!■'- 4, ^ ■^ ^t*t»w%ta/^^^. ^Uti PRINCETON, N. J. % % Presented b)^V^o\7vB^VA\ ocTW^N^vA K<2. ^ID^::! BV 3427 .B83 B87 1870 Burns, Islay, 1817-1872. j Memoir of the Rev. Wm. C. | Burns, M.A. , missionary to| MEMOIR OF THE REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS, M.A. i:>tyt'^>Cii^ ^c^^ LOND ON JAMES NISBET 8c C° 21.BERNERS STREET. W MEMOIR REV. WM. C. BURNS, M.A., MISSIONARY TO CHINA FROM THE ENGLISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. BY THE y REV. ISLAY BURNS, D.D., PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY, FREE CHURCH COLLEGE, GLASGOW. "Watch thou in all tilings, endure afflictions (or hardships), do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry." — 2 Tim. iv. 5. NEW YORK: ROBERT CARTER AND BROTHERS, 530 BROADWAY. 1870. GLASGOW: G. BLACKIE AND CO., PRINTERS, VILLAFIELD. PREFACE. The difficulty I anticipated in writing the Biography of one so nearly related to me was very soon for- gotten as I proceeded with my task, and felt more and more deeply how utterly insignificant are all such earthly ties, in presence of the higher relations of that eternal kingdom in which my lamented Brother so entirely lived. If, while he was still with us, it was possible for those most closely connected with him in some measure to know him " after the flesh," one instantly felt so soon as he had passed within the veil that henceforth we could know him so no more. The materials from which the narrative has been drawn are — ist. My own personal recollections and those of other intimate friends ; 2d, Private letters addressed chiefly to members of his own family; and 3d, Copious journals, extending over the whole period of his home ministry, and continued, though in a briefer and more fragmentary manner, during the early years of his residence in China. From these last I have quoted very largely, but not more so I believe than those who are really interested in his work would wish me to have done. Indeed, the difficulty often was merely to extract from a docu- VI PREFACE. ment, which many readers doubtless would have wished to possess entire. To the many friends to whom I have been in- debted for valuable materials, I have made acknow- ledgment in the course of the work at the places where their communications have been used ; but I would here specially mention the names of the late Rev. Dr. Burns, of Toronto, who contributed the tenth chapter; the Rev. Duncan M'Gregor, M.A., of Dun- dee, and the Rev. Dr. Kirkpatrick, of Dublin, who furnished the graphic sketches of my Brother's labours in Edinburgh and Dublin; and the Rev. Carstairs Douglas, M. A., of Amoy, to whose loving and painstaking endeavours I am indebted for almost all the precious memorials from China which enrich the closing chapters. My single aim has been to present a true and life-like picture of him whose footsteps I had un- dertaken to trace; and that thus being dead he may yet speak, just as he spoke while he was with us, to the praise of that divine grace which he so greatly magnified, and by which alone, as he so profoundly felt, he was what he was. Free Church College, Glasgow, December 6th, i86g. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE Early Years, i CHAPTER H. Preparation for the Ministry, 31 CHAPTER III, Opening Ministry, 54 CHAPTER IV. Revival Scenes, . • 83 CHAPTER V. St. Peter's, Dundee, 108 CHAPTER VI. St. Andrews, Perth, &c., 131 CHAPTER VII. Labours at Aberdeen, 159 CHAPTER VIII. Work among the Mountains, 188 CHAPTER IX. Newcastle, Edinburgh, Dublin, 217 CHAPTER X. Canada, 256 VIU CONTENTS. CHAPTER XL PAGE Call to the Chinese Field, 289 CHAPTER XII. Departure for China, 309 CHAPTER XIII. The Field and its Pioneers, 326 CHAPTER XIV. Breaking Ground, 340 CHAPTER XV. Canton, 372 CHAPTER XVI. Amoy, ' . 378 CHAPTER XVIL First-fruits, 401 CHAPTER XVIII. Shanghae, Swatow, &c., 426 CHAPTER XIX. Old Scenes and New, 480 CHAPTER XX. Peking and Nieu-chwang 505 CHAPTER XXI. Conclusion, 541 APPENDIX, 557 MEMOIR OF THE Rev. William C. Burns, m.a. CHAPTER I. 1815— 1832. EARLY YEARS. WILLIAM CHALMERS BURNS, the subject of the present memoir, was the third son of the Rev. WiUiam Hamilton Bums, D.D., minister succes- sively of Dun in Angus, and of Kilsyth in Stirlingshire, and was born in the manse of the former parish on the I St day of April, 181 5. It was a quiet and gentle spot, full of stillness and peace, nestling, with the ad- joining church and graveyard, close within the bosom of a romantic dell, amid the shadows of ancient trees and the hoarse chorus of rooks high overhead, which seemed rather to increase than to break the silence. A little beyond, reached by a rustic bridge across an arm of the ravine, was the gray mansion-house of the Erskines, with its antique garden and bowling-green and smooth-shaven lawn, carrying back the thoughts into the far past, as associated in popular tradition with stories of "the good Superintendent" and the brave John Knox. 2 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1815-32. With this tranquil scene, Httle suggestive of profound spiritual experiences or intense moral struggles, were his earliest memories linked. To the neighbouring cathedral city of Brechin, too, of which a paternal uncle was then minister, and which by the continual coming and going of cousins and common friends had become to us as another home, our thoughts in after-days often recurred — with the fine old church and churchyard, and the castle steep and the castle pool, and the quaint streets, and the fair sunny gardens, and the scarlet-vested town's officers, the objects to us of continual wonderment; and chief of all, the reverend face and form of the good pastor, whose very look was a benediction,-^all bright for ever in the golden light of childhood. In his sixth year, however, all this was left behind, and became as the dreamy reminiscence of a bygone world. In the year 1821 his father was translated to a wider and more stirring sphere, where the family life developed itself henceforth under intenser and more stimulating influences. The village of Kilsyth, situated about twelve miles east of Glasgow, at the foot of an undulating range of picturesque green hills, the gentler continuation of the more rugged Campsie Fells, contains a mixed population of hand-loom weavers, colliers, and shopkeepers, which numbered at that time about 3000 souls, and formed the centre of a parish which in its landward part contained about 2000 more. Here the wheels of life moved more swiftly. There was a greater stir of mind, greater variety of interests, greater impetus and force of existence everyway, intellectual, moral, social. The chatting groups in the market-place ^t. 1-17.] KILSYTH MANSE. and at the street corners, the merry song often sustained in full chorus, blending Avith the sound of the shuttle in the long loom-shops, the keen party politics and the strong and even bitter denominational sympathies, the eager and sometimes little-ceremonious canvassings of ministers and sennons, the collisions and mutual jealousies of class and class, with all the other well-known incidents of a south- country weaving village in the neighbourhood of a great industrial and commercial centre, formed altogether a scene in strong contrast to the still life of our former home. A little to the south of this little busy hive, and separated from it only by a narrow valley, stands the manse, with its sheltering thicket of planes and beeches, and com- manding an extensive and beautiful prospect not only of the village and the hills, but over a long strath, level as the sea, to the far west, where the blue summit of Goatfell can be dimly descried from the parlour window in a clear day. Here our second home was established, and our deepest and most lasting home affections- nurtured. It was to us a sacred and blessed spot in every sense, full of quiet pleasures, healthy activities, and gentle charities — a manse home, and a manse home of the best type, in which cheerful piety, quiet thoughtfulness, and a modest and reverend dignity of speech and carriage, formed to- gether the purest element in which the young life could develop itself and receive its first impressions of truth and duty. Here of course, as elsewhere, it was the parent that made the home, and in this respect I think we were happy beyond the lot of most. Our father, gentle, reverend, gracious, full of kind thoughts, devout affections, and fresh 4 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1815-32- genial sympathies — serious without moroseness, cheerful and even sometimes gay without lightness, zealous, diligent, conscientious without a touch of impetuous haste, and carrying about with him withal an atmosphere of calm re- pose and staid, measured dignity, which in these bustling days is becoming increasingly rare — he was the veiy model of a type of the Christian pastorate which is fast passing away; the father alike and the friend of his whole parish, and the loving centre of everything kind and good and true that is passing within its bounds. To him our mother was in some respects the direct counterpart. Of a nimble buoyant active -frame, alike of body and mind, she was all light and life and motion, and was as it were the glad sunshine and bright angel of a house which had been otherwise too still and sombre. There was not in those days under their roof much direct and systematic home education. The influence and teaching of the place was rather felt, or experienced without being felt, than visibly obtruded and pressed upon us. " My father's government was rather calm and strong, than bustling and energetic; he was a regulating and steadying power, rather than a busy executive. He was, in short, felt rather as a presence than seen as an agency; the element in which we lived, the atmosphere which we breathed day by day; something, in short, which was as it were presupposed, and in its silent influence entered into everything that was thought, felt, planned, enjoyed, or suffered within our little world. We were not often or much with him, not so much, I think, as would as a general thing be desirable. His calm and unimpulsive temperament here, as elsewhere, fitted him Mt. 1-17.] HOME EDUCATION. to act rather by continuous influence, than by distinct and specific efforts. A casual rencounter in the garden walk or in the harvest field; a forenoon drive to some neighbouring manse or country house; half an hour's private reading with his boys in the study before break- fast; above all, the Sabbath evening hour of catechising and prayer; these, with now and then the reading aloud in the fireside circle of some interesting and popular volume, a task in which he greatly delighted and much ex- celled— were the chief occasions of direct intercourse and influence between the father and the child. Sometimes, too, along the garden walk at eventide, or through a parti- tion wall at midnight, the ejaculated words of secret medi- tation and prayer would reach our ears and hearts, like the sounding of the high-priest's bells within the vail."^ It was in this way that the first touch of serious thought I ever observed in my brother was brought to light. We had lain long awake in our common sleeping chamber after some months of separation, talking eagerly of all our ideas and plans of life, in which as yet God and heaven had little share, when the well-known sound from within the sanctu- ary was heard in the silence. He was hushed at once at least to momentary seriousness, and whispered : "There can be no doubt where /lis heart is, and where he is going." It Tyas not long before the great, decisive change took place, and may possibly have been the first living seed of grace that sunk into his heart. — But the more active manage- ■* T/ie Pastor of Kilsyth: a brief biography of Mr. Bums' father, published some years ago, from which this sketch of the home Hfe at Kilsyth is partly taken. 6 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1813-32. ment of the household and of the home education was safe m the hands of his more nimble and lively partner, who seemed made, if any one ever was, to make home and home duties happy. " Herself the very soul of springy activity and elastic cheerfulness, she kept all around her alive and stirring; while by the infection of her own blithesome and courageous spirit, labour became light and duty pleasant. Never was she so much at home as when, in one of those occasional inundations of friendly kith and kin to which our large connection and central situation exposed us, the manse became too nar- row for its inmates, and double-bedded rooms and extem- porized shake-downs became the order of the day. Was there now and then, amid this universal quickness and alacrity, a slight tinge of sharpness in chiding the dreamy loiterer and the handless slut? Perhaps so: yet we children scarcely saw it, to whom she ever spoke in the true mother tones of gentleness and love. From her lips and at her knees we learned our earliest lessons of truth, and in her voice and face first traced, as in a clear mirror, the lineaments of that gentle and loving god- liness which hath the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come."^ Such was the element in v/hich my brother's earliest years were spent, and in which his first experiences of life were formed. Ther^ was another household, with which, second to our own, our most hallowed thoughts of home and of home life were associated — the manse of Strathblane, situated about twelve miles from Kilsyth, in a quiet valley at the foot 1 The Pastor of Kilsyth. JEt. 1-17.] THE MANSE OF STRATHBLANE. 7 of Ballagan, at the other end of the Campsie range. Dr. WiUiam Hamilton, the head of that household, and the father of the better knoN\Ti and well -beloved Dr. James Hamilton of London, was my father's ancient friend, and in former days had been used, while the assistant minister of a church in Dundee, to visit us, especially at communion times, in our old home at Dun. His stately form, and a certain almost prophetic majesty of mien and bearing, powerfully impressed us, and his image and voice, as he paced up and down the manse parlour, in eager discourse or with rapt air reciting some favourite snatch of sacred song, remained ever after- wards a cherished tradition in the family. When in after- years the two friends found themselves again established within easy distance of each other, the old relation was resumed, and was kept up not only by the official inter- change of services at communion times, but by a cordial intimacy betAveen the families which was signalized by oc- casional comings and goings in bright summer days along the romantic valley between. Those visits were always seasons of high enjoyment, and revealed to us a phase of the Christian home which was to us in some measure new. Dr. Hamilton was a man far above the common standard of his class and of his time, alike in intellectual stature and in moral elevation and strength. A ripe scholar, a profound divine, and a minister of singular fervour and sanctity, he was characterized at the same time by an enlargement and enlightened liberality of view in regard to all public questions civil and religious, at once admirable and rare. He was an ardent friend of the missionary cause 8 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1815-32- while that cause was yet in its infancy and still suffered the full brunt of the world's scorn. He was a reformer at a time when, to nine-tenths of his order, reform, associated with ideas of revolution and church destruc- tion, was a name of terror, I remember during the days of the Reform Bill, when the whole land was astir with the excitement and the fear of a movement which seemed to most of us like an irruption of the Vandals, hearing with dismay, how a bannered host of workmen from the print-fields in his neighbourhood had actually, at his own desire, filed, to the sound of drum, past his manse, encamped on the green lawn before the door, and received from the good pastor not only words of kindly counsel and encouragement, but "good cheer" also of another and more substantial kind. But it was in his study that he was most at home and in his glory. He had a hunger for books, which fortunately his ample means enabled him to gratify by the accumulation of stores which over- flowed far beyond their proper sanctuary into every available nook and corner of the house, and which seemed to us, accustomed to more common things, one of the wonders of the world. The spirit of the father infected the children, and diffused through the place an air of studious application and still quietude which was almost cloistral. Yet was the house happy and cheerful withal. The favourite sports and pastimes, indeed, were like everything else about the place, of the intellectual cast, but none the less on that account bright and gladsome, — a boyish lecture to the literary society at the neighbouring print-fields; an animated JEt. 1-17.] A "happy home. discussion of the respective merits of Wilberforce and Brougham, and Grey, and Henry Melville and Dr. Chal- mers; or a mock trial in the parlour in the evening, in which boys and girls alike bore their share, and the several parts of judge, jury, panel, and pleading counsel were sustained with an ability and gravity which alike astonished and confounded us. How vividly do I recall the very look and voice with which a fair and gentle girl, "the little one" and the favourite of the family, came for- ward, with a blithesome air which sadly belied her grim part, shouting, "I'm to be the panel." James, of course, was senior counsel for the crown, as well as the presiding genius of the whole scene; William, his younger brother, and now a respected minister of the Free Church, sat, duly bewigged and gowned, as the most reverend judge, while the remaining parts, I am afraid, broke sadly down in my brother's hands and mine. Altogether it was one of the brightest and holiest spots I have ever known on earth — a place which angels might well visit, or desire to look into in passing by on errands of mercy and grace; so that it seems quite in the natural course of things that there should have proceeded from it the author of the Mount of Olives and the Happy Home. We returned musing many thoughts, and feeling that we had got a look into a world to which, accustomed to a more outward and muscular style of life, we had been in great measure strangers. My brother's bent, especially, was at this time decidedly in the "muscular" direction. He gave far greater promise of becoming a mighty hunter than a deep student bearing the pale hue of thought. lO LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1815-32. Strong of limb and of sanguine temperament, his heart was in the open fields and woods, and in all manner of manly and athletic exercises. He spent long days with his fishing-rod on the Carron water on the other side of the hills, along with a congenial friend from the village. He wandered for hours along the hedges and through the fields with an old carabine, borrowed from the village blacksmith, in search of sparrows and crows. He was famous for lifting up his axe upon the thick trees, at one time clearing the whole precincts of the superfluous growth of years by his unaided strength. He did yeoman's service on occasions in the hay or corn fields, and was in great request by the "minister's man" when a sudden emergency called for the aid of a volun- teer force. I do not remember, at that time, any books which greatly interested him except these two — the Filgriiii's Progress, which he read over and over again during a time of confinement occasioned by an accident, and the Life of Sir William Wallace, bought with a half-crown given him when a very little boy by Dr. Hamilton. There were, however, few books then fitted to arrest the attention and stir the minds of the young, and especially of boys. There were no Martin Rat- tlers, or Old Jacks, or Tom Browns. Even such as there were had in their outward appearance a most uninviting aspect. The rude engravings of former days had just been banished, in the interests of high art and good taste, and the more graceful illustrations of present times had not yet come in. Thus the most enchanting of books had, just at that particular juncture, a most ^t. 1-17.] SCHOOL DAYS. repulsive aspect. The PilgrMs Progress was without an effigy even of Giant Pope or the Shepherds on the Delectable Mountains. Robinson Crusoe was without the shaggy umbrella and the footprint on the shore. Even the Scots Worthies and the Book of Martyrs were mere acres of black type, Avithout one solemn gleam of the gathered faggots and the aspiring flames, and of the clasped hands and uplifted eyes of martyr faith and victory. Thus there was comparatively little then to allure or to keep within doors a stirring boy, urged by a strong physical impulse toward the open fields and woods. Meanwhile, however, the essential matters of a common school education went on satisfactorily. He attended, all the time of his residence at home, the parish school of the place, then under the care of the Rev. Alexander Salmon, after^vards of Paisley and Sydney, a teacher of rare intelligence and skill, who was among the first Scottish schoolmasters to avail himself of the modern improved methods of tuition, and to substitute an intellectual interest for the old iron sway of the ferula. I have myself a most vivid recollection of the very time when the grim reign of terror came to an end, and the halcyon days of lively questioning and kindly moral influence began. Here my brother did his work well, and kept a good place in all his classes. He became a good reader, a good arithmetician and accountant, and learned, at least in a certain rough way, the elements of Latin; without, however, any kindlings of desire after further attainments in the higher learning. His thoughts were still all outward, and his hisfhest ambition and 12 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1815-32. declared resolution to be a country farmer, like the fathers of most of his school companions and friends. And yet, even then, a touch of deeper feeling would now and then betray itself, which revealed the hidden fire that slumbered within. A touching instance of this I veiy vividly remember. The population of a dovecot which he owned as his special property, had become redundant, and the decree had gone forth from the higher powers that some of his favourites should fall a sacrifice to the public good. Yielding reluctant to the stern necessity, he undertook himself the office of execu- tioner, which he deemed would be more mercifully dis- charged by his own hand than by any other; and planting himself carabine in hand at the corner of a wall at a little distance, took his aim resolutely but tremblingly at one of the devoted flock perched on the ridge of the house, between him and the sky. The shot missed its mark, but unhappily only partially. The poor bird was sorely wounded in the foot, but not killed; and gathering up the broken and bleeding limb beneath its wing, stood on the other, silent and motionless, a spectacle of agony. Instantly his heart smote him for the deed he had done; he was now, to his own sense, no more the executioner, but the cruel murderer; and he stood there rooted to the spot for hours together, as in bitter penance, gazing up with streaming eyes to the hapless victim, which seemed in its turn to look down reproachfully upon him. The whole scene, which is distinctly before me now, might almost have reminded one of Rispah, the daughter of Aiah, in her long watch beside the bodies of her Mt. 1-17.] ABERDEEN GRAMMAR-SCHOOL. 1 3 slaughtered sons, "when she took sackcloth and spread it for her on the rock, from the beginning of harvest, until water dropped upon them out of heaven." A cir- cumstance, however, which now transpired, changed at once the whole course of his thoughts, and opened a new, and, as the event proved, a most momentous chap- ter in his life. A maternal uncle, a respected lawyer in Aberdeen, who happened to visit us at this time, not ap- proving of the farming project, kindly invited William, then in his thirteenth year, to spend a winter with him, and take advantage of the higher training of the grammar- school of that city, then at the very height of its fame, under the distinguished 'rectorship of the Rev. Dr. James Melvin. I must here indulge myself with a passing tri- bute to the memory of a revered teacher, to whom my brother, with myself and many others, owed much — then well known within his own sphere, but since his death far more widely, as one of the first classical scholars of his day, and, more perhaps than any other man, the reviver in modern times of exact scholarship, and especi- ally of Latin scholarship, in Scotland. In doing so, I avail myself of the graphic pencil of a distinguished alumnus of the school, who has with fond and loving hand drawn the portrait of his revered master:— "I have known many other men," says the editor of MaanillaiCs Magazine, "since I knew him — men of far greater cele- brity in the world, and of intellectual claims of far more rousing character than belong to Latin scholarship — but I have known no one, and I expect to know no one, so perfect in his type as Melvin. Every man whose memory 14 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1815-32. is tolerably faithful can reckon up those to Avhom he is himself indebted; and trying to estimate at this moment the relative proportions of influence from this man and from that man encountered by me, which I can still feel running in my veins, it so happens that I can trace none more distinct, however it may have been marred and mudded, than that stream which as Melvin gave it was truly 'honey wine.' .... During our three years in the under-classes we saw Melvin only incident- ally, and on the weekly gathering of the whole school in the public school-room; while the fact that he wore a gown and kept his hat on, while the other three masters were without gowns and had their hats off, greatly im- pressed the young ones. His authority over the other masters was never made in the least apparent, but it was felt to exist; and there was always an awful sense of what might be the consequence of an appeal to him in a case of discipline. No such appeal in my day ever ended in anything more serious than a public verbal rebuke; but that was terrible enough. For the aspect of the man — then in the prime of manhood, lean, but rather tall and well-shouldered, and with a face of the pale-dark kind, naturally austere, and made more stern by the marks of the small-pox — was unusually awe-compelling. The name 'Grim,' or more fully, 'Grim Pluto,' had been bestowed upon him, after a phrase in one of the lessons, by one of his early classes; and this name was known to all the school. When he entered the school gate the whisper in the public school would be, 'Here's Grim;' and, as he walked through the school into his own class-room, look- iEt. T-I7.] DR. JAMES MELVIN. 1 5 ing neither right nor left, with his gold watch-chain and seals dangling audibly as he went, all would be hushed. And yet, with all this fear of him, there was an affection and a longing to be in his classes, to partake of that richer and finer instruction of which we heard such reports. ''When one did come into the rector's immediate charge, one came to know him better. The great awe of him still remained. Stricter or more perfect order than that which Melvin kept in the two classes which he taught simultaneously, it is impossible to conceive. But it was all done by sheer moral impressiveness, and a power of rebuke, either by mere glance or by glance and word together, in which he was masterly. As a bom ruler of boys, Arnold himself cannot have surpassed Melvin. And though there were wanting in Melvin's case many of those incidents which must have contributed to the com- plete veneration with which the Rugby boys looked at Arnold — the known reputation of the man, for example, in the wide world of thought and letters beyond the walls of the school — yet, so far as personal influence within the school was concerned, there was in Melvin some form of almost all those things that we read of in Arnold, as tend- ing to blend love more and more, on closer intimacy, with the first feeling of reverence. Integrity and truthfulness, conjoined with a wonderful considerateness, were charac- teristic of all he said and did. His influence was so high-toned and strict, that, even had he taught nothing expressly, it would have been a moral benefit for a boy to have been within it. It did one good even to look at 1 6 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1813-32. him day after day as he sat and presided over us. As he sat now, in his own class-room, always with his hat off, one came to admire more and more, despite his grim and somewhat scarred face, the beauty of his finely-formed head, the short black hair of which, crisping close round it, defined its shape exactly, and made it more an ideal Roman head than would have been found on any other shoulders in a whole Campus Martins of the Aberdonians. One un-Roman habit he had, that of snuff-taking. But though he took snuff in extraordinary quantities, it was, if I may so say, as a Roman gentleman would have taken it — with all the dignity of the toga, and every pinch emphatic. "In that teaching of Latin which Melvin perseveringly kept to as his particular business, a large portion of the work of his classes consisted, of course, of readings in the Latin authors, in continuation of what had been read in the junior classes. Here, unless perchance he began with a survey of the grammar, to see how we were grounded, and to rivet us afresh to the rock, we first came to perceive his essential peculiarities. Accuracy, to the last and minutest word read, and to the nicest shade of distinction between two apparent synonyms, was what he studied and insisted on, and this always with a view to the culti- vation of a taste for pure and classic, as distinct from Brummagem Latinity. . . . The quantity read was not large — seldom more than a page a day — but every sentence was gone over at least five times — first read aloud by the boy that might be called on — then translated word for word with the utmost literality, each Latin word being named as the English equivalent was fitted to it — ^t. 1-17.] A SCOTTISH ARNOLD. 1 7 then rendered as a whole somewhat more freely and elegantly, but still with no permission of that slovenly practice of translation which is called 'giving the spirit of the original,' then analyzed etymologically, each important verb or noun becoming the text for an ex- ercise up and down, backwards and forwards, in all appertaining to it; and lastly, construed or analyzed in respect of its syntax and idiom, the reasons of its moods, cases and what not Of course in the readings, whether from the prose writers or the poets, occasion was taken by Melvin to convey all sorts of minute pieces of elucidative historical and biographical information, in addition to what the boys were expected to have procured for themselves in the act of preparation, and in this way a considerable amount of curious lore about the Roman calendar, the Roman wines and the way of drinking them, &c., was gradually and accurately acquired. Never either did Melvin leave a passage of peculiar beauty of thought, expression, or sound, without rousing us to a sense of this peculiarity, and impressing it upon us, by reading the passage himself, eloquently and lovingly, so as to give effect to it. Over a line like Virgil's description of the Cyclopes working at the anvil : Illi inter sese magna vi brachia toUunt, he would linger with real ecstacy, repeating it again and again with something of a tremble of excitement in his grave voice. Perhaps, however, it was in expounding his favourite Horace that he rose oftenest to what may be called the higher criticism. It was really beautiful to 1 8 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1815-32- hear him dissect a passage in Horace and then put it together again thriUingly complete." But it was in the matter of prose composition most of all, that the Aberdeen grammar-school then stood, and I believe still stasias, fadk pri?iceps among the higher schools in Scotland. The great charm of this part of the work was the rigid and absolute accuracy which was exacted throughout, and the perfect confidence that, all being done in the school, beyond the reach of surreptitious aid from tutors and friends, everything was fair and square between one competitor and another. I believe that the universal adoption of this principle, instead of the present loose practice of giving exercises home to be manu- factured any way which the lax consciences of tutors and pupils may acquiesce in, would do more than any one thing to revive the spirit of thorough scholarship in our Scottish schools. If any justification were needed of Dr. Melvin's method in this respect, it might be found in the universal interest, rising in all the better boys even to enthusiasm, which this part of the school Avork excited. "Two entire days in every week were devoted to 'the versions,' and these were the days of keenest emulation. In anticipation of them it was our habit to jot down in note-books of our own, divided alphabetically, and with index margins for the leading words, any specialties of phrase or idiom, any niceties about ?//, qmim, quod and quia, ///t'and istc, liter and quis, sims and cjiis^plerique and plurimi and the like, upon Avhich Melvin dwelt in the course of our readings. With these manuscript 'phrase- books' and 'idiom-books' (containing doubtless much ^t. 1-17.] A SCOTTISH ARNOLD. 1 9 that might be found in print, but precious as compiled by ourselves) and with Ainsworth's Dictionary ... we assembled on the morning of every 'version day,' and sure enough in the piece of English which Melvin then dictated to us, which was always a model of correct style and punctuation, and generally not uninteresting in matter, there were some of the traps laid for us against which he had been recently warning us. We sat and wrote the version — those who were done first (generally the first faction boys) going up to Melvin's desk to have them examined — who then became his assistants in examining the other versions so as to clear them all within the day.-^ . . . The system of marking was peculiar. You were classed, not by your positive merits of ingenuity, elegance and such like, but as in the world itself, by your freedom from faults or illegalities. Only between two ver- sions coequal in respect of freedom from error was any posi- tive merit of elegance allowed to decide the superiority. .... There were three grades of error — the minimus, or as we called it, the viinie, which counted as i, and included misspellings, Avrong choices of words, &c. ; the medius, or midie, which counted as 2, and included false tenses and other such slips; and the maxiinus, or maxie, which counted as 4, and included Avrong genders, a glaring ^ This does not exactly agree with my recollections. In my time it was only versions from the lower regions of the class that were committed to such 'prentice hands.. Every pupil who had the slightest pretensions to scholarship, or capacity for scholarship, had his e.xercise examined and appraised by the rector himself, either publicly before the class at the afternoon meeting or at home over- night. 20 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1815-32. indicative for a subjunctive, &c. On a maxie in the version of a good scholar, Melvin was always cuttingly- severe. '■Ut . . . dixit^ he would say, underscoring the two words in a sentence where the latter should have been diceret; '■ut . . . dixit ^ he would repeat, re- freshing his frown with a pinch of snuff; '■ut . . . dixit^ he would say a third time, with a look in the cul- prit's face as if he had murdered his father; 'O William, William ! you have been very giddy of late;' and William would descend crestfallen, and be miserable for half a day." There is not an old Melvinian in all the world who will not recognize this picture, or fail to authenticate with a thrill of pleasure every line and shade of it. If "William" is still alive, he will have felt- that look still upon him as he read these lines, as we ourselves can at this moment recall with a shudder just such another. My brother at once felt the fascination of the place and of the man, and caught the breath of a new existence, in which all his old dreams of farming and of a country life vanished out of sight. He fought his way steadily up the class till he reached the genial and exhilarating air of the highest "faction," and closed the session as one of the rector's best and most trusted scholars. When he returned home, even after the interval of a college session, his talk was still of Melvin and of the grammar- school, and was of such an enthusiastic kind as to kindle in me an irrepressible longing to explore the same Eldorado of golden knowledge and pure classic lore. The effects of the mental discipline thus acquired were JEt. i-iy.] CHOICE OF A PROFESSION. 21 lasting, and had an important influence on the whole course of his future life, forming in him once for all those habits of rigid accuracy, thorough work, and con- scientious regard for rule and law which ever afterwards distinguished him; while at the same time awakening and training that remarkable faculty for the study of language which stood him in such good stead in the missionary labours of later years. From the school he passed to the University, standing fifth on the list of bursars or open scholars in Marischal College, from among more than a hundred competitors; and after two successive sessions, in which he obtained honourable distinction in all his classes, returned home in the spring of 1831, having completed, as was then thought, his education and full preparation for the work of his life. The nature of that work he had already chosen. His residence with his uncle at Aberdeen had had naturally enough the same effect lipon him as the companionship of farmers' sons at the Kilsyth parish school, and he was now accordingly as decidedly set on the profession of the law, as before on a country life. His father, who had earnestly desired his dedication to the Christian ministry, gave his reluctant consent, and a few months afterwards he was settled with his uncle, Mr. Alexander Burns, a writer to the signet in Edinburgh, with the view of being bound as an apprentice, so soon as the necessary certificates from his college professors could be obtained. But "man proposeth, God disposeth." "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord: for as the heavens are higher than the 2 2 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1815-32. earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." God had "girded" him for a far higher and nobler work than that which he had chosen for himself, though as yet "he did not know Him." Before all the certificates had arrived, and while yet the last of them was impatiently waited for, a change had taken place in the spirit of his mind, which translated him at once as into a new world and gave a new direc- tion to his whole after-life. The extant memorials of the memorable event are not abundant, but explicit and deeply interesting. "While William was at Aberdeen," writes an elder sister, "a great change had come over our eldest sister, who from a life of gaiety in Edinburgh during two winters, was turned most decidedly with her face Zionwards, and left Edinburgh for ever. She returned to our quiet manse, desiring, whatever others did, that she might serve the Lord; and from this service she never drew back, but her path was as the shining light shining more and more until the perfect day — at Pesth, i8th February, 1865 — when she passed into glory. I think the year 1831 was a year of grace in our family. I re- member we began a practice of reading aloud between dinner and tea some religious book. Bridges on the 119/// Psalm was with our sister a special favourite, and means of grace. On these occasions dear William, to our sorrow, without saying a word always slipped out, and he was to our view the least likely subject of grace in the family. He always vehemently rejected the idea of being a minister, and said he wished to be a lawyer, because he 'saw lawyers rich and with fine houses.' Oh! what a JEt. 1-17.] THE GREAT CHANGE. 23 contrast his after-life was to this ! for one more conformed to his Saviour, in self-denial and in voluntary poverty, the world has never seen — at least one who was all this, without false asceticism or self-righteous pride. "Wlien, in this spirit, William went to Edinburgh to be bound apprentice to our uncle A. with the view of being a W.S., we mourned over him as one going to be 'bound' to the world; and this view seemed to have come over his owa mind when he found the different kind of society he was thrown into, from what he left behind in the manse. A joint letter we ^\Tote him, to which he often after\vards referred as one of the chief means of awakening him, has passed from my mind, and a single sentence quoted from it in a letter of his which still remains is all that is left. The first dawn of hope regarding him is to be found in a letter of date 5th December, 1831, in which the following for him remarkable words occur, 'I am extremely obliged to you for your excellent letter, also to papa, and I look forward to our correspondence as a thing that shall afford me great pleasure when I am fairly settled away from that dear home Avhere I have enjoyed so many happy days, and where in all likelihood I shall never be resident again. I wish you would recommend me to, or send me some good religious reading.' This request astonished us, and I think we sent him Boston's Fourfold State. Very soon after this he suddenly and unexpectedly walked in one evening into the dining-room at the old manse, with a graver look than was his wont; and in answer to our mother's exclamation. Oh! Willie, where have you come from? his answer was gravely, 'From Edinburgh.' 24 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1815-32. 'How did you come?' 'I walked' [a distance of 36 miles]. There was then a silence, and standing on the hearth-rug, with his back to the fire, he said, 'What would you think, mamma, if I should be a minister after all?' His countenance showed that he was speaking in earnest, and he then told openly how the Lord had arrested him, and that he had no rest in his spirit till he should come home and obtain his parents' consent to relinquish the law and give himself to the service of Jesus in the ministry of the gospel. The inner history of this wonderful change you have in his own diary — this is as I saw it; and far distant as is the day, I remember it vividly, and my feeling was that I was standing in the presence of a miracle, I could not contain my feelings, but rushed along the long passage which led to our father's study, and shutting the door threw myself on my knees and wept. After being a short time at home, he returned to Edin- burgh with our parents' joyful consent to his being what they had long wished and prayed for — a minister of the everlasting gospel. By a singular providence he was free to do so. He had not been bound apprentice, owing to a delay in the arrival of one of his certificates of attendance at college; and it was during this interval that the whole current of his life was changed. It may be right to add that William had been all along, so far as ever known to me, perfectly free from all outward vice. I never knew of an act of duplicity or a bad word. This I think is important to be mentioned, as from his deep views of sin, he during all the course of his spiritual life spoke of him- self in such terms of self-loathing, that those unacquainted iEt. 1-17.] THE GREAT CHANGE. 25 with the facts might naturally suppose that he had been turned to God from a life of open sin, as indeed is broadly- hinted in an Aberdeen document recently given to the world." ^ Such was the event so far as it could be seen from the outside, even by those who stood the nearest to it. Happily we have another and still more authentic record of it from his own hand — a solemn deposition as before God, in regard to a sacred secret, over which before man he ever cast the veil of a deep and reverent reserve. It was drawn forth by a sudden gush of reminiscence, when, ten years afterwards, and after his own new life had be- come the germ of similar life to thousands of other souls, he unexpectedly found himself, in the course of a solitary evening walk, in the midst of those scenes which were linked to him with such infinite and deathless memories: — ^^Editt., Tuesday, Nov. 16, 1841. — To-day I was chiefly occupied, as far as business is concerned, in preparing for the press the letters I sent some time ago to the Greenside Place school. In taking the air I walked over scenes which were indeed fitted to speak aloud of mercy to my favoured soul. I walked along York Place, and looked up to the windows of the room (No. 41, west side, upper flat) where, ^ It may be of more importance for me to state that my own thorough belief is in entire accordance with that here expressed. As a brother nearly of the same age, I had been constantly with him and shared his inmost thoughts ; and I always understood from him that he had begim to tread those paths of folly which often lead to open sin, but never passed over the verge of the precipice. On the con- trary, he seemed to regard it as a singular mercy from the Lord, that the effectual call of grace had come just in time to save him from a ruin otherwise, as it seemed to him, inevitable. 