LIBEAEY OF THE Theological Seminary PRINCETON, N. J. BX 9225 .W35 H39 1851 Hay, James, 1770-1849. Memoir of the Rev. Alexande Waugh, D.D. M EMOI R REV ALEXANDER WAUGH, D.D. WITH SELECTIONS FROM HIS EPISTOLARY CORRESPONDENCE. BY THE REV. JAMES HAY, D.D. AND THE LATE REV. HENRY BELFRAGE, D.D. "The Law of Truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: Ho walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity." NEW YORK: ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, No. 28 5 BROADWAY. 1851. CONTENTS. PAGE FREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION, VH PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION, viil PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION, ix LINES TO THE MEMORY OF DR. WAUGH XI CHAPTER I. EARLY LIFE OF DR. WAUGH. Parentage of Alexander Waugh. Character and mode of life of Scottish husbandmen of olden times. Change of manners. His parents and their family. Education of Alexander for the ministry. His early days. Earlstoun. Parochial schools. Stitchell. Rev. George Coventry. Course of University edu- cation prescribed by the Secession Church. Prosecution of his studies at Edinburgh — at Haddington, under the Rev. John Brown — and at Aberdeen, under Doctors Campbell and Beattie. Misgivings respecting his fitness for the ministry. Receives bcense, and proves highly acceptable as a preacher. Rise of Wells Street congregation, London. Rev. Arch. Hall. Ordina- tion and settlement of Mr. Waugh at Newtown. Competing calls from London and Edinburgh, and his final appointment to the charge of tlie Wells Street congregation, . . . .13 IV CONTENTS, HIS MINISTRY IN WELLS STREET. PAGE Mr. "Waugh's ministry in London. Visit to Scotland in 1783. Private diary. His marriage. Ordination of Rev. Alexander Easton. Intercourse with Rev. John Newton. Deliverance from danger at sea. Address to the congregation on his illness. Visit to Scotland in 1806, for recovery of health. Memorial on the Psalmody. Congregational addresses. Accident at Clapton, in 1823. Increasing infirmities. Letters to old friends — youth- ful reminiscences. Letters from Harrowgate. Funeral sermon on Rev. Dr. Bogue. Delight in ministerial duties. Kindness and liberality of his congregation. Correspondence respecting an assistant. His last public services. Character of his public ministrations. His lectures in Fetter Lane, &c. Congregational labors. Anecdote. Non -interference in church secularities. Christian liberality, 86 CHAPTER III. HTS CONNECTION WITH PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. Remarks on associations for the spread of the Gospel. Dr. Bogue's appeaL Co-operation of Dr. Waugh in establishing the London Missionary Society. His sermon on the second anniversary of that institution. Notices of its proceedings, from his corres- pondence. Journal of his tour to Paris in 1802. Missionary tours to various parts of England and Ireland ; letters. Inter- view with the Synod of Ulster. Letters from Rev. Dr. Baird. Tours in Scotland in 1815 and 1819 ; letters. Circular letter to brethren in Scotland. Addresses to Missionaries. Sketches of his character as a director and associate laborer of the Mis- sionary Society. Connection with the British and Foreign Bible Society. Speech at the formation of an auxiliary asssociation. His support of the Scottish Hospital, and of other philanthropic and charitable institutions. Anecdotes, . . . .161 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. HIS FRIENDSHIPS. PAGK Extracts from his correspondence, with remarks, viz., Letters to a youth at college — to a young friend in India — to another, an emigrant to South Africa — to a friend ordained to the ministry. Readiness to assist country ministers. Visitation of the dis- tressed and dying — anecdote. Letters of consolation: — to a mother bereaved of her child — to a father on the death of an only son — to a widowed mourner — to the widow of a deceased friend — to a friend on the death of a parent — to a friend dis- tressed — to a friend dying. Address at the funeral of Rev. Mr. Townsend. To a friend under misapprehension of his conduct. A good-humored hint. Ordinary correspondence. Reminis- cences of early days. Miscellaneous extracts. Description of natural scenery. Advice to a young lady. Friendships with the high and the humble : old John Ker. His general character as a friend and companion — urbanity — talent for anecdote — pleasantry — aversion from evil speaking — modesty — letter — cheerfulness. Kindness to his predecessor's widow, . . . 