 
 tutor to this brave and talented man, who was a distinguished 
 soldier in the American War, and obtained great renown afterwards 
 in India during the conflicts with Tippoo Sahib and other chiefs. 
 He was frequently and severely wounded. Macleod insisted that 
 my father should allow me go along with him to Dunvegan ; and 
 I was delighted at the prospect of visiting the place of which I had 
 heard so many traditionary legends. There were no steamers at 
 that time, and we took our passage in a small wherry from Oban. 
 
 " Macleod was accompanied by Mr. Hector Macdonald Buchanan, 
 his man of business, and Mr. Campbell of Combie, his commissioner. 
 We arrived at Loch Bracadale next day after leaving Morven, 
 where we found horses and carts, with crowds of people waiting 
 our arrival ; we reached the old Castle of Dunvegan, where many 
 of the gentlemen tacksmen of the Macleod estates were waiting 
 to receive us. Macleod was welcomed to the castle of his fathers 
 by Captain Donald MacCrimmon, the representative of the 
 celebrated ' MacCrimmon pipers,' who had for ages been con- 
 nected with the family. This Captain MacCrimmon had acquired 
 his commission, and no small share of renown, with his chief, 
 during the American War. 
 
 "I can never forget the impression which the whole scene 
 made upon my youthful mind as MacCrimmon struck up ' Failte 
 Ruairi Mhoir,' the favourite tune of the clan. Dinner was laid in 
 the great dining-room ; the keys of the cellar were procured, and a 
 pipe of claret was broached, and also a cask of Madeira wine of 
 choice quality, brought from India by Macleod ; the wine was 
 carried up in flagons to the dining-room, and certainly they were 
 very amply used in the course of the evening. A bed was provided 
 for me in a small closet off Macleod's room, and I can never, forget 
 the affectionate kindness which my greatly beloved chief showed 
 me while for three months I remained in his castle. The number 
 of visitors who came there was great Maclean of Coll, Grant of 
 Corrymony, Mr. Grant, the father of Lord Glenelg, Principal 
 Macleod, of Aberdeen, Colonel Donald Macleod, father to the 
 present St. Kilda, were, with many others, among the guests. I
 
 334 APPENDIX, 
 
 formed a special regard for Major Macleod of Ballymeanach, who 
 had been a distinguished officer in the Dutch wars, and who kindly 
 entertained me with many interesting anecdotes regarding the war- 
 fare in which he had been engaged. 
 
 "One circumstance took place at the castle on this occasion 
 which I think worth recording, especially as I am the only person 
 now living who can attest the truth of it. There had been a 
 traditionary prophecy, couched in Gaelic verse, regarding the 
 family of Macleod, which, on this occasion, received a most extra- 
 ordinary fulfilment. This prophecy I have heard repeated by 
 several persons, and most deeply do I regret that I did not take a 
 copy of it when I could have got it. The worthy Mr. Campbell of 
 Knock, in Mull, had a very beautiful version of it, as also had my 
 father, and so, I think, had likewise Dr. Campbell of Killninver. 
 Such prophecies were current regarding almost all old families in 
 the Highlands ; the Argyll family were of the number ; and there 
 is a prophecy regarding the Breadalbane family as yet unfulfilled, 
 which I hope may remain so. The present Marquis of Breadalbane 
 is iully aware of it, as are many of the connections of the family. 
 Of the Macleod family it was prophesied at least a hundred years 
 prior to the circumstance which I am about to relate. 
 
 "In the prophecy to which I allude it was foretold, that when 
 Norman, the third Norman (' Tormaid nan' tri Tormaid '), the son 
 of the hard-boned English lady (' Mac na mnatha Caoile cruaidh 
 Shassanaich'), would perish by an accidental death; that when 
 the ' Maidens ' of Macleod (certain well-known rocks on the coast 
 of Macleod's country) became the property of a Campbell ; when a 
 fox had young ones in one of the turrets of the Castle, and, 
 particularly, when the Fairy enchanted banner should be for the 
 last time exhibited, then the glory of the Macleod family should 
 depart a great part of the estate should be sold to others, so that 
 a small ' curragh,' or boat, would carry all gentlemen of the name 
 of Macleod across Loch Dunvegan ; but that in times far distant 
 another John Breac should arise, who should redeem those estates, 
 and raise the powers and honour of the house to a higher pitch than 
 ever. Such in general terms was the prophecy. And now as to 
 the curious coincidence of its fulfilment. There was, at that time, 
 at Dunvegan, an English smith, with whom I became a favourite, 
 and who told me, in solemn secrecy, that the iron chest which con- 
 tained the ' fairy flag ' was to be forced open next morning ; that 
 he had arranged with Mr. Hector Macdonald Buchanan to be there 
 with his tools for that purpose. 
 
 " I was most anxious to be present, and I asked permission to
 
 APPENDIX. 335 
 
 that effect of Mr. Buchanan, who granted me leave on condition 
 that I should not inform any one of the name of Macleod that such 
 was intended, and should keep it a profound secret from the chief. 
 This I promised, and most faithfully acted on. Next morning we 
 proceeded to the chamber in the East Turret, where was the iron 
 chest that contained the famous flag, about which there is an 
 interesting tradition. 
 
 " With great violence the smith tore open the lid of this iron 
 chest ; but in doing so a key was found, under part of the cover- 
 ing, which would have opened the chest, had it been found in time. 
 There was an inner case, in which was found the flag, enclosed in 
 a wooden box of strongly scented wood. The flag consisted of a 
 square piece of very rich silk, with crosses wrought with gold 
 thread, and several elf-spots stitched with great care on different 
 parts of it. 
 
 " On this occasion, the melancholy news of the death of the 
 young and promising heir of Macleod, reached the castle. ' Norman, 
 the third Norman,' was a lieutenant of H.M.S. the Queen Charlotte, 
 which was blown up at sea, and he and the rest perished. At the 
 same time the rocks called ' Macleod's Maidens ' were sold, in the 
 course of that very week, to Angus Campbell of Ensay, and they 
 ase still in possession of his grandson. A fox in possession of a 
 Lieutenant Maclean, residing in the West Turret of the Castle, had 
 young ones, which I handled, and thus all that was said in 
 the prophecy alluded to was so far fulfilled, although I am glad 
 the family of my chief still enjoy their ancestral possessions, and 
 the worst part of the prophecy accordingly remains unverified. I 
 merely state the facts of the case as they occurred, without 
 expressing any opinion whatever as to the nature of these tradi- 
 tionary legends with which they were connected." 
 
 He also gives an account in these reminiscences of some 
 of his experiences while endeavouring to establish schools 
 in destitute places in the Hebrides : 
 
 In the spring of 1824 a contention, carried on with great party 
 warmth, took place among the leading men in Edinburgh, about 
 the election of Moderator to the ensuing General Assembly. 
 When Principal Baird, Dr. Inglis, and others (the leaders of the 
 Moderate party in the Church) applied to me for my support and 
 influence, I replied that I could on no account support them as a 
 party, for they had never given me any support in matters con- 
 nected with the Highlands, which I had repeatedly brought under
 
 336 APPENDIX. 
 
 their notice, and they had declined in an especial manner to assist 
 the efforts which were then being made to obtain a quarto edition 
 of the Gaelic Scriptures, although it had been repeatedly brought 
 under their notice ; and that, after explaining to them the grievance 
 of having only a Bible of so small a text as a 12ino edition, which 
 no one advanced in life could read, I received for answer from the 
 leader of that party (on whom I thought I had made some impres- 
 sion as he walked in his drawing-room before breakfast) : " That 
 is the breakfast bell ; just advise your Highland friends to get 
 spectacles." 
 
 The subject came under discussion again that day, and it ended 
 by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge most generously 
 coming forward and offering to give us the long wished for Quarto 
 Volume, to our great joy, and somewhat to the annoyance of our 
 opponents. 
 
 Dr. Stewart of Luss was appointed Convener of the Committee 
 chosen to carry out the resolution, and no better man for the pur- 
 pose could be found in the Church. I and several others were 
 associated with him in the work, and I did my best to aid him ; 
 but to him belongs the praise for the perfect manner with which it 
 was executed. 
 
 It was during the sittings of this Assembly that I resisted all the 
 applications made to me by Principal Baird to throw in whatever 
 little influence I possessed in support of the Moderate interests, 
 unless he and his party would aid us in promoting the education 
 of the people in the Highlands and Islands, where a melancholy 
 destitution of the means of education prevailed. 
 
 We got up a public supper, at which all the members, lay and 
 clerical, from the Highlands, were present. We drew up an 
 address to the Principal and his friends, in which they were 
 requested to institute a scheme for the promotion of education in 
 the Highlands and Isles. 
 
 As several overtures to that effect had been forwarded to the 
 Assembly, and would be discussed in the course of the following 
 week, when Dr. Inglis was to bring forward his motion in reference 
 to the Indian Scheme, the worthy Principal instantly consented 
 to be chairman in an Educational Scheme for the Highlands and 
 Islands, but with this condition, that he should not be asked to 
 speak in the General Assembly. As I was in possession of all the 
 facts connected with educational destitution in the Highlands, he 
 put into my hands the " Educational Statistics " by Lord 
 Brougham, which were very voluminous and valuable. 
 