2 6 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1815-32- when reading Pike's Early Piety on a Sabbath afternoon, I think about the middle of December, 1831, an arrow from the quiver of the King of Zion was shot by his Almighty sovereign hand through my heart, though it was hard enough to resist all inferior means of salvation. Who can under- stand the feelings with which I again revisited the spot. Alas ! the windows in the roof above met my eye, as the place where a few months afterwards (in 1832) poor Uncle Alexander died in one day of cholera ! Oh ! what a contrast between the scenes of mercy and judgment exhibited by God in places so near each other ! From this I walked down and revisited my old lodgings. No. 69 Broughton Place, where my earliest days as a child of grace were spent, and where first the Spirit of God shone with full light upon the glory of Jesus as a Saviour for such as I was. This was, I think, about the 7th of January, 1832. Although it was then, I remember, that the light of God first shone fully and transportingly on his word, and into my .heart, I was never from the beginning, three weeks before, in utter darkness, but felt that God had been always willing to save me, that I was a self-murderer, and that now He Avas in his own sovereig7ity touching my heart and drawing me to himself for his own glory ; and again, though about the time mentioned, I remembered to have beheld transporting wonders in God's law, yet my peace following on this was far different indeed from a settled quiet frame of mind. I had many fears and many awful struggles with sin and Satan, and many sleepless nights of mingling joy and fear, and faith and hope, and love. Ebenezer! Halleluiah! Halleluiah! Amen. " Wednesday. — Yesterday morning I breakfasted with Mr. Bruce, and this morning with Mr. Brown (C. J. B.); on both occasions we had interesting conversations. Mr. Bruce seemed pleased to be reminded of old events, and pro- mised to give me the dates of several sermons which I was benefited by when preached. The means by which my change of heart was brought about were these, I think — Mr. ^t. I-I7.] "remembering the way. 27 Bruce's preaching, which engaged me much, and the fear of sudden death from the approach of cholera, were preparator)% A letter from my sisters at home, in which they spoke in a single sentence of going as pilgrims to Zion, and leaving me behind, proved a word in season and touched my natural feelings very deeply ; for when sin had rendered me dead to every other feeling, I could not think of my Christian parents, and my godly home with all its sweet and solemn privileges, without an awful conflict of soul at the thought of parting with them for ever. I could think of parting with Christ, for I knew him not — alas! do I yet know him? — but to part with them was too much for me to bear. In this way the way was prepared, but as yet I am fully conscious that my heart was spiritually dead. However the set time came. I sat down, with solemn impressions arising from the causes now mentioned, to read a part of Pike's Early Piety, which my dear father had given me at leaving home ; (Ah ! little did he know what use God was to make of it, little did the author of that solemn treatise know one of the purposes for which he wrote it;) and in one moment, while gazing on a solemn passage in it, my inmost soul was in one instant pierced as with a dart. God had apprehended me. I felt the conviction of my lost estate rushing through me with resistless power ; I left the room and retired to a bedroom, there to pour out my heart for the first time with many tears in a genuine heart-rending cry for mercy. From the first moment of this wonderful experience I had the inspiring hope of being saved by a sovereign and infinitely gracious God ; and in the same instant almost I felt that I must leave my present occupation, and devote myself to Jesus in the ministry of that glorious gospel by which I had been saved. From that day to this, blessed be Jehovah, I have been con- scious more or less deeply of the possession of a new and holy principle, leading me to live by the faith of Jesus to the glory of God, and in the communion of the Holy Ghost. Salvation unto our God, who sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb!" 28 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1815-32. The only other extant memorial of this eventful time is contained in the following letter to his sisters, written soon after his unexpected visit to Kilsyth, and which is the first surviving blossom of the new life that had dawned upon him: — ^'^ Edinburgh, February loth, 1832. — My DEAR SISTERS, — . . . . I feel it often a great encouragement to me to persevere in that life upon which I have entered, that I do not make for heaven alone; but though there be few that find 'the strait gate' and the 'narrow way,' yet that my nearest and dearest friends upon earth are my fellow-pilgrims to the 'heavenly Canaan.' Let us encourage and exhort one another in following and trusting in the Lamb who was slain, and who now intercedes for all who trust in him, at the right hand of the Father. I have been apt, as is I believe the case with many young Christians, to make my safety depend upon my feelings, and consequently to feel miserable when not engaged in religious exercises, and to despise in some degree the ordinary business of life ; but I have for some time past been coming to juster and more stable views. I had another conversation with Mr. Bruce about a week ago; I was as much as on the former occasion delighted with him, and I trust edified. He had two admirable dis- courses last Sabbath (yesterday), the one a lecture from the 7th and 8th verses of the 6th of Matthew, and the other from Ephesians, 3d chapter and 12th verse, 'In whom we have boldness,' &c. They were both very much suited to my state, and I trust I was much benefited by them Mr. Moody and I are on the most intimate terms ; he is one of the few that live near to God. . . . "If the Lord spare us all, I look forward to the happiest meeting that ever we have had. We are now, my dearest sisters, linked together by a new tie, being members of the same body^ and the children of the Almighty, our Father in heaven : but till then let us pray daily to Him for 07ie another, Mx.. 1-17.] FIRST LOVE. 29 and seek a nearer communion with Him to whom we have access with confidence by the blood of Jesus. Let not the question be with us, 'How near must we be to him in order to insure our safety?' but how much comniiinio7i can we pos- sibly attain to while here on earth. This is not our home, 'for we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God.' 'When He who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory.' What a hope is this, That our eyes shall see Him, and that we shall dwell with Him for ever and ever! He now makes intercession for us at the Father's right hand. May -we be 'kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.' Let us have but one object in view, the kingdom of heaven, and all other neces- sary things shall be added unto us. All things shall work together for the etcr7ial good of them that love God, and we must wait upon the Lord that he may give us this love. There is no object in this world, the contemplation of which is an adequate employment for that immortal and divine principle in us — 'the soul,' except the character of the 'Lord of Hosts;' with the contemplation of which, although we were to devote our entire lives, yet would we be compelled to exclaim, 'Thou art past finding out;' and this is the God to whom we approach with so little humility and contrition of soul. How wonderful that he should not only listen to tis when we call on Him, but condescend to work in us by his Holy Spirit exciting us to draw near unto Him. We ought to strive to bring our fellow-creatures to a knowledge of their state, and of the mercy that is freely offered them : it is truly an awful thought, that any one to whom the gospel is pro- claimed should go down to that lake that burneth with fire and brimstone for ever. People are apt to think themselves independent creatures, and that none has a right to their services ; but if we do not take God^s mercy in Christ Jesus, we must take His wrath. I pity most of all those whom we call decent people, who, although they will hardly believe it, are in as unsafe a state as the openly profligate, as they 30 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1815-32. do not build on Christ as the foundation. . . . The cholera is going on here though slowly, and I hope we mry all be mercifully spared ; but let us endeavour to say from the heart, 'The will of the Lord be done.' I have a letter to ready, which I expect to have an opportunity of for- warding this week. Let us pray earnestly for him, that the Lord would open his heart to the truth ; that we may go all on together to that blessed country to which Christ has purchased an admittance for all who trust in and follow Him. I cannot tell you all nor any of my thoughts on paper, but wait for a meeting with you, if the Lord will. Till then fare- well.— I remain, my dearest sisters, your truly affectionate brother,— Wm. C. Burns." He remained still for a short time in the office of his uncle, who had already formed an exalted estimate of his ability and aptitude for business, and of his prospects of future success, and who parted from him with unfeigned regret. In the course of the summer he returned to Kilsyth, and by the beginning of November he was once more in Aberdeen, to resume the broken thread of his studies, with a view to the ministry of the Church of Scotland. CHAPTER II. 1832—1839. PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. MY brother's remaining years of study at Aberdeen present nothing particularly worthy of record, except a visibly heightened tone of earnestness and energy in all his work, due to the higher motives and principles which now inspired him. A true Christian, he became more than ever an earnest student. Having learned to be faithful in that which is much, he became faithful as never before in that which is least. The result was seen in the higher place taken by him in all his classes, and in the University distinctions which began more than ever to crowd upon him. In his third year he was awarded the first place of honour in the senior mathematical class, and in the next following session he gained by public competition, along with another who was bracketted with him, the mathematical scholarship, then and for long afterwards the highest attainable distinction in the University; Avhile in all the other branches of study he held a distinguished place. In other and higher matters meanwhile, he held on his constant way — not of course in a path of unclouded sun- shine and uninterrupted progress, but consistently and 32 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1832-39. Steadfastly. The fresh and blessed experience which had attended his entrance on the spiritual life had indeed passed away, and been succeeded by an ebb of feeling over which he bitterly mourned; but the holy stream, fed by an inexhaustible spring, was never dried up, or ceased to flow in a strong and steady current. His religion, indeed, at this time was rather calm, serious, strict, and resolutely conscientious, than specially ardent and exalted; characterized rather by unflinching deci- sion and strength of principle, than by any peculiar elevation of feeling or depth of spiritual experience. His life was more of the usual type, and moved more in the customary channels of Christian profession and obedi- ence, than in after-years. There seems even to have been in him a certain tinge of the artificial and the legal — a tendency not uncommon with young disciples when called openly to confess Christ in the presence of those who have known them before in the days of their ignorance, to maintain a higher standard of outward profession and observance than is fully sustained by the state of the heart within. Of this he bitterly accuses himself in his first letter to his sister after his return to Aberdeen, and which is the only surviving fragment of his correspondence belonging to this period of his life : Aberdeen, Friday, Nov. 16, 1832. — . . . "In regard to my own state of mind, I can say little that is pleasing". When I came here my spiritual state was very low, but I hoped that the necessity which I knew there was of my walking carefully would, by God's blessing, have had a beneficial effect, making me seek nearness to Him and strength for all my emergencies ; but I lament to say, I ^t. 17-24.] SPIRITUAL PiiOGRESS. 33 have been disappointed. During the first few days after my arrival, I am sensible of having been guilty of much hypocrisy, striving to make it appear that I was indeed converted, while I felt myself to be far from God, and acting I fear rather for the upholding of my own reputation than with a view to the glory of God. I might say much on this subject, but feci at this moment that although my entering on it is calculated to be beneficial to me, in bringing it more immediately before my own mind, and calling forth your earnest prayers in my behalf; yet the very feeling of having expressed my mijid upon this subject may prove a snare to me, leading me to suppose that I have retraced my steps to the Cross of Christ, while I remain in reality unwilling to become His wholly and His oiily. May the Lord in His great mercy teach me my real character, and lead me to some just conception of His perfect holiness and hatred of sin, that I may prize as I ought that salvation which He has provided, and be made to count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus ! The counsel and sympathy of dear friends are then especially effective when they arc absent; for as we delight to think of again meeting after being for a time separated, our views are directed to that blessed abode where alone there is a security of our dwelling in sweet and uninterrupted com- munion." The state of mind thus expressed will not be difficult of comprehension to any who like him, after a spiritual crisis of more than usual decisiveness, have descended all at once to the common level of ordinary practical life. Clearly the views and convictions which then opened on his soul remained unchanged, but the fresh impressions and strong emotions which had given life and force to them had for the moment passed away. He still thought as justly, but he felt less intensely, and therefore moved 34 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1832-39. and acted less buoyantly. He was faint, but he was still pursuing the same high end, and held his face unswerv- ingly in the same direction. They who thus wait on the Lord, even though they may for a season faint and be weary, shall renew their strength. Though like the moulting bird they may droop as if ready to die, a new life will soon stir within them, and bear them upwards as on eagles' wings. Even in the dead calm and when the loose sails hang idly down, let us remember still the haven whither Ave are going, and turn our eyes ever wist- fully thither, and the heavenly gales will surely soon return. How eminently this was so in the case of the subject of this memoir we shall in the sequel see. Even now the declension over which he mourned was more apparent than real — rather the mere transition from the flush of the morning to the light of common day, than any actual retrogression or even obscuration of the Sun. Meanwhile the light that was in him, dim and feeble as it seemed to himself, was not darkened, and could not be hid from others. " My mind," says Dr. Murray Mitchell, an old class-fellow, and now missionary of the Free Church of Scotland at Calcutta, "goes back to Aberdeen, and 1829, or rather November, 1828, when I first became acquainted with your brother. We were class-fellows, at school and college, for three years. He then discon- tinued attending college for a year, with the intention I think of giving himself to the study of law. When he returned to Aberdeen he was an altered man. He came back full of holy earnestness, having in the meantime sustained the greatest revolution of which the spirit of ^Et. 17-24.] UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW. 35 man is susceptible, and seeking now every opportunity to converse with his old companions regarding Christ and His salvation." With this statement my own re- collections of this period entirely accord. It was a time with him, I think, of steady, though not of marked or conspicuous progress. He was earnest and decided in his -Christian profession beyond the standard of most, but still according to the ordinary style of the Christians of that time ; nor had that overaiastering sense of eternal things and of the infinite Avorth of souls, which at an after period carried him beyond all the barriers of conventional rule, and could be bound by no restraints but the clear and eternal laws of God, yet manifested itself Taking his degree with honourable distinction in 1834, he proceeded in the winter of that year to the University of Glasgow, with the view of prosecuting his further studies for the ministry there. The intellectual life of that ancient and famed seat of learning was in those days, so far at least as the public teaching was concerned, ratlier more conspicuous in the literary than in the theological depart- ment. The revered professor of divinity. Dr. Stevenson Macgill, had by that time fallen into the "sere and yellow leaf," and no longer exercised that effective influence over the minds of his pupils which he had done in earlier years. The air of the church history class was indescribably slumbrous, and reminded one now of Spenser's Cave of Morpheus and now of Bunyan's Enchanted- Ground; while our Hebrew studies were superintended by a professor of much intelligence cer- tainly, but who knew almost nothing of Hebrew, and 3'6 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1832-39. opened his course rather significantly by an elaborate refutation of the vowel-points. In the literary and philo- sophical departments again all was life and energy; and there was altogether, I think, about the place more of a true academic spirit than existed at that time anywhere else in Scotland.' In the Greek class-room, especially, under the most fascinating and eloquent of teachers. Sir Daniel K. Sandford, there was an element of high enthu- siasm which no one then at the University can have for- gotten, and of which old pupils still speak with a rapture that almost looks like extravagance. The very music of his voice as he read the sounding lines of Homer, apart even from the brilliant translation and the rich feast of illustrative commentary and apt quotation, was a thing to go and hear. Within this charaied circle my brother was soon drawn, and supplemented by two successive sessions in Sandford's senior class the more elementary studies of his undergraduate course. At the same time the more proper work of the divinity hall was not neglected. If there was little life in the class-room there was great life in the library, and around it. There were men at the hall at that time who were not likely to suffer any society of which they were members to sink into stagnation and ennui — such as James Halley, James Hamilton, William Arnot, Norman Macleod, with others of kindred spirit, though less widely known. No doubt, however, the systematic study of scientific theology must have suffered greatly from the want of the due direction and stimulus. What was done in the Avay of special lines of reading, in connection with a class exercise or a University prize theme, was rather ^t. 1 7-24-] COLLEGE FRIENDS. 37 occasional and spasmodic, than methodical and sustained. Such incidental calls, however, to studious application my brother promptly obeyed, and improved most strenu- ously. Returning from Aberdeen about the middle of April, after completing my own undergraduate course, I found him still in his rooms in Glasgow, Avorking at the last of a long series of prize essays on Old Testament subjects for the Hebrew class, in which he had main- tained a strenuous competition with another student throughout the entire winter; and either in this or in a subsequent session he devoted much thought and labour to an essay on the characteristics of Hellenistic Greek for a University medal, which he was fortunate enough to obtain. Altogether it quite struck me, that the atmos- phere of student life in which he was now living was decidedly of a more living and stimulating kind than that which I had left behind. In the higher matters of the spirit it undoubtedly was so. Not only was there a higher tone of religious earnestness among the better part of the students generally, but there were among them individual instances of eminent devotedness and rare elevation of character, which could not fail to tell with quickening effect on others, and especially on one whom divine grace had made so susceptible to such impressions. Amongst these, besides James Hamilton, I would particularly mention the names of James Dennis- ton, a fellow-student of his own in the divinity hall, and Charles Birrel, then an undergraduate in the University, and since an eminent minister of the Baptist communion in England. With these, and with other junior students 3^ LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1832-39. whom in after-years he gathered more and more around him, he spent many hallowed hours of sweet communion in conference and in prayer, at once provoking and himself provoked to love and unto good works. Other influences there were working towards the same result, and which contributed to render this period an era in his spiritual progress, two of which I would especially commemorate. The one was the peculiar and powerful ministr}^ of the Rev. John Duncan, then of Milton Church, Glasgow, and subsequently professor of oriental languages in the New College, Edinburgh, which during the two last years of his residence took a more and more fast hold of him, and opened to him deeper views of divine truth and more solemn aspects of the Christian calling and discipleship than he had known before. "One soweth and another reapeth;" one forges the weapon of steel, another gives it its last tempering and its keen sharp edge. And so it was ordered of God that this singular instrument of his grace, who at the beginning and further progress of his spiritual course had been helped onward by other able ministers of the word, should receive his last touch of preparation for his great work from that scribe well instructed in the kingdom of God.-^ Certainly at least it seems to me, in the retrospect of those days, as if every Sabbath spent by him in Milton Church had been as a day in Patmos, and every sermon almost as an opening of the gate of heaven. ^ Besides Dr. Bruce, he had attended and much valued the ministry successively of Dr. John Murray, of the North Churcli, Aberdeen, Dr. Nathaniel Paterson, of St. Andrew's Church, and Dr. John Forbes, of St. Paul's Church, Glasgow. JEt. 17-24.] STUDENTS' MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 39 The other influence Avas that of the Students' Missionary Society in the - University of Glasgow, of which he was throughout an active and zealous, and latterly a leading and influential member. That was a sort of focus and rallying point of everything that was most earnest and Christian both in the divinity hall and in the undergraduate classes of the University; drew good men together, and placed the weak side by side with the strong; brought home to us by 'issay or discussion, or through the well-worn volumes of our library, the shining examples of missionary faith and heroism — the Martyns and Brainerds of the past, the Marshmans and Duffs of the present — till our hearts burned within us, and we longed to go forth and mix ourselves with life, in the great battle that was going on in the church and in the world around. Here my brother was ever peculiarly at home, and breathed an element which was to him more than any other con- genial and inspiring. It was here, and especially while listening to the weighty and earnest words of a missionary about to sail for China,^ that he first rose to the full idea of that entire and absolute consecration of his whole being and life to the service of Christ, which in his sub- sequent ministry so remarkably distinguished him, as well as formed his first definite purpose of devoting himself to the missionary field. Almost the only Avritten memorials of this period are contained in a brief correspondence with one of those sisters who stood, as we have seen, in so close a relation ^ Dr. James Kalley, who was however prevented by the state of his health from fulfilling his purpose. 40 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1832-39. to the beginning of his spiritual life; but these will be read with interest, both as illustrating some of the state- ments now made, and as marking generally the growing earnestness and solemnity of his views and feelings. Most of them are without date, except that of the day of the week; but I arrange them as far as possible chronologically, as they seem to me by internal indica- tions to date themselves. The first was written, as the date shows, in the first year of his residence in Glasgow. The rest probably all belong to the last : — "Dear Jane, — The accompanying packet arrived a few days ago from Paisley. Expecting it some time previously, I had prepared a few lines for you, to accompany it; but I waited in vain — and this among other causes has prevented me' from sooner writing you. I am obliged to do so at present very hurriedly, but perhaps the principal interest of anything I might say would be owing to its coming from a brother who remembers you and a brother at homes'^ and the merest note may serve this purpose. "Dr. Macgill, after an illness that confined him nearly four weeks, resumed his labours a few days ago, and is now pro- ceeding with all the vigour that is compatible with advanced age and great weakness. But we are not just dependent on his lectures for a profitable employment of our time, and the loss we sustained by his temporary absence is not so material as a stranger might imagine. I am attending, besides Dr. Macgill, the professor of Hebrew Dr. Fleming, an interesting and excellent teacher. And in addition to this, I am study- ing French under Dr. Gerlach of the high-school. I should consider him a very admirable teacher, and I hope I am making some progress under him Glasgow^ December 2i.\ih, 1834. * His sister was then in London. JEt. 17-24.] CORRESPONDENCE. 4 1 "My DEAR Jane, — I am sorry, as usual, to be obliged to despatch the basket in so great a hurry as to prevent me answering as I could have wished your very pleasing note. It is indeed hard to be truly serious and interesting, while it is easy to be morose and dull, in the service of God ; yet still we must not desist from an ardent pursuit of our high and holy calling, because of the difficulties Avhich, from an utterly depraved heart and blinded understanding, it is encompassed with. Let us in this as in all things commit in humble but earnest faith our way to the Lord, and he lain direct our steps — not thinking on the one hand that we can have too deep an impression of the value of immortal souls, and the danger in which we all naturally are, if it is counterbalanced on the other by a view of the glorious remedy, and the full- ness and certainty of the Christian's inheritance. O that we might live nearer to God, and then indeed if our manner may appear for a little less natural, it will become at length naturally serious and heavenly ! I have had a very dull and unfruitful week, have been conscious of more heart-atheism than I remember of feeling, but am now, I trust, desiring in some measure that this discovery of my utter depravity may by God's sovereign and precious grace be blessed to make me more humble and more grateful to the adorable Redeemer, who for such vile creatures as we descended so infinitely low and bore so much. " I think highly of your scheme of Sabbath teaching, and hope that you will be greatly honoured and supported in it. Your affectionate brother, — Wm. C. Burns. "Rothesay, Thursday. My DEAR Jane, — 1 have from various causes delayed till this time writing home, in expecta- tion, before 's arrival, of every day seeing some of you; and since then, waiting the opportunity of his return home. And now when the time has arrived, I am disappointed to find that, owing partly to other engagements in the evening, and partly to a doubt whether or not would go to-morrow morning, I must take to my desk when I should retire to rest. 42 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1832-39. I cannot however think of allowing him to go without some little supplement to the intelligence which I have no doubt he will retail among you for days to come. " I have been enjoying Rothesay, since I saw you, in an unusual degree, the weather being so fine, and my health, in the great kindness of God, unimpaired. Nor can I reckon among the least of the present sources of pleasure the duties in which of course my time is a good deal occupied. I have an interesting little charge here, and one which I think I have increasing cause to feel at once responsible and engaging. I have this season the privilege, obtained by request from Mr. , of joining with my pupils in the morning exercise of reading a portion of Scripture and prayer, which gives a new facility for bringing to bear on their minds and hearts the religious influence which God may enable me to employ, and accustoms them by practice to a duty which, imperative and fundamental as it is, they are unfortunately not yet otherwise acquainted with. I have many pleasing tokens, had I time to enter into particulars, of such an interest in all my pupils in those truths which must decide their eternity, as hang one between hope and fear on their account, and demand on my part a diligence and prayerfulness, which, now that I record this truth before me, I find, more than ever, I grievously want. O that I had grace to occupy my present little talent, instead of looking forward to a larger sphere, for when may I expect to be faith- ful if not now, and may I not here be privileged in Jehovah's infinite loving-kindness, if ever I shall be so honoured, to tend the lambs of the fold of Jesus? it is unbelief and not faith, I find, that discourages the ambition. . Let us provoke one another, my dear sister, to love and to good works ; let us be steadfast in our efforts and instant in our prayers, and never forget, for yonr encouragement in the service of our Divine Master, that if I have ever yet known the precious faith of God's elect, it was a letter from you and Margaret, in which I remember you spoke of being 'pilgrims to a better Mt. 17-24.] PRESSING FORWARD. 43 country,' that was first blessed to rouse me from the uncon- cern of an ungodly state. " I wrote some time ago and have had a letter in reply. His circumstances appear, from his account, in many re- spects very favourable for his improvement. " appears to have enjoyed his short stay with me exceedingly, and we have been very happy together. He is a boy of very warm heart, solid and in the main thoughtful ; a hopeful subject of grace he appears to me when I contrast his character and impressions of truth, as far as I can see these, with my own at a similar age. May the Lord make him his own, and prepare him, if it be his holy will, for important service in the advancement of his cause ! "We have been thinking of you in the enjoyment of your New Testament feast. In the strength of this food may you have grace to go many days. And now farewell, my dear Jane, and give my filial and brotherly regards to all at home and at Croy. Ever yours, — Wm. C. BURNS. "Wednesday, 26th Sept. 1838.— My dear Jane,— I hope you will not misinterpret my conduct in not answering your note on Saturday. The subject to which it referred was of too important and solemn a nature to be lightly and hastily noticed, and I desired, first, to give special thanks to the Lord for his inviting us to correspondence on such topics; and, next, to seek by prayer and fasting to obtain light from his Word, expounded by the Holy Spirit, to guide me in regard to them. The time to write you has arrived, and my conscious deadness and spiritual blindness form a new argu- ment to convince me of the need I have of using more vigorous and regular means for obtaining that advancement in the knowledge of Christ which can alone fit me to be an instrument in his hand for the advancement of his kingdom in the world. "I am almost afraid to speak of some things, which, I believe in common with yourself, my convictions have for some time approved of as indispensable means of our growth 44 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1832-39. in grace — my practice of these has been so irregular, and, at best, so far behind even my own dark and partial views regarding them. Yet it is the spirit of pride and legal hope, I am av/are, that makes me shrink from these as if from a broken covenant, instead of casting myself again as an undone transgressor on the free covenant of promise; that in me henceforth Christ may live, and regulate all things according to his own good pleasure, and for his own glory ! "The great fundamental error then, as far as I can see, in the economy of the Christian life, which many, and alas! I for one commit, is that of having too few and too short periods of solemn retirement with our gracious Father and his adorable Son Jesus Christ. It is, we well know, when meditating in secret on his Word, when examining our hearts in his holy and omniscient but fatherly and gracious presence, when pouring out our complaint before him, and seeking to utter the praises of his glorious character and works — it is in these exercises that we come to know, through the teaching of the Spirit, our natural darkness, depravity, and vileness, and that the glorious Sun of Righteousness arises upon our souls with healing in his wings, giving light to us who sit in darkness and in the region and shadow of death. The communion of the saints in Christian converse is indeed important, nay, indispensable to the growth of the new man when it can be obtained, but when is it sweet and soul-reviving but when each brings out into the common store something of the heavenly food which he has been gathering in the closet? Whenever the holy, heavenly light of a Christian deportment is seen in any one, when we hear him bringing forth from a full heart some of the glorious things of the kingdom, we ought then to learn the lesson that 'he has been with Jesus,' and to go in like manner to Him that we too may obtain this living water to be in us as a well of water springing up unto everlasting life. I have alluded to this subject in connection with your proposal, which I would hail with joy, for 'united prayer,' because it strikes me ^t. 17-24.] UNIONS FOR PRAYER. 45 from what I have felt that our object will be best attained by our stimulating each other to greatly increased fidelity in these regular and acknowledged means, instead of first adopting any special measure, which is only a burden and an impediment, except when it is like an additional channel dug for the conveyance of the waters which are overflowing their ordinary banks. O that our private and personal covenanting with the Lord were more frequent and regular I This would form some basis for united efforts in his service ; but without it I fear we are in danger of neglecting the Lord's own ordinance for means of our own devising. For myself then, dear Jane, I intend to-morrow, D.V., solemnly to review my duty in the private exercises of God's worship, in the light of his Word ; and may he grant it, of his Holy Spirit, that I may, by his promised grace, be humbled before him for past neglect of his blessed appointments, and resolve, in his strength, henceforth 'to keep his statutes,' not as a servant for his wages, but as a son from love to his Fathci''s presence and his Father's laws. It will serve the end of these lines, dear sister, if they be a link in a chain of correspondence between us regarding the work of God in our own hearts, and around us. Such a correspondence I much desire, and much more need ; and I am satisfied that had I been earlier thus engaged, I would have been more fruitful in the glorious work of the Lord, and have written, not as now I do to my shame, about the things of God with so ignorant a mind and so cold a heart. O may the love of Christ constrain us to live no more as our own, but as manifestly his! This is the motive that will carry us with a rejoicing heart through tribulations and distresses for his name's sake ; and make us count all things but loss that we may win Christ and be found in Him, clothed upon with his spotless righteousness, and filled with his Holy Spirit. And now, desiring that the Lord Jesus may manifest himself to you in his surpassing beauty and matchless grace and love, I remain your affectionate brother,— Wm. C. BuRNS. 46 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1832-39. "F.S. I expect to hear from you soon. Let us be free, faithful, and affectionate, and seek to taste the excellence of living habitually what we write from time to time, — W. C. B. " My dear Jane, — I would not write you so paltry a note, were it not that writing to has exhausted my time, and I cannot let another opportunity pass without thanking you for your kind and interesting letter, which I have not yet acknowledged ; and expressing my desire that your mid-day period of solemn retirement may be specially regarded of the Lord, and that you may obtain new and remarkable com- munications of the Holy Spirit in all his vivifying and com- forting power. I enjoyed my late visit very much, though, had we been alone, it might have been spent in closer inter- course on the things of the Spirit, and in special approaches to the throne of divine grace, and thus have been rendered more stimulating to us all. Mr. Denniston, I hope, will see you on Friday, and I hope that, through the presence of the Lord, his parting visit may be eminently blessed to your growth in the excellent knowledge of Christ. " I am asking, though alas ! with little becoming solicitude, whether the present is to be added to the list of our almost Christless sacraments. Would that the Lord would pour out on us the Spirit as in former days, and bring his saints into close and ravishing fellowship with himself! 'Whither is our beloved gone.-" 'Why tarry the wheels of his chariot?' 'Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee?' " In earnest expectation of his coming, let us wait day and night, and he will at last arrive to our infinite amazement and eternal rejoicing. "My love in Christ Jesus to dear Charlotte, and believe me, your affectionate brother, — Wm. C. Burns. " Wednesday lyth, 1838. — My DEAR Jane, — I would have sent the basket sooner, but could not find the time necessary for despatching it ; and I hope that we shall get it returned not later than this day week. JEt. 17-24.] "iron SHARPENETH IRON. 47 " None of us have been able to get out to Paisley as yet, but I heard of them yesterday. They are all, it would seem, well, with the exception of Aunt , who I hear is confined to bed with cold, and is still troubled with her arm, which does not seem to mend rapidly. I paid a most delightful visit to Uncle I slay's the other evening, when Mr. , their new minister, was there, and expounded in a manner remarkably interesting and impressive. He seems indeed a very uncommon Christian, and has made me feel in some degree my own miserable ignorance in the excellent know- ledge of the Son of God. O that I might know Him, and the power of his resurrection, arid the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death ! God for- bid that we should glory save in the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to us, and we to the world ! I trust, my dear sister, that you are obtaining some advancement in the knowledge of your own vileness and miser>^, and of the glorious righteousness and atonement of Emmanuel, our elder brother. Of such precious knowledge I can say little, but I would desire, I trust by the grace of the Holy Spirit, to fix the eye continually on Jesus, who is the finisher as well as the author of faith, and who will, as he is the faithful God, perfect for his own glory that which concerneth us. I am approaching, as you know, an era of my history, if we except the time of conversion, the most important that can occur to a human being in this world — soon must I offer myself, miserable as I am, to the Church of God as a candidate for the work of an evangelist ; and still more, that Church must decide, so great is the honour I have in prospect, whether in this land or among the perish- ing heathen it shall be my lot to preach to sinners the unsearchable riches of Christ crucified. In the meantime, O pray for me, and our dear brother , as I now again resolve to pray for you, that, in our present respective spheres, we may be always living epistles of Christ, that may be known and read of all men, and be even now the means, 48 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1832-39. in the hand of the Spirit of the Lord, of converting sinners and edifying believers ! Especially for our dear brother let us plead unitedly, that he may be speedily given to the Church of God, and thus preserved safe unto the heavenly kingdom from those sins and snares of youth which have drowned so many in destruction and perdition! "We had the privilege of being lately addressed in our missionary society by Dr. Kalley of Kilmarnock, 'a good physician,' who is leaving his present practice, which I understand is excellent, to consecrate his medical skill to the promotion of the cause of Christ in China, a channel which seems at present almost the only one open among that benighted people, so puffed up by their imagined knowledge in almost every branch of science and religion. Though a member of our own church, he goes out supported by the London Missionary Society, as the Committee of the General Assembly did not judge it expedient to extend the field of their operations farther cast than India. He appears a most superior man, calm, but resolved and eager; and being one who I am informed was converted some years ago from a life of vanity, he seems, especially in prayer, to have obtained peculiarly deep views of man's sin, and of the glorious grace of God. But I am forced abruptly to conclude, and am, I trust, your affectionate brother in Christ, — \Vm. C. BURNS." It was with such views, longings, and deep preparation of heart that he approached the period of his public dedication to the service of Christ in the gospel of his grace. The more secret exercises of his soul, in the immediate prospect of that event, may be still further gathered from the following jottings in a diary wdiich he began at this time, and continued, with occasional inter- ruptions, until the year 1853: — '■'■September \<^th, 1838. — Here, if God spare my life, I intend to record from time to time the most memorable incidents ^t. 17-24.] BEGINNING OF DIARY. 49 in my life and in the experience of my heart before God, my Judge. Grant me, O my covenant God and Father in Christ Jesus ! that it may be, through the light and guidance of the Holy Spirit within me, a faithful copy of the truth ; and that I may be enabled to look on its contents with those judgments and feelings which a sight of the unerring record of thy book of remembrance will produce within my soul in the day of the Lord Jesus. Amen. This day I had the great pleasure and profit of meeting at breakfast in his lodg- ings, Mr. Davidson of the Training School, Inverness, a sin- gularly advanced and amiable Christian, whose labours have been remarkably honoured of the Lord in the island of Coll, and for the last twenty years in his present situation. I have done very little to-day, but I have seen, I trust, through the light of the Spirit, that I am especially deficient in the know- ledge of the love of Christ, and am mournfully defective even in attempting to set this before the unconverted. Yet surely this is the truth, the exhibition of which is of all most fitted to beget the confidence of an appropriating faith, and to manifest the glor)' of the Lord's justice in visiting with a more awful damnation those who perish with Christ in their offer. O Lord ! teach tliou me to grow daily and hourly in the apprehension of thy unspeakable and sovereign love to me, a miserable sinner, that I may be constrained, out of the abundance of an overflowing heart, continually to commend thee to others who need thy love as much as I, and deserve it just as little I "2uA These two days have been spent much as usual, and with nothing very remarkable, except that, which is most extraordinary because most uniform, when we notice it least, the continued and unchanging love of God in my preservation and support under an hourly increasing load of hell-kindling guilt. How needful to be daily plunged anew under the crimson tide of Emmanuel's blood, that I may walk in the light as God is in the light ! I have studied Hebrew chiefly to- day, which Mr. Duncan teaches with great skill and activity. D 50 LIFE GF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1832-39. Wm. M'D 's and W 's lessons take a long time at present. I saw Mr. 's brother, a spirit-seller in Calton, in bed ; conversed and prayed with him. He seemed very ignorant of sin. May the Spirit convince him ! None other can awaken truly either him or any other. The work of grace is indeed God's from beginning to end, and all the glory will be his. To his blessed name be praise, through Christ Jesus. Amen. "23(/, Sabbath. — This morning rose at 20 minutes to 7 and met my young men's class from 8 to 9. The attendance is increasing, and the prospect interesting. Mr. Duncan lectured in the forenoon on James ii. 12. Afternoon I ad- dressed Mr. Patrick's little flock in St. Enoch's school, from John iii. 14, 15 ; and may well learn several important lessons from my experience. Last time I addressed the same meet- ing, a fortnight ago, I had made mere mental preparation, but, as I thought, was, in some degree supported, and spoke with some force and fulness from Hebrews x. ig-22. En- couraged by this imagined success, I was content with a similar preparation to-day; and if the former case encouraged presumption, this does not less favour despondency. I felt little alive to the subject, my faith almost failed, and I was left devoid of conscious love to Christ and compassion for perishing souls — the affections which would have given fresh interest to the subject in my own mind, and have stimulated me to go through with its exposition and enforcement ; as it was, I lost heart after discoursing for some time on our state as dying under the poison of the serpent's sting, and I stammered out some other scraps upon the remaining glorious topics of the subject, and came to an end, — con- cluding the whole service in an hour and a quarter, instead of the two hours of the preceding day. Oh! it is indeed an arduous thing to preach from supernatural views of divine, supernatural truths. The Lord must give these, or they cannot be attained. Yet notwithstanding, arduous prepara- tion, in dependence on his power, in the closet and study, is, ^t. 17-24.] THE LOVE OF CHRIST. 