239 CHAPTER V. HIS DOMESTIC CHARACTER. Conjugal happiness. Character as a husband. Letters to his wife. Conduct as a fattier. Letters to his daughters. Habits of punctuality. His son Alexander: notice of his death : letters to him and to his widow. Paternal counsel to one of his daugh ters and her husband on their marriage, and afterwards. Let ters to his daughter Jeane Neill, during her illness. Short account of her illness and death. Letters to his sons : counsel to one of them on his entering the University. Family gather- ings. Letter. Sketch of his domestic character and habits, by one of his daughters : kindness to the poor — hospitality — commission and correspondence — strict sense of duty — course of Sabbath duties — personal economy — cheerfulness — miscella- neous notices. Sketch by one of his sons: his nationality — de- scription of a tent preaching — Stitchell Brae — recollection of earlv scenes and friends— patriotism— poetical imagination, 810 Yl CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. HIS CONDUCT IN AFFLICTION AND DEATH. PASS Submission and cheerfulness in distress: letters. Addresses to his people during his illness. Resignation under increasing in- firmities and bereavements. Anticipations of approaching dis- solution; letters. Last public services. Last illness. Death- bed scenes. His decease. Resolution of Directors of London Missionary Society on this event. His funeral. Tributes to his memory. Conclusion, 395 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. The Memoir now presented to the public was pro- pared by two of Dr. Waugh's friends resident in Scot- land. Its object is to delineate a character richly marked by the image of Christ, to record the leading incidents of a life devoted to goodness, and to present an example whose excellence demands that imitation to which its beauty allures. The facts detailed arc such as fell under the obser- vation of the writers, or were communicated to them from respectable sources. Among the persons whose valuable communications have enriched this "Work, jus- tice and gratitude require that the Rev. George Bur- der of Fetter Lane, the Rev. Gteorge Collison of Hackney, the Rev. Dr. Morrison, of Brompton, the Bev. Dr. Philtp of the Cape, and A. Chalmers, Esq., of London, should be especially mentioned. The thanks of the compilers are also due to Thomas Prin- gle, Esq., Secretary to the Anti-slavery Society, not only for his able editorial superintendence of the Work during its progress through the press, but also for .some most judicious alterations and additions, which his frequent and recent intercourse with the members of Dr. Waugh's family has enabled him to introduce. The letters inserted in this Memoir will be found peculiarly interesting, from the views which they give of Divine truth and duty, the scenes they describe, the incidents they detail, and the qualities of heart which they so delightfully exhibit. Other specimens of Dr. Waugh's talent for letter- writing, fully equal to any of these, could have been given : but that which yiii PREFACE. charms in friendship cannot in all cases be rendered interesting or suitable for the public. For the deficiencies of this Work the candid will find an apology in the distance of the writers from the scenes of Dr. Waugh's life, and in the impossibility of doing full justice to services so extensive and to qualities so various. To the good of all parties it is affectionately dedicated, for he was the common friend of the pious of every name ; and at the feet of that Saviour it is laid, to whose grace their venerable friend ascribed so piously all that he did and all that he enjoyed, and in whose service he was faithful to the death. JAMES HAY, A.M., Kinross. HENRY BELFIIAGE, D. D., Falkirk. Mauch 1, 1830. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. In presenting a Second Edition of this Work, the writers cannot repress the expression of their high gratification at the favorable manner in which the public has been pleased to receive the First; the rapid sale of which evidences the deep interest felt by the wise and good in the memory of Dr. Waugh, and excites the hope of the extending influence of his spirit and example. In this Edition will be found some additional let- ters and anecdotes, illustrative of the combined cheer- fulness and piety of his character, and some further passages from his pulpit discourses, exhibiting more fully the light, beauty, and fervor of his teachings as ;» master in fsrael. PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. It is gratifying to the surviving Author of this Me- moir, that, after two large and high priced London Editions have been for some time entirely exhausted, a Third Edition, in consequence of an arrangement with the present respectable Publishers, is about to issue from the press in Scotland, Dr. "Waugh's native and beloved land, where his memory is still tenderly cherished, and to be sold at such a moderate price, as will put it in the power of every class of readers to