 I at once agreed to the request made me by the Principal and
 
 APPENDIX. 337 
 
 several of my Highland friends, that I should bring this matter 
 under the notice of the General Assembly. I locked myself up for 
 several days, and with great care prepared the speech I was about 
 to deliver before the General Assembly on this important subject. 
 When the day fixed for the discussion arrived, the overtures relating 
 to the Indian Scheme and to the Highland Scheme were read, when 
 a controversy arose as to the priority to be given to either. Dr. 
 Cook, of St. Andrew's (the disappointed candidate for the moderator- 
 ship, but a most deservedly popular leader in the General Assembly), 
 insisted that the Highland Scheme should be discussed first, while 
 on the other hand Dr. Inglis and his friends insisted that preference 
 should be given to the Indian Scheme. 
 
 After a lengthened discussion, it was agreed that I should be 
 first heard. I was accordingly called upon to speak, when I stated 
 that out of personal respect for Dr. Inglis, who was my senior and 
 a father of the Church, I should give precedence at once to him, 
 provided that the Assembly came to no resolution about the 
 Hindoos till it had heard what we had to say about the Highlanders. 
 
 After the worthy Doctor had concluded his able speech, I 
 brought forward our case at great length, which was heard with 
 the most marked attention, and our statements enthusiastically 
 cheered. Never did any one enter upon the duties he had under- 
 taken with more enthusiastic ardour and devotion than did our 
 venerable chairman, nor did his efforts for one moment cease till 
 the hour of his death. I had great cause for thankfulness that I 
 had been enabled to bring this most important subject under the 
 notice of the Church. 
 
 It was agreed that the convener of the Committee for Highland 
 Education, the secretary, and I should visit the Highlands and 
 Isles early in the course of the following summer. An application 
 was made to the Treasury for the services of a revenue-cutter, to 
 convey us. This was very readily granted. Captain Henry Beatson, 
 oi" the Sicift, was directed to hold himself in readiness to convey 
 us, and to take in stores for our use ; with this latter part of his 
 orders, Captain Beatson most amply complied, as he took on board 
 at Grcenock provisions that would have served for a voyage to 
 Australia. 
 
 We first visited the Island of Islay, where we experienced 
 princely hospitality from Walter Campbell, to whom the island 
 at that time belonged. From Islay we proceeded to Jura ; from 
 thence to Oban, Lome, Appin, and Lismore; there we waited 
 upon the Roman Catholic Bishop McDonald, who received us with 
 great cordiality, and gave us letters to all his priests in the north, 
 VOL. I. Z
 
 338 APPENDIX. 
 
 recommending us to their special attention. We explained to him 
 at great length the nature of our Education Scheme, assuring him 
 that the inspection of our schools should always be open to the 
 Roman Catholic priests, and that no books should be given to the 
 children who were members of his Church except such as he should 
 approve of. Wherever we stopped on our delightful voyage, 
 fowls, vegetables, milk, cream, and butter and cheese were sent 
 on board, and, where they were not so sent, Captain Beatson was 
 not shy in asking them. 
 
 We visited Coll and Tyree, and from thence to the Western 
 Isles, visiting all the parishes as we went along, and, after con- 
 sulting with the proprietors and clergy, and ascertaining all the 
 statistics connected with the various places, we did not meet with 
 one heritor who did not grant ground for a school-house and 
 garden in the locality fixed upon. In Skye I went from Portree 
 to the parish of Dunvegan to attend the Communion, which was 
 administered in a field close to the burial-ground of Kilmuir, where 
 some of my ancestors and many of my relatives are interred. The 
 scene on this day was most impressive and solemn. The place 
 chosen was singularly fitted for such an occasion, being a natural 
 amphitheatre around which the people sat. It was calculated there 
 were upwards of three thousand people present ; and a more 
 attentive and apparently devout congregation I have seldom 
 witnessed assembled together. There was a large tent, formed of 
 spars and oars covered with sails, erected for the minister and his 
 assistant, while some of the better class erected other tents for 
 their own use. The church-bell rang for a quarter of an hour, 
 during which time not one word was spoken by any one in this 
 great congregation. 
 
 The day was most beautiful, a lovely summer day ; the place of 
 meeting was admirably chosen, there being a kind of ascent on the 
 field, which made a raised gallery. Several small, romantic glens 
 led to it, by which the people came to the place of worship. The 
 sun shone brightly, the winds were asleep, and nothing broke 
 the solemn silence save the voice of the preacher echoing amidst 
 the rocks, or the subdued sighs of the people. The preacher, on 
 such an occasion, has great power over his audience. The Gaelic 
 language is peculiarly favourable for solemn effect. The people 
 seem enfolded by the pastoral and craggy scenery around them 
 the heavens over their heads seem emblematic of the residence of 
 the God Whom they worship and of the final home they are taught 
 to hope for. They delight to hear the voice of prayer ascending 
 from the place where they stand to that throne above from which
 
 APPENDIX. 339 
 
 nothing but the blue sky seems to divide them ; and when all the 
 voices of such a vast congregation are united in religious adora- 
 tion, the whole creation round seems to be praising God. I have 
 indeed witnessed the effect of Gaelic preaching and of the singing 
 of the Psalms in that language, such as would now appear almost 
 incredible. 
 
 Standing among the thousands on that day assembled round 
 the old churchyard of Kilmuir a place hallowed by many tender 
 associations I never did feel more overpowered. 
 
 In singing the last verse of the seventy- second Psalm in our own 
 beautiful Gaelic version, the vast crowd stood up, and repeated the 
 last stanza and re-sung it with rapt enthusiasm. On this occasion 
 the first sermon was preached by the minister of a neighbouring 
 parish. 
 
 There were but two Table Services, at which a vast number of 
 communicants sat. The tables, and places for sitting, were con- 
 structed of green sods, decently covered. I had the privilege of 
 addressing one of these tables, and of preaching at the conclusion 
 a thanksgiving sermon from the words, " Grow in grace, and in 
 the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." When the whole service 
 was over, many old people, who had known my father and grand- 
 father, came to offer me their affectionate blessing. 
 
 The appearance of Loch Dunvegan that evening, covered with 
 small boats conveying the hearers to their homes, and the crowds 
 of people winding their way among the dark mountains, was 
 singularly striking. 
 
 I feel assured that such a scene as the Communion Service that 
 day at Dunvegan has never since been witnessed in Skye, and I 
 greatly fear never will be again. A gloomy fanaticism followed 
 the breaking up of the Established Church, and perhaps in no 
 part of the country did this bitterness exist more strongly than 
 in the Western Islands. In Skye especially it led to dividing 
 families and separating man from man, and altogether engendered 
 strife which I fear it will take years to calm down. 
 
 I returned to Portree to join the venerable Principal and my 
 other friends. 
 
 z 2
 
 34 o APPENDIX. 
 
 \ 
 
 A CRACK ABOOT THE KIKK FOR KINTRA FOLK. 
 
 First Crack. 
 
 Sounders. Are ye gaun to lee' the Kirk, John ? 
 
 John. Deed, Saunders, I am no vera keen about it; are ye gaun 
 to lee't yourseP ? 
 
 S. No yet, I'm thinkin' ; what for should I ? I ha'e been an 
 elder in't for twenty years come the winter sawcrament, and it's 
 no a waur Kirk but a hantle better ane syn' I cam' till't, and until 
 it gets waur, I'll bide and end my days in't, and if it gets waur, I 
 can aye lee't whan I like. 
 
 J. Ye'll no ha'e heard the deputations I'se warrant ? 
 
 S. Wha me ? Did I no ! if we are no wise it's no for want o' 
 tellin'. It puts my auld head in confusion a' this steer ! 
 
 J. They're surely desperat' keen o' the fechtan thae ministers 
 wi' a' their crack about britherly love and peace ! 
 
 S. Ye may say sae John, but ye ken, as the auld sayin' haes't, 
 " the best men are but men at the best." 
 
 J. Na', that's a truth! But pity me, could they no maun to 
 reform the kirk withoot sic a bizz ? sic .a fechtin' in sessions, 
 presbyteries, synods, and assemblies. Na, that'll no do, thae 
 maun ha'e a Convention like the Chartists. 
 
 S. A Convocation, John. 
 
 J. Weel, weel, it's no the richt Parliament, that's a'. And 
 that's no eneuch, for they maun haud meetin's every ither day in 
 their ain parishes, and ower and aboon, they maun tak' their 
 neebours' parishes in hand. Na, they're no dune yet, for they 
 maun ha'e committees o' a' the impudent, speaking, fashions, con- 
 ceited chiels, that are aye first and foremost in every steer ; and 
 tae keep them hett, they're aye bleezing at them wi' circulars, news- 
 papers, and addresses, and gif ony o' them change their mind, be 
 he minister or man, or daur to think for himsel', he is cry'd 
 doon for a' that's bad and wicked ! Na, it's desperate wark, 
 Saunders ! 
 
 S. Deed, John, the speerit that's abroad 's gien me unco con- 
 cern for the weelfare o' the Kirk o' Scotland, but mair especially 
 for the Church o' Christ in the land. It's richt that men should 
 ha'e their ain opinions, and if they think them gude, to haud them
 
 APPENDIX. 341 
 
 np and spread them in a richt and Christian way ; but this way 
 the ministers ha'e enoo o' gaun to work, I canna persuade mysel' 
 is in accordance wi' the speerit o' the apostles, wha gied them- 
 selves wholly tae prayer and the preaching o' the word, and were 
 aye thankfu' whan they had liberty to do baith, and wha said that 
 " the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle towards all 
 men," and that " tho' we should gi'e our bodies to be burned, we 
 were nothing, unless we had that love that thinketh no evil, that 
 beareth all things, that hopeth all things." 
 