5 1 I am more fully than ever convinced from to-day's experience, absolutely indispensable, at least for me, to prevent contempt being thrown upon glorious truths from circumstantials of looseness and superficiality which are easily avoided by accurate composition. My classes in the evening were fully as pleasant as usual. In explaining to my young class the ■first three verses of the i6th of John, and to the more advanced one the subject of divine providence from the catechism, I felt more than usually my faith realizing the truth, and in particular experienced something like freedom in discoursing of the love of Christ and the freeness of the gospel, the subjects which I think I iam least of all acquainted with, but which it is most important to understand exactly, and discourse on with fulness and affection. I speak of knowing something of the love of Christ; where is that knowledge now? — now, when my soul seems to sink back into unbelief and carnal ease? Oh Holy Spirit, who dwellest in mc, if indeed I am a child of God, awaken my soul, and keep thou it awake ! Manifest the Lord Jesus Christ within me, and grant that his love may continually constrain me to live henceforth no more to myself but to Him who died for me, and rose again. Amen. " October zifih. (Glasgow sacrament and fast-day.) — Since last date I have had considerable varieties of outward cir- cumstances and of inward spiritual experience. The dealings of the Lord's providence have been uniformly prosperous, and demand the most fervent and unceasing gratitude, which, alas ! I have not given, and cannot give, till I receive it of his infinite and sovereign grace. I have few remarkable dis- coveries by the Spirit, either of myself or of 'the glorj^ of God in the face of Jesus Christ,' but I think I have still had some advancement, displaying itself in a more staid waiting upon God, and finding the mysteries of the gospel more natural to my soul in worship, and in teaching my classes. To-day I have been in some degree waiting for the manifestations of God, but with little enlargement of spirit in prayer, either for 52 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1832-39. myself or others. At worship I was enabled to speak more fully, boldly, and sweetly for the Lord than usual ; but where again is that experience now? It is gone ! Alas ! the fogs of unbelief and carnal affection seem to be gendered almost by the beams of divine glory coming into contact with the marshy putrid soil of corrupted nature. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that alone which is born of the Spirit is spirit. I am dependent for every acting of gracious affection on the power of the Spirit, as well as for the first production of the new nature. How sovereign then, and uncaused by anything in me, is the ineffably gracious and blessed love of the Godhead ! My classes appear (especially the young women's) to be in rather a hopeful state, but ah ! where is my travailing in birth till Christ be formed in them? Grant me this, O Lord, and then bestow a blessing above all that I can ask or think, to the praise of the glory of thy grace in Jesus the beloved. Amen." Thus was he passing more and more within the deep shadow of that great work to which he had devoted his life, and the commencement of which was now so nearly ap- proaching. How solemnly that shadow fell upon him may be partly gathered from an incident which was related to me recently by one who of all others knew him the earliest and the best. She had gone in to Glasgow, unknown to him, on some domestic errand, and Avas passing through the narrow covered street called the Argyle Arcade, when she saw him turn the corner in front, and advance slowly towards her from the opposite direction as in deep reverie. Though she went up straight to him, he was quite unconscious of her pres- ence, and started, when addressed, as from a dream. " O mother," said he with deep emotion, " I did not see you : JEt. 17-24.] LICENSE. 53 for when walking along Argyle Street just now, I was so overcome with the sight of the countless crowds of im- mortal beings eagerly hasting hither and thither, but all posting onwards towards the eternal world, that I could bear it no longer, and turned in here to seek relief in quiet thought." The great deep had been stirred up once more, but by a mightier and more sacred impulse than in former days. He was licensed to preach the gospel by the presby- tery of Glasgow on the 27th day of March, 1839. CHAPTER III. 1839. OPENING MINISTRY. IN the report of the University Missionary Association for the year 1838, the seventeenth from its institution, I find the following interesting notice : — " Gratifying as the preceding facts must be regarded, it is with deeper gratitude and far higher pleasure that your committee intimate the fact that two of their own number, the one for two, and the other for four years a member of this society, have during the present session publicly offered themselves to the church of Christ as missionaries to the heathen, and have been accepted. This society has num- bered among its members not a few who were devoted to the same high calling, and it is perhaps probable that it has contributed in other cases to foster convic- tions which afterwards led to a similar dedication; but in the present instance it has formed the principal, if not the only special, instrument which the Lord of the vine- yard has employed in calling his professed disciples to engage in this — the noblest department of his service upon earth." Of the two here mentioned the subject of this memoir was one, the other being, I think, a member of one of the JEt. 24.] DEDICATION TO MISSION WORK. 55 nonconformist communions in England, then resident at the University, as a scholar on the Williams' foundation. To his own case my brother makes brief but pregnant reference nine years afterwards in a retrospective notice in his diary, while at sea on his way to China: "At Glasgow University, during the winter 1837-8, I was led, from my connection with the College Missionary Associa- tion, to feel so deeply my personal responsibility in regard to the spread of the gospel among the heathen, that after much prayer and many solemn exercises of soul, I took the solemn step of waiting to my father, to request that, if he thought good, he should communicate with Dr. Gordon, the convener of our India committee, and let him know that, should the Church deem me qualified, I would be ready to go as a missionary to Hindustan. He did this, and the committee having given me encouragement in the matter, I looked upon myself as publicly devoted to the missionary field. In my own soul, and in all my public duties connected with missionary meetings, &c. &c., I felt from that time forward a greatly enlarged measure of the presence and blessing of God, tending to confirm me more deeply in my cherished hope and purpose. This was the last session which I needed to spend at College to complete my curriculum ; but, partly because I found myself profitably engaged in study, and still more, I believe, because I waited in expectation of a call to the missionary field, I remained at College during the followng winter, and in the spring of 1839 a proposal was made by the colonial committee that I should go out for a season to fill a charge at St. John's, New Brunswick, and proceed 56 LIFE OF REV. \VILLEA.M C. BURNS. [1839. direct from America to India when the India committee should require me. It was expected that the India com- mittee would accede to this proposal, but they refused, wishing that their agents should be free to go when wanted, and so the matter ended. This was at the very- time when Mr. M'Cheyne, about to set out for Palestine, wTote, asking me to take his place at Dundee. I found myself unexpectedly free to do this, and being speedily licensed I entered on my duties in that memorable field. This was at the beginning of April. In the month of June or July I received the call that I had long looked for, being asked by the India committee to go to Poonah in the presidency of Bombay. My engagement at Dundee stood in the way of my at once complying, and another call which the Jewish committee gave me to go to Aden in Arabia increased the difficulty. "WTiile asking guiglance in regard to my duty I went to the communion at Kilsyth in July, when the Lord began to employ me in a way so remarkable for the awakening of sinners, that in returning to Dundee, and finding myself in the midst of a great spiritual awakening, I was obliged to make kno\vn to both committees that, while my views regarding missionar}'- work remained unchanged, yet I found that I must for the time remain where I was, and fulfil the work which God was laying upon me with a mighty hand." In giving this extract I have somewhat anticipated the course of events in that part of the narrative on which we are now entering; but it was necessary to do so, in order to present in a clear light the relation in which my brother at this time, and for several years thereafter, yEt. 24.] THE OFFERING DEFERRED. 57 Stood towards that great work to which he had solemnly, and as he deemed irrevocably, dedicated himself. He had given himself deliberately, and in some sense publicly, before God and His church, to the service of Christ in the field of heathen missions, and he believed the offering had been accepted. Having thus lifted up his hand unto the Lord, he felt the vows of the great INIaster upon him ever after, and he never drew back or dreamed of draw- ing back. Their performance was deferred only, not relinquished, and deferred not by himself, but by Him to whom they had been made, and at whose disposal he had wholly and unreservedly placed himself. And so, when nine years afterwards the long-expected summons sud- denly came to him, it found him with the unchanged purpose still fresh upon his soul, and ready to march at a moment's warning at the great Captain's bidding. Meanwhile the field immediately before him was white unto the harvest, and he was thrust forth into the midst of it by a high and mighty hand. A great work was laid upon him which could neither be evaded nor postponed, and he had no choice but to give himself wholly to it, and to do it with his might. The door opened to him was wide and effectual, beyond probably what he had ever dreamed. He had indeed, as I distinctly remember, very exalted views of what might be expected even in these latter days from the outpouring of the Spirit, in answer to the earnest prayers of a reviving Church. His mind had dwelt much, in common with many others about that time, on the divine promises to that effect, and on the grand typical fulfilment of them on the day of 58 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. Pentecost. That memorable scene he regarded not as an isolated event, but as a pattern of what the Church might hope in any age to see, it might be even still more gloriously. Even some of the most startling outward manifestations of the Spirit's working then displayed he regarded not as exceptional circumstances, but as what might be repeated any day before our eyes. The cloven tongues, and the gift of many languages, had indeed passed away, with the age of miracle to which they essentially belonged ; but the cries of stricken consciences and the loud sobs of broken hearts belonged not to that age, but to every age, and would, he believed, be heard more or less wherever in a congregated multitude of sinful men the arrows of the mighty King are sharp in the hearts of his enemies, I remember having a discus- sion with him on this very subject in the course of a quiet walk from Glasgow towards our home at Kilsyth, shortly before he commenced his work in Dundee. I ventured to question whether, even though the working of the divine Spirit in the bosom of a Christian congrega- tion were as powerful and profound as in pentecostal times, the habitual reserve and self-restraint of modern life, especially amongst the more educated classes, would not prevent such unrestrained expression of inward feel- ings, as that there displayed. To this view he demurred, deeming that if the mighty rushing wind, which bloweth where it listeth, should indeed come with power, we should hear the sound thereof, so that even the world itself should not be able wholly to close its ears. Little did I think that within a month or tAvo of that time. ^t. 24.] ST. Peter's, Dundee. 59 and ill the parish church of that very place to which we were then bending our steps, I should myself witness what seemed so remarkable a verification of his words. Probably he himself, even while arguing the possibility of such a thing, little dreamed that it was in truth so near at hand. He entered on his labours at Dundee on the first or second Sabbath of April, taking as his text Romans xii. i, — the same words on which he had preached his first sermon in his father's pulpit at Kilsyth a short time before, and which were in truth prophetic of the Avhole spirit and character of his future life and ministr}^ The work he now undertook was indeed an arduous, and to one so young and inexperienced, a peculiarly trying one. Robert Murray M'Cheyne, whose name has since become a household word throughout the universal Church, was already Avidely kno\\'n throughout Scotland as one of the most gifted, holy, and successful ministers of recent times j and it was no light or easy thing for any one to enter, even for a season, into his labours. An overflowing con- gregation, of every class and degree in life, drawn together, many of them, from considerable distances in the town and country round, accustomed to the charm of a peculiar ministry which would be apt to render any ordinary teaching tame and common-place, and above all, throb- bing throughout with a high tone of spiritual excitement which it was difficult to meet and to sustain, presented altogether a sphere of labour from which the 3'oung evan- gelist, profoundly conscious of his own insufficiency, might well recoil. But it was, in truth, that very consciousness of 6o LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. insufficiency, and consequent utter abnegation of all trust in himself, that made him strong. Feeling in the depths of his soul that without Christ he could do nothing, but that through his grace strengthening him he could do all things, there did not, after all, seem to him so much difference in point of mere difficulty between one duty and another. Without the immediate presence and help of his divine Master he could not speak even to a hand- ful of little children in a Sunday-school; with that presence and help he could stand unabashed before the mightiest and the wisest in the world. It will be seen from con- stant entries in his journal how perpetually present was this thought to his mind, and how it formed the master principle of his whole life and ministry; and it seems to me to have been so in a very remarkable degree from the beginning. And hence, no doubt, it was that on the very first day of his ministering before that great congregation, and when many anxious eyes were turned on the youthful face and form of one who seemed to them all too weak for such a burden, he appeared conspicuously calm and self-possessed, as one visibly standing in the shadow of the Almighty, and consciously speaking the words that were given him of the Lord. I have heard old members of the congregation tell how their hearts trembled for him, when they saw what seemed to them a mere stripling standing up in the place of one whom they so revered and honoured, and how almost at the first sound of his voice, as he led with such deep-toned spirituality and power the prayers of the sanctuary, their fears vanished, and they seemed to hear only the sound of his ^t. 24.] STYLE OF PREACHING. 6 1 Master's feet behind him. Accordingly he seems from the first to have taken a singularly fast hold of the con- gregation, and to have filled to a degree which one would scarcely have thought possible, alike in authority and spiritual power, the place of their absent pastor. Young, inexperienced, measured and slow of speech, gifted with no peculiar charni of poetry or sentiment or natural eloquence or winning sweetness, he bore so manifestly the visible seals of a divine commission, and carried . about him withal such an awe of th^ divine presence and majesty, as to disarm criticism and constrain even careless hearts to receive him as the messenger of God. If his words were sometimes few, naked, un- adorned, they were full of weight and power, and went home, as arrows directed by a sure aim, to the hearts and consciences of his hearers. Literally it might be said of him, that his speech and his preaching were not with excellency of speech and man's wisdom, but in demonstra- tion of the Spirit and of power. The result accordingly was soon seen in a visible increase of spiritual inquiry amongst the people, and a generally heightened tone of solemnity and earnestness in the congregation at large. In the words of an esteemed member and office-bearer of the congregation, who has been able to recal with singular distinctness the scenes of those days: — "Scarcely had Mr. Burns entered on his work in St. Peter's here, when his power as a preacher began to be felt. Gifted with a solid and vigorous understanding, possessed of a voice of vast compass and power — unsurpassed even by that of Mr. Spurgeon — and '\\ithal fired with an ardour so 62 LIFE OF REV. WILLI AiM C. BURNS. [1839. intense and an energy so exhaustless that nothing could damp or resist it, Mr. Burns wielded an influence over ' the masses whom he addressed which was almost without parallel since the days of Wesley and Whitfield. Crowds flocked to St. Peter's from all the country round; and the strength of the preacher seemed to grow with the incessant demands made upon it. Wherever Mr. Burns preached a deep impression was produced on his au- dience, and it was felt to be impossible to remain uncon- cerned glider the impassioned earnestness of his appeals. With him there was no effort at oratorical display, but there was true eloquence; and instances are on record of persons, strong in their self-confidence and enmity to the truth, who fell before its power — who, " 'Though they came to scoff, Remained to pra)'. ' " As already hinted, nothing could be more different than the whole style and character of his mind, from that of him whose place he yet so worthily filled. Of the rich aroma of sanctified poetry and pathos which imparted their dis- tinctive charm to the life and AATitings of M'Cheyne, he had none. His characteristic was strength, not beauty, clearness and force, rather than freshness and fulness of thought and diction ; and it was not even, except when he was profoundly stirred by strong spiritual influences, that one became conscious of the deep fountain of enthusiasm and of intense emotion that was within him. In the words of Mr. Moody Stuart, who intimately knew him from the very first days of his spiritual life, and who seems to me to have formed a singularly just estimate of his character Alt. 14.] STYLE OF PREACHING, 6^ and gifts, " the hard plodding for a great object, the saga- cious intellect, the quick linguistic apprehension, common sense, mother wit, coolness and presence of mind in every variety of circumstance, were more his natural character- istics, than the elements which go to constitute the enthu- siastic and exciting preacher. In the midst of the revival at Kilsyth he would sometimes relieve the tension of his mind by reading the Greek classics; and he possessed the bodily strength, the courage, and all the other qualities that would have enabled him to cross the continent of Africa, like Dr. Livingstone, if he had set his heart on such an object. No man was less a fool by nature, yet no man in modem times did more entirely become a fool for Christ's sake. His preaching was in a most peculiar manner by the power of the Holy Ghost, ' in demonstra- tion of the Spirit and in power,' and 'mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.' He had' no pathos, no fancy, little natural enthusiasm, and not much that could be called natural eloquence, but he had a firm grasp of gospel truth, a capacity for clear and forcible statement, and a voice capable of commanding any audi- ence, however large, in the church, in the street, in the field; and when the power of the Spirit rested upon him, there were the thunders of Sinai in all their terrors, the still small voice of the gospel in much of its tenderness, the fervent fluency of a tongue touched with a live coal from the altar, the irrepressible urgency of one standing between the living and the dead, the earnest pressing of salvation that would accept no refusal; himself standing consciously and evidently in the presence of the great 64 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. God, with heaven and hell and the souls of men open before him, with Jesus Christ filling his heart with his love, and pouring grace into his lips, and with multitudes before him weeping for sorrow over discovered sin, or for joy in a discovered Saviour." His first impressions of the place and of his work will be partly gathered from the following letter to a sister : — '■'■Dundee, Seafield Cottage, April loth, 1839. ... I would gladly fill my sheet in narrating what I have been able to ascertain of my situation and circumstances here, were it not that I must husband every moment of my time for my engagements in visiting the sick and dying, examining intend- ing communicants, and preparation for the Sabbath that is approaching. I am not left without many circumstances to encourage me in my arduous labours; not a few hearts seem in a good measure prepared to hear the gospel as the Word of God, and some I have met with whose experience in the spiritual life affords the strongest stimulus to my own growth in grace, and whose ideas of Christian ministrations will, I fear, make me to appear among them as an ignorant babbler. They appear, however, a very kind and not imcharitable class of people, as far as I can discover; they will, I hope, pray for as well as censure me; and as I have had a clear call from the Lord, without my own interference, to come among them, I desire to cast all my burden upon his blessed shoulders, and to wait with earnest wrestlings until he appear among us in his glory to build up Zion. Let us go on to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fulness of God." In another letter, dated about two months after (June 18), addressed to a deeply revered aunt at St. Andrews, he declines an invitation to preach there on a Sabbath, on the ground that " the people are in that interesting ^t. 24.] TOKENS OF BLESSING. 65 State of hopeful movement and inquiry, in which it is least of all the duty of their appointed teacher to be absent from them;" and then proceeds in that intense strain of ardent aspiration which had already become characteristic of him, and which seems almost prophetic of what was so soon to come : — " It is my earnest desire and prayer, dear aunt, that the Lord may look down in his infinite mercy and grace on St. Andrews, which in ancient times he so highly honoured, but from which, alas ! is not his glorious presence greatly with- drawn? Oh! for a Rutherford or a Halyburton to awaken slumbering sinners at ease under the wrath of an angry God, and to stir up the true people of God to abound in the love and in the praise of Jesus ! 'Wilt Thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in Thee.' Oh ! may the Lord grant to that remnant that serve him in the Spirit to be 'zealous, and strengthen the things which remain, and are ready to die,' to plead, yea, to besiege the throne of grace with their unceasing and importunate pleadings, that He may appear in his glory, and build up Zion, giving ear to the prayer of the destitute and the groaning of the prisoners. Oh ! what a plea is the name of Jesus ! how omnipotent to move the heart of the Father, who loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hands ! None of God's people have yet proved the power of that matchless name in the presence of Jehovah. Let us henceforth do so in the strength of Jesus, and we may yet see before we leave the kingdom of grace for the kingdom of glory, such a plenteous rain as will refresh God's heritage which is weary. The time is short ! Behold ! the Judge standeth before the door. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly ! " It is at this point that the detailed journals of his life and labours, which he began in September, 1838, become for the first time fully available. These will fonn E 66 LIFE OF REV, WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. the main substance of our narrative during the whole period which they cover, supplemented only here and there by such illustrative light as the recollections of others or any surviving fragments of correspondence may throw upon them. They will, I am sure, be far more acceptable to all really interested in his work, than anything, however highly and even truthfully coloured, which could possibly proceed from any other hand. To any one in the slightest degree acquainted with the character of the writer, and who knows how jealously guarded and almost, as one might say, penurious he was of his words in anything relating to himself or his work these simple but pregnant annals, written as in the presence and under the very eye of God, will have an impressiveness and a meaning beyond the reach of eloquence. At first they are occasionally somewhat broken and fragmentary, but they increase in fulness and freedom as they proceed, and in parts, albeit naked and unadorned as ever, have all the vividness and force of a record written in the field, and amid the thick of battle. The following extracts relating to the same period to which the letters just quoted belong, will still further illustrate the nature of his work, and the inner workings of his soul in connection with it, during the first months of his ministry in Dundee, as well as form a fitting introduction to the more stirring scenes which will form the subject of the next chapter: — ^^ April 17, 1839. — Met with two young communicants, M. W and E. W , by appointment at twelve o'clock. Prayed with them, and conversed with each separately. They both appear hopeful converts to the ^t. 24.] A YOUNG DISCIPLE, 67 Lord Jesus. M. W doubts the evidence of her faith from want of love to Christ, hardness of heart, &c., and was exhorted to come to Christ for these and all other fruits of the Spirit. E. W appeared to think she was a true believer, and gave an interesting account of her supposed conversion under Mr. M'Cheyne's ministry; she is very intelligent, well acquainted with Scripture, and really appears to have known something of genuine spiritual exercise. I prayed with them at parting, and bade them farewell with mixed feelings of joy at the tokens of God's work which I thought I saw, and sorrow that I should feel so little in dealing with cases so inter- esting and encouraging. O Lord, keep these dear young disciples from the devil, the world, and the flesh; perfect thy love in their hearts, thine image in their souls, and grant to me in thine infinite grace to experience more pure and tender love for the lambs of the flock. This I ask in the name of my Lord Jesus. Amen. "Fast-day, i8M. — In coming from the evening discourse I was met by the father of James Wallace, Paton's Lane, a boy of twelve, whom I had previously called to see, and found, on my entrance, to my astonishment and delight, such a specimen (if all signs do not deceive me) of the work of the Holy Spirit as I have I think never before witnessed on a sick-bed, except in the case of , Rothesay. James was lying placidly on his couch, pale and sickly, but his eye beaming \vith intelligence and inexpressible joy. He told me at once that he had been afflicted for his profit. I asked him what he needed from Christ. He said, 'Redemption.' Q. Tell me some of the 68 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. particular things you need. A. A new heart and right spirit, dehverance from temptations, the world, and the devil. Q. Can Christ give you these great things? A. Yes. Q. Wliy can he do so? A. He is the Saviour of sinners, I then led him back to the pre-existent state of Christ as the eternal Son of God, and then — Q. What did he be- come? A. A man. Q. ^^^lat did he do? A. He suffered persecution, he sweated great drops of blood, he was nailed to the Cross that he might redeem sinners. This I said was wondrous love. A. Yes. Q. Do you love Christ? A. Yes. Q. Why? A. Because he loved me. Q. When did you get these views of Christ? A. Since I lay down here. Q. Who has taught you? A. The Holy Spirit. Q. Did you seek him first, or did he seek you? A. He sought me ; 'I am found of them that sought me not.' Q. Can you ever praise Christ enough? A. No, Q. Would you like to sing his praise in heaven? A. Yes, for ever. I said, There is a song which they sing in heaven : * Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory;' and they say also, ' Worthy is the Lamb.' A. Yes; that's the four beasts. Q. What do you chiefly desire; is it to get better? A. No; to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Q. What would you wish for all those about you? A. That they should know Christ, and love Christ, for he teaches us to desire that all should know him. Q. Do you pray much? A. Yes; he commands us to pray always. Q. Can we pray ourselves? A. No; the Holy Spirit helpeth our infirmities, with groanings which cannot be uttered. Q, Would you like us to pray? A. Yes, very much. .Et. 24.] A YOUNG DISCIPLE. 69 When we had done, I said I would come soon again. He said, 'Yes; He has promised that where t\vo or three are gathered together in his name, there he will be in the midst of them to bless them and do them good.' These are a few of the precious and spiritual sayings of this dearly beloved boy, not in the order in which they were uttered, for that I cannot recall. He also said of himself, that out of the mouth of babes and suckHngs God gets perfect praise. He said he had heard Mr. M'Cheyne with great pleasure ; and that his father had one day told him something that he had said, ' When water is spilt upon the ground, it cannot be gathered up again, and yet the sun gathers it up; and so Christ draws sinners to himself when they are lost.' I came away with mingled feelings of astonishment at the work of the Spirit, and desires for gratitude to him for his wondrous love in calling me to behold his marvellous works I went from this to Mr. M'Cheyne's, and spent a few minutes with Mr. Moody, who goes off to-morrow at 7. Came home tired; had worship, and went to bed at eleven. Unspeak- able mercies, unspeakable unfruitfulness and ingratitude. The glory will be all the Lord's, for the mercy and the grace are his. ' Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not a// his benefits.' Amen. " igf/i. — Rose at eight, breakfast at Mr. Thorns'; Mr. and Mrs. Parker from Aberdeen, &c., present. Copied the first of Mr. M'Cheyne's pastoral letters; into town; walked home Avith Mr. Neilson; studied treatise on Rejoicing in Christ. Visited two poor sick people — no decided indi- cation of spiritual life; met communicants at seven — 70 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. spoke to them on the nature of the Lord's Supper from the questions on that subject in the Shorter Catechism — had some freedom and a httle degree of hght on the glory of Christ's love in his obedience and sufferings — concluded at nine, and found a dear brother in Christ waiting me, Mr. M'Donald, of Blairgo^vrie — walked with him to Mr. Thain's, and entered into a proposal that I should ex- change pulpits with him before the Assembly, and preach on missions. Came home and prepared for bed at a quarter past eleven. "20//^ Public worship at two, Mr. C , Bridge of E , discoursed on Acts vii. 54 to the end, — the martyrdom of Stephen. A very interesting style of lecturing; a spiritual man, and much fitted to edify; admirable prayers with great variety. Met afterwards with young communicants to serve them with tokens. Dinner at Mr. M'Cheyne's; present, Mr. Cumming and Mr. Grierson of Errol ; instructive conversation on Popery and the signs of the times. Met at half-past six P. B. and R. N., young communicants; conversed with them sepa- rately till 8. P. I found better informed than I expected, and I think rather serious. R. N. was very ignorant of himself, and sour when taken cross- ways; was found to think that he loved God, and might be saved by works; tried to show him his state and the necessity of conversion. Gave P. B a token, and sent R. N. home to his closet, to meet me at a quarter past ten to-morrow, and see if he then wants a token. Oh ! what need of the powerful pres- ence of the Holy Ghost, without whom a free Saviour will, and must be, a Saviour despised and rejected of men. ^t. 24.] FREE OFFER AND HUMAN INABILITY. 7 1 How hard it is to unite in just proportions the humbling doctrine of man's inability to come to Christ without regeneration, and the free gospel offer which is the moral means employed by God in conversion! Oh! Spirit of Jesus, my Saviour, lead me, a poor, ignorant, and self- conceited sinner, to the experience of this great mystery of grace, that I may know how I ought to declare thy glorious gospel to perishing fellow-sinners ! Amen. ^^ April 23^ (Communion Sabbath). — On Sabbath Mr. Sommerville officiated; action sermon from Ephesiansi. 6, 7. Mr. Cumming preached in the evening, but I was absent, having been called to preach for Mr. Baxter, Hiltown, instead of Mr. M'Donald, of Blairgowrie, whose brother died at Perth on Saturday morning. I heard Mr. Baxter's address, excellent and solemn; went home with him, and spent the interval chiefly in prayer, and was more than usually helped in public duty. I went home again with Mr. Baxter, had tea and edifying converse; joined with him in prayer, and departed at half-past nine. ^^ Monday Warned by Mrs. P against the danger to which young ministers are exposed; home to my studies at a quarter past eight; got some humilia- tion, or rather some discovery of pride in prayer. The Lord is indeed infinite in mercy when he bears with me; to his name shall be the praise. "24^"// Home at a quarter past eight ; studies till a quarter past ten, interesting and profitable, especially reading from Fleming's remarkable and precious Ftilfilling of the Sa-ipture regarding the strength afforded to God's saints under trials and for difficult duties. Praise the 72 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. Lord. But O for a revival of that experimental deep-laid religion which Fleming valued and exemplifies so fully in his pages! 'Awake, awake, O arm of the Lord! awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.' " Evefiing of 2^th Discoursed on i Cor. i. 26 to the end, not much freedom, but a measure of faith in the truth ; then read No. 3 of the Revival Tracts about Baldemock. Discovered through grace, an awful hungering after applause from man, and came home fearing that God may utterly forsake me in consequence of my. self-seeking in his service ; this He would have done long ago had not his love been free and unchanging in Christ Jesus. O for a spirit of humble WTCStling prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that sinners may be awakened, and saints greatly edified and advanced ! I wrott something more, had worship, and am now about going to rest. The Lord give me a song in the night to his glorious pr^se ! "29///. I have found no time these pasj/ few days to keep a note of memorabilia, and must noy;^ shortly review the facts that have occurred in the interval. I have been rising regularly a little after six excepjti to-day, when I lay till eight. On Friday and Saturday I Avrote and com- mitted my discourses on PsalmS xxiii.; Ixxi. 16. Con- siderably assisted in preparing. - On Sabbath had great calmness and composure, but 1 1 think a great want of holy thirstings after God. I / had, however, more than usual liberty in prayer and p/reaching, especially in the afternoon. O that Christ were exalted and man for- gotten among this people ! (Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these 'slain that they may live. . . . / JEt. 24.] THE PRIDE OF THE HEART. 73 ^^ April 2,0th. — Called on M L , in distress since the time of the cholera — reading Rutherford's Letters — seemed a really experienced child of God — said many striking things: e.g. 'The ways of God are strange; we maun just wait to see what airt he tales.' She said among other things, 'Ministers shudna use big words, they micht as weel speak Erse^ or Latin; it's weel we dinna need sic big words at a throne o' grace.' .... •^May I St. . . . . Studied during all the day my sermon on Matthew xi. 28. James Hamilton called. .... At six at tea, Mr. N , Mr. C , Mr. C , Mr. J , Mr. M , to consult about Sabbath- schools and the fonnation of a parochial missionary society. Mr. T came in accidentally at eight and remained till ten, when we separated ^^ith prayer — a pleasant meeting; but I had an affecting disclosure to myself of the pride and vanity of my heart, which praise of late has awfully stirred up; none but an omnipotent and infinitely gracious Saviour wU suit my case. Blessed be the Lord, Jesus is such as I need, and he has said to me, ' Come, ye labouring and heavy laden, and I ^vill give you rest.' I want rest from the dominion of sin. O that I wished it with an eye to the glory of God; this also I look to Jesus for. 'It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing.' No man can come to Christ except the Father draw him. Draw me, O Father! effectually to the praise of thy glory in Christ Jesus. Amen. ''May 2d. ... . Studied during the day Matthew ^ i.e. Gaelic 74 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. xi. 28, and read over several of the Revival Tracts. In prayer for the evening sadly dead and dark. I have not seen the King's face these many days. Visited James Wallace at six, and found him rejoicing and advancing in knowledge as well as experience. He said he was ten days nearer death than when I last saw him, and this with joy. I asked him if he was not sorry. A. No ; to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. He said he had found out many wonderful passages, and when I got his Bible it was all folded down at the most striking texts. He alluded to a number of them: — 'All our righteousness is as,' &c. Isaiah xii. he said was sweet. I consulted him upon the meaning of many experimental passages, among others my present text, Matthew xi. 28, and found great light from his Spirit-taught knowledge. Who teacheth like God? His work is perfect. Met at half-past six with the tract-distributors in the vestry; said a few words and prayed. At the prayer-meeting I read, and shortly spoke on Isaiah liii., and then read parts of No. 3 of Re- vival Tracts — was helped considerably — many anecdotes brought to mind — great attention. 'Awake, awake, O arm of the Lord ! awake, as in the ancient days, as in the generations of old !' Glorify Christ, O Holy Spirit ! in our hearts and throughout the whole world. Amen. '< ^th. — Had a letter on Friday — sweet and comforting — from R. M' Donald, Blairgowrie; wrote him in answer. Sabbath forenoon I was ill prepared, and was not sensibly so much assisted as on former occasions — felt regret, but alas ! chiefly, I fear, from a regard to my name as a preacher, not to Christ's as a Saviour. In the afternoon exchanged ^t. 24.] A SABBATH AT BLAIRGOWRIE. 75 with Mr. Roxburgh, and was more than usually supported to declare the truth. . , . Yesterday spent the morn- ing in prayer. Walked, and read Boston's life — A precious monument to the praise of grace — noble standard of ministerial character ! . , . . Dined at ; I felt not at home in the atmosphere of this world's carnal security, which is so generally breathed at dinner-parties. Off at six to a meeting in the vestry on church exten- sion— class at seven — the school-room quite full — very interesting opportunity — subject, John i. 1-14, along with Genesis i. — Christ's supreme Godhead; how glorious the doctrine — how conclusive the evidence ! The Lord was with me more than usually. " Wi. ... On Friday I went to BlairgOAvrie — spent the remainder of the day and the morning of Saturday most pleasantly and profitably with my dearly beloved brother R. M'Donald, and also his fellow-labourer Mr. Smith — we had two seasons of special prayer. Mr. M'D having left me on Saturday for town (Dundee) after we had dined together at Mr. T 's, I remained there over Sabbath Mrs. T is, I think, a truly pious woman, and both she and Mr. T with all the family are most kind and interesting. Dear A was taken ill of scarlet fever on Saturday, and this excited us all a good deal. On Sabbath night he was very anxious to see me regarding the state of his soul; however, we were afraid to increase the fever, and I only stood at his bedside and repeated a few of the invitations to come to Christ for all. I was brought by this event nearer to eternity, and felt more of the reality and awfulness of 76 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. perdition than I remember ever having before. O that the Lord would sustain me in a constant and prevailing sense of the fearful guilt and danger of sinners remaining at a distance from Christ, and his free and offered gift to perishing sinners. On Sabbath I preached thrice— twice in the church on Matthew xi. 25, 26, and in the evening in Mr. Smith's chapel from Psalm Ixxi. 16. After coming out in the evening I went up to Mr. M' Donald's Sabbath-school, in the church, and spoke a little before concluding with prayer. This is a most engaging assem- bly of young people, and I have reason to think, from what I saw, that God is doing some gracious work among them. Yesterday (Monday) .... the class in the evening was full to the door — subject, Mr. M'Donald's forenoon sermon, "They glorified God in me;" very interesting " 2\st. — I composed and committed two discourses on Matthew xi. 27, first clause, and was more than ever sup- ported in the pulpit, especially in the afternoon, when I was enabled to plead with sinners to submit to the King of Zion. In the evening I visited J. W , where I met K. B , the woman who sits in the pulpit stair. She said all head-learning could not enable a man to feed the lambs; there must be first repentance, as in the case of Peter. She exhorted me with spiritual earnestness to watch for individual souls, saying, ' You may lose a jewel from your crown; though you do not lose your crown, you may lose a jewel from it' She appeared to recognize the work of God in my soul, and spoke with great pleasure of the discourses of that day. Praise a:ll to God ! . I am vile, yEt. 24.] DEEP HUMILITY AND HIGH ASPIRATION. 77 vile, vile O that the Lord would give me the skill of a Brainerd or a Dickson, for my present diffi- cult and most precious duties! 'Estabhsh the work of our hands; yea, the work of our hands do thou establish it.' How various are God's ways of dealing with the soul; how much does he display his sovereign hand in bringing souls under conviction and into the peace of believing. One of the class came upon Monday night when we were dismissing, and asked if I could tell her anything she could do for Christ. O what a precious question, when put in the spirit of Paul — What \vilt thou have me to do? Among other things I told her to be sure to ask the Lord himself, and to leave the matter in his hands." On hearing of one awakened under his sermon on Psalm Ixxi. 16, he writes: "O marvellous grace, that the Lord should regard at all my carnal, self-seeking ministry; to him be the glory eternally! .... Lord Jesus, the good Shepherd, lead this wandering sheep to thy fold; even now do thou fan into a flame by the quickening breath of thy Spirit that smoking flax which thou hast touched with the heavenly fire of thy matchless grace, and give me grace — the grace of the indwelling Spirit to fit me for feeding the lambs and tending the sheep. Thy blood and obedience freely offered to sinners of the deepest dye, are all my pleas with the Father. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly, and cause many to say Avith hearts smitten with the rod of thy strength, ' We would see Jesus.' Amen On Sabbath I preached in the forenoon from Matthew xviii. 2, 'Except ye be 7 8 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. converted,' &c. ; and in the evening from Psalm ex. 3, 'Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power/ when a collection of ^8, los. 6d. was made to assist in establishing a parochial library. I was more than usually assisted of the Lord all day. O how much I would wonder and adore his long-suffering and grace in bearing with me, and in still preventing me with his tender mercies. It is all to the praise of the glory of his grace. ' Not for your sake do I this.' Truth, Lord. ' The wages of sin is deathjhvX eiernaliife is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.' On Monday Mrs. T , Mrs. L , and M. L called and presented me with a Bible, Eusebius' History, and Dr. Duff's Missions the Chief End of the Christian Church, from my female class. I returned thanks with them on my knees. I am vile, vile, vile, and feel myself most so when thanked for serving him. May He return their kindness in enabling me to give them back with ' demonstration of the Spirit and power,' the word contained in the blessed volume they have given me. It is Bagster's English Polyglot, with index and concordance, and is finely bound in morocco. ". . . . I had a sweet note the other day from W. U , in which he asks me, 'How is it with your soul? Is the glory of God ever in your view? Do you desire above all things to glorify him upon earth? Is this the grand centre-point in all your wishes?' Thanks to God for these questions thus faithfully put by his dear young servant. ^'■June 6th. — .... A. M came with joy to tell me that she had found her own case all opened up the last two Sabbaths, and that she now found herself as JEt. 24.] INTERESTING INCIDENT. 