profit by that example of fervent piety, and expansive benevolence, for which he was eminently conspicuous. It may be proper to mention that, from the relinquish- ment on the part of Dr. Waugh's family of all pecu- niary advantage in this Edition, it will be sold at one half the price of the former ones, though printed ver- batim from the Second, with which they are so well satisfied, that they have agreed that nothing shall be added, and nothing suppressed. Although but a few years have elapsed since the publication of the Second Edition, two highly re- spected individuals who took a deep interest in the preparation of the Work, are, alas ! no more : — Dr. Belfrage, my highly esteemed fellow-laborer and my bosom friend for nearly half a century, who, by his excellent and justly popular works, has bequeathed a rich legacy to the religious public ; and Mr. Thomas Pringle, the able and faithful superintendent of the First Edition, when it passed through the press, who, by his Sketches on South Africa, his poems, and his unwearied exertions to break the fetters of the slave, 1* x PREFACE. has gained an honorable name among those benefac- tors of the human race, who have distinguished them- selves in the great cause of civil and religious liberty. The present writer must also soon close his eyes on this transitory scene, and he cherishes the humble but cheering hope, in regard to those dear relatives and friends, in whose society he has spent many of his sweetest and most profitable hours, that he will meet them again in that world where death never enters, and where all the children of the same common fam- ily shall ever be with one another, and ever with the Lord. JAMES HAY, D.D. Kinross, December 6, 1838. LINES TO THE MEMORY OF THE REV. DR. WAUGH. Whoe'er thou art whose eye may hither bend, If thou art human, here behold a friend. Art thou of Christ's disciples ? He was one Like him whose bosom Jesus leant upon. Art thou a sinner burthened with thy grief? His life was spent proclaiming sin's relief. Art thou an unbeliever ? He could feel Much for the patient whom he could not heal. Whate'er thy station, creed, condition be, This man of God has cared and prayed for thee. Do riches, honors, pleasures, smile around ? He would have shown thee where alone is found Their true enjoyment — on the Christian plan Of holiness to God and love to man. Are poverty, disease, disgrace, despair, The ills, the anguish to which flesh is heir, Thy household inmates ? Yea, even such as thee He hailed as brothers of humanity ; And gave his hand and heart, and toiled and plead, Till nakedness was clothed and hunger fed ; Till pain was soothed, and even the fiend Despair Confessed a stronger arm than his was there. And ye far habitants of heathen lands, For you he raised his voice and stretched his hands ; And taught new-wakened sympathy to start With generous throb through many a British heart ; Till wide o'er farthest oceans waved the sail That bade in Jesus' name the nations hail, And Afric's wastes and wildered Hindostan Heard the glad tidings of " good will to man." LINES TO THE MEMORY OF DR. WAUGH. Such was his public ministry. And they Through life who loved him till his latest day, Of many a noble, gentle trait can tell, That as a man, friend, father, marked him well : The frank simplicity ; the cordial flow Of kind affections ; the enthusiast glow That love of Nature or his Native Land Would kindle in those eyes so bright and bland ; The unstudied eloquence, that from his tongue Fell like the fresh dews by the breezes flung From fragrant woodlands ; the benignant look That like a rainbow beamed through his rebuke — Rebuke more dreaded than a despot's frown, For sorrow more than anger called it down ; The winning way, the kindliness of speech, With which he wont the little ones to teach, As round his chair like clustering doves they clung — For, like his Master, much he loved the young. These, and unnumbered traits like these, my verse Could fondly dwell upon ; but o'er his hearse A passing wreath I may but stop to cast, Of love and grateful reverence the last Poor earthly token. Weeping mourners here Perchance may count such frail memorial dear, Though vain and valueless it be to him Who tunes his golden harp amidst the seraphim. T. P. 1827. .MEMOIR OF THE REV. ALEXANDER WAUGH, D.I). CHAPTER I. Parentage of Alexander Waugh. Character and mode of life of Scot- tish husbandmen of olden times. Change of manners. His parents and their family. Education of Alexander for the ministry. His early days. Earlstoun. Parochial Schools. Stitchell. Rev. George Coventry. Course of University education prescribed by the Seces- sion Church. Prosecution of his studies at Edinburgh — at Hadding- ton, under the Rev. John Brown — and at Aberdeen, under Doctors Campbell and Beattie. Mi.