 J. They put me in mind o' bees bummin' and fleeing aboot and 
 doin' little wark, and makin' nae kame in their ain skaip just afore 
 castin', or like thae writer bodies at an election gaun gallopin' 
 aboot the kintra, keepin' the steam up wi' speeches, and news- 
 papers, till the poll be bye. 
 
 S. I canna weel understaun't, for there are gude gude men 
 amaug them. They are surely sair mislaid ? for nae doot they 
 think they're richt. I think that pledging way is a sad snare tae 
 the conscience ; it baith keeps a man frae seein' that he's wrang, 
 or when he sees himsel' wrang, frae puttin' himself richt. 
 
 J. It wad be Faither Matthews, may be, that pit that plan in 
 their head ? 
 
 S. Oo, the men are perfect sincere, and gaun aboot, doubtless, 
 to pit folk in mind o' what they think their duty, and o' their richts 
 and preeveleges. 
 
 J. Sincere ! It's nae comfort tae me tae tell me whan a man's 
 gaun to cut my throat that he's sincere ; and as tae stirrin' up the 
 folk to min' their ain rights, they needna think that necessar', for 
 if the folk are wranged, they'll fin't oot wi'oot the ministers tellin' 
 them. If a man has a sair leg or a sick body ye needna keep 
 prokin' at him and roarin' in his lug a' day that he's no weel ; or 
 if he's in jail, or turned oot o' his hoose tae the streets, ye needna 
 be threepin' doon his throat that he canna be comfortable ; he kens 
 that better than you ; but if ye get haud o' a nervish fleed waik 
 body, a doctor can persuade him that he's deean, and mak* him 
 ruin himsel' wi' pooders and bottles ; and if he's hett tempered 
 and proud, a Chartist can, maybe, persuade him that he's a slave, 
 and bound wi' aims. Noo, a' this mischief comes frae gabby 
 speakers wha mak' the evil, and then lea' decent folk tae reform it. 
 
 S. Ye're ower hett on't yersel, John, I can see gude on baith 
 sides, and difficulties on a', and muckle tae reform, tho' no eneuch 
 tae destroy; but here comes the Dominie and Will Jamieson, the 
 tailor, alang the road, and ye'es get it noo, lad, for ye're in the 
 hands o' the Philistines.
 
 342 APPENDIX. 
 
 J. I am but a plain weaver, Saunders, and no fit tae argue wi' 
 the Dominie, tho' I carena about stickin' up tae Will, for him and 
 me has mony a fecht at meal hours aboot this Non-Intrusion ; but 
 ye're an elder o' the kirk, and should staun' up for't. Let us sit 
 doon on the brigg here, it's a grand place for a crack. 
 
 Dominic. Good day, Alexander good day, John. 
 
 S. & J. Gude day tae ye baith. 
 
 Will. Ye'll be at yer auld work, nae doot, haudin' up the Kirk ? 
 
 J. An' ye'll be at yer auld wark, pullin't doon ? 
 
 S. Indeed, John and me war' jist crackin' aboot our auld Kirk, 
 and he thinks ye're gaun tae ding it doon a' thegither. 
 
 .7. Na, I ken naething about it, Maister. Am unco concerned 
 for its walfare, and me and Saunders are muckle o' ae mind that 
 there's something far wrang whae'er haes the blame. 
 
 D. You may say so, John ; they are surely far wrong when 
 Ministers of the Gospel can be forced upon reclaiming congregations 
 against the will of the people ; when the civil power can interfere 
 with the Church in the discharge of her spiritual duties ; when 
 the State, not Christ, assumes to be head of the Church. When 
 all power of exercising Church discipline is taken from her, surely, 
 then, Ichabod, " the glory is departed," may be written upon her 
 walls ! 
 
 Will. An' the ministers maun gang noo tae the Court o' Session 
 tae get a text for their sermons, an' tae see wha's tae be let into 
 the communion table, for nae minister nor elder can cheep noo 
 unless wi' their bidding, and 
 
 J. That's a wheen blethers, Will ! an' it's aye your way to run 
 aff wi' the harrows. 
 
 8. Stap noo lads, dinna begin the fechtin' like twa dogs ower a 
 bane. But I wad like, Mr. Brown, tae hear your opinion anent 
 this question. Ye ha'e mentioned mony a bad thing (as ye say) 
 that's come tae the Kirk, and it's no easy tae pick a' the threedsout 
 o' sic a ravelled hank, but gif the tae half was true o' what ye say 
 I wadna stay in the Kirk anither sabbath, unless we could get 
 things mended ! But either o' us are far mista'en. But first o' a', 
 what think ye o' the Non-Intrusion question ? 
 
 D. I think that no man should be minister in any parish con- 
 trary to the will of the people. I thought this question was settled 
 in the mind of every good man. 
 
 S. Do ye mean that nae man should be a minister o' a parish if 
 the folk jist say they'll no ha'e him, wi'oot gi'en rhyme or reason, 
 wi'oot sayin' why or wherefore, wi'oot sayin' black's yer e'e or 
 ought against him !
 
 APPENDIX. 343 
 
 D. Just so, if the Christian people say no no it must be. For 
 who dare say yes ? 
 
 S. That was aye the opinion o' the Dissenters, but I ne'er kent 
 that it was the law o' the Kirk, so that it couldua be a Kirk at a' 
 wi'oot it. 
 
 Z>. It is the law ; read from First and Second Books of Dis- 
 cipline. 
 
 6'. I ha'e read them, an' I couldna see that law in them; at 
 least, if it was in them I ne'er kent the state had agreed till't. 
 
 W. Tak' oot yer Books o' Discipline, Maister, and read the bits 
 tae Saunders, he an' the like o' him are keepit in darkness. 
 
 J. He canna be in darkness wi' sic a new light as you, "VYull ; 
 tho' I am feared ye'll pruve but a penny dip after a' ! 
 
 D. Here are the Books of Discipline. Let us look at them ; 
 there is the first book, chap, iv., "It appertaineth to the people 
 and every several congregation to elect their minister." 
 
 8. There was nae Pawtronage then at a', it seems. 
 
 D. No, there was not in the Protestant church, and the people 
 had a right to elect their minister ; but, if within forty days 
 they did not exercise this right, the superintendent and his 
 counsel 
 
 ./. He was a kind o' Bishop, I tak' it. 
 
 D. Never mind but he presented, after examination, a minister 
 to the vacant congregation. Now, obsei've these words, " alto- 
 gether this is to be avoided, that any man be violently intruded or 
 thrust in upon any congregation ; " there, ye see, is the Non- 
 Intrusion in the First Book of Discipline. 
 
 S. Let me see't, sir. But what say ye, Mr. Brown, to the rest 
 o' the passage ? It's no fair the way you Non-Intrusionists aye 
 stop at that part o' the sentence, for it gangs on to say, "But 
 violent intrusion we call not when the counsel of the Church, in the 
 fear of God, and for the salvation of the people, offereth unto them 
 a, sufficient man to instruct them, whom they shall not be forced to 
 admit before just examination." An' quite richt that, but see, they 
 daurna reject this man wi'oot "just and sufficient reason," for it 
 says, " that they shall be compelled, by the censure of the counsel 
 and church, to receive the person appointed and approved by the 
 judgment of the godly and learned." 
 
 J. That's no your kind o' Non-Intrusion, Will ; there can be 
 nae reasons in your liberty-line ? 
 
 S. But they tell me this First Buke o' Discipline was ne'er 
 agreed tae by the State : that it was just made by the Kirk when 
 (she was in the voluntary way, an' whan she might mak' what laws
 
 344 APPENDIX. 
 
 she liked wi'oot losing her Establishment, for she wasna established 
 at a'. 
 
 W. Tak' him, Mr. Brown, then, tae the Second Book o' Dis- 
 cipline, if this ane 'ill no please him. 
 
 D. Yes, there can be little doubt what the mind of the Church 
 was in reference to Non-Intrusion when that book was composed. 
 In chap. xii. it is declared " the liberty of the election of persons 
 called to the ecclesiastical functions, and observed without inter- 
 ruption so long as the Kirk was not corrupted by antichrist, we 
 desire to be restored and retained within this realm. So that none 
 be intruded upon any congregation either by the Prince or any infe- 
 rior persons without lawful election, and the assent of the people 
 over whom the person is placed, as the practice of the apostolical 
 and primitive Kirk, and good order, craves. And, because this 
 order which God's word craves cannot stand with patronage and 
 presentation to benefices used in the Pope's kirk, &c., &c., and for 
 so much as that manner of proceeding has no ground in the word of 
 God, but is contrary to the same, and to the said liberty of election, 
 they ought not now to have place in this light of reformations." 
 So, you see, that patronage is " against the word of God," " flows 
 from the Pope's church," and "cannot stand with the liberty of 
 election and of consent which the people should have." 
 
 Will. That'll dae ye surely, Saunders ? 
 
 S. I see the teetle o' that chapter is " Certain special Heads o f 
 Reformation which we crave" But I ha'e been telt, and ne'er 
 heard it contradicted, that the State ne'er gied them this they craved. 
 
 P. The Second Book of Discipline was agreed to by the State. 
 
 S. But no this bit o't, for surely wi' a' they say against paw- 
 tronage they tuik it ? 
 
 J. I'se warrant they wadna tak' a Kirk wi' sic an unholy thing, 
 did they, Maister ? 
 
 D. Why why, I believe they did. 
 
 J. Did they fac ! an' yet they say that what ye ca' Non- 
 Intrusion couldna staun' wi't ! 
 
 Will. But do ye no see that if they hadna ta'en the Kirk wi' 
 patronage then, they couldna ha'e got a Kirk established at a' ? 
 