79 under Mr. M'Cheyne's ministry. I told her not to cast sparks from hell into my inflammable heart — to gi\e thanks to God, and to beware of commending man. On Monday I had a visit from an interesting old woman, Jean D , who in her youth was a parishioner of my father's at Dun, while servant with Mr. M , Somershill, and whose mother, Jean M , lived at Aral's Mill, and was often visited by my father in her last illness. She told me many interesting facts, among others the following: — While a servant with Mr. M , my father came round and catechised her, and she told me the questions he put, and the kind manner he spoke to her. She requested to be allowed to attend his Sabbath-class; he objected that she was too old; but she was so anxious, that though twenty- five, she was admitted. Her parents were both godly people, who prayed much, and on the Sabbath afternoons they used to sit in the summer time upon a green, and go over all that had been said. She said f/icn more would have been got over at such a time than funo was learned in a year, when people left almost all behind them at the church. Her father, when he could not through sickness rise to pray with them, knelt and prayed in his bed. She had a brother who went to Brechin to leam a trade, and went astray; but was hurt, became ill, and then came home and was brought under convictions of sin. He had very dark and despairing views of himself for a long time, and would often cry like a child. One day he had been a good while out of sight, and her mother said to Jean, 'Where is your brother?' He soon after appeared, rising from the green where he had been, as she thought, at prayer. 8o LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1S39. and came into the house with a smihng countenance. They were amazed, and asked the reason; he said, 'O mother, I see that there is more merit in the blood of Jesus than there is guilt in my sins, and why should I fear?' This brought tears of joy into all their eyes. He afterwards died in great peace, the peace of God in believing the gospel. This woman told me many interesting facts regarding Mr. Coutts and our uncle at Brechin — ^what were their texts, particularly at communion seasons, and many things that they said. Regarding her later history also, since she came to this neighbourhood, she gave me a full account, in many respects remarkable. One of her sons now comes regularly to St. Peter's, from Longforgan, a distance of five miles. The origin of this is very remark- able. One day in winter, he and another man were work- ing in a quarry, and happened to be beside a fire, when a person came up on a pony, and, for what reason they did not know, came off, and went up to them. He entered into conversation on the state of their souls, drawing some alarming truths from the blazing fire. The men were sur- prised, and said, ' Ye're nae common man.' ' Oh yes,' says he, 'just a common man.' One of the men, how- ever, recognized him as Mr. M'Cheyne, and they were so much impressed that Jean D 's son resolved, as soon as the weather would allow, to come in to hear him. The consequence has been, that he has continued to come . regularly. She hopes that he is really a converted man, and told me that he has been for some time a member of a prayer-meeting. What a striking lesson to be ' instant in season and out of season.' ^t. 24.] *'as iron sharpeneth iron." 8i "July 2d. — My manifold engagements have prevented me from recording the multiplied and wonderful doings of God towards me in this book which have occurred during the past month. I can now only note a few. I went to Edinburgh on the 8th of June, at Mr. Moody's request, and preached for him on Sabbath afternoon, from Matthew xviii. 2, 'Except ye be converted,' &c. On the Saturday I saw Mr. Candlish and other friends relative to the mission to Aden. That day the Lord directed me most marvellously to meet with several remarkable saints whom I had not before seen On my way home I called on Mr. M'Cheyne, and finding that they were dividing a sheet among them, and sending a letter to Constantinople for Mr. R. M. M'Cheyne, I was kindly allowed to occupy part of the remaining space. This was a wonderful day to my soul, — a day fitted to humble me very low before Him under whose teaching I have so little profited in comparison of many others, and to exalt in my eyes more than ever the riches and sovereignty of the grace of a redeeming God. Since I came home, three Sabbaths have elapsed. On the first (June 16), I preached all day from Matthew xi. 28. Owing to my many engagements I had nothing written but a few sentences of the forenoon sermon; but, thanks be to Jesus, on whose strength I was enabled in some degree to rely, I never, perhaps, preached with greater liberty and power. Next Sabbath (23d) I was upon the following two verses. In the forenoon I was considerably deserted of God, and was much weighed down in the interval owing to my having nothing written for the after- 82 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. noon, and my fears that God was about to make me ashamed before the congregation that I might thencefor- ward prepare more carefully. I cried to the Lord in my distress, and he heard me, and in the afternoon, as soon as I began to speak upon these words, " I will give rest to your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light," I felt most sensibly the quickening breath of the Holy Ghost upon my soul, and was enabled to preach in a way more affectionate, full, and earnest, than almost ever before. I resolved, however, in future to prepare more carefully if possible. Last Sabbath (30th) I began in the forenoon to lecture through the Colossians, taking the in- scription and salutation as the first subject, and in the afternoon I commenced a series of discourses on Psalm cxxx., taking the help of the great Owen. I was much supported all day, and had nearer views of the holiness of Jehovah than ever before in the pulpit. There are some favourable symptoms of the presence of God among the flock. Two prayer-meetings have begun among the young women, those among the older people are becom- ing larger and more lively." .... Already had the fond anticipation of the absent pastor in behalf of his youthful assistant begun to be reaUzed: " You are given," he had said, *' in answer to prayer, and these gifts are, I believe, always, without exception, bl£ssed." Thus far he had proved faithful in keeping the vineyard of another; but he was now on the eve of being called to enter on a field and line of service peculiarly his own. CHAPTER IV. 1839. REVIVAL SCENES. THE subject of the revival of religion as the great want of the times had been already, and for a long time, much in the minds both of the pastor and the people of Kilsyth, The memorable scenes of the years 1742-3, when, under the ministry of the Rev. James Robe, this parish shared with that of Cambuslang in so remarkable an effusion of the Spirit of grace, still lived as a cherished tradition in the hearts of the people, and there were still here and there little companies of praying souls, "who spake one to another" of the good days of the past, and who "sighed and cried" over the subse- quent times of declension and backsliding. There was, I believe, at least one society for religious fellowship which had survived, in the uninterrupted succession of its members, all through the intervening period, and whose lamp of faith and prayer was still found faintly burning, when the light of a new morning broke upon them, and the whole parish seemed to awake as "from a dream of a hundred years." Into those sacred re- miniscences and aspirations my father entered most profoundly from the first day of his ministry here in 84 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. 182 1, and laboured unceasingly thenceforward to keep them alive both in his own heart and in those of his people. In the words of his own biography, "his public instructions as well as private conversation, at visita- tions and elsewhere, abounded with allusions to those happy days of the past, and with expressions of ardent longing for their return; and to this' point might the whole course of his ministry be said more or less to turn. In 1822, the second year of his ministry, we find him along with another congenial spirit, the humble and godly Dr. George Wright of Stirhng, bending over the old records of the kirk-session bearing on the dates 1742-9, and with solemn interest deciphering the dim and fading lines that referred to the incidents of the work as then in progress. Towards the close of the same year (Dec. 1822), on two successive Sabbaths, he preached directly and fully on the subject, taking for his text those singularly appropriate and impressive words in Micah vii. i — 'Woe is me, for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape-gleanings of the vintage; there is no cluster to eat; my soul desired the first ripe fruit:' — bringing the whole case of past attainment and subsequent declension before the con- gregation, and calling upon them again to arise and seek the Lord. In 1830, in consequence of some unusual outbreaks of sin, in connection with drunken brawls, a parochial day of fasting and prayer, in the view of prevailing sins and backslidings, was appointed by the kirk-session, and observed with marked seriousness and solemnity. In 1832 the near approach of the cholera. Mt. 24.] STRENGTHENING THE THINGS THAT REMAIN. 85 which fell heavily on the neighbouring village of Kirkin- tilloch, but never actually entered Kilsyth, while sound- ing its own terrible peal, at the same time summoned the pastor to lift up his voice in another earnest call to repentance and newness of life. In 1836 he read an elaborate essay before a clerical society in Glasgow with the twofold object of calling more extensive attention to the subject, and of drawing forth the suggestions of his bretiiren in regard to some signs of awakening life which were even then appearing in his own parish." About the same time he sought by means of brief, but pointed pastoral addresses to "heads of families," and on "family worship," which he printed and presented to every household in his parish, to revive the spirit of personal and family religion amongst his people. Finally, on a Sab- bath afternoon in August, 1838, standing on the grave of his revered predecessor Mr. Robe, on the anniversary of his death, and taking as his text the words inscribed in Hebrew letters on his tomb, Isaiah xxvi. 19, he pled before a vast assemblage of his people, in behalf of Christ and the new birth unto eternal life, in tones of unaccustomed earnestness, and which stirred the hearts of many in a manner never to be forgotten. By such means as these did he seek through successive years to strengthen the things that remained and were ready to die, and, if so it might be, fan the feeble spark once more into a flame. The result was seen in a growingly heightened tone of moral and religious life in the congregation and parish generally, as well as latterly in more specific tokens of the divine power and presence, which seemed the precursors 86 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. of a Still richer blessing yet to come. There was a marked increase of seriousness and devout earnestness in public worship. Prayer-meetings became at once more numerous and more fervent. One or two sermons at communion times, marked by a peculiar unction and power, had fallen with visibly solemnizing effect on the congregation — one in particular, by the Rev. A. N. Somerville of Anderston, Glasgow, on the words, "Be- hold I stand at the door and knock," which imprinted itself on many hearts, and was afterwards often referred to as marking an era in the religious history of the parish. Conversions, in fine, of a more than usually striking kind, became more frequent, and contributed at once to arrest the attention of the careless, and to animate the hopes and quicken the prayers of those who were looking and longing for the heavenly shower. Meanwhile influences of a concurrent kind were at work elsewhere, and tended still further to quicken the pulse of religious life in the place. Similar tokens of reviving earnestness were appearing more or less extensively amongst the members of the other Christian denomina- tions around, and particularly in connection with a small but very fervent society of Wesleyan Methodists, whose distinctive teaching tended greatly to emphasize in the minds of the people the great ideas of conversion, the new birth, and the conscious peace and life of God, and whose unwearied activity and zeal for the gathering in of souls spread by a happy infection to the hearts of others. It was in these circumstances, and to a field thus pre- pared, that the young evangelist now came, bearing the ^t. 24.] THE DAY OF POWER. 87 precious seed which he had already sown -with such hope- ful promise in Dundee. The remarkable scene which fol- lowed has been already often described, and I should have almost shrunk from attempting any fresh account of it, did there not happily survive a full and deliberate statement from my brother's own hand, which will enable us to survey it from a new and deeply interesting point of view. It was written during a quiet interval in the manse of Kilsyth exactly a year after the occurrences to which it refers, and is couched in a tone of solemn thoughtfulness and utter self-abnegation, in the presence of Him whose wondrous works he records, which imparts a peculiar weight to every word, and the impression of which would be marred only, not helped, by any laboured description of ours : — "Having a spare hour, it has occurred to my mind that it may be for the glor}' of God that I should at last record my recollections of the marvellous commencement of the Lord's glorious work in this place in the month of July, 1839, and I entreat the special aid of the Holy Ghost, that I may write according to his own will and for the divine glory regarding these wonders of the Lord Jehovah. Duiing the first four months of my ministry, which were spent at Dundee, I enjoyed much of the Lord's presence in my own soul, and laid in large stores of divine knowledge in preparing from week to week for my pulpit services in St. Peter's Church. But though I endeavoured to speak the truth fully, and to press it earnestly on the souls of the people, there was still a defect in my preaching at that time which I have since learned to correct, viz. that, partly from unbelieving 88 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. doubts regarding the truth in all its infinite magnitude, and partly from a tendency to shrink back from speaking in such a way as visibly and generally to alarm the people, I never came, as it were, to throw down the gauntlet to the enemy by the unreserved declaration and urgent application of the divine testimony regarding the state of fallen man and the necessity of an unreserved surrender to the Lord Jesus in all his offices in order that he may be saved. However, I was gradually approaching to this point, which I had had in my eye as the grand means of success in converting souls, from the first time I entered the pulpit, and even from the day of my own remarkable conversion, of which I trust the Lord may enable me to leave some record behind on this earth for the glory of his own infinite sovereign and everlasting love in Christ. During the last three Sabbaths that I was at Dundee, before coming to Kilsyth, I was led in a great measure to preach without Avriting, not because I neglected to study, but in order that I might study and pray for a longer time; and in preaching on the subjects which I had thus prepared, I was more than usually sensible of the divine support. The people also seemed to feel more deeply solemnized, and I was told of some who were shedding silent tears under the word of the Lord. I was to have preached on the evening of the fast-day at Kilsyth, July 1 8th, but the burial of my dear brother-in-law, George Moody, at Paisley was fixed for that day and I was of course obliged to be present thereat. His death was accompanied with a blessing from Jehovah to my soul. I never enjoyed, I think, sweeter realizations of the JEt. 24.] PREPARATION OF THE INSTRUMENT. 89 glory and love of Jesus, and of the certainty and blessed- ness of his eternal kingdom, than when at Paisley on this solemn occasion. The beautifully consistent and holy walk of our dear departed brother, with the sweet divine serenity that marked the closing scene of his life, made his death very affecting, and eminently fitted to draw away the heart of the believer after him to Jesus in the heavenly glory. This was its effect on my soul through the Lord's power. On the way to the grave I wept with joy, and could have praised the Lord aloud for his love in allowing me to assist in carrying to the bed of rest a member of his 'own body, of his flesh, and of his bones;' and when I looked for the last time on the coffined body in its narrow, low, solitary, cold resting-place, I had a glorious anticipation of the second coming of the Lord, when He would himself raise up in glory everlasting that dear body which he had appointed us to bury in its corruption and decay. "I have taken this retrospect of circumstances in my own history previous to the time of my coming to Kilsyth, as they bore very powerfully upon my own state of mind, and were among the means by which the Lord finished my preparation — a preparation which he had begun even in my infancy — for being employed as his poor and despised but yet honoured instrument in begin- ning and in assisting to carry on the wonderful work that followed. I was appointed to preach at Kilsyth on Friday evening. I did so from Psalm cxxx. i, 2, a subject I had lately handled in Dundee after studying Owen's treatise on this psalm. I believe I preached with considerable 90 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. solemnity, and in a manner in some degree fitted to alarm unconverted sinners and sleeping saints. I remember that some of the people of God seemed to respond with great fulness of heart to many of my petitions in public prayer, that while I was preaching there was a deep solemnity upon the audience, and that some of the Lord's people met me as I retired apparently much affected and testi- fying that the Lord had been among us. On Saturday I preached at Banton from Psalm cxxx. 3, with considerable assistance, as far as I can recollect. My uncle Dr. Burns of Paisley seemed to feel as if the Lord was with me, and kindly asked me to take his place at Kilsyth on Sabbath evening, leaving him to fill mine on Monday forenoon. He spoke also, I remember, in the family of its not being my duty to go abroad as I was on the eve of doing, but that I should be a home missionary in Scotland. I myself did not speculate anxiously about the future, but desired to be an instrument of advancing his work at the present time. In the evening of Saturday I met with one or two persons under deep distress of soul; and one of these, who is now a consistent follower of Jesus, seemed to enter into the peace of God while I was praying with her. This brought the work of the Spirit before me in a more re- markable and glorious form than I had before witnessed it, and served at once to quicken my desires after, and encourage my anticipations of seeing some glorious mani- festation of the Lord's saving strength. On Sabbath everything went on as usual until the conclusion of the third table service, if I remember right, when Dr. Burns kindly shortened his own address and introduced me to iEt. 24.] COMMUNION SABBATH. 9 1 the people, that I might give a short address not only to the communicants but to all present in the church. I had no precise subject in view on which to speak, but when rising was led to John xx., if I mistake not, simply by its opening to me and appearing suitable. This subject I tried to generalize as depicting the experience of a saint in seeking communion ■with Jesus, and the manner in which Jesus often deals with such. I had much assistance, and was especially enabled to charge hundreds of the communicants with betraying Christ at his table. I heard after\vards of some that were much moved at this time, and in particular of one woman who was then first apprehended by the Spirit and has been to all appearance converted. In the evening I preached from Matthew xi, 28, but, as far as I can recollect, without remarkable assist- ance or remarkable effects. At the close, however, I felt such a yearning of heart over the poor people among whom I had spent so many of my youthful years in sin, that I intimated I would again address them before bidding them farewell — it might be never to meet again on earth ; and that I would do so in the market-place, in order to reach the many who absented themselves from the house of God, and after whom I longed in the bowels of Jesus Christ. This meeting was fixed for Tuesday at lo a.m., as I intended that day to leave Kilsyth on my return to Dundee. On Monday evening we had a meeting of the Missionary Society — Dr. Bums preached an excellent sermon fi-om Isaiah lii. i, in which some things were said upon Christ's wedding-garment which touched my heart. In speaking I felt the case of the heathen lying nearer 92 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1S39. my heart than I think ever before or since, and was enabled, though without any pre\ious idea of what I was to say, to speak with liberty and power of the Holy Ghost "This and all other similar facts I would testify as in the sight of Jehovah, and as being obliged to do so for his glory. May he enable me to give the glor>' all to him, and take none of it at all to my 0A\-n cursed flesh ! The people seemed much impressed. The meeting, however, was not ver}^ large. I can hardly recall the feelings with which I went to preach on Tuesday morning — a morning fixed from all etemit)- in Jehovah's counsels as an era in the history of redemption. May the Holy Ghost breathe upon my soul and re\'ive in my memory, too faithless, alas ! to the records of the Lord's wondrous v>'orks, the recollection of the manellous scene which was then displayed before the wondering eyes of many favoured sinners in this place. Though I cannot speak with precision of the frame of soul in which I went to the Lord's work on that memorable day, yet I remember in general that I had an intense longing for the conversion of souls and the glory of Emmanuel, that I mourned under a sense of the awful state of sinners without Christ, their guilt in rejecting him as freely offered to their acceptance, my own total inability to help them by any- thing that I could do, and my complete unfitness and unworthiness to be an instrument in the hands of the Holy Ghost in sa\-ing their souls; while at the same time my eyes were fixed on the I^rd as the God of salvation \sith a sweet hope of his glorious appearing. I have since heard that some of the people of God JEt. 24.] TUESDAY, JULY 23d, 1 839. 93 in Kilsyth who had been longing and wresding for a time of refreshing from the Lord's presence, and who had during much of the pre\'ious night been travaihng in birth for souls, came to the meeting not only with the hope, but with well-nigh the certain anticipation of God's glorious appearing, from the impressions they had had upon their own souls of Jehovah's approaching glory and majesty, especially when pleading at his footstool. The morning proved very unfavourable for our assembling in the open air, and this seems to have been a wise provi- dential arrangement; for while, on the one hand, it was necessary that our meeting should be intimated for the open air, in order to collect the great multitude; on the other hand, it was very needful, in order to the right management of so glorious a work as that which followed, that we should be assembled within doors. At ten o'clock I went down to the middle of the town, and \\nth some others drove up before us some stragglers who were re- maining behind the crowd, ^\^len I entered the pulpit, I saw before me an immense multitude from the to\sTi and neighbourhood filling the seats, stairs, passages, and porches, all in their ordinary clothes, and including many of the most abandoned of our population. I began, I think, by singing the lozd Psalm, and was affected deeply when in reading it I came to these lines : " ' Her time for favour which was set, Behold, is nozv come to an end.' That word 'now' touched my heart as with divine power, and encouraged the sweet hope that the set time was really fww at hand. I read without comment, but with solemn 94 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. feelings, the account of the conversion of the three thou- sand on the day of Pentecost; and this account, I am told, affected some of the people considerably. Wlien we had prayed a second time, specially imploring that the Lord would open on us the windows of heaven, I preached from the words (Psalm ex. 3): 'Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.' This subject I had studied and preached on at Dundee without any remark- able effect; and though I was so much enlarged on this occasion in discoursing from it, I have not been able to treat it in the same manner, or with the same effects, at any subsequent time. The following was the plan of the remarks which I was led to make upon the words: — 1. The persons spoken of — they are God's elect — those given to Christ of the Father. II. The promise of the Father to Emmanuel regarding these persons — ' they shall be willing.' i. Willing to be saved by Christ's righteous- ness alone. 2. Willing to take on his yoke. 3. Willing to bear his cross. III. The time of the promise — the day of Emmanuel's power, i. It is the day of his exaltation at the Father's right hand (verse i), i.e. the latter day. 2. It is the day of the free preaching of the Divine word. 3. It is the day in which Christ crucified is the centre and sum of the doctrine taught. 4. It is the day of the out- pouring of the Holy Spirit — ' The Lord shall send,' &c. I was led under this last particular to allude to some of the most remarkable outpourings of the Spirit that have been granted to the church, beginning from the day of Pentecost ; and in surveying this galaxy of Divine wonders, I had come to notice the glorious revelation of Jehovah's ^t. 24.] THE RUSHING MIGHTY WIND, 95 right hand which was given at the Kirk of Shotts in 1630, while John Livingstone was preaching from Ezekiel xxxvi. 26, 27, when it pleased the sovereign God of grace to make bare his holy arm in the midst of us, and to per- form a work in many souls resembling that of which I had been speaking, in majesty and glory! In referring to this wonderful work of the Spirit, I mentioned the fact that when Mr. Livingstone was on the point of closing his dis- course a few drops of rain began to fall, and that when the people began to put on their coverings, he asked them if they had any shelter from the drops of Divine ^vrath, and was thus led to enlarge for nearly another hour in exhort- ing them to flee to Christ, with so much of the power of God, that about five hundred persons were converted. And just when I was speaking of the occasion and the nature of this wonderful address, I felt my own soul moved in a manner so remarkable that I was led, like Mr. Living- stone, to plead with the unconverted before me instantly to close with God's offers of mercy, and continued to do so until the power of the Lord's Spirit became so mighty upon their souls as to carry all before it, like the rushing mighty wind of Pentecost ! During the whole of the time that I was speaking, the people listened with the most rivetted and solemn attention, and with many silent tears and inward groanings of the spirit; but at the last their feelings became too strong for all ordinary restraints, and broke forth simultaneously in weeping and wailing, tears and groans, intermingled with shouts of joy and praise from some of the people of God. The appearance of a great part of the people from the pulpit gave me an g6 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. awfully vivid picture of the state of the ungodly in the day of Christ's coming to judgment. Some were scream- ing out in agony; others, and among these strong men, fell to the ground as if they had been dead ; and such was the general commotion, that after repeating for some time the most free and urgent invitations of the Lord to sinners (as Isaiah Iv., Revelation xxii. 17), I was obliged to give out a psalm, which was soon joined in by a considerable number, our voices being mingled with the mourning groans of many prisoners sighing for deliverance. After Dr. Burns and my father had spoken for a little and prayed, the meeting was closed at three o'clock, intima- tion having been given that we would meet again at six. /*' To my own astonishment during the progress of this wonderful scene, when almost all present were over- powered, it pleased the Lord to keep my soul perfectly calm. Along with the awful and affecting realization which I obtained of the state of the unconverted, I had such a view of the glory redounding to God, and the blessings conferred on poor sinners, by the work that was advancing, as to fill my soul with tranquil joy and praise. Indeed I was so composed, that when, with the view of recruiting my strength for the labours still in view, I stretched myself on my bed on going home, I enjoyed an hour of the most refreshing sleep, and rose as vigorous in mind and body as before." I have given in the Appendix the notes from his own manuscript of the sermon, the delivery of which was pro- ductive of so remarkable an effect; but it may well be conceived that in this case the written words convey but Mt. 24.] THE TONGUE OF FIRE. 97 a very inadequate impression of the spoken address, to which they scarcely bore a greater resemblance than the black glistening fuel to the live coal glowing with bright furnace heat. His manner indeed at first, and through nearly one-half of the discourse, was, as usual, calm, de- liberate, measured; nor did he, I think, greatly diverge either in words or in sequence of thought, from the line of the written discourse; but there was about him throughout an awful solemnity, as if his soul was overshadowed with the very presence of Him in whose name he spoke ; and as he went on, that presence seemed more and more to pass within him, and to possess him, and to bear him along in a current of strong emotion, which was alike to himself and to his hearers irresistible. Appeal followed appeal in ever-increasing fervour and terrible energy, till at last, as he reached the climax of his argument, and vehe- mently urged his hearers to fight the battle that they might win the eternal prize, the words, "no cross, no cro\\'n," pealed from his lips, not so much like a sentence of ordi- nary speech, as a shout in the thick of Ijiattle. Another moment of intense and incontroUable emotion I vividly remember. In urging sinners to an immediate closing with Christ in the offers of his grace, he had made use of the obvious and very common figure of a life -boat bring- ing hope and deliverance to the side of a foundering vessel; when in developing the idea and dwelling on it, the whole scene seemed to pass in living reality before his eyes — the doomed bark rolling helplessly amid the wild waves, and rapidly settling do\vn; the crouching, trembling throng clinging to the gunwale, and the light 98 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. buoyant skiff leaping up towards them amid the blinding spray, so near that they might almost touch it; and as he saw them still hesitating and wasting in fatal inaction the last moments of opportunity, he cried aloud as one might do from the summit of a neighbouring headland oil the shore, " Are you in ? are you in ? Flee for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before you; now or never." There was in his whole style and manner at this moment, as frequently afterwards at similar times, a dramatic vividness and energy, which reminded one of what we read of in Whitfield ; — a vividness and energy, however, which in my brother's case was not in any measure due to a graphic poetic fancy, but simply to an intense and awful realization of eternal truths. As to the scene itself which followed, I can think of no better description than the account of the day of Pentecost, in the second chapter of the Acts, of which both in its immediate features and in its after results, and in everything except the miraculous gift of tongues, it seems to me to have been an exact counterpart. It is from this time that we must date a remarkable change in my brother's manner of preaching, which Mr. Moody Stuart has described in a manner so admirable, that I am tempted to transcribe his words: "At Kilsyth there was fu'^lfilled in him the promise, 'The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant whom ye delight in.' For weeks before he was full of prayer; he seemed to care for nothing but to pray. In the day-time, alone or with others, it was his chief delight, and in the night watches he might be overheard praying aloud. Yet during this ^t. 24.] THE TONGUE OF FIRE. 99 time the power that rested upon himself did not affect his preaching; it was sensible, clear, orthodox, unobjection- able; and in that indeed he never altered; for in the midst of whatever excitement, there was never any eccen- tricity or extravagance of doctrine, or even the extreme pressing of any one point; but a steadfast keeping within lines of received truth, as not expecting conversion by any special way of stating the gospel, but by the power of the Spirit accompanying it. For a season, however, before the Kilsyth communion, he seemed two different men in private and public — his own spiritual strength so far exceeding what appeared in the pulpit. But then the Lord, who had strengthened David to slay the lion and the bear in the recesses of the mountains, sent him forth to triumph over Goliath before the hosts of Israel. He had been asking, seeking, knocking, for the Holy Spirit; that Spirit came upon him with power; and the Lord added unto the church daily such as should be saved, multitudes both of men and women." The movement thus begun in a manner so remarkable, went on steadily, and for weeks thereafter seemed only to grow in solidity and depth. Meetings for prayer and preaching of the gospel were held every successive night, generally in the church, and occasionally, when the weather favoured, in the market-place or in the church- yard. Crowds of inquirers flocked at every invitation to the vestry or the manse to seek spiritual counsel from the minister and his assistants. Prayer-meetings both of the old and young sprang up every^vhere in the village and the surrounding hamlets. The neighbouring exten- lOO LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. sion church of Banton, erected through my father's exer- tions a short time before, and then under the pastoral care of the Rev. John Lyon, now of Broughty-Ferry, became the scene of a similar work of awakening and spiritual blessing. Ministers from all parts of the country, and especially from the neighbouring city of Glasgow, came to the help of the overtasked pastor, and greatly contributed by the richness and variety of their instruc- tions to impart stability and spiritual substance to a move- ment which might otherwise have largely evaporated in mere excitement. The mountain glen, the solitary haugh, even the noisy loomshop, became vocal often with the sounds of prayer and praise, or witnessed the solemn converse of brethren who, at eventide, talked with burn- ing hearts of the things that had come to pass in those days. The whole tone and spirit of the place seemed for the moment changed, and an air almost Sabbatic brooded over it, which strangers recognized as with instinctive reverence they approached the spot. In the words of a statement read at the time by the minister of the parish to the presbytery of the bounds, " The waiting on of young and older people at the close of each meet- ing, and the anxious asking of so many ' What to do ;' the lively singing ^ of the praises of God, which every visitor remarks; the complete desuetude of swearing and of foolish talking in our streets; the order and solemnity at all hours prevailing; the voice of praise and prayer almost in every house; the cessation of the tumults of the people; the consignment to the flames of volumes of infidelity and impurity; the coming together for Divine worship of such /Et. 24.] "the desert shall REJOICE." lOI a multitude of our population day after day; the large catalogue of new intending communicants giving in their names, and conversing in the most interesting manner on the most important subjects; not a few of the old careless sinners and frozen formalists awakened and made alive to God; the conversion of several poor coUiers, who have come to me and given the most satisfactory account of their change of mind and heart, — are truly wonderful proofs of a most surprising and delightful revival. The public-houses, the coal-pits, the harvest reaping fields, the weaving loomsteads, the recesses of our glens, and the sequestered haughs around, all may be called to witness that there is a mighty change in this place for the better." The subject of this memoir had been obliged to leave a few days after the commencement of the remarkable scenes just described, in order to resume his duties at Dundee, where his work was becoming every day more interesting; but on the 21st of September he was again at Kilsyth, taking part in the services of a second communion, which the new birth of so many souls, and the fresh baptism and abounding joy of others, had rendered necessary. It was a season long to be re- membered, alike for the solemnity and sar'red sweetness of its services, and for the rich tokens of blessing which both accompanied and followed it. To use again the grave words of the pastor, "Having been preceded, accompanied, and followed by a very unusual copious- ness of prayer, the showers in answer were very copious and refreshing. We are daily hearing of good done to I02 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. strangers who came Zaccheus-like to see what it was, who have been pierced in heart and have gone away new men. Our own people of Christian spirit have been greatly enlivened and strengthened, and some very hopeful cases of apparently real beginnings of new life have been brought to our knowledge. I feel grateful to the God of grace and God of order in the churches, that there has been such a concurrence of what is true, venerable, pure, just, lovely and of good report, and that little indeed has escaped from any of us which can justly cause regret The solemn appearance of the communion tables, and the delightful manner in which they were exhorted — the presence of not a few unusually young disciples at the tables — the seriousness of aspect in all, and the softening and melting look of others — made upon every rightly disposed witness a very delight- ful impression. . . . For ninety years, doubtless, there has not been in this parish such a season of prayer and holy communings and conferences, nor at any period such a number of precious sermons delivered. The spiritual awakenings and genuine conversions at this time are not few, and it is hoped will come forth to victory; but the annals of eternity only will divulge the whole." At this pointNmy brother's personal journal, which the exciting and absorbing labours of the last month had almost wholly interrupted, becomes again available, and I gladly return to it, as furnishing at once the most authentic and most impressive account both of the work in which he was engaged and of the part which he himself bore in it. JEt. 24.] THE SECOND COMMUNION. 1 03 '■'■ Satii7-day,2ist Septetnber, 1839. — I stayed at Mr. Guthrie's^ all night, and started at seven A.M. by the boat for Kilsyth. The boat was nearly filled in the cabin by dear brothers and sisters in Christ, going to the communion at Kilsyth. We had much blessed converse together, and engaged twice in prayer and once in praise. We arrived at a quarter to one, and found that I was expected to officiate at half-past two o'clock. I accordingly preached to about a thousand from Romans x. 4, with much assistance. On Sabbath, after Mr. Rose had preached at the tent, I was called on to follow him ; and accordingly preached for about two hours from Isaiah liv. 5, to a congregation which, according to a calculation founded on the extent of the ground which it occupied, is thought to have been little short of ten thousand. They were very solemn and attentive, hardly one removing during the sermon; and though I did not notice many under visible impression, I was told that not a few were in tears, young men as well as others. After leaving the tent I went to the communion table, which was addressed in a most interesting way upon the love of Christ by Mr. Rose. I did not, however, experience much near communion with my blessed Lord and Saviour, but had to complain of much blindness and dead- ness, while my soul was not altogether unmoved through his free and infinite grace. After Dr. Dewar,^ Mr. Middleton of Strathmiglo, and Mr. Somerville,^ had preached at the tent, I was called again to preach the evening sermon there at seven o'clock, while Mr. Rose did so in the church. The subject was Isaiah liv. 10, 'The mountains shall depart,' &c.; and I was so much assisted both in exposition and exhorta- tion, that there was visible among the people a far greater awakening than during any part of the day. We continued together till between nine and ten, the mcon being full and 1 The Rev. Dr. Thomas Guthrie, then of St. John's Parish, after- wards of St. John's Free Church, Edinburgh. " Principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen. ' Of Anderston Church, Glasgow. I04 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1S39. the sky unclouded, though the mist began to settle in the hollow in which the tent was placed. After we had gone home, my father and Mr. Rose not having yet come in, it struck me, while at tea, that we ought to have a meeting still in the church, and continue all night in prayer to God for the outpouring of the Spirit. Some objected, but Charles Brown ^ was completely on my side, saying that he was put in mind of that occasion on which the friends of Jesus sought to lay hold of him, saying 'He is beside himself;' and accordingly we again repaired to the church, where many were already assembled joining in prayer with Mr. Martin of Bathgate and Mr, Middleton, and after the bell had been rung and the church was filled, Charles J. Brown sang and spoke upon a part of Psalm Ixxii., and then prayed. When he had concluded, Mr. Martin spoke on Psalm xiv. to those still unawakened, and engaged in prayer according to concert specially for the same class. Mr. Somerville then addressed the awakened, but not yet converted, from the account of the conversion of Saul, and afterwards prayed for them as Mr. Martin had before done for the others. I was then called in conclusion to speak more generally to all, and did so at considerable length and very calmly from the first four verses of the 1 1 6th Psalm, which having been sung the whole was concluded with prayer. We separated from this most precious meeting, in which not a few were awakened, at three A.M. of Monday, and after leaving the church Mr. Somerville and I were forced to remain in the session-house with the distressed, instructing and praying till between five and six o'clock, when we went home to rest. The cases in the session-house were numerous and very interesting. September 2T)d. — Having risen from a refreshing sleep at twelve noon, I was told that I was expected to preach the second sermon about two at the tent. I was counselled by my mother to beware of harsh expressions in preaching ( ^ The Rev. Dr. C. J. Brc^wn, then of New North Parish, now of New North Free Church, Edinburgh. JEt. 24.] THE SECOND COMMUNION. 1 05 and prayer, and told by J. that she thought there was a danger of my losing the former sweetness, as she said, of my manner in preaching for an unpleasant sternness. I thanked the Lord for this counsel, and was told by her after- wards that I had been enabled to correct the fault. There were an immense number of ministers and preachers at the tent on Monday, and I went down under some anxiety, as I had no special preparation. However, I was enabled in private and public prayer to cast myself on the Lord, and he did 7toi prove a wilderness to me, a land of darkness, but afded me beyond all my expectations. The text from which I spoke was Ezekiel xxxvi. 