-givings respecting his fitness for the ministry. Receives license, and proves highly acceptable as a preacher. Rise of Wells Street congregation, London. Rev. Arch. Hall. Ordination and settlement of Mr. Waugh at Newtown. Com- peting calls from London and Edinburgh, and his final appointment to the charge of the Yv'ells Street congregation. Alexander Waugh was born on the 10th of August, 1754, at East Gordon, a small village in the parish of Gordon, Ber- wickshire. Thomas Waugh and Margaret Johnstone, his parents, belonged to the class of small farmers, who for some centuries were the cultivators of the soil throughout every part of Scotland ; and who, being generally considered by their landlords as the hereditary feudatories of their families, were accustomed to succeed each other from father to son, with nearly as little variation as the proprietors themselves. This valuable order of husbandmen, who constituted a very considerable proportion of the population, was, at this period, of the third generation in descent from the Covenanters, who 14 SCOTTISH HUSBANDMEN OF OLDEN TIMES I lived towards the latter end of the seventeenth century ; to whom their country owes a deep debt of gratitude, for their pious zeal, their patient sufferings, and their severe, long- protracted, and ultimately successful struggle with a despotic and persecuting government. Like their ancestors, whose memory they warmly cherished and venerated, besides being zealous Presbyterians, they were distinguished by frugal habits, simple manners, and an ardent regard for evangelical doctrines. In addition to a regular and exemplary attendance on the public ordinances of divine worship, they faithfully performed the exercises of devotion in their families, and labored with patriarchal diligence, to instil into the minds of their children and domestics the principles of sound doctrine and a holy life. The strict and regular observance of the duties of family reli- gion, appears to have been one chief cause of the high emi- nence in scriptural knowledge, in sobriety of manners, as well as in every domestic virtue, for which the northern part of Great Britain was then justly celebrated. The patriarchal simplicity of manners which, about the mid- dle of last century, so especially characterized Scottish husband- men, was calculated, in a high degree, to foster deep affections, and a sober but manly earnestness both of principle and de- portment; and it maybe fairly stated as one of the happy privileges of the Secession Church, that so large a number of its ministers have sprung from this virtuous and valuable order of men. On this latter account, as well as with a more imme- diate reference to the subject of the present memoir, we shall endeavor to give a brief description of the mode of life and household discipline of a Scottish farmer of former days. It is a sketch from early recollections of scenes long gone by — " When old simplicity was yet in prime ; For now among our glens the faithful fail, Forgetful of their sires in olden time : That gray -haired race is gone, of look sublime, Calm in demeanor, courteous, and sincere ; Yet stern when duty called them, as their clime, When it flings off the autumnal foliage sere, And shakes the shuddering woods with solemn voice severe." THEIR MODE OF LIFE. 15 The habitation of a Scottish husbandman in the southern counties, sixty or seventy years ago, was generally a plain, substantial building, holding a middle rank between the res- idences of the inferior gentry and the humble cottages of the laboring peasantry. The farm-house, with the small win- dows of its second story often projecting through the thatched roof, occupied, for the most part, the one side of a quadrangle, in which the young cattle were folded ; the other three sides being enclosed and sheltered by the barns, stables, and other farm offices. A kitchen-garden, stocked with the common potherbs then in use, and sometimes with a few fruit-trees, extended on one side, sheltered perhaps by a 'hedge of boor- tree or elder, and often skirted by a few aged forest-trees ; while the low, thatched dwellings of the hinds and cottars stood at a little distance, each with its small cabbage-garden, or kail-yard, behind, and its stack of peat, or turf fuel, in front. An upland farm, of the common average size, extended to about four or five hundred acres, partly arable and partly pastoral, and usually employed three or four ploughs; and the master's household, exclusive of his own family, consisted of six or seven unmarried servants, male and female. The mar- ried servants, — namely, a head shepherd, and a hind or two (as the married ploughmen were termed), — occupied cottages apart; as likewise did the cottars, who were rather a sort