 J. I see that as weel as you. I see they couldna keep Non- 
 Intrusion in ae hand and an Establishment in the ither ; that these 
 couldna staun' thegither ; but were they no gleg tae haud a grip o' 
 a' gude establishment wi' manses, glebes, and stipends, wi'oot 
 Non-Intrusion, than to ha'e a voluntary Kirk wi'oot patronage, 
 that's what they should dae yet. 
 
 D. They cannot do it ; for even though Non-Intrusion (as it is
 
 APPENDIX. 345 
 
 in the Books of Discipline) might not have been agreed to by the 
 State, tho' I say it was it is yet in the Word of God, and that 
 is enough for me, for the Church rests her claims, not on her 
 Books of Discipline only, but also on the immovable foundation of 
 the Word of God. 
 
 S. I am vera dootfu' aboot this way o' fatherin' ilka thing that 
 comes into ane's head on the Word ; I ne'er could see ae way o' 
 Kirk government in the Word o' God. 
 
 D. What ! you an elder who have in the most solemn manner 
 declared that you believe the Presbyterian form of Church govern- 
 ment to be agreeable to the word of God ! you to speak thus ? 
 
 8. Aye ! agreeable tae the speerit o' the Word, but maybe no 
 found in the letter o' the Word. 
 
 D. But can you think that the great Head would leave no 
 directions to His Church as to its government ? 
 
 S. Directions ! there's nae doubt he has left directions ; he 
 has telt us that the field o' our wark is the world, that the seed is 
 to be sawn, and he has appointed ministers and office-bearers for 
 the sawing o' the seed, and all is to be dune that much fruit may 
 be brought forth to the glory o' God ; but I quastion if He has 
 gien verra preceese directions aboot the way the workmen in the 
 vineyard are to be appointed, or about a' the various kinds o' 
 instruments, the pleughs, the harrows, that are to be used for 
 cultivating the field, or for workin't sae that it may bring forth a 
 gude crap. 
 
 Will. That's queer doctrine ! Did he no tell Moses that a' 
 things were to be made accordin' to the pattern gien him on the 
 mount ? 
 
 J. Wha's speakin' about Moses ? Ise warrant he was obleeged to 
 mak' a' things accordin' to the pattern because he got ane ! aye, a 
 pattern o' the verra candlesticks, and o' their nobs ! And doe ye 
 no think that God could hae gien as preceese a pattern o' the 
 Christian Kirk if it had been his wull, that there should be ae form 
 for the whole world ? or as Saunders would say, If every field and 
 every soil was just to be ploughed, harrowed, and sawn doon iii 
 the same way ? 
 
 Will. I would think, John, the truth wad be truth in every 
 part ; that if a thing was true in Scotland, it wad be true in every 
 ither part o' the world. 
 
 J. I would think sae tae Will, but we are no speakin' about the 
 truth, but aboot the way o getten't, and it doesna hinder a man to 
 get the truth as weel as you, tho' he doesna clap on your specks 
 tae see't .'
 
 346 APPENDIX. 
 
 D. But, Alexander, I think it is hardly possible for any unpre- 
 judiced man to read the New Testament, and not to see clear 
 intimations of the will of the great Head of the church, in reference 
 to the right inherent in its members to elect their pastors ; or at all 
 events, to exercise such an influence in their selection, as to prevent 
 any one being placed over them without his first being tried by the 
 people. 
 
 S. I canna say, Mr. Brown, that I ever saw that verra clearly 
 set doon in the word o' God ; whar do ye find't ? 
 
 D. In the history we have of the election of an Apostle, and of 
 a Deacon, and in the commands which are given to the Christian 
 people, to beware of false prophets, to try the spirits ; examples 
 which if followed, and commands which if obeyed, are utterly 
 inconsistent with any view of Church Government but the one 
 recognised by the popular party in the church of Scotland. 
 
 J. That's a' verra full text that ye hae, maister. 
 
 Will. Break it doon for them, and gie them't in parts then ; 
 begin wi' the elections o' the Apostles and Deacons. 
 
 D. That's easily done, and I candidly think ought to convince. 
 We have an account of the election of an apostle in the first chapter 
 of the Acts. It is there said, " And they appointed two, Joseph 
 called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And 
 they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all 
 men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen, that he may 
 take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by 
 transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they 
 gave forth their lots : and the lot fell upon Matthias ; and he was 
 numbered with the eleven Apostles." Is not that popular 
 election ? 
 
 S. I candidly tell you that I'm verra doubtful about it ; for 
 ye'l notice, in the first place, when it's said " they appointed two," 
 and " they prayed," and " they gave forth their lots," it doesna say 
 who, did this, the people or the apostles. Then see again it wasna 
 them that selected but Christ, " shew whether of these two Thou 
 hast chosen," for he had chosen all the others ; and lastly, the 
 mind of Christ was found out by lot ! My opinion is, that this 
 was a supernatural way o' choosin' out an office-bearer, ane 
 that's no in the Christian church at a' noo, viz., an apostle. 
 
 Will. It proves to my mind that folk should hae a say in the 
 election o' a minister. 
 
 J. It proves jist as weel vote by ballot ! 
 
 D. I am merely stating you my opinion, and you have a perfect 
 right to state yours. I think of course that the election of Matthias
 
 APPENDIX. 347 
 
 is intended to guide the Christian Church in all ages. This opinion 
 is confirmed by what took place in the electing of a deacon. 
 
 J. We hae nae deacons at a' noo ; the only ane I ever kent was 
 auld Jock Morton, the deacon o' the tailors. 
 
 8. Whist, John, wi' your nonsense ; mony o' our Kirks hae 
 deacons, and we would hae them here if the office o' the deacon 
 wasna performed by the elders, and I think the two offices should 
 be distinct in every Christian congregation. 
 
 Will. And elected by the people. 
 
 D. That I think is intimated very clearly and beyond all doubt, 
 in the history given us in the sixth chapter of the Acts. There can 
 be no doubt that they were elected by the people, for we read that 
 the twelve called the multitude and said, "wherefore, brethren, 
 look ye out among you men whom we will appoint over this 
 business, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the 
 ministry of the word," and it is added that the saying pleased the 
 people, and that they elected the deacons accordingly ; what can 
 be plainer ? 
 
 8. But a deacon's no a minister, he doesna teach but looks 
 after the poor ; and it was but richt and fair that the folk that sub- 
 scribed the money should elect frae amongst them, them that were 
 to pay it awa ; and when the people pay their ministers it will be 
 time eneuch to quastion whether they should elect them. 
 
 J. It's my mind, frae readin' that history, that had it no been 
 for the grumbling o' the Grecians against the Hebrews, for their 
 widows no gettin' their ain share o' the puir's money, there wad 
 hae been nae deacons at a' ! There's twa things, hooever, gien us 
 plain there, namely, that the kirk had deacons tlien, and that the 
 minister gied themselves wholly to prayer and preaching o' the 
 word then, but I canna see thae twa things in the kirk noo, 
 and surely thae things are plainer than Non-Intrusion. 
 
 D. If the people then were enabled to judge of men having such 
 high qualifications as these " Men of honest report, full of the 
 Holy Ghost and wisdom," I think they can hardly ever be called 
 upon to judge of higher. Would that they had a body from whom 
 they could make such noble selections ! 
 
 S. Ye may say sae, maister ! and would that we had sic' a body 
 o' communicants as electors, and that we had sic a presbytery as 
 the apostles to chack their election ! that's what I say, that thinys 
 that might tvork weel eneuch then will no dae noo. 
 
 Will. I'll ne'er agree tae that ! There's naething surely should 
 be in the Christian Church noo that wasna in the Christian Church 
 then ; if there is, it canna be accordin' to the word o' God.
 
 348 APPENDIX. 
 
 J. Naething in the Christian Church noo but what was in't 
 then ! Whare will ye get parishes, and parish Kirks, and stipends, 
 and glebes, and heritors' meetings in the early Christian Kirk ? I 
 wunder, Will, hoo ye ever cam intae the Kirk o' Scotland wi' that 
 wheen nonsense ? If ye hadna some scent o' sense in ye, I 
 wadna wunder tae hear ye propose that a' the communicants noo 
 should kiss ane anither, as they did then. 
 
 Will. The matter's ower serious for that jokin' ; ye're frightened 
 for the argument aboot tryin' the speerits ; that's aye hair in yer neck. 
 
 S. I wish ye would baith tak' an example frae Mr. Brown, wha 
 states his argument calmly and decently, and then lets folk judge 
 it. What's your mind on that passage aboot tryin' the speerits ? 
 
 D. The passage is this, " Beloved, believe not every spirit but 
 try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false 
 prophets are gone into the world." These are the words of the 
 beloved disciple, who probably had in his eye the equally clear 
 commandment of his master, " Beware of false prophets, who 
 come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous 
 wolves." 
 
 S. And what do these passages, do you think, prove ? 
 
 D. They prove that " the spirits," " the prophets," or 
 " ministers " are to be tried by the disciples ; that this is not 
 a privilege conferred upon them by the church, which they may 
 or may not exercise, which the church can give or take away ; 
 but that it is a solemn duty which the Christian people must per- 
 form, as they shall answer to their great Head ; now our Kirk 
 believing that the Christian people had, during the sway of 
 moderatism, been deprived of this right, and desiring to legislate 
 according to the word of God, did in 1834 pass the much abused 
 veto-law. 
 