26, *A new heart also will I give you,' and I found so much laid to my hand, both in expounding and applying the subject, that I could hardly get done. There was great attention among the audience, which might amount to two thousand, and blessed be God, some of the ministers present seemed to be convinced that the Lord had helped me to be faithful ; Charles J. Brown and John Duncan spoke particularly in this way. In the evening Charles J. Brown preached a most excellent discourse in the church at eight o'clock, from the words in Matthew, 'What do ye more than others?' showing ist. IV/iy Christians might be expected to do more than others, and 2nd. What more they were expected to do. After he had concluded I felt deeply impressed with the desirableness of continuing in prayer to God, especially with and for the unconverted, whom we were, alas ! to leave at the close of this blessed season farther in many cases from Jesus than before. I accordingly proposed to Charles J. Brown that I should ask the uncon- verted to stay behind, not excluding others who might also desire to do so. He said I should do as I thought best, and accordingly after the praise was ended, I asked those who knew that they were still unconverted to remain, coming down into the front seats below to be addressed and prayed for. My thus assigning them particular seats rather alarmed and staggered Mr. Brown, and, as I afterwards found, my Io6 LIFE OF REV, WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. father also and many other of the ministers present ; but as no remonstrance was at the time made, and after so many- had come forward that the seats were fully occupied, and even (a young gentleman from Glasgow whom I had been conversing with a little before under considerable concern about his soul) went into them with a younger brother also much affected, as I noticed, during the sermon, when the love of Christ was spoken of, Mr. Brown's doubts appeared to vanish, and I proceeded, after singing and long-continued prayer, to exhort at great length those in the seats and also the congregation at large to an immediate closing with Christ. In this work I was assisted, I think, as much as ever before in my life, having a degree of tenderness and affection which my hard, hard heart is rarely privileged to feel, and in prayer I was favoured with peculiar nearness to God, in so much that at one time I felt as if really in contact with the Divine presence, and could hardly go on ; while at the same blessed season there seemed to be a general and sweet melting of heart among the audience, and many of the unconverted were weeping bitterly aloud, though I spoke throughout with perfect calmness and solemnity. We separated between one and two o'clock from this the last, and I think, without doubt, the most eminently blessed part of the whole communion season, at least in as far as I was a witness to it. After the meeting had broken up many went to the session-house, where my father had been with not a few in distress during the greater part of the meeting, and then he and Mr. Rose continued for several hours longer, witnessing, as they told us when they came home, the most wonderful displays of the Holy Spirit's work." "So mightily grew the word of God and. prevailed." The rest of the history, so far as it can be written or read in this world, is soon told. The high spring-tide of ex- alted feeling, necessarily mingled more or less with mere sympathetic excitement, gradually passed away, and the iEt. 24.] THE EBBING TIDE. 107 currents alike of religious experience and of ordinary human life flowed once more in their customary channels. There were some temporary professors, there were some "imperfect conversions," there were some whose bright early promise, though not wholly darkened, did not shine forth with an altogether unclouded lustre "more and more unto the perfect day;" but there were very many too whose shining consistency and purity, and steadfast perseverance to the end, declared plainly that they had been with Jesus, and that in that terrible moment of their soul's agony they had been indeed born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. The history of the Kilsyth revival, in short, as of every other true revival, whether ushered in by the earthquake and the whirlwind or by the still small voice, had in truth been written eighteen hundred years before by Him who knoweth the end from the beginning: "Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up: some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth; and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth : and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and, because they had no root, they withered away: and some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up and choked them: btit other fell into good ground^ a?id brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixty fold, som^ thirty fold.^^ CHAPTER V. 1839. ST. Peter's, Dundee. THE reader will have seen that in turning aside to refer to the second communion at Kilsyth, and thus bring into one view the history of the remarkable move- ment there, we have necessarily anticipated somewhat the actual course of events in Mr. Burns' life. He returned to Dundee on the 8th of August, and almost immediately on his arrival found himself in the midst of scenes essentially similar to, and scarcely less remarkable than those he had left behind. " For some time before," says Mr. Bonar in his admirable memoirs of M'Cheyne, "Mr. Burns had seen symptoms of deeper attention than usual, and real anxiety in some that had hitherto been careless. But it was after his return from Kilsyth that the people began to melt before the Lord. On Thursday, the second day after his return, at the close of the usual evening prayer-meeting in St. Peter's, and when the minds of many were deeply solemnized by the tidings which had reached them, he spoke a few words about what had for some days detained him from them, and invited those to remain who felt the need of an outpour- ing of the Spirit to convert them. About a hundred ^t. 24.] RETURN TO DUNDEE. 109 remained; and at the conclusion of a solemn address to these anxious souls, suddenly the power of God seemed to descend, and all were bathed in tears. At a similar meeting, next evening, in the church, there was much melting of heart and intense desire after the Beloved of the Father; and on adjourning to the vestry the arm of the Lord was revealed. No sooner was the vestry-door opened to admit those who might feel anxious to con- verse, than a vast number pressed in with awful eagerness. It was like a pent-up flood breaking forth; tears were streaming from the eyes of many, and some fell on the ground, groaning, and weeping, and crying for mercy. Onward from that evening meetings were held every day for many weeks; and the extraordinary nature of the work justified and called for extraordinary services. The whole town was moved. Many believers doubted; the ungodly raged; but the Word of God grew mightily and prevailed." The scenes at Kilsyth were in every essential particular repeated here, allowing only for the difference between a quiet country village and a large and busy manufacturing town. The crowded and solemnized assemblies in the church from night to night for months together; the eager throngs of inquirers, sometimes so numerous as to form themselves a congregation; the varied and weighty in- structions of ministers, followed generally by more special counsels and prayers for those whose overmastering anxiety constrained them to remain behind; the number- less prayer-meetings of old and young, in private rooms, in workshops, in retired gardens, in open fields; the no LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS, [1839. nightly journey of thirsty souls from far distances in the outskirts of the city, and in the rural parishes around; the general sensation and spirit of inquiry — half-serious, half-curious — which pervaded more or less the entire community, — were here as there the salient features of a time which none who lived through it, and entered in any measure into the feeling of it, can ever have forgotten. For its more authentic and inward history, however, I now gladly return to Mr, Burns' own journal, which after a few broken and fragmentary notices, becomes again continuous and copious : — "August 2^th. — I ought to have been daily recording the wonders of the Lord's love in this book, had they not been so many that I could not find time to speak of them all. I shall now however try to do so regularly, though in the briefest form. Since the 20th, many notable things have occurred. The church has been crowded every night, and many have been forced to go away without getting in, Mr, Reid assisted me on Wednesday, preaching in a very searching manner on regeneration from John iii., and Mr, Bonar from Kelso followed him on Job xxii. 21. I then myself prayed and spoke till near 11 p.m., on Joel ii, 28-32, On Thursday James Hamilton from Abernyte leqtured on the young man, Mark x, 17, after which I read and commented on a passage from Robe's narrative. Last night Mr. Baxter preached with much solemnity and more of the freeness of the gospel than usual, from Jeremiah xv. 15, after which I read another passage from Robe, and before pronouncing the blessing was led to speak particularly to Roman Catholics, and of our duty towards them. Mr, Roxburgh was there last night. Indeed we have daily not a few of the ministers in town and from a distance among the audience. On Thursday I was called to visit a Roman Catholic family, the mother very ill ; they had /Et. 24.] PROGRESS OF THE WORK. Ill been visited by the priest, but were not satisfied, and seemed to welcome me. I hear daily many interesting evidences that the work of the Lord is going on through his own mighty power. Some of the greatest drunkards have been abstaining from day to day from their cup of poison that they may attend our meetings, and they appear to be daily receiving deeper impressions. O Lord ! grant that these may at last prove saving. I was told of a man last night who, though previously ungodly, had been so much impressed by attending the meetings, that his wife, a godly woman, missing him the other morning at the breakfast hour, found him in the other room on his knees, and again awaking at four in the morning and missing him from his bed, she rising found him in the same room with his Bible in his hand." Here follow a number of interesting cases. "August 2%th. — On Saturday evening the congregation was large. I preached with very considerable assistance from God on Psalm xxxii., particularly with a reference to the day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, which by the recommenda- tion of the session I was to intimate for Tuesday, the fair-day. On Sabbath forenoon I preached with much of God's presence and power from John iv. 10, and in the afternoon with still greater liberty from Romans viii. 34. In the forenoon the church was densely crowded, and in the afternoon every corner was filled, so that I could not, without much difficulty, force my way to the pulpit; hundreds were forced to be excluded. I never felt so powerfully as in the afternoon the absolute certainty of the believer's acceptance as righteous through Jesus; and the people appeared to be much impressed, although I have not yet heard of any new cases of awakening or conversion. In the evening I thought it better not to preach, in order to save my bodily strength for preaching, as I had intimated I would, in the Meadows; but being told that a great crowd was assembled, I ran up to renew the charge 112 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. on Satan's hosts, and was told that Mr. Miller^ a preacher from Edinburgh, who had filled Mr. Lewis' pulpit during the day, and was come along to be a hearer, would gladly assist me. When however I went up, the multitude had dispersed, and we would have given up thoughts of preaching had not a few pressed us to go on. Mr. Miller accordingly preached from John iii. 8 to a considerable number, which was rapidly increasing when we dismissed. On Monday night Mr. Macalister preached a truly admirable gospel sermon from John xii. 21, after which I intimated the fast for Tuesday, with remarks as I was enabled to make on the subject. We particularly agreed to keep from 10 to 11 in secret prayer by concert. On coming home I found a letter from the magis- trates interdicting the preaching in the Meadows for Tuesday, which did not surprise me, but led me to meditate solemnly on that approaching conflict with the world and Satan in which many will probably be called to die for the name of Jesus. O Lord ! may Jesus Christ be magnified in me whether by life or by death ! I immediately was led to see the pro- priety of exchanging the Meadows for St. Peter's Churchyard, and accordingly next day, at the hour appointed, Mr. Baxter, Mr. Miller, and myself, after intimating the will of the magis- trates in the Meadows, walked, accompanied by a great number, from thence to the churchyard, where many were already assembled. Mr. Baxter began the services by praise and prayer, and I was then called after prayer to preach. 1 had however no enlargement, and after speaking about the usual time under great conscious desertion of the Spirit, I came to a close. Mr. Miller concluded with prayer and praise. In the evening Mr. Miller preached an interesting sermon from i Corinthians x. 31, after whom Mr. Walker from Edinburgh gave us a precious discourse on Psalm Ixxxix. 15. I think the Spirit of God was much among the people of ^ The late Rev. Patrick L. Miller, afterwards of Wallacetown (Dundee) and Newcastle. ^t. 24.] ST. PETER'S CHURCHYARD. 1 13 God on this occasion, filling them with joy and wonder at the free and infinite love of Jehovah. This evening Mr. Walker preached an excellent sermon from 2 Corinthians vii. 5, after which I began to read Robe, where, finding an allusion to the Spirit convincing usually of particular sins, in the first place, I was led to speak in very plain terms of many prevailing sins, and especially of the peculiar sins of the fair-day. I had great liberty from the Spirit of God, I believe, to tell all I knew of the truth on these points, and O ! may the Lord greatly bless for his own glory all his own truth which any of his servants have spoken, and pardon through the blood of Jesus all that we have said of our own invention, according to the darkness and folly of carnal reason. "September 2d. — In the evening Mr. Macalister preached an excellent sermon on Song of Solomon ii. 16, after which I read Robe's narrative, and engaged in prayer more than once for the outpouring of the Spirit, which I think we re- ceived more signally perhaps than on any former night, if we except the very first meetings. There were many crying bitterly, one fell down, and when near the end I stopped and sat down in silent prayer for five minutes, that all might be brought to the point of embracing Jesus. The feeling was intense, though most calm and solemn, and to believers very sweet. ^^September^. — In the evening Mr. Somerville, who is on his way home from an excursion of three weeks in search of bodily vigour, preached from Genesis iii. 22, &c., a most impres- sive discourse, under which not a few, I am persuaded, were very much revived. After he had concluded and prayed, I read Robe, and felt so desirous to press home the glad tidings and to call down the Holy Ghost by more importunate prayer, that after the blessing had been pronounced I waited with nearly as many as could find seats out of the immense multitude who had been present till a quarter past eleven, partly instructing and exhorting them to an immediate accept- ance of Jesus, and partly praying for the Holy Ghost. There H 114 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. was no visible movement, but I trust some hearts were seen by Jesus moving towards him. '■^September \th, 1839. — I had this forenoon a call from Mr. Morgan^ of Belfast, who had heard of the extraordinary move- ment among us when in Ireland, and being in Scotland felt induced to come and see its true character. He and I with Mr. Kirkaldy and Mr. Fairweather^ the preacher, walked together a long time on the river side, conversing on the subject of the work at Kilsyth and here, after which we came into my lodgings and engaged together in Divine worship, Mr. Morgan officiating with great suitableness to our present state. Before parting he kindly agreed to preach this evening, which he accordingly did at the usual hour. His text was Romans v. 20, 21. He treated the subject with great clear- ness and scriptural accuracy, and added many very useful directions suited to our present circumstances. He also told me of an interesting work of God going on during the last three months in Tipperary under Mr. Trench. He had called on his people to pray specially for the unconverted, and in consequence many were awakened, and already between one and two hundred had been to all appearance savingly con- verted to God. Mr. Morgan is a very interesting and most judicious man, and we wonder at the marvellous goodness of our God in sending him among us. It is, like all his other blessings towards us, to the everlasting praise of the glory of his grace. After he had concluded I read as usual a quota- tion from Robe and made a few remarks upon it. This day I also conversed with J. J., who is in a most interesting state, and wrote home a letter to the people of Kilsyth." Here he begins a fresh volume of the Journal, which is inscribed "A Record of the Lord's Marvellous Doings for me and many other Sinners at Dundee, 1839," ^^^^ * Now Dr. Morgan. * Afterwards minister of Free Church, Botriphnie, Banffshire. ^t. 24.] ROBERT HALDANE AND C^SAR MALAN. II5 which consists for the first seventy-four pages of notices of individual cases of awakening and earnest inquiry, all deeply interesting, but too brief and fragmentary to be here presented. This part had been evidently examined in the following year, in connection with the after history of the individuals referred to, by Mr. M'Cheyne, in whose hand- writing I find appended to many of the names such preg- nant entries as the following; "Holds on her way rejoicing, October, 1840;" "I trust goes on well and steadily, Octo- ber, 1840;" "Admitted her to the communion; she seems a true disciple of Christ, October, 1840;" "Admitted her joyfully to the Lord's table, April, 1840;" &c. "September \2,ih. — I went at two o'clock to M'Kenzie's Square and preached to one or two hundred, many of whom, alas ! were from other quarters. I spoke from the words, I Corinthians xv. 55-57, at first with great want of faith and power, but after I had stopped and prayed, with very con- siderable liberty. When I was just going to begin the last prayer two gentlemen came near, whom I supposed to be one of our physicians and a friend, who had been passing accidentally and been attracted by the sound, but after I had done, one of them, a reverend-looking oldish man, was gone, and the other came up and told me that this was Cassar Malan from Geneva, and that he was Robert Haldane, W.S., Edinburgh. I at once recognized him, having sometimes called on him in the days of my vanity when with Uncle A. in Edinburgh. He told me that Malan was desirous to preach this evening, which I intimated with joy to the people as they were dispersing. How marvellous are the Lord's ways towards me and his people here ! He is sending his servants to us from east and west and north and south! Surely he has some great work of his glorious grace to do among us. All the glory shall be his/ Il6 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS, [1839. "Went to the church, where I met Malan, Mr. Baxter, and Mr. M'Leod, just translated from the GaeHc chapel, Edinburgh. Malan, after solemnly engaging in prayer, went to the pulpit, where he again knelt down and prayed for a minute or two in silence. He then prayed aloud shortly, sang, and then prayed sweetly at greater length. He read the 14th of John, and preached from the 27th verse. His heads were that the peace of Jesus was, ist, a sovereign peace ; 2d, a just peace ; 3d, an all-ruling peace ; 4th, a glorious peace. His great design appeared to be to press on behevei's, 'in the name of Jesus,' the duty of believing that they are saved. His teaching seemed to me to differ from that which is common among our best ministers, not in hold- ing that assurance is of the essence of faith, which he seemed plainly not to do ; nor in anything at variance with particular redemption, which he seemed also to hold distinctly, speaking always of Jesus dying for 'his beloved church,' &c. ; but in pressing us very specially to believe in the name of Jesus as the Son of God with adoration and love, and again pressing all who do so to believe that they are saved, because God says so, not seeming to notice or to suppose the case of those who do not know whether they believe or not. He illustrated the effect of true faith in the witness of God by the following anecdote : One day when Bonaparte was reviewing some troops, the bridle of his horse slipped from his hand and his horse galloped off. A common soldier ran and laying hold of the bridle brought back the horse to the emperor's hand, when he addressed him and said, 'Well done, captain.' The soldier inquired, 'Of what regiment, sire?' 'Of the guards,' answered Napoleon, pleased with his instant belief in his word. The emperor rode off, the soldier threw down his musket, and though he had no epaulets on his shoulders, no sword by his side, nor any other mark of his advancement than the word of the emperor, he ran and joined the staff of commanding officers. They laughed at him and said, 'What have you to do here?' He replied, ' I am captain of the guards.' ^t. 24.] malan's sermon : faith and feeling. 117 They were amazed, but he said, 'The emperor has said so, and therefore I am.' In hke manner, though the word of God, 'he that beheveth hath everlasting hfe,' is not confirmed by the feelings of the believer, he ought to take the word of God as true because he has said it, and thus honour him as a God of truth, and rejoice with joy unspeakable. He told us plainly that we ought not to pray for the beginning <7/" faith in Jesus in ourselves, though we might pray for its increase, but that we must believe and pray in faith. He seems to fear all excitement in divine worship, going to the very opposite extreme from the Methodists, saying as he did to me, that this leads men away from the simple testimony of God ; and he told me he thought I had far too much when he heard me speak a few words and pray in the afternoon. I cannot, however, agree with him altogether, and I think many facts in regard to the preaching which has been most honoured in this land prove that that which is accompanied with the deepest impression of the truth on the speaker's soul, and consequently most affects the hearers, is in general most blessed for leading men to flee from the wrath to come. '■^September i^h. — . . . I called at the M.'s, and found these sisters rejoicing with solemn delight in the death of their beloved sister with all its remarkable circumstances, which so clearly mark the hand of the gracious Lord who has called her to his kingdom and glory !^ They told me many interesting and affecting facts regarding her last days. She appears to have fed with remarkable relish upon Christ in the word during her last days, and especially the night and morning before her departure. I prayed with them, and felt drawn uncommonly near to the divine presence of our Father in heaven. We entreated earnestly that as the Lord had not allowed her to manifest her love to him in the world, he might show his love to her by making her death the means - Elizabeth Miller, who died very suddenly, but in the perfect peace of God, while conversing wth him in the vestry of St. Peter's Church, September 13, 1839. Il8 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. of quickening many souls. O Lord Jesus, hear this prayer, and answer it abundantly to-morrow, yea, to-night ! Coming home at six I found many gathered together praying and singing praises ; . . . went in and prayed with the young men and women in the other room. I had much nearness to God with unspeakable composure of soul, which, praise be to the Lord, has never been ruffled during these remarkable days; though many of them were very much affected, and all seemed to realize eternity and the preciousness of Jesus ! It was indeed a sweet season. W. L. came and joined the meeting with great joy, which broke in upon him with such power at the meeting last night, that he went home in trans- porting ecstasy. This is a sweet youth. Lord, make him a minister of thy gospel." . . . In the following exalted strains of adoration and fervent aspiration he closes the record of a week of incessant, but to him delightful labour: — "20 minutes to 12 — When this week is expiring I would again, with praises which must echo through all the arches of heaven, set up my Ebenezer and say. Hitherto the Lord hath helped me! O what a week of mercy and grace and love ! Last week was wonderful, this is much more so; what will the next be? Perhaps it may be with Jesus in glory! O that it may at least be with Jesus, and that it may redound to the eternal glory of his grace in me and many thousands of redeemed souls! Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! O scatter the clouds and mists of unbelief which exhale afresh from the stagnant marshes in my natural heart, the habitation of dragons, and pour afresh upon my ransomed soul a full flood of thy divine light and love and joy, in the effulgence of which all sin dies, and all the graces of the Spirit bloom and breathe their fragrance! Nor ^t. 24.] MIDNIGHT BREATHINGS, II9 do I pray for myself alone, but for all my dear friends — father, mother, brothers and sisters — for all the people here — all the ministers of every name whom Jesus hath called to preach his gospel, and for all who shall to-morrow hear or read the glad tidings of great joy which shall yet be to all people ! Lord, hasten the latter-day glory! Come quickly, and reign without bounds and without end! And now wash me in thy blood, whose price I cannot tell, but need to cleanse me, so great a transgressor am I. Glory to thee, O Lamb of God, and to thee, O Father, and to thee, O Holy Ghost, eternal and undivided ! Amen ! " And so from day to day and from week to week the sacred work of this remarkable time went on — the church nightly thronged with arrested and deeply solemnized multitudes, and every other available hour occupied with individual inquirers, who in very deed sought the eternal wisdom "as silver, and searched for her as for hid treasure." Twenty, thirty, forty, would often come to him on this errand in a single day, gathering in little groups in an outer chamber and pouring out their hearts in united prayer, or in silent and solitary breathings, as they waited each their turn for a personal interview. Generally at the public assemblies, a large part of the audience would remain after the regular services were concluded, for further and more special instruction; and even when all was over, often at a late hour, eager groups would still cling around the preacher as he retired to the vestry, in hope of hearing still some last words of part- ing counsel and prayer. Occasionally even then it was LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. scarcely possible to shake off the importunate crowds who hung upon the lips of Christ's ambassadors as for their lives: — "Wheii we left the session-house," he writes on September 19th, "we met a great multitude still waiting to hear the word, and some of them in tears. Many of these came along with Mr. W and me to the west end of the town, and when we came to Roseangle, Mr. W at my suggestion engaged with them in a parting prayer on the highway side, under the starlight faintly shining through the dark windy clouds." At one time the throng of worshippers was so great, especially during a visit of Dr. M'Donald of Urquhart, that it was found expedient to change the place of meeting from St. Peter's to St. David's Parish Church, the largest place of worship in Dundee, the use of which was kindly given by the minister, the Rev. George Lewis, who himself took a deep interest and bore an efficient part in the services. The movement may perhaps be said to have reached its climax — a kind of spring-tide flood — at the communion season in October, when the late much esteemed and highly gifted Mr. Bonar of Larbert, assisted by Messrs. Bonar of Kelso, M'Donald of Blairgowrie, and Mr. Flyter of Alness, dispensed the living bread to a vast concourse of hungering souls, "many of whom seemed burning with desire after nearness to Jesus." On the evening of the day three several congregations were assembled — one vast assemblage in the church, and two lesser ones formed out of its overflow in the adjoining school-rooms, and were addressed respectively by Mr. Bonar of Kelso, Mr. Bonar of Larbert, and Mr. Burns. " During the whole of this ^t. 24.] "an high day. communion Sabbath," he records in his journal, "there was, I am told by the ministers, an unusually deep solem- nity pervading the audience — the result, I trust, of the near presence of Jehovah." Amidst those solemn scenes Mr, Bums himself re- mained, in a most remarkable manner, calm and self- possessed. The great objects of faith which so mightily moved his soul, seemed to tranquillize, whilst they solemnized and stirred him, so that he moved from day to day in an element rather only of holy and exalted feeling than of excitement in the ordinary sense of the term. At the close of the most exhausting day of appar- ently exciting labour, his sleep would be as deep and soft as that of a child, and he arose for the next day's toil fresh and joyful, as a strong man to run his race. "I rose," says he (Sabbath, October 6, 1839), "at half past nine, and felt very strong, even after the incessant duties of Saturday — so wonderfully does the Lord refresh me with sweet sleep." And again (November 11), "I rose this morning at 11 o'clock!! This appeared to be my duty after being so long and busily engaged on Sabbath. Indeed, it is by sleeping until I am fully refreshed, more than by any other means, that my strength has been pre- served undiminished, or rather, I may say, has increased during the excessive labours to which I have been called during the last three and a half months." In regard to the character of his preaching during this period, it would appear from all I have been able to learn in regard to it, to have been characterized by great fulness, freedom, and rich copiousness of scriptural exposi- 122 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. tion and appeal, by a melting and persuasive unction, and even by a clearness and force of thought and diction, which, considering the incessant draughts made upon his resources, was very remarkable. At the same time, as he ever sought to speak, not from the mere remembered impression of past convictions, but from the immediate and present sense of eternal things, and felt constrained either to utter only that which he felt livingly in his soul or be silent altogether, his preaching was subject now, as ever afterwards, to great variations alike in fulness and in power. Thus the alternations of feeling, and conse- quent liberty of speech, indicated in the following extracts are only examples of what we find characteristic of his entire ministry: " In the evening Mr. Lewis of St. David's preached from John X. 10 in a very interesting and edifying way, after which I engaged in prayer, and found so much enlargement that I continued for more than fifty minutes, and at one time got so near a view of the glory of Emmanuel that I could hardly proceed. '■'■Sabbath., October 6th, 1839. — I rose at a quarter past nine, and felt very strong even after the incessant duties of Satur- day, so wonderfully does the Lord refresh me with sweet sleep. In the forenoon I preached with much comfort, though not with much depth of experience or present feeling of the truth, from Romans iii. 20, 21. In the afternoon I preached from I John i. 3, last clause, and was much more assisted than in the forenoon, getting a nearer view of Jehovah, and a firmer hold of the truth and also of men's consciences. The congregation seemed much solemnized; I saw some young converts rejoicing greatly, and during the last Psalm a young woman was so deeply wounded that she could not restrain her feelings, and cried aloud for mercy from the Lord. In JEt.2^.] EBBS AND FLOWS. 1 23 the evening I preached in Hiltown church from Job xxxiii. 23, 24. At first, and especially when I should have spoken of the Lord's terrors from the words 'going down to the pit/ L was much deserted, and was forced to be both bare and brief; but when I came to speak of the Lord's love and mercy I got such an insight into the subject that its glorious grace almost overcame me, the tears were flowing from my eyes, and I was enabled to speak with some degree of tenderness both in expounding the truth and in afterwards applying it to men's hearts. I could not but thank the Lord for restraining me from too much terror, and giving me on this occasion a message of love, perhaps, to some of the gainsayers. The crowd was most dense, and many hundreds were standing without or obliged to go away. A blessed Sabbath." But anon the Beloved had withdrawn Himself and was gone: '■'■ Friday, October loth. — Mr. M 'Donald met me along with Mr. Millar at Mr. Thain's gate, and we drove up together, praying each by himself for the solemn work of the evening. On arriving, we found Mr. Gillies and Mr. Mitchell of Persie Chapel waiting us. With these dear brethren we had much prayer, but I was too little in secret, partly from want of time and partly from feeling the need of mental relaxation after the all-engrossing and incessant duties of the previous days. I went in consequence to the pulpit under a load of self- dependence, and with much unbelief, which combined to intercept or prevent the rich communications of the power of the Spirit. I was, in consequence, in a considerable mea- sure left to myself, and though in the first prayer, after strug- gling long to get through the clouds which shut out my soul from the light of God's countenance, I did get some sweet and melting glimpses of Emmanuel at the Father's right hand; yet in preaching, which I did from Isaiah liv. 5, I was confined almost entirely to exposition of doctrine, and was not allowed 124 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. to open and search and alarm the consciences of the secure by any hortatory apphcation of the subject." Amid these engrossing and abundant labours in the field of service specially allotted to him, he found time also for occasional evangelistic excursions to other places, the results of which were sometimes interesting. Thus, instead of returning straight home from the communion at Kilsyth, referred to in last chapter, he made a rapid visit to Paisley, where he preached in the High Church to a densely crowded audience, "with much assistance, from Job xxxiii. 23;" and "saw not a few in tears," as he was himself "considerably moved, not so much when preaching, as when expounding briefly Philippians ii. 5-9." On his way to Paisley an incident occurred which is worth recording, as characteristic alike of the time and of the man : ''^ Tuesday^ September 2\th. — In the afternoon, when on my way to Paisley, I had hardly seated myself in the Glasgow boat when an acquaintance (John Marshall, Auchinsterrie) said to me, 'You should have worship here.' 'Of course if it is agreeable to all it will be agreeable to me,' All seemed anxious for this, and the next minute the Captain came saying, 'Will you allow me to open the steerage door as the passengers there would like to hear ?' This of course we gladly agreed to, and in a few minutes I found myself, to my own joyful aston- ishment, standing at the partition door and praying with the whole company. We also sang more than once; and I would have expounded a passage, but I had a little hoarseness and did not see it to be my duty to expose myself when I had so much of the most important work before me." The next day he preached in the forenoon at Kirkin- ^t. 24.] EVANGELISTIC EXCURSION. 1 25 tilloch, and in the evening at Denny, where we catch a characteristic gUmpse of one lofty ahke in stature and in moral bearing, whom all who were present at the convo- cation of the ministers of the Church of Scotland in 1842 will remember as perhaps the most striking figure in that assembly : " There was a most densely crowded audience, to whom I preached witla considerable assistance from Romans iii. 19, 22. Having ended at twelve o'clock, Mr, Dempster, who seemed all on fire with earnestness for a blessing on his people, came up and said a few words, adding, that if any still desired to hear more of the gospel, Mr. Duncan^ would be glad to preach again." The following extracts, the first of them deeply touching and characteristic, will afford a glimpse of some of his labours elsewhere: — " Edinburgh^ October itth, 1839. — This forenoon I visited, after seeing several cases privately, the Orphan Hospital, under the government of my dear friend M'Dougall, with whom I one dark evening prayed in Bute upon some lonely rocks by the sea-shore, and a pious matron, Mrs. Dickson. In the governor's room I saw a fine picture of Whitefield, who was a great favourer of this institution, and when I went into the little pulpit of the chapel, saw the dear orphans so neatly clad and so beautifully arranged before me, and began to read Psalm ciii., 'Such pity as a father hath,' &c., I felt quite overpowered by a feeling of sympathy with these dear children in their orphan state, mingled with grateful wonder at the love of God in dealing so kindly with them. In prayer also I had considerable enlargement, but particularly in speaking from 2 Corinthians viii. 9, and telling them some anecdotes, I felt unusually melted myself, and yearned over ' Of Milton Church, Glasgow, now of New College, Edinburgh. 126 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. them, I think, in the bowels of Jesus Christ. Some of the boys and girls were crying, and when I bade them farewell, they unwillingly and with many tears withdrew. O Lord, think upon each of these dear children, convert them all to thyself through Jesus, and raise up from among the boys a great band of holy and devoted ministers and missionaries of Jesus ! It was with peculiarly affecting feelings that I hurriedly bade adieu to this most interesting institution, running to be in time to visit, as I had promised, the Green- side Female School, under the conduct of Miss Haldane and other pious ladies. '■'■Edinburgh, November \st. — I spent the whole of this forenoon till half-past twelve in private with the Lord, and enjoyed more of his glorious presence humbling and elevating my soul than I have had for some time past when alone (O ! for a day every week to spend entirely in the secret of his presence !) At one o'clock I preached for the Senior Female Society in St. George's Church to a congregation composed of the genteel society of Edinburgh. I was carried y^r above the conscious desire of the favour, and the conscious fear of man; and in preaching from Isaiah xlii. 21, I felt much more of the presence of the Holy Spirit enlightening my mind in the knowledge of Christ, and melting my heart under a view of his glory and his love, than I have for some time enjoyed in public. '^November Ofth. — At two o'clock I set out for St. Andrews in company with James Hamilton, where we arrived at half- past four, and found Mr. Lothian come to dinner to meet me at Dr. Briggs'. At seven o'clock we adjourned to the place of meeting, which was fixed to be the Secession church, holding about five hundred, in consequence of my aunt having been led to understand that I would not be allowed the parish church. This, however, does not seem to have been the case, as Dr. Buist, when he heard it rumoured that he had refused me his church, wrote to aunt, saying that it was a mistake, and that he would give it if desired. The church was iEt. 24.] VISIT TO ST, ANDREWS. 12 7 crowded by the elite of the town, including Sir David Brew- ster, &c. Mr. Taylor^, the minister, began with singing and prayer, and after Mr. Lothian had said a few words, I entered the Secession pulpit and preached after prayer and praise to a most attentive and solemnized audience from Isaiah xlii. 21. A number of individuals remained to converse about the state of their souls, most of them deeply affected, and some of them only for the first time. "After visiting Mrs. C , an interesting Christian widow, who travails in birth again for her children, that Christ may be formed in them, and praying with her and two of her dear children, I went at eleven to Mr. Lothian's; and after he had prayed and said a few words I spoke for a little to about fifty or sixty people from John iv. 10. Many were silently weeping, though, alas ! my own hard heart did not feel so tenderly as at some other times. We bade them all farewell at the door, leaving many in tears as we went into the curricle that was to convey us back to Dundee. On our way James H. and I both prayed and had much conversation about the glorious work in which we were engaged, the hopeful symptoms of an approaching revival in St. Andrews, and the necessity of making ftill proof of our ministry, taking up our cross and following Jesus whithersoever he goeth. There are a few names even in this poor desolate place that have not defiled their garments, and who begin to take pleasure in the stones of Zion and to favour her ver>' dust. O Lord! do thou appear in thy glory among them, and turn all their hearts as the heart of one man to thyself. Father, glorify thy Son; glorify thine own name. Amen. "O Lord Jehovah! grant to me a heart for Jesus' sake to praise thee with becoming love for all the most marvellous displays of thy love and mercy which I the chief of sinners am permitted to behold from day to day. Breathe on me, O Holy Ghost ! for the glory of Emmanuel, and fill my soul with seraphic love, and my tongue with holy and unceasing praise, ^ The Rev. James Taylor, D.D., now of Glasgow. 128 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. and O ! draw by thy omnipotent grace all these dear inquiring souls to the blood and the bosom of that adorable Emmanuel whom they seek after, and whom thou camest to glorify in the hearts of sinners. Amen." On Thursday, November 23, Mr. M'Cheyne returned from the interesting mission which had led to Mr. Burns' temporary occupancy of his pastoral charge, and from that time accordingly his official connection with St. Peter's Church and congregation closed. The following extracts will show the feelings with which he ended this first, and in some respects most eventful period of his home ministry, and the tender bond of sacred affection which still, in parting, bound him alike to that people and their pastor : "Had a letter from dear Mr. M'Cheyne, written in a spirit of joy for the work of the Lord, which shows a great triumph, I think, of divine grace over the natural jealousy of the human heart. O Lord, I would praise thee with all my heart for this, and would entreat that when thy dear servant the pastor of this people is restored to them, he may be honoured a hundredfold more in winning souls to Christ than I have been in thine infinite and sovereign mercy. Amen. '■'■Sabbath, November ijth, 1839. — . . . In applying the subject I was remarkably aided, and just as I was concluding it came into my mind that though I might probably preach to the people again, yet that 7ww I had reached the termina- tion of my ministry, and this gave me an affecting topic from which to press home the message more urgently (subject "Union to Christ," John xv.) The season was indeed one that I shall never forget. Before me there was a crowd of immortal souls all hastening to eternity, some to heaven, and many I fear to hell, and I was called to speak to them, as it were, for the last time, to press Jesus on them, and to beseech them to be reconciled to God by the death of his Son. . . . After I had intimated that Mr. M'Cheyne was iEt. 24.] CLOSING SCENES IN DUNDEE. 1 29 expected to be here on Thursday, I spoke a few words on my leaving them, but I was so much affected that I could say but little, and I felt that it was a cause of praise that the Lord hid from me so much of what is affecting in my present circumstances, though I believe it were good both for the people and myself to feel this much more. The people retired very slowly when we had dismissed about five o'clock, and many waited in the passage and in the gallery until I retired, who wept much when I was passing along, and obliged me to pray with them in the passage again. When I came out 1 met with many of the same affecting tokens of the reality of my approaching separation from a people among whom the Lord, in his sovereign and infinite mercy, has shown me the most marvellous proofs of his covenant love, and from among whom, I trust, he has taken, during my continuance among them, not a fev/ jewels to shine for ever in the crown of Emmanuel the Redeemer ! * Glory to the Lamb that was slain ! ' '■^November \%ih. — 1 spent the greater part of this day alone, excluding all visitors, with the exception of the M.'s of Roseangle, with the B.'s, and Miss H., who called and conversed with me together about the work of God. I wished retirement, partly to rest and partly to write to Mr. M'Cheyne and a number of other persons in different places, who must be considering mc the most careless correspondent that could be imagined. I was tired, however, and was obliged to go out a considerable part of the day, so that I only got five pages written to Mr. M'Cheyne. Truly the work of the Lord is marvellous when I begin to look back upon it from the beginning. It must engage my harp and my tongue, with those of countless multitudes of the redeemed in glory, throughout the endless ages of eternity. ^^ Friday, November i^id, 1839. — I got safely home at four o'clock (from Dunfermline), and after dining wilh Mr. Thoms at five I met Mr. M'Cheyne at his own house at half-past six, and had a sweet season of prayer with him before the hour of 130 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839. the evening meeting. We went both into the pulpit; and after he had sung and prayed shortly, I conducted the remaining services, speaking from 2 Samuel xxiii. 