of farm retainers than servants, being bound only to give the master, in lieu of rent, their services in hay-time and harvest, and at other stated periods. The whole, however, especially in remote situations, formed a sort of little independent com- munity in themselves, deriving their subsistence almost ex- clusively from the produce of the farm. The master's house- hold alone usually amounted to fifteen or twenty souls ; and the whole population of the farm, or onstead, to double or treble that number ; — a number considerably greater, perhaps, than will now be commonly found on a farm of the same ex- tent, — but maintained with much frugality, and always indus- triously occupied, though not oppressed with labor. 16 SCOTTISH HUSBANDMEN OF OLDEN TIMES I Little of the jealous distinction of ranks which now sub- sists between the farming class and their hired servants, was then known. The connection between master and servant had less of a commercial and mere of a patriarchal character. Every household formed but one society. The masters (at that time generally a sober, virtuous, and religious class) extended a parental care over their servants, and the servants cherished a filial affection for their masters. They sat to- gether, they ate together, they often wrought together; and after the labors of the day were finished, they assembled to- gether around the blazing fire, in the " farmer's ha'," convers- ing over the occurrences of the day, the floating rumors of the country, or " auld warld stories ;" and not un frequently relioious subjects were introduced, or the memory of godly men, and of those who, in evil times, had battled or suffered for the right, w r as affectionately commemorated. This familiar intercourse was equally decorous as it was kindly, — for decent order and due subordination were strictly maintained. Tt was the great concern of masters and mistresses, when new servants were required, to obtain such as were of sober and religious habits : if any of a different character got in, his dismissal, at the first term, was certain. Servants in those days never thought of changing masters, unless something occurred which rendered the change indispensable. At ordinary meals, the master (or good-man, as he was termed) took his seat at the head of the large hall table, the mistress sitting on his right hand, the children on his left, the men-servants next in station, and the maid-servants at the bottom, — one of the latter serving. The use of tea was then unknown, except in the houses of the gentry. Porridge was the constant dish at breakfast and supper ; at dinner broth and meat, milk, cheese, and butter. Twice in the year, ex- clusive of extraordinary occasions, there was a farm festival, in which every inhabitant of the place partook; namely, the kirn, or harvest-home, at the close of autumn, and the cele- bration of the new year. On these occasions, an abundant feast of baked and boiled cheered the heart of the humblest THEIlt MODE OF LIFE. 17 laborer on the land, and was closed with decent hilarity by a cheerful beaker or two of home-brewed ale. But the religious order of the family was the distinguish- ing trait. The whole household assembled in the hall (or kitchen) in the morning before breakfast, for family worship, and in the evening before supper. The good-man, of course, led their devotions, every one having his Bible in his hand. This was the stated course even in seed-time and harvest : between five and six in the morning was the hour of prayer in these busy seasons. On Sabbath all went to church, however great the distance, except one person, in turn, to take care of the house or younger children, and others to tend the cattle. After a late dinner, on their return, the family assembled around the master, who first catechized the children, and then the servants. Each was required to tell what he remembered of the religious services they had joined in at the house of God ; each repeated a por- tion of the Shorter Catechism ; and all were then examined on heads of divinity, from the mouth of the master. Throughout the whole of the Sabbath, all worldly concerns, except such as necessity or mercy required to be attended to, were strictly laid aside ; and nothing was allowed to enter into conversa- tion save subjects of religion. These homely details may perhaps seem, at first sight, cal- culated to corroborate, in some respects, the exaggerated no- tions which prevail in England respecting the religious auster- ity of the old Presbyterians ; and readers, looking exclusively to the strictness of their discipline, their alleged " proscription of all amusements," the limited education, the want of books, and, above all, the want of refinement, which, according to our modern notions, might be expected to be