 J. A lang text again, Mr. Brown ! but I dootna Saunders 
 would gie a gude comment on't. 
 
 S. It seems tae me verra doobtfu' what is meant by the com 
 mand "try the spirits." Some commentators think that it was 
 an extraordinary gift o' the Speerit which the early Christian 
 Church had this power o' discernin' the speerits o' ither men 
 tae ken whether they should be admitted as church members, or 
 tae ken whether the prophets were tellin' the truth or tellin' lies 
 when they were foretelling things to come. But even grantin' 
 that the meanin' o' the passage is such as ye mak' it oot, what's 
 tae hinder the disciple frae trying speerits noo as then, and frae 
 being beware o' false prophets ? Every disciple in the parish 
 Church should try the speerit o' the parish minister, and if he
 
 APPENDIX. 349 
 
 doesna think that he is guided by the Spirit of God, that he's 
 no preaching the gospel, he should try the speerit o' anither 
 minister. 
 
 Will. But what if ye hae nae ither minister tae gang till; I 
 maun tak' the parish minister though ye dinna like him, or else 
 want. 
 
 S. A sair, sair business, black business, if a presbytery o' 
 ministers meeting in the name o' Christ, pit in a man that 
 doesna preach the glad tidings o' the gospel fully and freely ! 
 Sic things maybe, but we are a' sinfu' men, an' there's nae system 
 perfect ; and even if there war popular election, we read o' a 
 time when they wull not endure sound doctrine, but after their 
 own lusts shall they heap tae themselves teachers, having itching 
 ears, and they shall turn away these ears from the truth, and 
 shall be turned into fables ; and I'm auld eneuch tae ken that 
 there's as muckle pawtronage, o' as tyrannical a kind as e'er was 
 in the kirk, among mony dissenters that they're no a bit better 
 pleased, nor sae weel pleased mony o' them, wi' their ministers, 
 than we are wi' ours, and they hae nae cause tae be sae. 
 
 Will. But ist no an unnatural thing pawtronage ? 
 
 S. It may be unnatural tae see a German lad and an English 
 lassie owre the great British empire, but like pawtronage, it works 
 maybe better than if the King was tae be elected. 
 
 J. But do ye think, maister, that a Kirk canna be a Kirk o' 
 Christ unless the folk hae the power ye speak o' ? 
 
 D. No Church can be a Church of Christ unless it obeys Christ's 
 commands. 
 
 ,7. Bootless ; but then ye see a' the dispute is aboot what the 
 commands o' Christ are, an' if they be what ye mak' them oot tae 
 be, if the people maun a' try the speerits o' their pastors, what 
 becam' o' the Kirk o' Scotland up tae 1834 ? Wha tryed the 
 speerits o' thae ministers that are crying oot sae muckle aboot the 
 richt o' the people tae do sae noo ? Wha tryed the speerit o' that 
 lang-legged chiel, what d'ye cae him, wi' the spats and umbrella, 
 that cam' here wi' the deputation ? I am telt there wasna twenty 
 signed his call. 
 
 Will. The pastoral relation canna be formed withoot full con- 
 sent, for he that cometh in, ye ken, by a wrang door, is a thief 
 and a robber. 
 
 J. Sae be it ; but if he comes in by the wrang door, and stays 
 in, he is a thief and a robber, till he gangs out and comes in by 
 the richt way ; but will ony o' ye tell me what way the Kirk o 1 
 Scotland was before the passing o' this veto ?
 
 350 APPENDIX. 
 
 D. For 112 years she was under moderate rule, and the rights 
 of the Christian people were trampled upon. 
 
 Will. The Christian people couldna cheep, they had nae power 
 at a', and the kirk wasna gaun according to the mind o' God, but 
 clean against. 
 
 J. We hae surely been in a desperate state. 
 
 Will. We couldna weel be waur. 
 
 J. I'se warrant the Kirk o' Scotland couldna be a Kirk o' Christ 
 then. 
 
 Will. Deed she was far frae't. 
 
 J. I canna thole this nonsense ! If she wasna a Kirk o' Christ, 
 hoo did a' they ministers that are bleezing against her come into 
 her at a' ? hoo did ye become a communicant in her ? hoo did 
 God bless her, and mak' her a blessing ? And if she teas a Kirk o' 
 Christ without your vetoes, would she no continue a Kirk o' Christ 
 tho a' your vetoes were done awa' wi', and a' this stramash put an 
 end to, and she to gang back to what she was before 1834 ? 
 
 S. Tae gang back, but in truth tae gang forward ! for I'se des- 
 perate keen for gude reform, and wad like the folk had mair power ; 
 but I wad like to get it in a legal way ; I would like to improve the 
 machine, put in new screws, and mend what was awanting, and 
 gie't plenty o' oil ; but I'm no for breaking doicn the machine a' the- 
 yither that has done sae muckle gude, because it's no fashioned to 
 the pattern o' this man or that. It was that veto law played a' 
 the mischief ! 
 
 J. Wi'oot even being agreeable to the word of God ! according 
 as Mr. Brown lays't doun. 
 
 Will. It was agreeable to the word o' God. 
 
 J. Was't ? ye tell us that a' the disciples should try the speerits 
 that a' the disciples should hae a say in the election o' a 
 minister ; noo ane wad think that the Kirk would gie us popular 
 election after that. Na, says the Kirk, nane o' the female disciples 
 and the female disciples were among the greatest ornaments of 
 the early Kirk nane o' them are to hae a say nane o' the young 
 men are to hae a say nane o' the servant-lads are to hae a say 
 nane but the male heads are tae cheep as if a' the sense o' the 
 congregation was in their heads ; and little sense after a' maun be 
 in them ! for it's no expected o' them that they can hae sense 
 enough tae gie reasons ; but just tae say, No ! That's a droll way 
 o' trying the speerits, and being ready to gie a reason for the faith 
 that's in them tae every man. Noo the veto was nather agreeable 
 to the word o' God as it's laid down by you, nor was it agreeable 
 to the law o' the land as laid down by all the judges. And, if she
 
 APPENDIX. 351 
 
 has got into this scrape it wasna for want o' tellin' and warnin'. 
 Mony a time it was said in the Assembly that a' this mischief wad 
 come. Even the gude Dr. M'Crie, I'm telt by Mr. Struthers, said 
 before the House o' Commons afore it was passed, that the Kirk 
 had nae powers tae pass this law, and that it wad bring us into 
 confusion. 
 
 S. I am clear about its unlawfulness, and that when the Kirk 
 passed that law she took the first word o' flyting, and that her 
 determination to keep that law, tho' it has been declared illegal, 
 has been the grand cause o' her late troubles. 
 
 Will. There ye gang with your Erastianism, putting the law o' 
 the land higher than the law of God putting the ceevil courts 
 aboon the church of Christ making the king the head o' the Kirk. 
 
 J. Hae ye got into this line, Will, o' calling your neighbour 
 nicknames ; and cramming doon folks' throats opinions they 
 abominate, and putting sentiments in their tongues they never 
 uttered ? It's no fair. 
 
 D. Neither is it fair for you to assert that the church disobeys 
 the law and is a rebel ? 
 
 8. Does she no disobey the law ? 
 
 D. No ! for she denies that it is the law. 
 
 S. But haena the ceevil courts declared that the Kirk broke the 
 law, and broke her bargain wi' the state, when she passed the 
 veto ; that she interfered wi' the ceevil richts o' pautrons, and that 
 as lang as she keeps the veto she's breaking the law ? 
 
 D. Yes, the civil courts have declared so, but the Church Courts 
 have declared otherwise. Now the Church Courts are as much 
 courts of the country as the civil courts are, and have an equal right 
 with them to interpret law as affecting the church ; you surely do 
 not think that the civil courts should have the power of laying 
 down the law to the Church ; as to what her duty is in spiritual 
 matters ; that would be subjecting the church to the state with a 
 vengeance ! 
 
 S. Na ! naebody that I ken thinks sae, and Mr. Simpson tells 
 me that the ceevil courts intend nae sic thing, but only lay doon 
 the bargain the Kirk made wi' the state tae keep her till't. Let 
 me speir at you, Sir, are there ony laws o' the State aboot the 
 puttin' in o' ministers at a' ? or has the State left the established 
 Kirk to mak ony law she likes tae hae patronage or nae patronage 
 election by the male heads an election by the communicants, 
 just as she pleases tae try what man she likes for a parish or no 
 tae try; or are there ony Acts o' Parliament or ony laws o' the 
 land aboot thae things-?
 
 32 APPENDIX. 
 
 D. There have certainly been many Acts of Parliament about 
 these matters. 
 
 Will. That's whaur the Voluntaries say we are wraug, tae hae 
 thae things in Acts o' Parliament at a' ! 
 
 J. An ye would like tae hae acts, and no tae be bund by them ! 
 But what I say is this, there's nae harm to be bund tae a thing we 
 hae agreed tae, nor to be bund doon tae dae what's richt, and tae 
 walk in ae road when it's for the gude o' the hail community, it's 
 better this than tae hae a voluntary liberty o' loupin ower hedges 
 and dykes. 
 
 S. You twa are desperate keen for a colleyshangy, ye're aye 
 interrupting me and Mr. Brown. Ye were saying, Sir, there were 
 different acts aboot the puttin' in o' ministers ; noo wha passed 
 thae acts ? and for what Kirk ? 
 