1-5, and concluding at ten. We went to his house together and con- versed a considerable time about many things connected with the work of God, and his and my own future plans and prospects. I find he preached to a densely crowded audience on Thursday night, and with a very deep impression, from 'I am determined to know nothing among you,' &c. He seems in but weak health, and not very sanguine about ever resuming the full duties of a parish minister. O Lord, spare thy servant, if it be for the glory of thy name, and restore his full strength that he may yet be the means of winning many souls for Jesus. Amen." CHAPTER VI. 1839-40. ST. ANDREWS, PERTH, &C. WITH the return of Mr. M'Cheyne, Mr. Bums' stated labours at Dundee necessarily came to a close, and though the somewhat delicate state of his friend's health still for a season rendered his assistance in pastoral work more or less needful, his movements became hence- forth of a more varied and desultory kind. On the 27th he was at Abemyte, of which his endeared friend Mr. Hamilton was then the assistant minister, where he addressed a crowded audience from the words, "God so loved the world," &c. "The people seemed much solemn- ized, and at the close a few were shedding silent tears. Mr. Wilson, the old minister, stayed till near the end (about twelve o'clock), and seemed much interested; and dear James Hamilton, who I think is decidedly growing in grace, spoke to the people a little towards the end in a very close and affecting way." From thence he proceeded to Bridge of Earn, where, though he complained that he "did not feel particularly assisted in preaching, and was much humbled, on coming out, from a view of his own want of simple and supreme desire for the divine glory," he enjoyed much the congenial sqciety of the minister, Mr. Gumming, 132 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839-40. and rejoiced to hear of some hopeful tokens of a coming blessing on his field of labour. "Pray on," Mr. Somerville had said at the close of the communion services the week before, "and you will soon have a re- vival here." Next morning he was in Perth, and had his first sight of a field already white unto the harvest, and in which he was soon to spend many a day of abounding but delightful labour: '■'■Friday, November ic^th, 1839. — I had intended to leave Perth this morning by ten o'clock, but was prevailed on by Miss M , whom I saw at the Bridge of Earn, to think of remaining till four P.M., and then thought I might as well stay all night and preach among them ; accordingly I came to Perth at one o'clock, and having met Andrew Gray at Mrs. M 's, where I took up my lodging, it was agreed that I should preach in his church at seven o'clock. Some men were accordingly sent round to give intimation, and short and partial as the notice was, the church was crowded, and hundreds went away who could not get admittance. I preached from Job xxxiii. 24, and had unusual liberty through- out. We did not separate till near eleven, and I am per- suaded that had I had time to wait there were not a few who were in deep anxiety about their souls j as it was, two men and four or five women came up after me to the vestry under deep concern. '■'■Saturday, November 30//^, 1839. — I this morning met at breakfast Andrew Gray and Mr. Milne, who has just been settled in St. Leonard's Church, and with them I walked about on the quay for a considerable time waiting for the boat, which was considerably behind her time owing to the flood in the river, and had much interesting conversation. Both of these dear friends, but especially Mr. Milne, seem deeply anxious for a stirring among the dry bones in poor Perth, yEt. 24-25.] SECOND VISIT TO ST. ANDREWS. 1 33 where they are very many and very dry, and both kindly pressed me to come back to them soon." He returned to Dundee, but only on his way to St. Andrews, to which he had been strongly urged to return with the view of following up the impression created at his first visit: — ^^ Sabbath, November ^i^st, 1839 — I preached in the fore- noon for Mr. Robb at Strathkinnes — text, John xv. During the first prayer I had great nearness to God. Riding straight home I went almost immediately to the parish church, and there preached to an immense audience, including Drs. Haldane, Buist, &c., Professor Jackson of the divinity chair, Sir D. Brewster, Mr. Gillespie, &c. Before all these learned men, blessed be the Lord, I was not allowed to feel in the least abashed, but testified the gospel of the grace of God to them all with as much plainness and liberty as on most other occasions — subject. Job xxxiii. 24. I preached to a most densely crowded audience in the evening in the Secession Church, with more enlargement than during the day, from Isaiah liv. 5. At half-past nine I went home, feeling less fatigued than in the morning, though I had spoken for be- tween seven and eight hours. "Monday, December ist, 1839. — This morning I preached to the inquirers, in Mr. Lothian's church at eleven o'clock, from Psalm li., upon repentance. It was a solemn season. At two o'clock I met the fishermen in the Secession Church, and preached to them in as nautical a mode as I could command, feeling much supported. At eight o'clock I lectured to a crowded audience in the Secession Church from Luke vii. 36-52. It was an affecting subject, and not a few of the people as well as myself appeared to be in a very tender frame. On coming down from the pulpit many came to bid me farewell, with whom I was led by circumstances to stand and speak for a considerable time. Many at this 134 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839-40. time were weeping profusely, and I hope the Holy Spirit was sealing some souls to the day of redemption." These hopes were not disappointed. "To many," says an old disciple, whose name will long be fragrant in the city and neighbourhood of St. Andrews, " that season, I trust, was the birth-time of their souls, and to believers a time of great revival and refreshment. To me, it was a feast of fat things, and I trust of great blessing. Certainly I never heard the gospel message so clearly preached, so unfettered, so unbeclouded; and as faith cometh by hearing, so faith came to my soul, and, out of obscurity, I saw and felt the love of God in a way so melting and so overflowing as to make me weep. May I never lose the impression produced by that sermon from these words : ' He that believeth doth enter into rest^ and another also from Mr. Wight, ' Hold fast the beginning of your confidence steadfast unto the end.' What an exhibition of the fulness and freeness and com- pleteness of salvation to the believing soul ! " Doubting Castle" was quite demolished; every chain struck off; closed lips opened to shout for joy and sing praise to our redeeming God." . . . On the 6th December he expresses himself as "in great difficulty in knowing my own duty, whether to remain steadily in Dundee or to visit it only among the many places which seem at present ripe for the harvest." In the meantime, however, he continues his evangelistic excursions, guided simply by the calls which immediately pressed upon him, and having no other plan than that of doing what his hand found to do, and doing it with his ^t. 24-2S-] WORDS BY THE WAYSIDE. 1 35 might. The next entry is interesting, as illustrating the manner in which he unweariedly sought to sow the precious seed beside all waters, scarcely ever losing an opportunity of speaking a word in behalf of his Master wherever there was a human ear to hear it, whether in the house or by the way, on the top of a coach, on the deck or cabin of a boat, or to the random travellers on a country road. Instances of this occur perpetually, and in every variety of circumstances, in his journal, and give perhaps more than anything else in his life and ministry, the im- pression of one who lived for nothing else but to serve and glorify Christ. It is touching often to mark how eagerly and thankfully he hailed such opportunities, not as calls to the discharge of a difficult duty, but as special tokens of the divine mercy and favour towards himself. To give him the liberty of conducting divine worship and delivering the message of grace, at any time or in any place where a few immortal souls were gathered together, was to lay him under the deepest of all obliga- tions. Thus no one who ever spent the briefest time alone with him, or even met him casually by the way, could for a moment doubt that in the truest and fullest sense to him "to live was Christ:" '■'■Thursday, December t)ih, 1839. — I this day went by coach from Dundee to Cumbernauld. ... At Cumbernauld I left the coach, after giving tracts to all on it and in it (a practice which I intend to follow wherever I go, as eminently calculated to advance the salvation of souls), and walked over the hill towards Kilsyth. I first made up to two boys going home from school, who seemed very ignorant of Jesus. I spoke to them, gave them tracts, and shortly prayed with them on 136 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839-40. the road. I next met Mr. Lusk going home, with whom I also prayed on the road. At the Craigmarloch Bridge I met widow Mitchell and her daughter Agnes, an old school companion of my own. With them I prayed — going for a little into the house. At home I found all well — my father absent at the presbytery, and expected to return in the evening with some minister to officiate in the evening meeting. This duty, however, was devolved upon me. ... I preached from Ephesians v. i, chiefly seeking the edification of those lately converted to the Lord. During the service my father and Dr. Smyth^ of Glasgow came in. It was delightful indeed for me to meet, after the congregation dismissed, with many of the dear lambs of Jesus' fold, who appeared to be growing in faith and love both towards Jesus and towards each other. All the road home was strewed with little groups of these dear believers waiting to welcome me back among them and re- ceive some word of exhortation." One object he had had in coming to the west had been to address once more the members of the Glasgow Uni- versity Missionary Society, which had formed so important a link in the history of his higher life, and with which so many hallowed associations were connected. Difficulties, however, had arisen in obtaining the use of the usual place of meeting within the University, and he was con- strained to content himself with a few hours of private, but to him most delightful intercourse with some of those who were most like-minded with himself in regard to the great cause he had come to plead. Meanwhile, important work was awaiting him in another quarter, where he was not expected, but much desired : ^''Saturday, December yih. — In the afternoon I sailed down ^ Minister of St. George's Parish, Glasgow. JEt. 24-25.] HOLDING FORTH THE WORD OF LIFE. I37 the Clyde, but was in a very dead frame of soul, and could hardly bring myself to speak for Jesus to any of the passengers. Indeed, though it is always duty to be doing the work of an evangelist, it is a duty entirely dependent upon the prior one of 'living in the Spirit.' It is a fearful sin to be going through the world with a light kindled by the Holy Ghost to guide sinners to Jesus, and yet to carry this as a dark lantern which can give no benefit to any one. But ah ! how vain is it, on the other hand, to hold up a lamp to one when the light is almost out, and the oil is nearly done ! May I always be like a lamp full of oil (the Holy Spirit), burning brightly with the love of Christ, and guiding those that are in darkness to the strait gate and narrow way that leadeth unto life ! " Before I left the boat I spoke to a young woman from Gourock, whom I saw in mourning, and who, I found, had lost within the last six years her father and mother, and her uncle and aunt, with whom she went to live after her parents died. She seemed anxious, but in great danger of settling on the quicksands of legality. I gave her a copy of Ralph Erskine's sermon on the Harmony of the Divine Attributes. "At Port-Glasgow I found the Simpsons all well, and was delighted to find that I had indeed come opportunely, and according to a marvellous dispensation of the Lord's provi- dence. Mr. Kennedy, expecting my brother I to preach his first sermon in his church on Sabbath, had agreed to go to Greenock on that day, and fill Mr. Smith's pulpit in his absence at Rutherglen communion, but, to his dismay, on Saturday morning he got a letter from I saying that he could not come, and that Mr. K. was mistaken in supposing that he had ever given a promise to do so. Mr. K. was just sitting with the letter in his hand, and hardly knowing what to say or do, when Mr. Simpson came in and showed him my letter from Glasgow, which I had written without any concert with I r, intimating that I would be in Port-Glasgow on Sabbath, and that I would wish him if possible to secure Mr, Smith of Greenock's pulpit for me one half of the day — the 138 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839-40- very pulpit which Mr. K. had agreed to fill. It was accord- ingly fixed that I should preach forenoon and evening in Port-Glasgow, and afternoon in Greenock. "Sabbath, December ZtJi, 1839.— In the forenoon of this hallowed day I lectured to Mr. Kennedy's people from Romans iii. 19. They seemed attentive. Riding down to Greenock, I preached, with considerable liberty from the fear of man, and desire for the glory of God in the salvation of sinners, from Job xxxiii. 24. Riding home again I preached to a crowded audience from Isaiah xlii. 21. . . . After coming home I enjoyed with the Simpsons a sweet season of communion, especially at family worship. Dear and godly Mr. Simpson seemed full of the Holy Ghost, &c. . . . '■^ Monday, December ()th, 1839. — At Paisley I stayed with my dear sister till twelve o'clock, when I set out by coach for Glasgow. She has indeed been sorely chastened, but it has been in infinite mercy, and she seems to be becoming through this means in the hand of a redeeming God and Father, a partaker of his holiness. Praise to the Lord ! "After being an hour and half alone at Uncle I 's, I went down to a prayer-meeting of our Missionary Society Committee at Mr. Govan's.^ There were about sixteen present. Mr. Govan began with prayer, and after we had sung I then read and spoke for some time with much com- fort from a part of the 68th Psalm : ' O God ! thou to thine heritage,' &c. ; after which we sang a part of this sweet Psalm, and prayed, the service devolving upon me. After the bless- ing was pronounced, the memorial to the Senatus was read, and as its success was closely connected with the glory of the Lord in the salvation of the students, I suggested that we ought to lay it before the Lord in special prayer before we separated. Mr. Stevenson^ accordingly prayed with us in regard to it ; and we parted, seeming to have all enjoyed our meeting, and some of us at least having, I trust, found it a ^ Now a Missionary of the Free Church, Lovedale, Africa. '^ Now Minister of the Free Church, Pulteney Town, Wick. ^t. 24-25.] MEETING WITH OLD COLLEGE FRIENDS. 1 39 meeting with the Lord Jehovah, the portion of Israel. It seemed to us a token for good that the Lord by his providence had shut us up, beyond our own intention, to begin our missionary meetings with one for prayer alone, a thing which we had never before done. Before parting I pressed upon my dear brethren the necessity of labouring for the conver- sion of the students of their own acquaintance, and of having prayer-meetings to which to invite such as might be under some concern about salvation, though not far enough ad- vanced to take part in conducting such meetings. '■'' Tuesday, December loth, 1839. — . . . . Preached to the dear Kilsyth flock in the evening from John xv. i, 2. . . . I had in the afternoon of this day several very interesting con- versations with particular individuals — as widow Miller, a remarkable old woman, who was converted on Monday evening, July 29th, in the meal-market, while I was speaking after Mr. Somerville had concluded. She appears to be making marvellous progress in the knowledge and love of Emmanuel, and being naturally of a superior cast of mind, she makes the most beautiful and striking remarks ; she said, for instance, ' Oh ! you must rouse them, you must rouse them to-night, just as a mason drives his chisel with his mell upon the stones ; and are we not all stones — rough stones, till God hew and polish us? You roused them before, just as if you were to put a cold hand on a man's warm face.' She said also to a poor old beggar, *0h! you must be made new Robby; it's old Robby with you yet. I was old Betty, but I am new Betty now, and you must pour out your old heart before the Lord and get a new one,' &c." After brief visits to Bo'ness, Dunfermline, and other places by the way, he reached Dundee once more on the 23d, and tlience proceeded two days after to Perth, in which he was to find his chief scene of labour for several months to come. The nature of the field on which he now entered, as 140 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839-40. well as the character of him with whom especially it was his lot there to labour, will be familiar to very many of my readers from the admirable memoir of Mr. Milne, lately given to the world by Dr. Horadus Bonar. He was indeed "a man greatly beloved," and a true and worthy *' yoke-fellow" of the subject of these pages throughout the whole course of those memorable days. Of one mind and of one heart, of differing gifts, but of equal devotedness and singleness of purpose in the service of Christ, they fought the good fight side by side, without a dream of personal rivalry, or any other thought whatever, but that of "striving together for the faith of the gospel." It was especially admirable to mark the perfect self-abnegation with which the young and gifted pastor saw his work, as it were, for the moment taken out of his hands ere ever he had almost entered on it; and rejoiced in the fruit of his brother's labours even as though it were his own, content either to thrust in his own sickle or to see the harvest reaped by another hand, so only the Master's garner were filled. Closely linked together in life, in affection and in sympathy, it was interesting to many also to notice that in death they were not long divided, having been called to their eternal rest within a few weeks of one another, and both at a comparatively early age, having lived much and long in a little time. The rapid and pregnant brevity of the first notices of Mr. Burns' labours here indicate at once the remarkable power with which the sacred movement set in almost from the first day of his arrival on the scene, and the incessant and absorbing occupation which in consequence devolved JEt. 24-25.] FIRST DAYS IN PERTH. I4I upon him. His days and nights were so filled up with acts, and with those intense exercises of soul which are the living breath of acts, that he had little time either to narrate or describe : — '■^December 2W1, 1839.— Took up my abode at Mrs. M.'s, my kind friend, at 2 King's Place. Agreed to preach twice to-morrow. ^^ Sabbath, December 2^th, 1839, forenoon. — Preached in East Church, Dr. Esdaile's. I was not left to myself, I hope. Subject, Isaiah xlii. 21 ; time too short to allow of sufficient fulness ; church full, the gay people of Perth— the magistrates present. Afternoon, St. Leonard's, great crowd; subject, conversion, Matthew xviii. 3; more aided than ever before on this text, I think; solemnity deep. Inquirers invited to meet at seven in the evening, and at one P.M. on Monday. Evening: about one hundred and fifty were present. The Lord was very near. . . . We had to continue together till about eleven o'clock. . . . This was a meeting very similar to some of the Lord's most gracious visits at Kilsyth and Dundee. Praise and glory to his matchless name ! "Monday, December "jpth, 1839. — From two to three hun- dred were present at one o'clock ; a solemn season ; separated about four. Evening; an immensely crowded audience in the Gaelic Church; subject, Isaiah liv. 5, first clause; much aided ; great solemnity ; some in tears. After the blessing spoke a little to some that lingered ; much affected. I was pressed by them to go into the session-house. It was over- flowing ; all in tears nearly. Sang, read, spoke and prayed for an hour — they would not go ; Mr. Stewart concluded with prayer, the tears were standing in his eyes ; indeed it was an affecting scene ! "December 'i,\st, 1839, forenoon. — Meeting at one, a few hundreds present; Mr. Gumming, who had promptly answered our call for aid, began. I then followed upon Psalm ex. 3 ; a solemn meeting ; when it was ended the vestry was filled with 142 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839-40. weepers, with whom we had to pray and sing a long time. Evening in Mr. TurnbuU's church, at seven o'clock ; subject, Matthew xi. 28 ; dense crowd. Meeting at ten o'clock in St. Leonard's Church, to bring in the New Year. We all took part in the service, Mr. Gumming first, Mr. Milne second, and myself third ; we separated about one o'clock on the New Year's morning ; a sweet season. I never brought in the New Year so sweetly before. '^Wednesday, yamiary \st, 1840. — Meeting forenoon from -eleven to four; Mr. Gumming, Mr. Milne, and myself officiated. ^^ Friday, January id, 1840. — Meeting in the forenoon in Kinnoul Street Ghurch, Mr. Bonar of Gollace present, and officiated along with Mr. Milne, Mr. Turnbull, and myself. We met with many interesting cases in the vestry, I went off to Dundee at four o'clock, and left Mr. Bonar to officiate in the evening. He preached to a most densely crowded audience in St. Leonard's Ghurch, from the Ethiopian eunuch; Mr. Milne also spoke, and it is said to have been a most solemn season, not a few in tears. "Sabbath, January ^th, 1840, forenoon. — Sat in St. Leonard's, Mr. Milne on the barren fig-tree. Afternoon, I preached in Mr. Gray's on Ezekiel xxxvi. 26, ist clause. Evening, in Dr. Findlay's immense church, from 2 Gor. v. 21; very much aided in exposition and application; densely crowded ; thousands went away, I am told, without getting in. Glory to the Lamb !" Prayer, temptation, and deep humiliation of soul, as usual, prepared the way for more abounding joy and strength : — '■'■Friday, January loth, 1840. — In the evening I spoke from Romans v. i, but felt much straitened, and was so filled Avith self-complacency, vain elation, and spiritual blindness, that I had to stop in a very short time and felt called on to tell the people that I believed, and had been made to feel for iEt. 24-25.] FIRST DAYS IN PERTH. I43 some days, that unless we were humbled under God's mighty hand and the people ceased from their idolatrous confidence in instruments and looked more to God alone, I was con- vinced his work would not go on, &c. ^'^ Saturday, yajmary nth, 1840. — I was alone during the greater part of the day seeking humiliation before the Lord, and began through grace to discover how far, alas ! I have fallen from that contrition of soul for sin which I once en- joyed. Lord, I am indeed set in slippery places. Lord, humble me and keep me from falling into the snare of the devil ! . "Sabbath, Jatiiiary \2th, 1840, afternoon. — Preached in Mr. Gray's from Romans xii. i, with some degree of broken- ness of heart and comfort in the Lord. Evening, preached in Dr. Findlay's from Ephesians iv. 30, on the work of the Holy Spirit. It was a solemn season, an immense assembly, I had great liberty, especially in pressing sinners not to resist the Holy Ghost. Dr. Findlay was with me in the pulpit. . . ." Here, as elsewhere, and perhaps even more than often elsewhere, he was, in the most emphatic sense, instant in season and out of season, never deeming any place or time unsuitable in which a word might be spoken for his Master, and an effort made to win the life of souls. The highways and hedges, the river steamboat, the roadside inn, the mart of business, the purlieus and haunts of vice and crime, were to him, equally with the crowded church or upper chamber, the fit arena in which to fulfil his divine ambassadorship, and "compel men to come in" to the house of God. The following incident is strikingly illustrative of this, as well as of the pervasive influence of the movement in the Perth community at this time, and the unlikely quarters into which it found its way: — 144 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1S39-40. ^^jfanuary i6th, 1840. — In the evening I met a great many- young men in the vestr>^, and found among them a great number of interesting cases. At eight o'clock I visited the prayer-meeting of females in Miss Ramsay's, which was very full and interesting. Coming out I saw behind a public- house some men and women sporting themselves, and went up and said, 'You are making work for the day of judgment.' They all ran in except one young man, a son of the house- keeper ; he was subdued. I asked him if he would allow me to go in and pray. I got into a large room ; many assembled, and we had a very solemn meeting. They all promised to come out to the meetings at parting." The sequel appears in a brief entry about a fortnight after : — "January 2,0th, 1840. — WTien I went home Mr. Milne told me he had heard that Mr. L., the public-house keeper, in whose house I was so remarkably led in God's providence to hold a meeting, had given intimation to his landlord that he was going to give up his shop at the next term, and to leave the spirit-trade. . . . Praise to the Lord ! The power indeed that attended his words, and the eflfects which often in the most unexpected quarters fol- lowed them, was at this time most remarkable. " I never thought," exclaimed a strong, careless man, who had heard him, "to have been so much afifected; it is surely something altogether unearthly that has come to the town." Another "had come with a companion to our meetings one night to mock, and they both did so, and went from the church to a public-house. However he would not go in, refusing with an a^^■ful oath to do so. On his death-bed he called for his companion, and asked him if he remembered these things. He replied he did. .Et. 24 25.] THE FLOWING TIDE. 1 45 '■ ^Vell,' he says, ' I would give a thousand worlds to-night that my soul were in the state his is.' He died after he said these words 1" On Sabbath the 19 th he was at the communion at Dundee, when he had the solemn joy of sitting down at the table of the Lord, " along with many dear believers, not a few of them his o^vn children in the Lord," but immediately afterwards returned to his work in Perth, which seemed still steadily to grow in depth and wide- spread.influence : — "Sabbath, February ()th, 1840. afternoon. — Preached in Mr, Turnbull's to a crowded audience, from John iii. 14, 15. I felt under the bonds of unbelief during the chief part of the discourse, but towards the close was enabled by the Lord fairly to break loose and speak with some degree of faith and joy in Emmanuel, especially when insisting on the stronger grounds for faith in our case than in the case of the Israelites. They were called to look to a piece of brass as a saviour, and thus their looking was an act simply based on the divine word; but we are called by the same divine word to look for life not to an object of no intrinsic power or value, but to the most glorious Object in the universe, the Son of God purchas- ing the church on the cross with his own blood, &c. I saw several persons in tears ; I was weeping myself, and found this a blessed time. Praise to the Lord! — Evening: the crowd was so great seeking to get into St Leonard's Church, that it was supposed there were more collected in the street an hour before the time than would have several times filled the church. The press was so great when the doors were opened, that several persons were somewhat injured. I preached from Romans x. 4, and felt considerably aided; though to myself the" season was not quite so sweet as in the afternoon. We prayed particularly for the raising up of Jewish missionaries, according to the call of the Jewish Com- K 146 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839-40. mittee by circular, and prayed that some of those present, if it were the Lord's will, might be called to this glorious work. "Monday, February loih, 1840. — The day of Queen Victoria's marriage. Last night about eleven o'clock Agnes S , Miss R , and two other females, called to express their regret that no advantage had been taken of the cessa- tion from labour on this day for advancing the glory of Jesus. I had amid so many engrossing duties never thought that this was the day, and it had escaped Mr. Milne also. We prayed together on the subject I met the people of God and many inquirers at half-past twelve, and we continued together till three. I spoke upon Colossians iii. I met with several people during the day ; walked with Mr. Milne dis- tributing many tracts, and having many interesting conversa- tions with persons on the road. — Evening : there was to be a grand display of fireworks on the Inch, and we hardly thought that the church would be anything like filled. However, it was quite full, and after a time not a few were standing. I spoke upon the 45th Psalm, commenting on the glory of the Bridegroom Emmanuel, and the privileges of the Bride the Lamb's wife, and thus enforcing the divine call, 'Hearken, O daughter, and consider,' &c. I felt much of the Lord's presence, and had a full persuasion from the frame of the hearers that some, if not many, were in the act of being betrothed to Christ for ever in righteousness, and judgment, and loving-kindness, &c., Hosea ii. ; and while we were thus celebrating in the British dominions the marriage of our beloved sovereign, I trust there was joy in the presence of the angels of God over sinners espoused to the Lamb. How infinitely does the one event transcend the other in import- ance and glory ! and yet, alas ! this poor world, blinded by Satan, extols the one and despises the other Awake, O gracious Lord, awake this sleeping world ! Amen. "February i%th, 1840, evening. — We had a very large and solemn meeting. I concluded the exposition of Hosea xiv., and then spoke of the nature of the duties for to-morrow ^t. 24-25.] FAST-DAY THOUGHTS. 1 47 (appointed among us along with some of the people at Dundee, Kilsyth, Dunfermline, and Stanley, as a day of fasting, humi- liation, and prayer), and also of the reasons for the appoint- ment of this day. '•''March isf, 1840. — We had this day a solemn fast, kept by many I have no doubt very strictly, as far as the duty of abstinence is concerned. We met at two o'clock P.M. I spoke upon the exercises appropriate to this day : — " I. Self-examination in order to the discovery of sin — of the heart and nature as well as of the tongue and life — by the law and the Spirit of Jehovah. 2. Humbling the soul before God under sins discovered. 3. Confession of sin, full and particu- lar, free and filial. 4. Penitent turning from all sin. 5. Enter- ing into the covenant of grace by the receiving of Emmanuel and the surrender of the soul to him and to God through him. 6. Special prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon this city, and the other places united with us in this fast — the great end designed in its appointment. There was very great solemnity. — Evening : we met again in Mr. TurnbuU's church, Kinnoul Street, and concluded the subject. I had at this time more melting of heart under a sense of the love of God than ever I remember to have had in the pulpit, and I think shed more tears than ever before in preaching. The people also seemed in an unusually tender and solemn frame. Glory to the Lamb ! "March loi/t, morning. — Alone, and writing letters, espe- cially to the young people attending Miss Haldane's Greenside School. While writing this letter, and speaking of the inter- position of Jehovah-Jesus between the wrath of God and sinners, I got a view of the glory of this mystery surpassing anything I had ever enjoyed before, and the tears fell plenti- fully from my dry eyes."' Amid these abounding and exhausting labours in a sphere in which so wide and effectual a door had been opened to him, he still found time and strength for occa- 148 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839-40. sional evangelistic excursions amid the villages around, the results of which were often deeply interesting. In this way he visited at different times during this period the parishes of Auchtermuchty, Strathmiglo, Dunfermline, Muthil, Stanley, Auchtergaven, Caputh, Kinfauns, &c. One or two notices of these more desultory, but not less fruitful labours may be given, as examples of what, for several years to come, constituted a large and important part of his work. Thus, of date February i8th, 1840, he writes : — " Tuesday, February \Zth, 1840, forenoon. — In closet, wrote several letters, drove out to Stanley in gig, gave tracts to all by the way ; well received. — Afternoon, with Mr. Mather the minister, and chiefly in closet; a humbling season. — Evening: immense crowd in the spacious church ; a thousand people work in the mills — subject, Luke xxiv. 47 ; more aided than ever on the same subject. A very solemn season; many met me deeply affected as I retired. Walked home to Perth seven miles, arriving at half-past twelve, accompanied by nearly twenty from Perth; men, women, and children seemed all very solemn and heavenly in their demeanour; prayed before we parted. '■^Febrtiary 2'ith, 1840.— I drove out to Balbiggie to preach in the Secession Church, The man who drove me seems very like a Christian, and told me that of late, especially since our meetings began, there had been an astonishing change on the face of the country round in point of morahty and anxiety about religion ; on the way out all the people came to their doors with a great appearance of anxiety, and I gave away many tracts. The hour of meeting was six; the people were many of them assembled at two o'clock, and at half-past four, when I went, the church was full. I preached on Psalm ex. 3, and had considerable assistance, feeling much joy in my own soul, &c. "Alarch 1 9//^.— (Returning from Auchtergaven.) We made ^t. 24-25] "the scattered villages. 149 up on the way to the Stanley people, a great crowd, and I knelt down with them at the roadside under the bright moon and prayed. Their love and deep solemnity put me much in mind of the first Christians. After singing and pronounc- ing the blessing, we parted in affecting silence ! "Sabbath, March 22d, 1840. — I rose this morning strong in body, but with much conscious deadness of soul, and awfully assaulted, as I often am, by doubts regarding every truth of God in his Word. I preached in the church from Matthew xi. 28, and had little enlargement in the exposition of the text, feeling still an inward struggle with infidelity. However, after I had closed the Bible, and was concluding with a few words of exhortation, the Lord gave me the victory- over unbelief, and I had such an impressive realization of the state of the unconverted, that I was enabled to speak very closely to their consciences, and beseech them with all my heart to awake from the sleep of death and flee to Jesus for refuge. I saw the tears starting from the eyes of some men advanced in years, and felt that the Lord was indeed present. The meeting lasted three hours and a half. After dinner, Mr. Maclagan,^ who was very kind, pressed me to come again, saying that a number of his people had been benefited by our meetings in Perth." The period of his continuous ministry in Perth was now drawing to a close. He had received repeated and urgent invitations to visit Aberdeen, the scene of his second home, and of his college days, which he was unable any longer to resist, and he felt at the same time that he had already remained in Perth long enough to fulfil the functions of a distinctively evangelistic ministry. What further work * The Rev. James Maclagan, minister of Kinfauns, afterwards Professor of Divinity in the Free Church College, Aberdeen — a man of great learning, elevated piety, and spiritual depth and fulness of thought. 150 LIFE OF REV, WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839-40. remained to be done in order to turn to the best account the powerful impulse that had been given, was more of a pastoral than of a missionary kind, and that work he felt was abundantly safe in the hands of Mr. Milne, Mr. Gray, and the other brethren with whom it had been his privilege and delight to labour throughout the whole course of those eventful days. The sacred spring-tide, however, flowed on with unabated force to the last, and he clones, immediately before leaving Perth, the first year of his ministry as a preacher of the gospel, and the twenty-fifth year of his earthly life, in a sort of solemn " triumph in Christ," who still continued in so remarkable a manner to make manifest through him the savour of his saving knowledge and grace. "I drove home, praying all the way, and after an hour alone I went to the church (St. Leonard's) at six with clear direction to Deuteronomy xxxii. 35 as my subject. The church was as usual a solid mass of living beings. I availed myself of many hints in Edwards' sermon, proceeding in the following order: — I took the whole verse as my subject and considered, I. What was meant by vengeance, recompense, and calamity, the things that are coming on the wicked; which, copying Edwards in his application, I opened up in three particulars: ist. It is the wrath of Jehovah. 2d. The fierceness of his wrath. 3d. The fierceness of Jehovah's wrath for eternity. II. In the second place, I put the ques- tion. What is it that defers this wrath till the due time, the day of calamity? in other words, what is it that keeps an un- converted sinner a moment out of hell? To this it was answered, Negatively, 1st. It is not divine justice. This has already sentenced the sinner to eternal wrath. 2d. It is not that God is pleased with the sinner ; on the contrary, he is awfully angry with him, and in many cases more angry ^t. 24-25.] A SECOND AWAKENING. 151 than with many that are already in hell. 3d. It is not on account of anything that the sinner has done, or is doing, or intends to do. 4th. It is not on account of a good bodily constitution or great care to preserve life on the part of the sinner or other persons on his behalf. 5th. It is not on ac- count of any promise given by God to the unconverted. But, Positively, Sinners are kept out of hell from moment to moment only by the long-suffering of God, who 'endures with much long-suffering,' &c. I then came to apply the s'lbject to the case of the unconverted, and went on to point out that they were suspended by the hand of a long-suffering God over the pit of hell, and were yet madly hating and re- sisting that God, and provoking him to let them go and fall into the flames, especially by rejecting Jesus his unspeakable gift. These statements appeared to be accompanied with an extraordinary measure of the Holy Ghost, and the feeling of the hearers became so intense that when one man in the gallery passage audibly exclaimed, 'Lord Jesus, come and save me,' the great mass of the congregation gave audible ex- pression to their emotion in a universal wailing. I imme- diately changed the theme, and began, as at Kilsyth, to repeat such invitations as Isaiah liii., pressing Jesus on all as God's free gift. After a few minutes the great multitude became more composed; but as I went on particularly addressing those who continued impenitent spectators, the feeling became again as deep and general as before. To me, looking from the pulpit, the whole body of the people seemed bathed in tears, old as well as young, men equally with women. This second display of feeling continued a few minutes and gradually ended, a few only here and there throughout the church continuing in great and visible distress of soul. When the impression became so deep and overpowering, many that did not like, or did not understand, such a glorious manifesta- tion of the divine power, were offended, and one man came up the stair of the pulpit and asked me to dismiss the people ! After I had prayed and sung with the people a considerable 152 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839-40. time beyond the usual period, with brief addresses inter- spersed, I pronounced the blessing, and asked them to dis- perse, promising to meet with any who might wish further prayer and direction in a school-house. Hardly any, how- ever, would go away, and even after all the lights in the church but two had been one by one extinguished, a few hundreds still remained in the church, who would not, and in some cases could not, retire. Mr. Milne arrived when it was nearly teni o'clock, and we found it necessary again to sing and pfay. After we had done so we at last got the people I went down to Miss Ramsay's school, and there met ^th as many as the house and passage would contain, both men and women, though chiefly the latter, all in deep distress about their souls, and in most cases in tears. I remained for an hour, and then left them all to pray and sing together, which they continued to do for some time longer. This glorious night seemed to me at the time, and appears from all I have since heard, to have been perhaps the most won- derful that I have ever seen, with the exception perhaps of the first Tuesday at Kilsyth. There was this difference chiefly between the two occasions, that a great many of those affected at this time had been convinced or converted during the previous weeks, while at Kilsyth almost all but the estab- lished children of God were awakened for the first time. Glory to the Lamb ! This is the last Sabbath of the first year of my ministry as an ambassador of Christ ! To the praise and glory of infinite, eternal, free and sovereign mercy and grace. Praise the Lord ! . . . '■'■March 2Zth, 1840. — When during this day I tried to be grateful to the Lord for all the marvellous work that I have seen during the year that was closing, I felt my soul almost overwhelmed, and could only think with joy on the subject, when I remembered that I had an eternity to spend in prais- ing and blessing God. Praise to the Lamb ! infinite, eternal praise; mercy sovereign, infinite, unchangeable, everlasting! The Father electing, the Son redeeming, the Spirit renewing. /Et. 24-25.] BIRTH-DAY MUSINGS. 1 53 " ' To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, The God whom I adore, Be glory, as it was, and is, And shall be evermore!' " Wednesday, April isi, 1840. — This day begins my 26th year. I would act for the Lord Jesus henceforth as if I had hitherto done absolutely nothing in his service. May He enable me. 1 spent the morning alone and in fasting. The Lord, I trust, was near, though I cannot say that I spent the season in a manner befitting such an occasion. Indeed, I can hardly dare to think of God's dealings with me. They overwhelm my soul with astonishment. I wait for etertiity to study and admire and extol them." Such were those remarkable days at Perth during the spring of 1840, as their history is traced in the simple and solemn words of the chief actor himself. It may be desirable, however, for a moment to look at those scenes as seen by another eye; and this we are enabled to do through the following interesting recollections kindly fur- nished to me by one who herself " owed much in after- life " to the sacred impressions received at that memor- able time. Of the after and permanent results of the work then done we shall after^vards have occasion to speak; what we have now to quote refers rather to the immediate aspect of the movement while still in progress, as it presented itself to one who lived through it and deeply shared its spirit : — " It was in a hotel in Rome that we first read, in the columns of GalignanCs Messenger, the name of William Burns. The article was a bitter and sneering caricature. Returning to Scotland a few weeks later, without having had any oppor- tunity of being in church in the interval, and with the bewitch- ing mummeries of the Roman Church, as they surrounded 154 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAINI C. BURNS. [1839-40. the person of Gregory XVI., in vivid recollection, we were taken to an inquirers' meeting, conducted by Mr. Burns in Perth; and the thirty years 'vyhich have since sped away, instead of effacing, have only deepened the impression of the scene we then witnessed. William Burns was speaking from Reve- lation xix., of the doom of Antichrist, and the hallelujah which shall rise from the redeemed when the smoke of her torment shall ascend in their sight. He was warning the unsaved that over their destruction also the same assenting 'Amen, hallelujah,' must yet arise, if they persisted in rejecting Jesus, He was inviting poor sinners to come to Calvary's fountain and wash and be clean. He was warning such as imagined they had washed and were living unholily, thus : * You are saying, ' If I sin it will easily be washed out again.' Or, if not saying it with the lip, you are acting it out fearfully in the life. Ah ! the soul that has washed its filthy garments in the stream of Calvary is careful how the remedy is used. Many believers have so much allowed the stains of conformity to the world to disfigure the white robe, that instead of repre- senting the work of God within, they are scarcely to be dis- tinguished from the servants of the devil.' He was setting before believers the coming joys of the marriage-supper of the Lamb, and said, * This blessedness is not so far off as the world seems to think; the meanest saint can tell that it has already set in with a sweetness unspeakable. Ushered into the breast of many by billows of affliction and temptation, beating wildly on the soul with their tempestuous swell, yet are the beginnings so glorious and so blessed, that they are an earnest of a springing up of a life eternal in the heavens. On the joys which shall crown our union with Emmanuel no destroyer shall lay the withering blight of his death-cold hand; no ruthless separation shall snatch our happiness from us, or us from our happiness. After washing for a few days more in the free fountain here — after a few days more weeping on account of sin and sorrow — you shall awake suddenly in the city of our God, to wa;lk with Emmanuel for ever in the courts ,iEt. 24-25.] RECOLLECTIONS OF A HEARER. 155 above. The company, small here, will be innumerable yonder. Ten thousand times ten thousand are their voices, and ten thousand times ten thousand are the harps they tune; but it is as the sounding of otie \oict. Hallelujah ! 