the necessary result of familiar association with menial servants, — may pos- sibly picture to themselves a state of society altogether clown- ish, melancholy, and monotonous. Yet this would be a very false estimate of the real character and condition of the old Scottish tenantry. The life of the husbandman and his dependants, iu those 18 SCOTTISH HUSBANDMEN OF OLDEN TIMES : days, was so far from being unenlivened by mirth and enjoy- ment, that there was in truth much more real enjoyment than is now often to be witnessed. They had more leisure to be merry than their descendants, and there was, in reality, no proscription of innocent amusements. Spring and autumn were the only seasons that required very arduous labor in the old system of husbandry; and then those seasons came round with an air of more festivity, had more of a heart- stirring aspect about them, and their toils were encountered with a more grateful alacrity, than in our days of regular ro- tations and improved machinery. At other seasons of the year the labors were comparatively light. The winning of peats and hay, ewe-milking, sheep-shearing, the dairy, and the tending of the flocks and herds, chiefly occupied the jo- cund days of summer. In winter their leisure was still greater and their enjoyments not less diversified. Field sports were eagerly followed in the intervals of labor, or when frost and snow had stopped the progress of the plough ; nor were the peasantry then restrained from such hardy amusements by the enforcement of demoralizing game-laws. At other times, the grave good-man would toss down to his sons and servant-lads the foot-ball or the kitticat, and bid them take a bout to warm their youthful blood. And in the long winter evenings, when seated around the fire, harmless mirth and jocularity pleasantly alternated with more serious and in- structive conversation ; nor did any puritanical sourness for- bid the recitation of the old romantic border ballads and legends, or the singing of the sweet pastoral songs, of which both the poetry and music were, like the broom and birch of the braes around them, the spontaneous and unso- phisticated growth of their own beautiful country. And thus, with scarcely any books of amusement, without any games of chance, without stimulating liquors, and without ever seeing a newspaper, our simple ancestors managed to beguile their hours of leisure and relaxation cheerfully and innocently; and, on the whole, perhaps quite as rationally, if not quite so elegantly, as their more bustling and ambitious offspring. THEIR MODE OF LIFE. 19 Amidst the manifold improvements of more recent times (the value of which, in some respects, we are far from denying), it may yet be considered very questionable, whether all that has been abandoned of former manners has been equally well replaced, and whether even our progress in knowledge and re- finement has not been but too dearly purchased by the sacrifice of qualities still more valuable. This brief outline (for it is nothing more) of a state of ru- ral society which many of our older readers must have wit- nessed in their youth, though few vestiges of it now remain, may perhaps to some persons seem here unnecessary or mis- placed ; but, besides our desire to present to English readers a picture, sketched from real life, of the lovely simplicity of the olden day, we think that it will serve as a key to much of what is most interesting in the subject of this memoir; for in a household somewhat similar to the one we have described, were spent the early days of Alexander Waugh ; and to the influ- ence of such scenes upon a heart of no ordinary sensibility, may be fairly ascribed many of the most valuable, as well as delightful, traits of his character. Towards the latter end of the last century, a new state of things commenced in Scotland, which has greatly changed both its external condition and the manners of the people. The introduction of manufactures into the towns and villages^ by raising the price of labor, greatly ameliorated the outward circumstances and comforts of the operatives; but this sud- den flow of worldly prosperity, accompanied, as it necessarily was, by the promiscuous intercourse of numerous bodies of people thus brought into close collision, and intermixed with persons of doubtful or licentious character, produced a bane- ful effect upon the religious habits and good morals of this class of the population. About the same period, the small farmers were almost entirely superseded in a number of the agricultural counties by an improved system of hus- bandry, which, together with a more considerable capital, and greater economy of labor, required a wider field of operation; and which, by affording a higher rent, offered a 20 MODERN CHANGE OF MANNERS. strong