 D. They were passed of course by the British Parliament, for 
 the protection of the Church of Scotland. 
 
 S. The British Parliament ! is that a ceevil body ? 
 
 D. Undoubtedly it is ! you cannot suppose it an ecclesiastical 
 body? 
 
 S. Weel, surely the acts o' a ceevil body are ceevil acts, and 
 whatna court but a ceevil court should explain them ? 
 
 D. But you will observe that these acts refer to spiritual and 
 religious matters. 
 
 J. Sae do the acts aboot the Sabbath-day; for wasna Tarn 
 Speirs, that ne'er-do-weel, afore the Shirra, Friday was aught-days, 
 and tried by him for breaking thae acts. 
 
 D. You observe, Sanders, what I before said was, that while 
 the civil courts should interpret these acts, the Church Courts 
 should interpret them as well. 
 
 Will. And that's but fair play. If twa folk war disputin' aboot 
 a march dyke, it's surely richt that theae man should hae as muckle 
 say aboot it as the tither ; and sae whan the Kirk and State diner 
 aboot their march, it's but fair the Kirk should hae a say aboot it 
 as weel as the State. 
 
 J. Aye, Will and baith should gang tae a third pairty the 
 ceevil courts, that explain a' bargains, and refer the matter tae 
 them. But ye wad like the Kirk tae draw her ain march wi' the 
 state, and naebody tae challenge'!, wi'oot his being caad an enemy 
 tae the headship ! 
 
 S. Weel ! I hae nae objections as an elder, that the ceevil 
 courts should hae the sole power o' sayan no what a Kirk o' 
 Christ should teach or do, that nae power on yirth can say but 
 o' declaring what preeveleges the state has promised tae gie the
 
 APPENDIX. 35 j 
 
 Kirk o' Scotland as an establishment, and what she has pledged 
 hersel tae dae while established. I ken mysel that I haena the 
 education nor the knowledge tae ken law far less tae gie a vote 
 against the judges and the lord chancellor aboot the law o' the 
 land. Nor do I think I'm gaun against the headship in this ; for I 
 ne'er kent that tae explain Acts o' Parliament was ane o' the 
 preeveleges conferred on me as a Christian man. And let me ax 
 if the twa courts hae the richt tae explain the verra same act 
 what's to be dune if they gie twa meanings tie't? they maun 
 baith be law ? hoo can a man serve twa maisters ? 
 
 J. Na, that's a truth. If the Ceevil Courts say the act means sae 
 and sae, that the craw is black ; and if the Kirk Courts say it means 
 sae and sae, that the craw's wliite ; and if I maun obey the law, 
 and if my gude name, and my comfort, and the comfort o r a my 
 family; na, maybe the peace and welfare o' the community and 
 kirk depends on my sayan whether the craw's white or black, 
 what i' the world can I do, when I want tae dae what's richt ? 
 
 -D. Let the Church Courts follow out their interpretation with 
 spiritual effects, and let the civil courts follow out their interpreta- 
 tion with civil effects, and this prevents all clashing. 
 
 S. It's a guy confused business ! and I wunder hoo folk are sae 
 mad at ane anither when they differ on't, and hoo some o' the 
 lassocks and lads are sae gleg sure aboot it ; and abune a' hoo they 
 would ding doon a Kirk aboot sic difficult questions. But yet I 
 canna see hoo your way can keep the twa Courts sundry ; for what 
 if each o' them bid a man do the same thing ? And I'm tell't that 
 this is just what they did. The Ceevil Courts in explaining the 
 law, said tao the presbyteries o' Strathbogie and Auchterarder, 
 " Gude or bad, the law is that ye are tae try the presentee and no 
 the folks, and if ye think him fit for the place the bargain is, ye 
 are to put him in ; the craw's black! " Then the Kirk courts said : 
 41 The law is that the folks are tae try him, and if they are no 
 pleased, ye are tae hae naething tae do with him ; that's the law ; 
 the craw's white /" " Black it is ! " says the Presbytery o' Strath- 
 bogie. " Gif ye say sae," says the Kirk Courts, " doon wi' your 
 lishences, and awa oot o' your parishes." " We say sae," says 
 the presbytery o' Strathbogie, " for we think the Ceevil Courts hae 
 alano the richt tae tell us what's the meaning o' an Act o' Parlia- 
 ment." "Richt," says the Ceevil Courts ! "andwe'l protect ye 
 in your parishes, and no let ye be put to beggary for obeying the 
 law." " The craw's white I " says the Presbytery o' Auchterarder, 
 " and we'l no try the presentee." " Wrang," says the Ceevil 
 Courts, " we'l fine ye for no doing your duty, and for keeping 
 VOL. I. A A
 
 354 APPENDIX. 
 
 a man unlawfully frae the parish." " Richt," says the Church 
 Courts, " and ne'er gie in that the craw's black, for if ye dae ye'll 
 be enemy tae your Kirk." Say what ye like it's a bothersome 
 business ! 
 
 D. But I have a practical question to put to you, Saunders. 
 Supposing the civil courts were to command you to do anything 
 contrary to the law of God, would you as an elder or a member of 
 the Church obey it ? 
 
 Will. Ay, that's the question. 
 
 8. Hoo can it be a question with a Christian man? Surely 
 even a babe in Christ kens that it is his duty, his first and fore- 
 most duty, to obey God rather than men, tho' these men should 
 be members of Parliament, or members of Assembly, statesmen or 
 churchmen. 
 
 J". "Weel done, Saunders ! 
 
 D. And what would you do then, if you were put in this posi- 
 tion, the Civil Courts telling you that, as an office-bearer in the 
 Establishment, you were bound to do something, which you think 
 contrary to your duty to Christ ? 
 
 8. I would leave the Kirk, I wadna try and break the bargain ; 
 but I would say tae the state, The bargain's a bad ane, and I'll leave 
 your service and be a Voluntary, and then I can mak a law the day, 
 and change it the morrow. 
 
 D. Leave the Church ! when you are acting agreeably to the 
 mind of God, and obeying his most holy word ! Is that not giving 
 up all spiritual independence, the right to act in spiritual matters, 
 uncontrolled by any power in earth. 
 
 8. I believe the Kirk has perfect liberty and spiritual indepen- 
 dence to do the wark she promised to do, to teach the doctrines 
 she agreed tae teach as an Established Kirk, but that she has nae 
 power tae gang beyond that without becoming a Voluntary Kirk. 
 
 D. You surely don't mean to assert that a Church of Christ on 
 becoming Established, can give up a particle of that liberty which 
 essentially belongs to her as a Church of Christ ! 
 
 8. Certainly not ! but it's maybe no easy to say what liberty 
 essentially belongs to a Kirk o' Christ ; but I ken this, that there's 
 mony a thing she might do as a Voluntary Kirk, that's completely 
 oot o' her power to do as long as she is an Established Kirk. 
 
 Will. I think ye'll no mak that oot, Saunders. 
 
 8. It's no ill tae mak that out. Hae we spiritual independence 
 to change ae doctrine in the Confession of Faith ? hae we spiritual 
 independence tae put awa patronage ? tae gie the election tae the 
 people ? tae put down ony o' the Kirk Coorts ? or tae pit up ony
 
 APPENDIX. 355 
 
 mair ? Hae the ministers power tae draw their stipends, and tae 
 preach whaur they please ? 
 
 Will. We surely hae. 
 
 S. We surely hae na as an Establishment : nae douht the Kirk o' 
 Scotland might mak a' thae changes the morrow, but she would be 
 nae langer the Kirk Establishment. She maun gie up her connection 
 wi' the State, or be bound wi' the acts that made her an established 
 Kirk ; gie up her bargain or keep it. 
 
 Will. But if the Church cam' to the opinion, that ony act was 
 against the Word of God, would she no be bound to disobey that, 
 or would she hae nae leeberty tae change it ? 
 
 8. No ! she would hae liberty to become a Voluntary Kirk, but 
 she could hae nae liberty as lang as she remained in connection with 
 the State to change the bargain ivithout the State agreeing. Do ye 
 think, that if the State had agreed to the veto law, that the Kirk 
 could hae changed that law the week after and gien the power to 
 the folk to elect the ministers ? if the Kirk can do this, I kenna 
 what's the gude o' bothering itsel to get acts o' Parliament at a'. 
 
 J. There's a hantle o' talk aboot the Kirk said this and the Kirk 
 said that ; but after all, I'm thinking it just means, that some min- 
 isters in Edinbro' said this and that, and they seem tae think their 
 mind must be aye the mind o' Christ ; as far as I can see what 
 they're wanting is, that the State should gie them their manses and 
 glebes and power, and to pass an act tae let the Kirk do whatever she 
 pleases. 
 
 D. I must confess, Alexander, that I think you are wrong in 
 regard to spiritual independence ; the Church of Scotland should 
 be every bit as free as a Voluntary Church. 
 