'tis the key-note of an eternal song. Only one name rests upon their lips, it is Emmanuel. They know but one song, the song of the redeemed. It is sometimes difficult to say here *«// his judg- ments are righteous,' for they are often heavy and severe. When you join that company, your narrow and short-sighted views will be gone. If I were ever to see the smoke of your torment ascending before the throne, I would have to say Amen; hallelujah! and if you, standing on high, were to see the smoke of my torment ascending, you too would cry Amen; hallelujah ! . . . An hour has nearly elapsed since we began to speak with you; it is just taking wing; a few seconds and it will have fled to bear its tale to the judgment-seat. Shall it announce the submission of a sinner, the return of a prodigal, the adoption of a son into the family above?' The deepest solemnity pervaded the assembly, as the simple searchinp- truth was calmly presented. Individuals were conversed with in St. Leonard's Church for an hour or two afterwards; and many a burden was there laid upon ' the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.' These inquiry-meetings were held three times a week, and in the evening the church was open for the crowds that thronged it from town and country'. An hour before the time of service every seat was filled. The multitude generally remained in silence, and many heads were bowed in prayer. The stairs leading to the pulpit were also filled, and it was with difficulty the preacher could be conducted thither. The Rev. John Milne, the recently settled pastor of the congregation, usually shared the pulpit with the speaker. We recall especially one evening when a chair was handed up for James Hamilton, then of Abernyte, to sit at their side. It seems now as if one chariot had sufficed to carry home the three, ' William Burns, John Milne, and James Hamilton.' That night was one of power. 156 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C, BURNS. [1839-40. 'Tough boughs require sharp pruning,' said the preacher, when some one would have tried to blunt the knife, by advis- ing him to the use of more measured and tempered language. 'A sleeping minister and a sleeping congregation, what will they do in the day of judgment?' He was privileged to break this sleep— in congregations, in kirk-sessions, and in manses. The first part of his discourse always embodied a mass of telling doctrine, holding up the divine law right in face of the sinner's conscience. The appeals in the latter part were irresistibly winning, brimming over with the freely offered love of Jesus. The Spirit was glorified. He arrested many before the preacher had time to enter his subject; in some cases the arrow sped from the first psalm that was given out, and many were awakened during the opening prayer. It is not easy to describe his prayers. Adoration of Jehovah's uncreated glory, as it falls on the darkness and corruption of man's heart, and reveals the abyss of a yawning hell, filled the first part. He brought himself and the saved part of his audience down into the sides of the pit whence they were hewn, in a way that made the greatest outcast in the church feel that he or she was sympathized with and carried abreast; and then his soul would as it were be seen to pass anew through the cleansing flood, up into the very presence- chamber of the King of kings, and there looked up into the Father's face with unutterable love. His theology was un- biased, and swung like a pendulum across the truth of God, avoiding all limited, classified, partial, and one-sided expres- sions of it. His training of young converts was thus invalu- able to them. ' No cross, no crown,' was the term of enlist- ment. ' Suffering is the law of the kingdom.' ' The greater your sacrifices for Christ, the more of his joy will fill your heart.' ' Forsake the glass, the dance, and the song, if you would drink of the rivers of his pleasures, if you would leap for joy on the shores of Emmanuel's land, if you would take up the unending hallelujah.' "He warned the young that if they would live near the JEt. 24-25.] RECOLLECTIONS OF A HEARER. 1 5 7 Lord, they must be content to be singular even among be- lievers, and to travel sometimes almost alone. 'I am often reminded of this,' he said, 'when setting out by the early stage-coach. The morning is sharp, companions few, and from the top of the coach you see whole streets shuttered in as in the night. But just here and there, one, earlier up than others, has begun her morning work, with no one apparently to notice or thank her. She will find out the good of it before nightfall. So with you. Forget the crowd, walk with God alone.' "It was a high standard he himself set before them. 'The longing of my heart would be to go once all round the world before I die, and preach one gospel invitation in the ear of every creature.' He had a tender regard for those who were kept long in darkness : saying, that those to whom the Lord had revealed much of their own sin and misery in the place of dragons, were often led into high places in the school of Christ. "All the roads from the town were nightly trod by groups of country hearers. Some were returning home to sing for the first time the new song. Others with heavy pace carried an arrow rankling in the heart. Others bore the good news of companions in town turning to God, the public-house signs taken down, the police comparatively idle, and families and workshops sharing the wide-spread blessing." In the words, in fine, of Mr. Milne, used a year and a half aftenvards, on a retrospect of these remarkable scenes : " God's people quickened; backsliders restored; the doubt- ing and uncertain brought to decision and assurance; hidden ones who for years had walked solitarily brought to light, and united to a family of brothers and sisters; a large number of the worldly, thoughtless, ignorant, self- righteous turned to the Lord; a peculiar people growing up, who are separate from the world, know and love one 158 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1839-40. another; watch over, exhort, and aid one another, and seem to grow in humility and zeal;"^ such is the sum- mary history of the work done and the fruits of blessing gathered in at Perth during this signal " time of power." After a few more days spent in fulfilling some country engagements, he started for Aberdeen on the 7 th, amid a crowd of loving friends who had assembled to bid him farewell; but rejoicing still more to see, as he passed through Bridgend, " that William G-^ 's sign as a spirit- seller was taken down !" * Evidence supplied to the Synod of Merse and Teviotdale, in answer to queries proposed by them, October 25, 1841. See Life of Rev. John Milne, p. 55. CHAPTER VII. 1840. LABOURS AT ABERDEEN. THE ample details which have been given in the three last chapters from Mr. Bums' own journals, of the nature of his labours, and the scenes amongst which he mingled, at Kilsyth, Dundee, and Perth, will render it unnecessary to give such extended extracts with reference to his evangelistic work at Aberdeen. The spirit in which he laboured, and the results which followed, were here in all essential respects identical with what we have just described elsewhere, and might be said to be simply the continuation of what was there begun. The same unrest- ing activity, intense earnestness, and vivid realization of the unseen world on the part of the preacher — the same mighty and gradually swelling tide of interest, inquiry, irrepressible emotion, on the part of the throngs that waited on his ministry and hung upon his lips — were here as there the salient features of a movement which was the subject of solemn joy to one part of the community, and of wonder, consternation, scorn, or anxious misgiving to the other. Sermons to densely crowded audiences in three several churches on each Lord's-day; prayer-meetings in the morning and afternoon, and a public address in the l6o LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. evening of each week-day, with generally an additional hour of counsel, instruction, and prayer, for those whose intense anxiety still detained them after the long service was over, with words by the wayside and conferences with inquirers and young disciples at all other available hours, constituted the daily history of his work, so far as it can be written by man, for weeks together. An occasional sermon, too, in the open air — in Castle Street, or at the foot of the Barrack Hill — startled and scandalized a Christian community, which has since seen the same self- denying service done, with no other feeling than that of admiration, by so many others. Even his brethren in the ministry, who in all other respects approved and furthered his work, with one single exception deprecated a course which all the existing conventions condemned, but which, by its remarkable results, in sounding the depths of a class of society which no other agency had reached, more than justified itself: — "In the evening," says he, "I (April 26) preached in Castle Street to an immense audience, chiefly men, on the willingness of Jesus to save the chief of sinners, from the 'thief on the cross.' I felt more of the divine presence than on any former occasion in Aberdeen, and laboured to pull sinners out of the fire. The impression was very deep ; many weep- ing, some screaming, and one or two quite overpowered. At eight o'clock we adjourned to the North Church, where Mr. Wilson from Belfast was preaching, and when he had con- cluded we remained with a crowded audience for another hour in exhortation, prayer, and praise. After this we dis- missed the people ; but a great many were so deeply moved that we could not get away, and accordingly I returned with Mr. Murray, who addressed along with me about four /Et. 25.1 STREET PREACHING. l6l hundred, from the precentor's desk. After prayer and sing- ing, we dismissed about ten o'clock. Getting with difficulty out of the crowd, I went down to Albion Street, and addressed in a school-room about seventy of the poorest and vilest of the people in that degraded district. They were ver>^ solemn and interested to all appearance. We separated about eleven. Though this was a day of uncommon toil, yet, praise to the Lord ! I was not worn out, but felt strong as ever on my way home I may here record that none of the minis- ters were in favour of the street-preaching but Mr. Parker. He and his session all went to Castle Street ; though I felt that I did not need human countenance, having so clear a conviction of the duty, and being so conscious of the divine support in this effort to advance the glory of Jesus." Other tokens besides the immediate sense of the "divine support," and the access opened to him to " the poorest and vilest of the people," soon appeared to confirm his conviction that he was in this matter in the right line of action. "When walking on the links," says he in his journal of next day, "in the afternoon I met some poor lads, with whom I prayed among the sand-banks. They were very serious for the time, and one of them said he had been in Albion Street school the night before. He said that many were praying for the first time, and he among the rest, after I went away." We are not surprised, accordingly, to find him soon again on the same battle- ground, renewing the charge from the same point at which he had already effected so wide a breach. The scruples of his brethren, too, soon gave way, as they \vitnessed and gladly hailed the good results of the bolder course from which at first they had shrunk : — ^^ Tuesday, April 28//^.— In the evening I preached, to L 1 62 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1S40. an immense audience at the foot of the Barrack Hill, in- cluding multitudes of the worst people in the town. I was hoarse and the situation was very unfavourable, owing to its vicinity to the public road ; yet with all these disadvantages the audience were most fixed and solemn in their attention, and I was encouraged to intimate a similar meeting in the same vicinity for Thursday night, though I had previously proposed to leave Aberdeen on the afternoon of that day. This afternoon I had also at half-past five a meeting in the barracks with about thirty of the soldiers. They seemed much impressed, and some of them shed tears when I came away. . . . " Wednesday^ April 2()th. — I preached in the evening in Holborn Church ; an immense audience, the result of the out- door preaching, as Mr. Mitchell granted with good-will, his mind seeming to be a good deal changed on this point. Mr. M., Mr. Parker, and Dr. Dewar all took part in the services. " Thursday, April "ipth. — I was again at the barracks in the afternoon ; appearances just such as on the former day. I preached thereafter at the foot of the Barrack Hill to an immense audience. I had been thinking on the subject of conversion, but I was led in the time of the opening prayer to think of Matthew xi. 28, and I preached on it with perhaps more of the divine, assistance than I had done at any time before. Towards the end especially, many were screaming and in tears. ... I felt as if I could pull men out of the fire ; indeed, I never had more of this feeling than this evening, and on Sabbath evening in Castle Street. In order to escape the crowd I slipped into the barracks, and after walking up and down in concealment a little, I went up to some of the men and spoke to them of Jesus and salvation. I got a good many of them to come and have a last prayer- meeting before our parting, which we had accordingly. When going up to the room I met dear J. C.^ standing with 'An interesting convert mentioned in the journal before several times. JEt. 25.] THE CHURCH IN THE ARMY. 163 Streaming eyes alone. He had run up Union Street, thinking to overtake me, but not seeing me, and being obliged to be in by nine o'clock, he returned disconsolate, thinking that he might never see me again, the regiment being to leave Aber- deen for Paisley on Tuesday first. Our meeting was sweet indeed, and our parting affecting, but full of the hope of meeting in the presence of the Lamb. Glory to his matchless name!" Of the after-history of individual souls amongst those neglected multitudes in Albion Street and Barrack Hill, to whom the gates of the eternal kingdom were thus opened for once at least, so widely, but few and broken fragments can be gathered from the records of earth. The names of some of them occur in connection with the labours of a committee of inquiry soon after appointed by the presbytery of the bounds, and the cases of others are doubtless well known to individual ministers of the city, under whose ministry the seeds of life then sown were cherished and ripened to holy fruitfulness. With his friends amongst the soldiers, however, he was destined to meet again in other and deeply interesting circum- stances, when, five years afterwards, they rallied round him, and acted as his gallant body-guard amid the rude assaults of the ruffianly mob at Montreal. Throughout these manifold and arduous labours Mr. Burns had enjoyed, as ever afterwards in Aberdeen, the valuable countenance and co-operation of several of the ministers of the city, and particularly of Dr. Murray of the North Parish, Mr. Parker of Bonaccord Church, and Mr. Mitchell of Holbom, in one or other of whose churches most of his meetings both on Sabbaths and on week-days 164 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. were held. The two former have since died — leaving behind them the rich savour of a revered and blessed memory. Mr. Parker was a man of deep, thoughtful, and even severe piety, with peculiarly profound and solemn views of the holy law and sovereign grace of God — who had been recently translated to his present charge from a chapel in Dundee, where he had laboured for several years with remarkable acceptance and success. Dr. Mur- ray was a ripe scholar, a sound divine, a brave and godly man, and especially during his earlier ministry, in Trinity Chapel, a stirring and successful preacher. He lived to a good old age, and passed away amid the universal respect of a community that had for long years honoured him as one of its most worthy and true-hearted citizens. Both loved and befriended the young evangelist with that peculiar and beautiful affection which one sometimes sees in those of more advanced years towards the young. On Tuesday, May i, he left Aberdeen for a season, in. order to fulfil some other pressing engagements — thus briefly summing up the result of his labours there during the past month: — "I am now come to the end of my sojourn in Aberdeen, and must notice a few general features in what met my eye and ear. We had meetings every morning to the end, in Bonaccord Church, which were very sweet and solemn, and increased in size towards the end. I also continued to meet almost every afternoon, from one to three, with anxious inquirers. Many thiat came to these meetings, as well as many that called at the house, seemed in a most promising state, and altogether, upon a review of all I saw of this kind in Aberdeen, there seemed to be very hopeful symptoms of /Et. 25.] SECOND VISIT TO ABERDEEX, 1 65 an extensive awakening. And now, Lord Jesus, grant me and all thy people there, the Holy Ghost as a Spirit of praise for all the tokens of thy glorious and gracious presence there ; and may those who were impressed by thy power not be left to fall back into their former security beneath the abiding wrath of God, but be brought to wash in thy blood, and put on the glorious wedding-garment of thy righteousness, and adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour by a life and con- versation becoming the gospel ; and to thee be all the glory ! Amen." His retirement from Aberdeen, however, was only temporary. Neither in his own judgment nor in that of the brethren -who had laboured with him, had he yet made full proof of his ministry there; and accordingly, after an absence of five months, we find him again in the field, prosecuting with equal devotedness and zeal, and with even still more remarkable results, the work which he had before begun. For two months together, on week- days and Sabbath-days, the attendance at the meetings continued unabated, and the number of inquirers in- creased. I find on one of the last pages of his Aberdeen diary specific mention of the 200th case of spiritual anxiety with which he had had to deal since the com- mencement of his visit; and those who sought him out on this errand, and with whom he was able to converse, were of course only a fraction of those who were more or less affected by the general and wide-spread impres- sion. So great at one time was the number of the an- xious, that appointments made for their special behoof would be responded to by such crowds, that individual instruction became impossible, and the inquirers' meeting 1 66 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. grew into a congregation. Meanwhile the intensity of feeUng manifested by those who were the more especial subjects of the movement was often very great, and found vent to itself in the case of those who were of a more impressible nature, and were least habituated to self-control, now in silent weeping, and now in loud sobs •and cries. There was undoubtedly at this time a good deal of what is called religious excitement. The solemn impressions of eternal things renewed night after night, in crowded congregations composed in large measure of the same individuals, and under the spell of a voice that seemed' as if the very echo of eternity, gradually grew to an intensity which became at last altogether uncontrollable; and as this aspect of the movement attracted a good deal of public notoriety at the time, and formed the subject of a special inquiry on the part of the presbytery of the bounds, it may be right to give one or two extracts illus- trative of its nature : — ^^ October i2d. — In the evening I preached in Trinity Church at seven to a full church, from the Pharisee and the publican. The impression was solemn. At an after-meeting a great many remained, and the impression became deeper, many being in tears. We parted at ten, but as we were leaving the session-house many crowded round us, and one mill-girl cried aloud, so that I had to return to the session- house with the concourse. The place was filled in a few moments, and almost all fell on their knees and began to pray to the Lord. I continued to pray and sing and speak with these until after twelve o'clock, having frequently offered to let them go, but finding that they would not move, and feeling in my own soul that the Lord was indeed in the midst of us. This was the most glorious season, I think, ^t. 25.] "a great mourning." 167 that I have yet seen in Aberdeen. Many poor sinners lay weeping all the night on their knees in prayer, and some of the Lord's people present seemed to be filled \vith joy. "October 22,d. — In the evening I met from three to four hundred in the Albion Street school, chiefly mill-girls, and spoke chiefly from the beginning of Luke xv. I was enabled to speak verj' awfully of the lost state of sinners, and the enormity of many sins abounding among us at one particular time ; and the impression was so great that almost all were in tears, and tnany cried aloud. This impression seemed so deep and genuine, that it continued the whole evening afterwards, and though I dismissed them three or four times, hardly any would go away, the greater part crying aloud at the mention of dispersing. Accordingly we re- mained until after eleven, and even then the greater part remained behind me, and the beadle could not get some of them away for a long time after this. It was indeed to all appearance a night of the Lord's power, and I trust a night of salvation to some. "October i%th, evening. — I met with anxious inquirers in the North Church session-house, but so many came (they could not be fewer than two hundred and fifty) that we had to go to the church ; of these two-thirds were mill-girls. After speaking to them all together until half-past nine, I kept the mill-girls behind and took down about half of their names. Some of them seemed in the deep waters, and a great many were weeping silently. A few only seemed un- moved. I found that there were individuals among them from all the mills in town, as far as I am aware. Surely the Lord is dealing with some of these souls. I would not doubt it, though my past experience of the deceitfulness of almost all appearances makes me hesitate in regard to individual cases. At the Saturday evening meeting a good man who works in Hadden's mill told me that he had seen that day what he never saw before, a number of the workers bringing their Bibles with them to their work ! Sweet token ! 1 68 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. '■'■November \<^th. — At eight, Albion Street school; full attendance, though I did not intimate at the mills. What a sweet contrast the meeting presented at the time I came in to the appearance of these dear young people when we first met in this place! Glory to the Lord! The subject, 'Be- hold what manner of love,' &c. I desired to speak in an awakening way, which is my natural bent, but could not ; and was enabled in some degree to speak for the comfort, ex- amination, and instruction of those who are under concern. Many wept tenderly during the whole meeting. There was great solemnity and earnestness in prayer, and when we dis- missed at a quarter past ten many were almost unable to go away. Indeed, a great number went into the lower school- room, in the dark, and remained there for a considerable time in prayer. Miss C, the excellent teacher of the infant school, being with them. I was told to-day by Mrs. M. that a person had said to her, though he was not particularly favourable, 'I am persuaded there is much good doing.' It is said that now on a Saturday night there is not one for ten that there used to be of these young women walking in the streets ! Praise ! ^^ November 22d, evening. — I preached for Mr. Foote in the East Church at six o'clock : a collection for his infant school. The sermon was therefore advei^tised. The church M^as choked as soon as opened. There could not be fewer than two thousand five hundred, a great number of whom were in en. . . . I preached from Romans ii. 4, 5. At eight o'clock, I had to divide the subject in order to allow those to retire who needed. As many nearly came in as went out, and we continued till nine. I saw no men go away. There was a fixed and solemn attention to plain and momentous truths throughout, and some girls cried out. Praise to the Lord ! . . . When I came out I heard a young man in the street, with a curse, saying, 'There is the rascal himself.' I went and spoke kindly to him, saying he did me no ill, but himself a great deal. He went along with me and spoke a iEt. 25.] THE PRESBYTERIAL INQUIRY. 1 69 little more seriously, saying, 'Perhaps I'll turn to God too.' Turn him and he shall be turned. Praise ! ^'■November I'^d, evening. — At eight we met in the church Bonaccord with anxious inquirers, but in consequence of the movement so publicly seen on Saturday night, there were so many came as nearly to crowd the church, and among these many gentlemen drawn by curiosity. I read the 12th of Zechariah beginning with verse 9, and spoke upon it at first more textually, and afterwards with greater variety and lati- tude, and I obtained so great liberty that I spoke in a manner I have hardly ever done before. We remained speaking and praying until half-past eleven P.M., and hardly one even of the scoffers went away; many, even gentlemen, remained rivetted to the spot, evidently having a witness in their con- sciences to the truth. There were some avowed infidels present ! Glory to the Lord ! There would have been a great outcry among the young people, had I not at the beginning, and frequently as I went on, debarred them from crying out that others might hear and be benefited. Many sighed and wept aloud. " Wednesday, November ^^th.— Heard that the Dudhope Church is open to me at Dundee. At the prayer-meeting spoke on the last chapter of ist Thessalonians. Tender weeping among many, nay almost all, when I intimated my proposed departure. We fixed Friday for a day of fasting. Oh! may it be indeed so. Many shook hands with me, young and old, rich ('not many') and poor, when I came out with tender weeping. Praise ! Praise ! Oh ! may the week that remains to me here be pentecostal ! Come Jesus ! Amen." It cannot certainly be matter of surprise that manifesta- tions like these, occurring in the midst of a great Christian community, should have attracted a large measure of public attention, and should have been thought deserving of serious consideration and inquiry on the part of those lyo LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. intrusted with authority in the church. They were sure to be variously, and by many severely, judged. Not only were those to whom every expression and sign of religious earnestness were but as the raving of fools sure to turn away from such scenes with contemptuous scorn, but even some, to whom the struggles of the interior life were a great and blessed reality, might question whether a spiritual movement, attended by such a tumult of emotion, were likely to prove in the highest degree solid or lasting. It was not that the spiritual concern of those whose souls were most powerfully stirred by the melting and thrilling words of the preacher was in itself too solemn or too deep. No amount of solicitude in regard to interests so stupendous as the favour and love of God, and the eternal life of the soul in him, could be regarded as either unreasonable or extreme. Of such solicitude, whether called by the name of excitement, or enthusiasm, or the awakening of the spiritual life, well might it be said with President Edwards: '"If such things are enthusiasm or the fruits of a distempered brain, let my brain be evermore pos- sessed of that happy distemper ! If this be distraction, I pray God that the world of mankind may be seized with this benign, meek, beneficent, beatifical, glorious distrac- tion." But the question still remained, whether a course of such continuous and exhausting excitement of the feel- ings were not fitted rather to hinder than to help spiritual inquiry in the highest sense — ^by preventing quiet thought- fulness, and possibly issuing in a reaction of deeper care- lessness and apathy. Grace, it was urged, while in itself supernatural and divine, yet works ever according to the JEt. 25.] RELIGIOUS EXCITEMENT. I 7 I essential laws of our moral and physical constitution ; and whatever in any degree runs counter to those laws must tend in that degree to hinder or to mar that work. Of those laws the healthy equipoise of the different elements of our nature — the reason, the conscience, the feelings — is one of the most fundamental, and therefore any undue or exclusive predominance of one of these to the suppres- sion or abeyance of the others must tell with more or less of injurious influence upon all. It was alleged too that the excitement then prevalent was in many cases an excitement of fear rather than of love or moral feeling, and for that reason also the more liable to prove evan- escent, or to issue in morbid and unsatisfactory results. It was not enough to say in answer to these considerations that the work was, as most Christian men fully believed, in its essential nature and substance a work of the Spirit of God; for a divine work was all the more sure to be more or less marred by the erring touch of man; and that work, it was maintained, would have been helped not hindered, and the spiritual birth or holy progress of souls furthered, had the public meetings and protracted and exciting services been fewer, and the hours of still and meditative retirement more. There was some truth, doubtless, in these considerations; but probably not so much as those who urged them were disposed to think. It v/as not enough considered that such a season of general awakening to the sight and sense of eternal things was in its nature exceptional and tem- porar}', and that the intense excitement with which it was at first attended was sure, in the course of nature, soon 172 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. to die down into a more quiet and tranquil condition of things. Whatever effects of a permanent kind might result from the earthquake shock, in startling souls from the sleep of death, its immediate tremor and concussion would soon pass away. Neither in the public mind gene- rally, nor in the history of individual souls, would the tumult of emotion last long enough to produce, at least to the full extent, that revulsion or paralyzing exhaustion of feeling that was apprehended. Many of those who were most deeply moved by the prevailing influence very soon passed the crisis of their anxiety, and through that sore agony and travail of soul entered into a state of calm peace and rest in God, which was the very opposite of all tumultuous excitement. The same power that was mighty to wound was mighty also to heal, so that "the bones which" that divine unseen hand "had broken" were speedily made to "rejoice." There was the gentle and reviving south wind, as well as the biting north — the time of the singing of birds, as well as the winter and the rain. Thus those whose desires after God, the living God, were deep and real, did not long fail of the object of their quest, and with it of that holy calm which can alone effectually still the tumults of the heart; while in the case of those whose natural sensibilities alone were stirred, there was enough in the cares of the world and the pressing exigences of daily life soon to blunt the edge of excited feeling, and preclude the danger of a too intense or long-continued anxiety. Those in short who had then been roused to momentary seriousness, would either inevitably soon sink into slumber again, or have their eyes opened to the sight yEt. 25.] RELIGIOUS EXCITEMENT. 1 73 of Him, the beholding of whom alone can permanently keep the soul awake, and in whom there is not only life everlasting but peace unspeakable. It should be remembered, also, that those to whose benefit Mr. Bums' labours were at this time for the most part directed, belonged to that class whom it is most diffi- cult to arouse to any thought or care about eternal things at all, and who when they are so roused, are then only led to think when they have been first made to feel. Those rude and untaught hearts in Albion Street and Barrack Hill, or amidst the crowds of factory workers, who were brought to weep and wail aloud at the thought of God and eternity, might never get beyond those mere sobs and tears — might catch only a momentary glimpse of a higher world, and then pass again into darkness ; and yet surely the very state of mind which made them capable of such tears had already raised them far above their former state of stolid indifference and moral debasement, and brought them at least several steps nearer the kingdom of God than they were before. There are those — let us never forget it — whose deeper nature must be reached, primarily and chiefly, not through the head, but through the heart. It was a time doubtless of high but in the main of sacred and salutary excitement. Occasionally no doubt the tide of feeling was too unrestrained — more continuous and less subjected to regulative control, than with a view to solid and enduring results would have been desirable. There was not indeed too much feeling; but there was perhaps too little thought — not too much of the whirlwind and of the fire, but possibly too little of the still small voice. 174 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. Without any less of the reHgion of the heart, there might have been more of the reHgion of the informed judgment, the educated conscience, and of the discipHned will. It is hard in any case, and under any ministry, fully to reconcile and combine what may be called the stimulative and the educative functions of the gospel message — to give full scope at once to the powers that stir and to the principles that should guide and control the spiritual nature. I do not say — least of all would the subject of this memoir have said — that in the present instance this reconciliation was perfectly attained. In the great lack, too, of wise guides of souls, and in the comparative inexperience in such work even of those who were most fitted for it, it is not wonderful if a spiritual movement, at once so exten- sive and profound, should have got occasionally somewhat beyond control; and if some portion of its good results should thus have been lost or have passed away into impure and morbid forms. Even a Divine work in human hands partakes ever and necessarily more or less of the imperfection and the error of that which is human. In the main, however, and with every reasonable allowance for such imperfection and error, we believe this remark- able movement to have been a real and most blessed work of the Spirit of God — a true awakening, through His heavenly breath, of the spiritual nature, and quickening of the springs of highest life in multitudes of human souls. If it was an enthusiasm, it was an enthusiasm of faith, of love, and of holy endeavour and aspiration. Still let it be admitted that the dangers apprehended from excessive and too continuous excitement, if often ^t. 25.] OBJECT OF THE INQUIRY. 1 75 exaggerated, are nevertheless real, and that so far as they can be avoided, they are, in the interest of the work itself, and for the honour of Him whose work it is, to be sedu- lously and anxiously guarded against. "There being a great many errors and sinful irregularities," to use again the words of Edwards, "mixed with this work of God, arising from our weakness, darkness, and corruption, does not indeed hinder it from being very glorious. Our follies and sins in some respects manifest the glory of it The glory of divine power and grace is set off with the greater lustre by what appears at the same time of the weakness of an earthen vessel. It is God's pleasure to manifest the weakness and unworthiness of the subject at the same time that he displays the excellency of his power and the riches of his grace. And I doubt not but some of these things which make some of us here on earth to be out of humour, and to look on this work with a sour counten- ance, heighten the songs of the angels when they praise God and the Lamb for what they see of the glory of God's all-sufficiency, and the efficacy of Christ's redemption. And how unreasonable is it that we should be backward to acknowledge the glory of what God has done, because the devil, and we in hearkening to him, have done a great deal of mischief." Still none the less error is error, and sin is sin, and both are to be with the utmost watchfulness and care guarded against, so that the work which we recognize as divine may not only be, but be seen to be, "honourable and glorious," and that no needless stumb- ling-block may be thrown in the way of any true though feeble seeker after God. 176 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. Whether, then, and to what extent, any such incidental evils had appeared in the present case, was a most fair and important subject of inquiry; and a committee was accordingly appointed for that purpose by the presbytery of Aberdeen, moved thereto chiefly by some very unfair and one-sided accounts of some of the meetings which had appeared in one of the public prints. The result was eminently satisfactory. The proceedings were con- ducted on the whole — as Mr. Burns himself most cordially admitted — with candour and fairness, and in such a manner as fully to elicit the essential elements of the truth. To the convener of the committee in particular, the Rev. Wm. Pirie,^ he felt himself under deep obligation for the kindness and courtesy with which he conducted his own examination, when called personally to appear as a witness. A part of his evidence it may be proper here to give, both as illustrating his general character and views, and the light in which he regarded the special matters then in question. We may only further premise, in order to the clearer understanding of some of the questions, that the newspaper attack referred to consisted partly of a pro- fessedly verbatim report of the proceedings at one of the meetings,^ and partly of a leading article, commenting thereon with great bitterness and severity: — "Q. Could you state those peculiarities of the Herald's ^ Now Rev. Dr. Pirie, Professor of Divinity in the University of Aberdeen. ^ The meeting for inquirers held in Bonaccord Church on Novem- ber 23d, referred to in the extract from journal of that date, see above, page 169. ^t. 25.] HIS OWN EXAMINATION. 177 report which makes it, as you have said in your letter to Mr. Mitchell, a 'caricature' of what was spoken by you on the occasions referred to?^ "A. Among these peculiarities, I may mention the follow- ing as occurring to me at the moinent: — ist, The manner in which the whole is printed, by the use of hyphens, and the parenthetical insertion of remarks by the reporter. The reason of my speaking with peculiar slowness on the occa- sion referred to, was to prevent, if possible, the charge of trying to excite the people being brought against me by the enemies of the work present. 2d, The omission of sen- teftces throtcghout which are necessary to exhibit the true connection of what was said, and the consequent bringing together, and in some cases mixing up, of things which, as spoken, stood apart. 3d, The entire omission of what was said during the last hour of the address, the insertion of which is indispensable to give a just impression of the whole service, 4th, The omission of some introductory remarks, in which the speaker explained his reasons for addressing those who seemed to have come as spectators, rather than those 'anxious inquirers' for whom the meeting was intimated — a circumstance this which led the speaker to leave the text on which he was to have spoken, and to enlarge in a remon- strance with those whom he supposed to have come from questionable motives. " Q. Assuming it to be as a religious exposition delivered ffom the pulpit, by a licentiate of the Church of Scotland, would you hold the report in the Aberdeen Herald (supposing it to be correct) as becoming, decent, and in conformity with Scripture? "A. I have no hesitation in saying that the report in the Herald, if read under the idea of its being accurate, and without a knowledge of the particular circumstances in * We give the questions simply, without distinguishing between those put by the convener and those by other members of the Com- mittee. JM 178 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. which these meetings took place, would seem open to the charge of being incoherent in the connection of its meaning, and not well fitted to edify the hearer. Indeed, I have my- self met with judicious and godly friends who have been led to fear that the speaker had been imprudent in the case referred to ; while, on the other hand, I have not met with any serious person of sound judgment, who was present at the meeting and thought that anything unscriptural or un- becoming in the circumstances had been said or done. Nor do I myself, in the recollection of what took place, know of anything which ought to be condemned by those who hold sound views of Bible truth. "Q. You admit that the words, 'This is the outpouring of the Spirit,'^ were used by you ; how did you know that at the time? ''A. This was my own deliberate conviction at the time, and continues to be so. The grounds on which I was con- vinced of this were, not merely those appearances of deep solemnity and a humbling sense of sin which were' mani- fested by many of the people, but also my general knowledge of the state of many of them, from private conversation and the testimony of others. No one can see the propriety of introducing such a statement, unless he had been present and had witnessed the circumstances in which it was made. "Q. How did those appearances of deep solemnity and humbling sense of sin, to which you have referred, manifest themselves in the hearers at the time? "^. The appearances to which I have alluded are, that deep solemnity which one can judge of when present, and all the usual outward marks of grief and humiliation. It is no doubt difficult to judge of such a matter from visible tokens, and specially so in regard to individual cases. But, as I have already said, the conviction which I expressed was not founded solely on the appearances visible at that time, but ' Said to have been used by Mr. Burns at the meeting when he had endeavoured in vain to restrain the emotion of the audience. ;Et. 25.] HIS OWN EXAMINATION. 1 79 also on the grounds stated in answer to the previous ques- tion ; nor would I think it safe to judge of such a matter by almost any appearances, if taken apart from the causes which produced them and the effects by which they are followed. "g. When you used the words referred to, 'This is the out- pouring of the Spirit,' how was it possible for you, in con- formity with the explanation given in your last answer, to tell what the effects would be? '■'■A. I am fully convinced that it is a matter of the utmost difficulty to judge, in regard to a particular individual, that the concern which that individual feels is the effect of special and saving grace; but, at the same time, I have no doubt that any one who is acquainted, from Scripture, and espe- cially by experience, with the saving work of God's Spirit, can on good grounds conclude that the Spirit of God is working remarkably among a people, even before time has fully proved the effects of that work upon the lives of individuals. "(2- Did you know a great proportion of the parties before- hand ? ".