inducement to the landholders to let out their prop- erty in more extensive farms. Many of this new class of farmers, who, by their skilful enterprise, were soon raised to a state of wealth and independence, instead of walking in the steps of their predecessors, by regularly worshipping God in their families, and cultivating sober and pious habits, made it their chief ambition to imitate or outstrip the worst extrav- agances of their superiors, by indulging in every species of luxury and dissipation, of vice and impiety. And if it be true, that evil communications corrupt good morals, the examples of such masters must have been followed by most injurious consequences, not only to their own families, but also to their servants and dependants, and all who came under their in- fluence. The bitter fruits produced by this new state of things soon began to manifest themselves, particularly in the neglect of the duties of domestic devotion, for the observance of which our fathers had been eminently distinguished. The great dis- regard of this sacred service, of such vital importance for pre- serving the fear of God in the hearts of the rising generation, has been accompanied, step by step, by scenes of profaneness and vice, which would have caused the men of a former gen- eration to tremble. Notwithstanding our Sabbath-schools, and the numerous and zealous exertions made in every part of the country to communicate salutary and useful instruction to the young, — exertions to which there is nothing parallel in any preceding part of our history, — crimes, instead of being di- minished, appear to be still on the increase ; and the calendars of our justiciary courts are stained by a multiplicity of daring and enormous acts of wickedness and depravity, committed by young delinquents. In such a discouraging aspect of matters so vitally connected with the best interests of the country, every pious and well- constituted mind will be disposed to ask with anxious alarm, What will the end of these things be ? The following observations, by a celebrated divine, appear to us deserving of most seriou* consideration, and by no IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY RELIGION. 21 means irrelevant to the objects of the present work : — " The public state of religion in the world must entirely depend on the care bestowed on the cultivation of it in private families. If the nursery be neglected, how is it possible that the plan- tation should prosper? Such as the families are of which congregations, churches, and kingdoms, are composed, such will be the nourishing or decayed state of religion in these larger communities ; and consequently it is as clear as noon-day, that the disregard shown to God in our households is the fatal source of that amazing corruption of manners in the present age, which almost every one pretends to lament, but almost none sets himself in earnest to reform. Would you put a stop to abounding iniquity, and promote the cause of God and re- ligion, begin at home, and let your Maker have that honor in your families to which he is entitled."* The subject of this memoir has left an interesting account of the moral worth and fervent piety of his parents ; and it gives us pleasure to remark, that in those holy and auspicious days of Scottish history, there were few towns, or villages, or glens, in the lowland counties, where persons of similar charac- ter were not to be found. " My father was an industrious and kind parent. He was, I believe, an upright Christian before God, as he was confessedly a just and honest man before the world. He had been nominated to be an elder by Mr. Bell, minister of Gordon, in the Established Church ; but declined to accept, both from the modest sense of his inability, and from a set- tled disapprobation of the violent measures in the planting of ministers in vacant parishes by lay patronage, which w 7 ere at that time employed by the ruling party in the General Assembly. These sentiments led him to countenance the public-spirited steps of the first ministers who stated a se- cession from that ruling and overbearing party. lie united with the congregation of Stitchell and Morebattle in calling the Rev. Mr. Hunter to be their pastor. Afterwards ho joined in the call to the Rev. Mr. Coventry to be minister of * The Rev. Robert Walker of Edinburgh. _1 DR. WAUGh's CHARACTER OF HIS FATHER. Stitchell ; and continued to walk, to the time of his death, with that church, in all the ordinances of the Lord blame- : d in his family regularly morning and evening; and on the L :amined his children in re- gard to their acquaintance with ::.. He took them, whenever they i bo go wilh him, to the house of God, and endeavored to form their minds to the love of verything, under God, to his piety and af- :;