 S. I canna see hoo it's possible as lang as there's ony acts o' 
 Parliament aboot her. I'll tell you in ae word my mind on't. I 
 hired a servant on Friday last, and I made a bargain with him, 
 that in winter he was to thrash sae mony hours in the day ; he 
 agreed to this, and I hae the bargain in my pouch ; noo maybe 
 some day when he's thrashing, some o' thae tramping chiels will 
 come smoking their pipes aboot the barn-yard and say, " Ye're a 
 poor slave, thrashin awa there instead o' walking aboot the kintra 
 and enjoying your freedom like us ; " noo I kenna what the lad 
 might say ; as he is no wanting in gumption, maybe it might be 
 this, " Lads ! I was ance independent like you, but I had nae 
 clothes and nae meat, and was aboot tae wander frae place tae 
 place tae mak a fend, but o' my ain free consent, I made a bargain 
 wi' the farmer to do a particular work ilka day, and I am indepen- 
 dent nae langer except to keep my bargain ; for I bound mysel by 
 
 A A 2
 
 356 APPENDIX. 
 
 it, and if this be slavery, I would advise you tramping chiels tae 
 be slaves as fast as ye can ! " This would be speaking like a man 
 of sense, but maybe his acquaintance might put clavers into his 
 head, and he might come to me and say, "I'll no thrash in the 
 barn ony mair." " What for ? " quo I. " Because," says he, 
 " I'm no independent ! I canna do what I like ! " "I ken that," 
 says I, " but it was yoursel agreed to the bargain." "It's a bad 
 ane," says he. "Bad or gude," says I, " a bargain's a bargain, 
 and ye maun keep it or lee my service." What would you think 
 o' him if he would say, " I'll no lee your service, I'll eat your 
 bread, but I'll no do your wark ! " And this just explains the 
 sang aboot the spiritual independence o' the Kirk ; the fient the 
 hait do the Ceevil Coorts do, but explain the bargain and mak the 
 Kirk do its wark, or gang oot the house ; and naething else does the 
 Kirk do than say, " I'll neither do the tane or tither." 
 
 D. But granting, Saunders, for the present, that the Civil Courts 
 have the power of interpreting the bargain, is it not clear that the 
 bargain, as they have interpreted, is such as no Church of Christ 
 can accept of? They tell you that every presentee presented by a 
 patron must be taken on trials, and no objections can be made 
 against him except against his literature, his life, or his doctrines ; 
 that if these objections are not agreed to by the presbytery, they 
 are bound to induct him, although the people should be against 
 him ; they have declared that a minister deposed for drunkenness 
 must still keep his manse and his glebe, and be a minister of the 
 Church of Scotland. 
 
 Will. Na ; ye canna keep a man noo out o' the communion 
 table without asking leave o' the ceevil courts. 
 
 S. I ken every presentee maun be taen on trials, and that has 
 aye been the case since I mind. I ken that the law is now, as 
 Lord Brougham says, that ye can only object on the grounds ye 
 speak o' ; but I also ken that Sir James Graham has said, that the 
 Presbytery can try if a man's suitable, and cast him on that, and 
 ye ken weel enough that Mr. Sinclair or Sir George got a bill 
 agreed to by the government, gien power to the people to mak 
 a' kinds o' objections that could come into their head, and gien 
 power to the Presbytery tae reject the man if the objections were 
 gude: or even if they werna gude, yet if they thocht they would 
 staun in the way o' his being useful in the parish ; and the kirk 
 rejected it ! And a grand bargain it was ! and they tell me we 
 could (jet it yet if the Kirk would tak it. 
 
 D. The Kirk will never take it. 
 
 7. They are surely ill t^e please ; what's wrang aboot it ?
 
 APPENDIX. 357 
 
 D. Because though the Church has liberty to reject at all times 
 when they do not think a presentee suitable, yet when they do 
 think him suitable, it gives the Church the power to admit, though 
 the people should be against him. 
 
 S. And mair power than this -we never had as a Kirk, mair than 
 this we'll never get, mair than this we should na get ; for mony a 
 man may suit a place though the folk at first dinna like him ; and 
 it will be an awful responsibility for them wha would put down 
 the kirk wi' sic rnuckle liberty. 
 
 D. I think acceptableness absolutely necessary for the forming 
 of the pastoral relation. 
 
 8. I think acceptableness a great blessing, ane that pres- 
 byteries and pawtrons should luik weel to, for it maks things work 
 grand and smooth when a' are pleased. But I'm no sae sure that 
 it's essential, though beneficial. For gif it be sae tae the making 
 o' this relation at first, it's surely essential tae its keepan up ! 
 
 D. No. The marriage relation is not formed without accepta- 
 bleness, but this is not necessary for keeping it up. 
 
 S. I differ frae ye. The marriage relation is formed when 
 folk are married whether they're pleased wi' ane anither or no. 
 But I again say, that if a minister when he's no kent, when he 
 has only been in the parish ance or twice, preached twa or three 
 sermons, if he canna wi'oot sin be placed ower a parish whaur 
 he is no acceptable (though may be they will love him dearly in 
 a wi', whan they ken him), surely he canna wi'oot far greater sin 
 be keeped ower the parish, when after hearing him for years and 
 kennan him weel, they come tae despise or maybe tae hate him ! 
 Ye maun just tak the American way o't, a man by the sax months. 
 
 Will. But what say ye aboot lettin drunken ministers into the 
 kirk and no having the power to keep out bad communicants ? 
 
 S. I say that the ceevil coorts never said that the church 
 couldna put out drunken ministers, but it said that courts ici 1 the 
 Chapel ministers had nae legal power to try or depose a minister. 
 
 J. Nae mair than Will there has power to try a man for 
 murder. 
 
 S. And as to keeping out bad communicants, I solemnly tell 
 ye that I would not stay in the Kirk if she had not that power, 
 but I am weel informed that that power has ne'er been inter- 
 fered wi'. 
 
 Witt. And hoo do ye get quit of all thae stramashes aboot 
 Strathbogie and Auchterarder ? 
 
 S. That's beginning anither lang story, but ae thing is clear to 
 my mind, that all the mischief in these parishes, and it's no little,
 
 358 APPENDIX. 
 
 has just come frae the Kirk driving its veto law through thick and 
 thin. But I'm no gaun toe defend a' the Ceevil Coorts did, or a' the 
 Kirk Coorts did; in some things, am thinking, they're baith wrancj. But 
 I ken a' was quiet till that veto was tried that every dispute has 
 been aboot it. And I canna think but thae presbyteries in the 
 North micht hae made things pleesenter tae if they had liked. 
 Surely some o' thae fauschious chiels warna " suitable ; " maybe 
 some o' thae fauschious folk warna verrie easy pleased. 
 
 J. I'll tell you my way o't, but I may be wrang. The Kirk 
 said to the State, Gie us manses, glebes, and pay, and we'l teach 
 the folk religion. What religion will ye teach ? says the State. 
 The Confession of Faith, says the Kirk. Done, says the State. 
 But how will ye place ministers ? We would like the people to 
 elect them, says the Kirk. It canna be, says the State ; gang awa 
 wi' ye. Bide a wee, says the Kirk ; will ye mak an offer ? I 
 wull, says the State ; it's this, Ye may lishence the men and see 
 them fit for duty, and let the patron choose wha's to be minister, 
 for he has gien a gran glebe, manse, and stipend for the gude o' 
 the parish. And can the people no object ? says the Kirk. Ou 
 ay, says the State, they may ; and if their objections are gude let 
 the presentee be rejected by the presbytery ; and if they are no 
 gude let him be put in ; and if the people are no pleased, let them 
 bigg a Kirk and Manse for themselves. Done, says the Kirk. 
 We'l tak a note o' the bargain, says the State. And for mony a 
 year and day 130 years since the last bargain they worked 
 brawly thegither; but in 1834 the Kirk rued and thocht the 
 bargain no a gude ane, especially as she had aye been braggin' to 
 the Voluntaries that she was as free as them, and sae she passed 
 the Veto law a kind o' sly way o' jinking the State. Weel, a 
 minister gets his presentation and comes to the Presbytery and 
 axes them to try him and see if he was fit for the parish. Na, 
 na, says the Presbytery, lad, thae days are a' by : gang awa to 
 the folk and see what they think o' ye. It's no fair, says the lad, 
 but I'll try. So he gangs and preaches to them, and they a' glower 
 at him, for the're desperate keen for anither man ; and what care 
 they for the patron ? No a dockan. So they cock their heads at 
 him, and tell him tae be aff tae his mither if he likes. No sae 
 fast, says the lad. So he comes to the Presbytery and says, that 
 they maun see if he is fit for the place. What says the folk to ye, 
 quo the Presbytery ? They say naught, says the lad, but jist ta 
 gang hame ; the'l no tell me for what. Weel, says the Presby- 
 tery, name ye maun gang, and tak your presentation in your 
 pouch. It's a pity, says the lad, that the patron payed sae muckle
 
 APPENDIX. 359 
 
 for't, for it seems little worth ; but I think ye hae cheated me out 
 o' my place. So he gangs hame and tells the pawtron hoo they 
 steekit the door on him, and wadna speir a question at him. 
 The patron says, quo he, baith o' us are clean cheated ; you oot 
 o' your place, and me oot o' my richt o' presentin' you till't, and 
 they are gaun against law ; for the law says that them, and no 
 the folk, are tae try ye, and see if ye are fit for the place, gang 
 doon ta the Presbytery wi' my compliments, and tell them that. 
 So he gangs doon, and they flee on him and tell him the law is 
 wi' tJiem. We'l see that, says the pawtron ; so he and the lad 
 gang ta the court o' session, and the Kirk gangs tae, and spier at 
 the judges what's the law ? The judges sae that the law is sae 
 and sae, that the pawtron and lad are richt. Auld Gowks ! says 
 the Kirk, they are wrang. Then, says the pawtron, we'll try the 
 Lords. So the Lords say that the Kirk's wrang, and that the chiel's 
 richt. We are no heedin', says the Kirk ; so they tell the lad ta 
 gang aboot his business, and gif the Lords like they may gie him 
 the stipends ; but if he gies mair gab, they'l tak his lishence frae 
 him. But they say, says the lad, they canna gie me the stipends till 
 ye open the door and ordain me. We'll ne'er do that, says the Kirk. 
 I ken, says the pawtron, that nae power on yirth can mak ye do 
 that, but certies ye maun gie a compensation for the injury ye 
 hae done me and the lad, and surely ye'll say that's ceevil effects ! 
 
 D. After all I have said, and after all you have heard from the 
 various deputations, I see it would be useless to carry on this dis- 
 cussion longer, my mind is made up. I grieve to think it, but I 
 fear it will be my imperative duty to leave the church establish- 
 ment, to go out with those noble men, who are making so many 
 sacrifices for conscience sake, and to give a Free Presbyterian 
 Church for Scotland. 
 
 J. As tae what they'l gie tae Scotland, that's no ken't yet ; but 
 I see they're trying tae take a gude Establishment frae her, and 
 whatna sacrifices are they makin' ? 
 
 Will. Sacrifices ! Castin' their manses, glebes, stipends, and 
 a' tae the winds. 
 
 J. I am tell't they are gey an' gleg aboot the siller, and desperat 
 keen tae get it ; they say they are tae hae a central fund in Edin- 
 bro, and tae gie a' the ministers that gang oot wi' them 100 a year, 
 besides the tae half o' their ain winnings. It'll be a gran lift to 
 some o' they Cod Sakker chiels. 
 
 D. Quoad Sacra ! 
 
 8. A hunder pound a year ! they'll ne'er maun tae keep an 
 Establishment for Scotland.
 
 360 APPENDIX. 
 
 D. I am not afraid of it ; the rich will give, the poor will give ; 
 for the old spirit is up ; the Blue Banner is abroad, and the whole 
 world will see what Scotland can do. 
 
 J. I would rather see't than hear tell o't. 
 
 Will. See auld Mr. Smith in this verra parish, what he has 
 gien. 
 
 J. Aye ; for the body's desparat keen in the business ; but 
 think ye will his son Jock gie when he's dead an gane ? Na ! I 
 mind ance Dr. Chaumers comin' here, and a gay thick way he has 
 in his talk, tho' folk that understan' him say he's gran ; it was at 
 the church extension time, and he and them that were wi' him 
 proved hoo the Establishment, wi' a' that it had, and wi' the 
 thoosands that it was liftin' every year (and I'm thinkin' they got 
 300,000), and wi' the help the Dissenters was gieing them, they 
 couldna maun tae supply gospel ordinances tae the kintra ; and 
 think ye will they maun't noo withoot an establishment, wi' a' 
 their bawbee collections ? If they do, I can only say there 
 hae been a hantle o' braw speeches cast away ; and if they dinna, 
 it's no them but puir workin' men like me, that will be the sufl'erers ; 
 for what care I tae hae the election o' a minister, when I'm ower 
 puir to hae ane at a' ? 
 
 D. Stay in then, and bring back the reign of moderatism and 
 of darkness, and see our great schemes, the glory of the Church, 
 destroyed, and behold our national Zion become a desolation, a 
 hissing, and a proverb. When she has deserted her great Head, it 
 is time for me to leave her. 
 
 Will. An' for me tae ! 
 
 8. And gif a' ye say was true, or had ae particle o' truth in't, it 
 would be time for us a' tae gang ; but as the apostle says, " to him 
 that thinketh it is unclean, to him it is unclean ; but let such man 
 be fully persuaded hi his own mind : let us not judge one another, 
 for we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." Let 
 me speak freely tae ye, Mr. Brown, before we part, ye hae said 
 rnony things that grieves my heart. As tae the reign o' moderatism, 
 nae doubt Scotland was ance what she's no noo. I mind niysel 
 a time when there was nae sic faithfu' preachin' in the parish kirks 
 as noo ; but God in His mercy, for tae Him, and no tae this set o' 
 men or that, be the praise breathed by His Spirit on this valley of 
 dry bones ; and I noo ken mony men whom ye ca' moderates, be- 
 cause they're no convocationists, that are God-fearing, zealous 
 men, kent and loved in their ain parishes, tho' they're may be no 
 in the mouth o' the public ; and I ken mony that are foremost 
 eneuch in this steer, that in my opinion, hae verra little o' the
 
 APPENDIX. 361 
 
 meekness and gentleness o' Christ. Ye speak o' our schemes, and 
 ye may weel ca' them the glory o' the Kirk ; but do these no prove 
 jist what I say ? Wha got up the scheme for the Hindoos ? Dr. 
 Inglis, the head o' the Moderates. Wha got up the education 
 scheme for the Hielands ? Principal Baird, a Moderate. Wha was 
 ower the Colonial Church scheme in Glasgow ? Principal M'Farlan, 
 a Moderate. Dr. Chaumers, a gude man, and a man I lo'e, tho' I 
 think he's wrang, was ower the ither ane. 
 
 J". He's the only ane o' them a' that rued, for he's for puttin' 
 down the kirk noo a' thegither. 
 
 8. Whist John. As tae the Kirk deserting its great Head, God 
 forbid that that should be true ! I deny it, and am ashamed that 
 men that should ken better should put such disturbing thoughts 
 into the minds o' weak Christians. I hae heard the sang afore 
 noo, the M'Millans hae keepit it up for 100 years, and it was 
 aye their sough at the redding o' the marches atween them and 
 the Establishment on the Monday o' their sacrament; the Auld 
 Lights took up the same sang when they left the Kirk ; it's no new 
 tae my lugs, so it'll no mak me leave the Kirk. I'll bide in her ! 
 Her verra dust to me is dear ! I was born agin within her 
 walls ; sae were some o' my bonny bairns that are sleeping outside 
 o' them. I hae been strengthened and comforted during my 
 pilgrimage wi' her ordinances, and I'll no break up her Communion 
 table as lang as I hae power and it has ne'er been taken faa 
 me yet tae keep awa the ungodly and the profane ; and as lang 
 as Christ is preach'd within her walls, I'll stay tae help tae reform 
 her, tae help tae purify her, and tae pray as lang as breath is in 
 my body, for her peace and prosperity. 
 
 J. I'll stay tae, for I canna get a better Kirk nor our ain ; the 
 Dissenters are gude folk, but I'm no a Voluntary. 
 
 Will. Gang tae the M'Millans if there's nae free Kirk in the 
 parish; they are the best representatives o' our covenanting 
 ancestors. 
 
 J. The M'Millans ! It's no will I gang into their Kirk, but will 
 they let me in ? Wi' reverence be it spoken, it's easier tae get into 
 the Kingdom o' Grace than tae get intae their Kirk ; wi' a haud o' 
 the covenant o' grace by faith, I can enter that Kingdom ; but 
 this is nae pass at their door. I maun hae the Solemn League and 
 Covenant, and twa or three mair, or be keepit oot as a heathen 
 and a publican ! It's black popery, putting the traditions o' our 
 faithers on a footin' wi' the Word o' God. As tae your wooden 
 Kirks, nane o' them for me ! they'l be desparat cauld in winter, 
 and hett in simmer, I'll stick by the auld stane and lime, and
 
 362 APPENDIX. 
 
 I'm mistaen if it'll no stan' a hantle deal langer than a' your tim- 
 ber biggins ! 
 
 8. Let us no pairt wi' "bitterness, wrath, clamour, and evil 
 speaking." Let us rather " Strive to keep the unity of the Spirit 
 in the bond of Peace." Though we differ as tae the means, we a' 
 agree I hope as tae ends we a' seek, if Christian men, the gude o' 
 the Church o' Christ in Scotland, and desire the glory of its great 
 Head. As tae the best way o' bringing this aboot I may be wrang, 
 and sae may ye for neither o' us are infallible, but we may a' be 
 upright we may a' sincerely desire tae please God ; and if He 
 has promised tae bless such, and tae gie them licht, and tae 
 " accept their willing mind," let us not be accusing and judging 
 ane anither, casting the blame on a bad conscience rather than on 
 a waik understanding or want o' opportunity o' kennan the truth. 
 We should tak' care that in strivin* tae keep others frae casten 1 aff 
 Christ as their Head, ice dinna cast Him aff oursels by disobeying 
 His commands. It's a great comfort tae think that the Lord 
 reigns, and that wi' us, or in spite o' us, He wull advance his ain 
 cause. Let the earth be glad ! It was a gude sayan o' auld Mr. 
 Guthrie, " in things essential, unity ; in things doobtfu' , liberty ; and 
 in a' things, charity" Let us thus walk, and ! speed the time 
 when we shall meet thegither in the general assembly above ; 
 when " Judah shall no more vex Ephraim, nor Ephraim Judah." 
 Friends and neighbours, shake hands ! 
 
 D. With all my heart, I respond to your sentiments, and I 
 know you to be good and honest. I pray that we may all " be 
 sincere, and without offence at his coming." 
 
 Will. There's my haun tae ye. We hae been auld neebours 
 and fellow- communicants, and it's right we shouldna forget " who 
 we are, and whom we serve." But yet I wad like a pure Kirk. 
 
 J. Mony a splore you and me hae had ; but we can shake hands 
 yet. Lang may it be sae ! As tae a pure Kirk, ye'll mind, may- 
 be, what the great and gude Mr. Newton remarked till a leddy 
 that ance said what ye say noo. " We'll ne'er, my friend," said 
 he, " get a pure Kirk, till we enter the ane above ; and ae thing is 
 certain, that if there was ane on yirth, it wad be pure nae ianger, 
 if you and me entered it ! " Gude day wi' ye a' ! (They shake 
 hands and part, and sae ended the " Crack aboot the Kirk.") 
 
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