-^. I was accustomed to meet them almost day by day; to converse privately with those who were anxious; and, in this way, had an opportunity of obtaining a general know- ledge of their religious state. I also heard, from various quarters, of the state of some of them when at work and when at home, and thus could more confidently judge that they were really impressed by divine truth. "Q. Did you witness any physical manifestations on that night? "yi. If by 'physical manifestations' be meant the in- dications of grief alluded to in such texts as in Zechariah xii. TO, 'They shall look on me whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born^ — if this be meant, I did see such indications of feeling, and I would desire to see them on a far larger scale. l8o LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. " Q. It is meant, did you hear sobs, crying, screaming, or did you see any one faint or fall into convulsions? "A. I certainly did see, and expect to see in such cases, much weeping, some audibly praying to God for mercy, and occasion- ally also individuals crying aloud as if pierced to the heart. I don't remember that any one fell down or fell into convul- sions on the night referred to, although I have occasionally seen such cases, both in Aberdeen and in other places, and among these, strong men in the prime of life. "Q. Do you think persons so excited can by possibility further benefit from pulpit ministrations? "A. I should think that t/ie most direct means of composing persons tinder such spirittcal concern, is the calm and tender ministration of the gospel of Christ. Of course, if the bodily frame is so much alfected as to prevent the intelligent hearing of the word, no benefit can be derived from it. When people have fallen into a swoon, the latter is the case, and such persons had better be removed; but where there is much weeping, there may be, at the same time, the best preparation for listening to the exhibition of Christ. " Q. Am I to understand you, when you said, in a foregoing answer, that you did see persons weeping and audibly pray- ing to God for mercy, and occasionally also individuals cry- ing aloud, as if pierced to the heart, that you considered these as sure evidences that the Spirit of God was savingly working upon these persons? "^. I have already stated very fully the grounds of my con- viction that the Spirit of God was at that time powerfully working among the people taken as a whole, but I have a firm and growing conviction that there often are, at such seasons, individuals who manifest a great degree of feeling, and yet afterwards show that they continue in their natural state. " Q. Do you not think public meetings protracted until ten, or eleven, or twelve o'clock at night, likely to give offence, to interrupt family worship, interfere with family arrangements,. ^t. 25.] HIS OWN EXAMINATION. l8l cause family disputes, and to be hurtful to the interests of religion? "A. I confess I am more and more convinced of the great importance, in general, of a sacred regard to the ordi- nance of God in regard to family and secret worship, and of the importance consequently of having public meetings, as far as possible, concluded at an early hour; at the same time, / have no doubt that there are cases in which it is for the glory of God that public Avorship should be more protracted. In places where the people cannot meet earlier than eight o'clock I have generally found that we could not end before ten o'clock, and this is the hour at which, gene- rally, the public meeting has been dismissed, although, in a few cases, it has seemed necessary to remain to a later hour with those who were anxious about their sDuls." Besides these oral statements, the following written replies to some of the questions proposed by the presby- tery seem to me worthy of permanent record : — " Q, Have you had many opportunities of seeing persons in different places affected at religious meetings in the way in which the persons referred to were affected in Bonaccord Church ? "A. I have had 7na}iy such opportunities. " Q' What have you found to be the result generally, in as far as the religious state of those persons was concerned, as displayed in their after-conduct? ['■A. I have known cases in which persons so affected, even to a great degree, have turned out ill ; though I believe they were at the time really affected with a sense of their guilt and danger. In the generality of cases, however, I have had good reasons to hope that such persons underwent a saving change. They were at least greatly changed to the eye of man. "Q. Have you carefully Inquired as to such results? "^. I have been careful to inquire as to these results, and 152 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. often feel a burden of concern on my soul about the case of such persons, using all the means in my power to ascertain and to insure their consistency, and their growth in the knowledge of God. "Q. Have you found that, when persons have not been strongly affected, to all appearance, in religious meetings, they had been awakened to any great concern about their spiritual state? "A. I have found many who have been brought to a deep, spiritual, and abiding sense of sin, without manifesting their concern to those around any farther than by silent tears or deep seriousness of demeanour. Such cases, if really deep, are in general, I think, to be marked for stability. "(2. What sort of persons have you generally seen much affected at such meetings? Were they those who had been utterly careless about religious truth, and very ill acquainted with the facts of religion, or those who had been accustomed to pay some attention to religious ordinances, and had an acquaintance with these facts? '■'■A. They have been of both the classes mentioned in the question. I do not know that persons of little knowledge are harder to bring to a sense of sin than others better informed ; the Spirit of God worketh when and where he pleaseth. But I think that I have found those persons generally most stable after they were awakened, who had full religious knowledge, and especially who lived in godly families. Yet I know remarkable instances of persons becoming eminent for godli- ness in the most disadvantageous circumstances, and who seemed rather to get good than evil from seeing the wicked- ness of their relations around them." One or two extracts from letters to the convener of the Committee will complete the account of the part borne by him in this deeply interesting and important investigation. "... Allow me, also, here to express the kindness shown ^t. 25.] WRITTEN EVIDENCE, I S3 to me, by the Committee and by the Convener, at my appear- ance before them. The truth will always bear examination. In this case I fear nothing, except a superficial or prejudiced con- sideration of the facts. A close and holy scrutiny will indeed expose the emptiness of the work of manj but the work of Jehovah, like his inspired Word, the more it is examined will appear the more clearly to be worthy of his own infinite per- fections. . . . "I may take, also, this opportunity of explaining more clearly than I was able to do in my examination before the Committee, my deliberate opinion of the grounds on which I would feel warranted to judge of the reality o( the Holy Spirit's work among a people, or in the case oi an individual. "The full and complete evidence of His work, whether in the case of a people or of an individual, is to be drawn from the manner in which they are affected under the preaching of the gospel, taken in connection with the truths by which they are so affected, and the effects which are afterwards habitually manifested in their temper of soul and outward conversation. It is the safe method, as a general rule, to judge of any real or supposed work of God among a people from these sources taken all together; and in the case of individuals, except the instance be very remarkable indeed, I would not think it safe to decide that a saving work of the Holy Ghost had taken place, until the spiritual, consistent, and permanent character of the individual had made it evi- dent. I am, however, fully convinced that a minister of God, if experimentally acquainted with the saving work of God on his own soul, and especially if he has had opportunity of witnessing the work of the Holy Spirit on a large scale, may be warranted, in remarkable cases, to conclude that God's Spirit is at work among a people, before time \i2iS fully proved the work by its permanent effects ; nay, that he may even do so from witnessing the power of the truth on the minds of an audience at a public meeting, and without particular previous knowledge of the state of individuals, and yet not be liable to 184 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. the charge of rash and unwarrantable judgment. I conceive, for instance, that the apostles must have been convinced that the Holy Ghost was remarkably outpoured on the day of Pentecost, wlieii they saw the mighty power of the gospel on the souls of thousands. I have no doubt that Mr. Livingstone, and other ministers and people of God, were convinced, at the Kirk of Shotts, of the same things, witJiout needing to wait until the permanent fruits of the work were developed. I could myself have no more doubt of this than of any Scripture truth, on that memorable day when the work of the Lord began in so glorious a manner at Kilsyth. On many other occasions, also, I have considered myself warranted in coming at the time to the same general conviction ; and have never yet found that this general conviction was weakened, much less destroyed, by after-experience. In the meeting referred to, in Bonaccord Church, on Monday the 23d November, 1840, I could have no doubt, from the nature of the truth spoken, the manner in which I felt supported of God's Spirit in speaking it, and the evident effect produced by it on the minds of many of the audience, and, more or less, on the minds of almost all, that the Holy Ghost was then exerting his gracious power among us ; at the sfime time, as I stated to the Committee when examined, it is a matter of fact that my judgment, expressed in the words which I felt called on to use, 'This is the outpouring of the Spirit,' was actually founded, not merely on the circumstances I have just stated, but also on the knowledge which I had previously obtained regarding the state of many persons under deep concern about the salvation of their perishing souls." The committee of presbytery very properly extended their inquiries beyond the sphere of their own immediate jurisdiction, to some of the other scenes of Mr. Burns' labours, where a religious movement essentially similar to that at Aberdeen had taken place, and where from ^t. 25.] THE presbytery's JUDGMENT. 185 the lapse of time its real nature and tendency could be the better tested. The result was a remarkable concur- rence of weighty and impressive testimony alike to the depth and extent of the influence at work, and of the holy and enduring fruit in the hearts and lives of multi- tudes of its subjects. Some portions of that evidence mil be given in the Appendix to this volume. It may be enough here to present the general result of the pres- bytery's investigation, as embodied in the deliverance adopted by them, on a full consideration of the whole facts and bearings of the case : — "The Presbytery, having taken into their solemn consider- ation the evidence on revivals of religion received by their Committee on that subject, resolved, "i. That a revival of religion, consisting in the general quickening of believers, and the conversion of multitudes of unbelievers, by the Holy Spirit, cannot but be an object of most earnest desire to every follower of the Lord ; that the genuineness of such a revival is chiefly to be tested by the nature and permanence of the effects by which it is followed; that it can only be expected to flow from the use of the appointed means, accompanied with the abundant outpouring of the Spirit of God ; that it should be made a subject of fervent and persevering prayer; and that, when such a revival takes place, it should not be dreaded or spoken of with levity, but should be carefully and seriously marked, and acknowledged with devout thanksgiving. "2. That the evidence, derived from answers to certain queries sent by the Committee to ministers and others in different parts of the country, amply bears out the fact that an extensive and delightful work of revival has commenced, and is in hopeful progress in various districts of Scotland — the origin of which, instrumentally, is to be traced to a more widely diffused spirit of prayer on the part of ministers and 1 86 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. people, and to the simple, earnest, and affectionate preaching of the gospel of the grace of God; that this work in the districts referred to, many of which are locally far distant from others, has been attended with few of those evils which have generally more or less characterized seasons of great religious excitement ; and that, on the whole, an amount of good has been accomplished, which loudly calls for gratitude and praise to Him 'who turneth the hearts of men as the rivers of water.' "3. That in the case of Aberdeen, to which the evidence more especially refers, it clearly appears, so far as the test of time can be applied to the subject, that a very considerable number of persons, chiefly in early life, have been strongly, and it is hoped savingly, impressed with the importance of eternal things, and are in the course of further instruction ; that many of all ages have been awakened to a more serious concern about Christ and salvation than they formerly felt, and have been quickened to activity in well-doing ; and that the labours of Mr. W. C. Burns, preacher of the gospel, are peculiarly discernible in connection with these results. At the same time, the Presbytery cannot but regret that such an exclusive reference should have been made to two particular meetings at which Mr. Burns presided, where the services were protracted to a late hour, and where much outward excitement prevailed — circumstances obviously liable to much inconvenience as well as misconception — while it appears from the evidence that many other meetings were held for religious instruction, through the same instrumentality, which could be liable to no such misconception, and where much good was wrought. And, upon the whole, the Presbytery are convinced that, if it had entered more into the nature of the inquiry to ascertain simply the extent of the awakening that has been effected in this city and neighbourhood, the evidence of a favourable kind would have been such as to lead to increased thanksgiving. "4. That the Presbytery having considered the whole ^t. 25.] CLOSE OF LABOURS IN ABERDEEN. 187 evidence that has been laid before them on this unspeakably important subject, feel themselves called upon to recommend to all ministers, preachers, and elders within their bounds, in their respective spheres, to labour more and more diligently and prayerfully, in the use of all scriptural means, to promote the cause of vital religion, which needs so much to be revived among us ; and they would also exhort and entreat all the private members of the Church to study to grow in grace, to abound in all the fruits of righteousness, and to plead more earnestly with the great Head of the Church that he would pour out of his Spirit more plentifully upon us, and bless his appointed ordinances, that the wilderness may become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest." Before the commencement of the investigation, Mr. Burns had already closed his labours at Aberdeen, having been called to take the temporary charge of a new church at Dundee. He left for that town on the 5 th of Decem- ber, at early dawn; but not too early to find awaiting him at the place of departure a number of those who had learned to look to him " even as an angel of God," and who painted from him with many tears : — ^^ Saturday, December ^th. — Though I was very late up last night (this morning), and had but a short time for sleep, I awoke of my o^vn accord at the proper time quite refreshed,, and set out at twenty minutes to seven with the Dundee mail. A number of my young friends had found out the time of my departure, and stood by on the pave- ment in tears. The mockery of many around made our tongues silent: we looked at each other, with Jesus in our hearts' eye I hope, and wept." CHAPTER VIII. 1840. WORK AMONG THE MOUNTAINS. " T SHALL never forget," says one to whom Mr. A Bums "was more than any other man," "the first time I saw him. It was at Lawers, on Sabbath the 1 6th of August, 1840. The whole country was ringing with the wonderful movement in Kilsyth, Perth, and Dundee, with which his name was associated. It was rumoured too that a short time before a person had died in connection with one of his services. A great multitude assembled, not only with the ordinary feelings of curiosity, but with feelings of wonder and solemnity deepening almost into fear. I can remember the misty day, and the eager crowds that flocked from all directions across hill and lake. The service was of course in the open air, and when the preacher appeared many actually felt as if it were an angel of God. There was an indescribable awe over the assembly. Mr. Burns' look, voice, tone; the opening psalm, the comment, the prayer, the chapter, the text (it was the parable of the Great Supper in Luke xiv.), the lines of thought, even the minutest; the preacher's incandescent earnestness; the stifled sobs of the hearers on this side, the faces lit up with joy on that; JE.t.2s.] A SABBATH IN BREAD ALBANE. 189 the death-like silence of the crowd, as they reluctantly dispersed in the gold-red evening — the whole scene is ineffaceably daguerreotyped on my memor)\ It was the birthplace of many for eternity. Last year (1868), when a deputation from the General Assembly visited the presbyter)' of Breadalbane, in connection with the state of religion, a venerable minister stated that such of the subjects of that gracious work as still survive adorn the doctriiies of God our Saviour in all things. Most of the congregations in the district received the divine shower."^ Mr. Burns' labours in Breadalbane, or the romantic dis- trict that lies along the margin of Loch Tay, took place between the periods of his first and of his second visit to Aberdeen described in the last chapter, and constituted altogether one of the most interesting and characteristic parts of his whole evangelistic course. Here he was peculiarly at home. The solemn forms of the everlasting hills and the great shadow of the supernatural which they seemed to cast even over the spirit of the people were congenial to him. The Sabbath stillness too, and the fresh and healthful upland air, contributed to restore tone and vigour to a frame on which the fevered atmos- phere of city life and city work had begun sensibly to tell. Never probably. at any period of his life was he more happy in the best sense than during this interval of quiet thoughtfulness and restful labour — kneeling in lonely prayer in some forest thicket by the river or ^ T/ie Shepherd of Israel: or Illustrations of the Inner Life. By the Rev. Duncan Macgregor, M.A., Minister of St. Peter's, Dundee. Pp. 236-7. ipo LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. mountain side, or standing up before those arrested crowds that hung upon his words, silent and solemn as the mountains around. Never, probably, were the sacred impressions produced by his preaching more deep and spiritual than here, or the tendency to an unhealthy and nervous excitement less. The following graphic words from the writer already quoted were true of him at all times, but at this time emphatically so: "Like the Baptist he came preaching repentance, and with terrible earnest- ness warned the thousands that flocked to hear him to flee from the coming wrath. Like the Baptist, too, he was independent of home ties — lived, as it were, in the wilderness, ' making himself grandly solitary for the work of Christ ! ' His very eyes left their light with you after he had gone. . . . And yet there was an Isaiah-like grandeur about his expositions of the gospel. When his lips were touched with the live coal, it was indeed a feast of fat things to hear him. And even when he was straitened, which he often was, owing to the incessant demands upon him, there was always something precious which stuck fast in the memory." To this interesting period of Mr. B.'s labours we pro- pose to devote the present chapter; but it will be proper before entering on it, to glance briefly at the course of his movements during the three preceding months. For some weeks after he left Aberdeen, those seasons of "straitening," of which Mr. Macgregor speaks, had been more than usually frequent and painful to him. The reaction of feeling and the physical exhaustion naturally succeeding a time of high excitement, produced a languor ^t. 25.] THE BOW DRAWN AT A VENTURE. 1 9 1 alike of mind and body, which even his \igilant self- jealousy could not avoid attributing, in part at least, to other than spiritual causes. Thus at Dundee, May 3d, at the close of a Sabbath's services, he WTites, "I was tired and had not much of the Lord's comfortable pre- sence in my work, feeling that I needed rest for the body and a season of solemn retirement to meet with the Lord in personal communion." And again at Stirling, May 6th, " I did not come here with an expectation of doing much, on two grounds: ist. That my bodily strength was much reduced; and 2d, my mind needed recreation to restore its elasticity and power," Yet even then, sometimes the bow drawn at. a venture, albeit by an enfeebled hand, would send an arrow of divine con- viction home to some favoured heart : — " I was going out," says he. May 13th, "on Monday night among the people, and dropping words here and there, I somehow looked up the stair when the people were coming do\vn, and the eye fixing on a young man, I pointed to him and said aloud, 'Will you come to Christ?' On Tuesday this young man came to me in great distress, and told me that he was a smith belonging to Scone, who was living there when I was in Perth, and often attended our meetings. He said he often wanted to be awakened, and wondered how he was so little moved, when so many around him were. He remained in his undecided state until these words were so remarkably directed to him. They went like a knife to his heart, and seemed to bring him to the foot of the cross ! " — He struggled on in the endeavour to fulfil engagements already made, till a 192 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS, [1840. decided attack of illness compelled him to pause and "rest a while" under the hospitable roof of Collessie manse, where his kind friends Mr.^ and Mrs. M'Farlane welcomed and nursed him with an affectionate tenderness, which he never afterwards forgot. In a week or two, however, he was at his work again, preaching to large and deeply moved audiences in various places in Fifeshire, and meet- ing with unexpected encouragement and support even from some of those ministers who would have been thought least likely to favour his line of things. Dr. Barclay of Kettle, the oldest minister of the Church of Scotland, then in his ninety-first year, who had been always ranked amongst the Moderate party, shook him warmly by the hand as he came down from the pulpit, saying, " I thank you most heartily," and urged him to return. Dr. Ferrie of Kilconquhar,^ reputed of similar views, made him free alike of his house and of his church, entered with the deepest interest into all the solemn scenes which attended his preaching, and told him that " while he was with him he was to act exactly as if he were the minister of the parish." In the neighbouring parish of Anstruther, then under the pastoral charge of Dr. Ferrie's son, he had a like freedom of action, and a like open and effectual door of access to the consciences and hearts of the people, all the ministers of the place cordially uniting their congregations to form one deeply solemnized audi- ence, in the midst of which " some of the most hardened sinners of the town were seen turning pale as death and 1 Now Dr. M'Farlane, of the Free Church, Dalkeith. - Also Professor of Civil History in the University of St. Andrews. JEt.2s.] Melville's "watch tower." 193 shedding tears" under the preacher's appeals. Here he was in the midst of interesting scenes and reminiscences. " Mr. Ferrie's manse," he writes, " is the same that the celebrated James Melville, minister of East Anstruther after the Refonnation, lived in, and I spent most of my time on Saturday as also on Sabbath in his study, a little room over the stair which juts out from the house on the outside. It is called 'The Watch Tower,' and is well suited to the name, as it has three small windows looking east, west, and south, from which one can see almost all the to^vn and the whole frith." And again, two days afterwards, July ist, "I spent the day chiefly alone, seeking personal holiness, the fundamental requi- site in order to a successful ministry. I was in Burleigh Castle for an hour on the first floor, which is arched and entire, having climbed up by a broken part of the wall. Before me I had to the right Queen Mary's Island in Lochleven, and to the left the Lomonds, where the Covenanters hid themselves from their persecutors, and I stood amid the ruins of the castle of one of their leaders. The scene was solemn and aflecting, and I trust the everlasting' Emmanuel was ^vith me. O that I had a martyr's heart, if not a martyr's death and a martyr's crown !" After rapid visits to Strathmiglo, Milnathort, Cleish, Kinross, and Dunfermline, he now proceeded westward by Stirling, Gargunnock, and Kippen, to Kilsyth, and thence, after nearly a month of quiet pastoral work, which was to him almost like repose, northward to those scenes amongst the "Sabbath hills," where we have now to 194 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C, BURNS, [1840. trace his footsteps. Here his own journal is so full and interesting, and gives withal so vivid a picture of the whole form and idea of his life, that I am tempted to give the larger part of it almost entire. He had left Kilsyth on the 12th August, and after spending two days of incessant labour in Glasgow, proceeded north- ward via Lochlomond and Glen Falloch to Lawers, where he commenced his labours on Sabbath the i6th, the day referred to by Mr. Macgregor, and thence advanced gradually eastward to Fortingall, Aberfeldy, Logierait, Moulin, Tenandry, Kirkmichael, as God in his providence opened the way, welcomed every^vhere by a solemnly expectant and willing people. His first entry is at Inver- aman, at the head of Lochlomond, and opens with a graphic incident characteristic of the place and of the people : — " Inverartian, Friday, August 14^/1.— I travelled to Inver- arnan, at the head of Lochlomond, where I slept. Nothing particular occurred by the way, except that I spoke to one or two of my fellow-travellers, wandering in quest of pleasure, and was generally in such a dead frame of soul that I had to remain below, and could not dare to open my mouth in the Lord's name. At Inverarnan I spent much of the afternoon in wandering about and admiring the grandeur of the Lord's works in this mouth of the Highlands of Perthshire. I noticed two things among the people as affording an index to the nature of the privileges they had enjoyed. Some seemed to have full knowledge of a kind that is only to be got by hearing the most spiritual and systematic of our Scottish preachers, and one woman I met on the road who seemed to me a perfect specimen of a groaning hypocrite (perhaps I am doing her injustice, the Lord pardon me if I am) ; as soon as i€t. 25-] INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 1 95 I began to speak to her, she wrung her hands and twisted her features as if trying to manufacture the symptoms of repent- ance, &c. This agreed well with what I know had been the Lord's dealings with this part of the country. They have had under some ministers the very best preaching, and some of the people retain not only the mould of the doctrine taught them, but the recollection of the deep and overpowering emotions which it produced in the hand of the Spirit upon many minds at a former period ; particularly about twenty years ago, when Breadalbane, &c., was signally blessed of the Lord, under the preaching of Mr. M'Donald and other godly min- isters.—Evening, I had a meeting in the toll-house adjoining the inn, with about twenty persons, chiefly men, who seemed solemnized. The innkeeper was not very anxious for this meeting when I spoke of it to him. He had much scriptural knowledge, and many of his expressions put me in mind of Mr. M 'Donald's phraseology, but his attachment to his trade seemed stronger than his theology. His family I was much interested in, and they upon the whole received me well, though I did not spare the publicans' trade even when Mrs. M'Callum was present. I this forenoon travelled by the Dunkeld coach from Inverarnan to Lawcrs, up Glen Falloch, down Glen Dochart, and by Killin along the side of Loch Tay, a splendid route for a great part of the way. I did little on the way but sigh occasionally over the poor people whom we passed, and to wish them an interest in Emmanuel. I also gave away one or two little books to Highland boys in their kilt, who hung upon the coach from time to time. Dear boys, they looked surprised and pleased ! At Killin I break- fasted along with two young gentlemen on a fishing excursion, who seemed to eye me suspiciously with my black clothes and white neck-cloth, and took care to allow me to begin breakfast before them, I thought, in order that I might not ask a blessing aloud. When leaving them I said, 'I am a fisher too.' They looked grave, and one of them said, ' Oh ! a fisher of men, I suppose.' 'Yes,' I said, 'but like other fishers 196 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. we have often to complain of a bad fishing season. They smiled, and so we parted. I arrived at Lawers at one P.M., and found Mr. Campbell a truly pious and very kind man. His partner equally so. — Evening, I walked up the hill, and prayed for the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. I had, how- ever, to walk by faith and not by sense. ^'■Lawers, Sabbath, August i6th. — A congregation of, I suppose, fifteen hundred assembled, though the day was unfavourable, at the tent by twelve o'clock, to whom I preached, but with little assistance, speaking comparatively, from Luke xxiv. 16, &c. ; at the end I told them that I had got no message for them from the Lord, but that I was not there- fore led to despair of yet getting a blessing among them, as I generally found that when the Lord meant to pour out his Spirit, he first made both preacher and people sensible that without him they could do nothing. A godly man has since that time told me that he felt an unusual fulness of heart that morning at family worship, and thought there would be some- thing unusual done. — Evening, We met in the church, which holds five hundred sitters, and was crowded. I preached from the parable of the barren fig-tree, and had much more assistance. A good many were in tears, and one cried aloud as we were dismissing them. '■'■Lawers, Monday, August 17th. — We met for public wor- ship at twelve o'clock. The church was crowded, though the day was very stormy. I spoke from the 5 ist and 32d Psalms, particularly upon confession of sin, and the people seenksii very solemnly impressed, some, perhaps many, being in te4iat When I had done Mr. Campbell came up and spoke a lit^outi very solemnly in Gaelic, and the people became much mof that visibly moved. When the blessing was pronounced a greur to many remained in their seats, and some of them began tiyh- cry out vehemently that they were lost, &c. &c. We in ccoout sequence continued praying and speaking to them until r- alone five o'clock, when we thought it good to let them remair , at six seeing that wc were to have public worship agaiiir et_ 1 it di £ \ iEt. 25.] LAWERS ANXIOUS INQUIRERS. 197 o'clock ; at half-past six Mr. Campbell of Glen Lyon preached in Gaelic from Matthew xxv. 10, and gave some account at the close of the wonderful work of the Lord at Tarbat in Ross-shire. When I went into the church near the close, I heard some persons groaning, and when we were separating one woman cried out bitterly. We parted about half-past eight, as we were to meet next day at twelve again. A great day! '■'■Tuesday, August \%th. — We had a prayer-meeting at twelve, when the church was three-fourths filled. Mr. M'Ken- zie began and was followed by Mr. Campbell, both in Gaelic. This occupied nearly two hours, and when I went to the pulpit I found it my duty to dismiss the people without detaining them any longer, offering, however, to converse with any in- dividuals who might desire it. From one hundred and fifty to two hundred waited about the door, and with these I engaged in prayer. During the prayer the Spirit of God was mightily at work among us, so that almost all were deeply moved, and one man cried aloud. Mr. M'Kenzie said that he almost never felt in the same way as at this time. After prayer I addressed the people in a series of miscellaneous remarks tending to bring them immediately to surrender to Jesus. Many I saw in tears, and among these a number of fine stout young Highlanders. We then prayed again, when the impression continued, and concluded by singing Psalm xxxi. 5. "This day at a quarter to one conversed with the following anxious inquirers : "i. M. C, aged seventeen, C h. East Lawers, *0h! I am deep, deep in sin.' She got her eyes opened on Sabbath night in the church. ' I saw that I was utterly lost.' ' I have not found Christ yet.' 'Who can lead you to Christ?' 'The Holy Spirit.' Deeply affected. "2. C. C, above twenty, C e. West Lawers. Concerned three years ago, particularly from a sermon of Mr. Campbell's of Glen Lyon, on 'How shall we escape?' &c. He said, that if they went away from the church neglecting Christ, they I go LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. would be trampling on his bosom, &c. It was this that afifected her. She has been more deeply affected during these days past. " 3, C. R., aged twenty, C n. West Lawers. ' I can get no rest nor peace, my heart is seeking after something which I cannot get. This began when I came into the church on Monday morning and heard you praying. I felt as if my heart would come out. I have been seeking Christ, but I have not got near to him yet.' Deeply and tenderly affected. "4. R. M., servant to Mr. Campbell, came with them from Benbecula (about eighteen years) ; was awakened on Saturday night at worship in this room, the first meeting that I had after arriving. * I felt as if something were gripping my heart in the inside, and could get no rest since that time.' Seems deeply and habitually concerned. This we see, as she lives in the house. "5, J. M'L., C r. West Lawers (about twenty years). *A word of Mr. Campbell's of Glen Lyon, which he had at the sacrament (ten weeks ago), always keepit wee me. He said that Rebekah's brother asked her, 'Will you go with this man?' and so he said we were to go with Christ. This keepit wee me, and when Mr. Campbell came into the pulpit on Monday night, I first thought, *I have not yet gone with Christ,' and when he spoke of the door being shut, and we being out for ever, I saw that I would be out, &c. I have got no rest since. (She cried out in agony that night.) I often was concerned before, but it always went away when I came out. If the Lord had not been merciful I would have been in the place where his mercy is gone for ever long ago, to be sure,' &c. "6. B. M'G., M h, four miles west (aged twenty-one years). Was a little touched at the Glen Lyon sacrament (ten weeks ago), when Mr. Campbell's brother was preaching, especially by his saying, * If you are missing the Spirit it will be ill for you.' I did not go on however at that time until Sabbath, when I felt something at my heart, I did not know JEt. 25.] FORTINGALL. 1 99 what, and I got worse and worse every day. I heard my conscience crying I was guilty in everything,' &c. &c. "7. C. C, aged fifteen, a cousin of M. C, stays at C h, East Lawers; awakened on Monday forenoon; can make little out of her, she has so little English. "8. C. M'G., aged fourteen, C h; awakened yesterday forenoon at Struan. She has little English, and I had to question her, through Mr. Campbell, in Gaelic ; yet she understood enough to reach her heart, and told me in Gaelic that I had said their hearts were as hard as steel, and how wher a sheep was lost they would all go out one this way, and one that way, and the shepherd would go to the hill till they found it, and then they would be satisfied, &c. &c.^ . . . "In the evening I preached at six o'clock to a crowded and most solemn audience from Isaiah xlv. 22, and enjoyed some degree of assistance, I think. We concluded about nine o'clock, but just as the people were going away 'a woman that is a sinner' cried out vehemently, and we had to stay and pray again. Many of the people were in tears, and among these some stout hardy men. Praise to the Lord ! It is sweet to see how the people show their kindness when their hearts are opened to Jesus. During these few days there have been four fat lambs sent as presents, some to Mr. Campbell and some to me, with many other articles, such as butter, &c. "Breadaldane, Forthigall, Friday August list. — In the Lord's wonderful providence, the minister of this dead parish consented to my preaching there this day at twelve noon, and accordingly we went ; this morning I felt such an entire vacancy of mind and heart, that it seemed impossible that I could preach. However in secret prayer before leaving the manse I had hopes of a good day. The people were met at the tent, but the wind being high we adjourned to the church. I spoke with assistance at the outset from Psalm Ixxii. 16-18, ^ These few cases are given here once for all, as a specimen of the sort of notices which occur constantly in the course of these journals. 200 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. and had considerable enlargement in prayer. The subject was conversion; text, Matthew xviii. 3, and in discoursing upon this I experienced more assistance in attempting to speak home to the very marrow of men's souls than at almost any other time (a few occasions excepted). Two wicked men could not stand it, as we supposed, and retired from their seats. Many others, and among these the stoutest men, were in tears. At the conclusion, when I had pronounced the blessing, I sat down in the pulpit in secret prayer as usual, but to my amazement I heard nobody moving ; and waiting a full minute I rose and saw them all standing or sitting, with their eyes in many cases filled with tears, and all fixed on the pulpit. It was indeed a solemn moment, the most solemn Mr. M'Kenzie and Mr. Campbell said they had ever seen. I asked them what they were waiting for, and whether they were waiting for Christ. I prayed again, when there was the utmost solemnity, and then spoke a little from a Psalm which we sung, and then parted at four P.M. The people retired slowly and most of them in tears. We dined at the manse, when all were very serious, and came away immediately in order to hold a meeting in this parish at sk o'clock. As we came along the road we overtook some men and women in deep distress, as their tears and sober counten- ances indicated, and their iron grasp when we shook hands with them. Many also came to their doors and recognized us with evident concern. At six we had a meeting for an hour and half in a house at the east end of this parish, when about a hundred were present. Praise to the Lamb ! "In the evening I walked up the side of Ben Lawers, until I could command a view from the head of Glen Dochart to Dunkeld, having Loch Tay in the centre from Kenmore to Killin. It was a beautiful evening, and the scene was magnificent. However, all my thoughts of external scenery were well-nigh absorbed in the thought of the wonderful works of Jehovah which I had witnessed during the week that was closing among the poor inhabitants of this splendid ^t. 25.] ARDEONAIG. theatre of the Lord's creation. I could have supposed that I had been in Breadalbane for a month instead of a week ; the events that had passed before me were so remarkable and so rapid in succession. It has been indeed a resurrection of the dead, sudden and momentous as the resurrection of the last day — nay, far more momentous than it to the individuals concerned. After coming home I was alone, and felt much my need of a broken and grateful heart. Mr. Campbell was telling me of some very noted sinners among his people whom he had met with, and who seemed to be genuine penitents. "Breadalbane, Ardeonaig, Sabbath, August 23^. — This morning I crossed the loch at a quarter past eleven, along with hundreds of the people, to preach at the missionary station of Ardeonaig, under the charge of a most primitive Christian minister, Mr. M'Kenzie, a nephew of Lachlan M'Kenzie, late minister of Loch Car/on, a very remarkable and eminently honoured minister of Jesus. The tent was placed on the hill-side behind the manse, very nearly on the spot where it stood in the days of the former revival under Mr. M'Donald of Urquhart, and the minister who then was placed here, the eminently godly Mr. Findlater, whose memory is sweet in this neighbourhood. There was an immense assembly, collected from a circuit of from twelve to twenty miles, which could not amount to less than 3000. Mr. M'Kenzie began in Gaelic at eleven. I succeeded him in English at one, preaching from Ezekiel xxxiii. 11. I felt a great uplifting of the heart in pride before God, and though I was enabled so far to get over this as to be able to speak boldly and strongly upon the 'evil ways' of men from which they are called to turn, yet I could make nothing of the dis- play of Jehovah's love which is made in the words, 'As I live, I have no pleasure,' &c.; and though I stopped and prayed with the people for assistance, yet I had to conclude abruptly, having nothing to say but what would profane and degrade in the eyes of the hearers these marvellous words. I came into the house at four o'clock, much cast down on account of 202 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C, BURNS. [1840. the reigning vanity and pride, and self-seeking of my desper- ately wicked heart, and was driven to my knees, when I found the Lord very gracious, and had a sweet anticipation given me of the Lord's presence in the evening, when we were to meet in the church. Accordingly we met at six o'clock. I did not discourse on any set subject, but was led to speak upon the Psalm which we were to sing (Psalm cii. 11-14), and in this I felt so much enlarged, that both people and preacher were tenderly moved with a view of Emmanuel's love. After we had prayed 1 made a few additional remarks of a miscellaneous kind, which seemed also to come home to the heart. When we were separating, some individuals began to cry aloud. I tried to quiet them, as I am always afraid that they are in danger of drawing the attention of many who are less affected away from considering the state of their own souls. However, they could not be composed, and when I went up to the gallery, where the most of them were, I found to my joy that they were persons from Fortingall, who had I suppose been impressed on Friday. We took them along with a number of other persons in the same state into the manse, and after prayer sent them away, though not in the best state for going to so great a distance. Praise ! I saw a number of men in the church much affected, but they did not come so prominently forward, being better able to restrain their feelings. . . . '■'■Monday, Atigiist 7.\tJi. — During the greater part of the day my soul was in a light and easy firame, for which I was rebuked in speaking with Mr. M'Kenzie; and from this time till the hour of meeting I was under a humbling sense of pride and impious profanity of heart in the work of God, insomuch that it seemed to me almost beyond hope that I should be supported of the Lord in his public service. I could fix on no passage to speak from, but was led to study with a personal reference Ezekiel xxxvi. 25-27. After I had sung and prayed in the church, I was thinking of speaking on this passage, but not having very clear direction to it, I ^t. 25.] "when I AM WEAK, THEN AM I STRONG." 203 thought it better to sing again that I might have further opportunity to cry to thfe Lord for guidance. I opened the psalm-book and my eye rested on Psalm Ixix. 29. The suitableness of the words to my own spiritual state attracted me, and I began to make a few remarks in consequence upon them. I soon however got so much divine light and assistance in commenting on them, that I spoke from them I suppose for an hour, much affected in my own soul, and to an audience in general similarly moved. Mr. M'Kenzie seemed much affected, and said when we came into the manse that I had not had such an hour in Brcadalbane before. Oh ! how wonderful are the Lord's dealings I how fitted to humble the pride of all flesh, and teach us a child- like and entire dependence on him for all blessings ! We were hardly in the manse until a number of men and women came in after us, in deep distress of soul, with whom we had to pray again. . . . " Lawers, Tuesday, August 25M. — We had a meeting here at one o'clock, of thanksgiving to Jehovah for his glorious work in the souls of the people here during the past days. It was conducted chiefly in Gaelic by Mr. Campbell and Mr, M'Kenzie. I spoke a few words at the end, from Psalm cxlix. 1-4. The people seemed in a very solemn frame. As we came from the ferry-boat, we looked into the old church on the lochside, now used as a barn, and joined in giving the Lord praise for the marvellous displays of his saving grace made in it to many who are now in heaven ! — Evening, we had a public meeting at six. The evening was fine, and the audience could not be much under 700, I think. Many had come a distance of 8 miles. I was, as yesterday, brought under a deep sense of my inability to say anything to the Lord's glory previous to our assembling, but I was aided in my extremity in no less a degree. I read Mark ix. 41-50, and preached from Luke xvi. 16. I believe I never spoke more faithfully in the pulpit than at this time from these three particulars : — He XhzX. presses into the kingdom of God, 2 04 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. I. Sets his whole he at' t on Christ. II. He gives up all that would prevent his following the Lord fully. III. He fights his way to heaven through the opposition of his enemies. I. The Devil. 2. The world. 3. The old man, &c. &c. There was very little visible emotion among the people, but the most affecting solemnity and most rivetted attention. It was as if the veil that hides eternity had become transparent, and its momentous realities were seen appearing to the awe-struck eyes of sinners. We parted at a quarter-past nine, after pressing on the people to retire directly home to the throne of grace. I am told to-day (Wednesday) by Mr. Campbell, that for a quarter of a mile from the church every covered retreat was occupied by awakened souls pouring out the heart to God. He seems to think, from all that he saw and has heard to-day, that last night was the most solemn season that we have had at this time. Praise, praise ! O humble me, good Shepherd, and be thou exalted over all ! Amen. . . . "La^uers, Friday, August -zZth. — We rode home by Fortin- gall, passing down to the foot of Glen Lyon, through some of the most sublime scenery that I ever witnessed. ... I felt awfully the power of corruption in my heart by the way, and when we were within a mile of the foot of the glen I went out and getting down among the rocks by the river side, where the voice was lost in the noise of the gushing flood, I was enabled to cry aloud for help to the Lord. The Lord heard me I think, though, alas ! I neither then, nor almost at any time, can get so near to him as I did in former times ; I come rather as a minister than as a sinner. Lord, help me ! At Fortingall I met G G , formerly in the 79th regiment, in which he served at eight storms and twelve general engagements, and yet escaped with a single wound. He is known in the country as an awful drunkard and a discontented radical, and yet, to the astonishment of many, he was so much affected when I was at Fortingall, that he has been with us at all our meetings since. He said, 'There is an impression on my soul, and I am determined to follow it out.' JEt. 25.] DEPARTURE FROM LAWERS. 205 I could not see that he had got a full view of his sins, but it was sweet to see him even inquiring. ... I could not believe, when on the way home, that it was possible for me to address in the evening a public meeting at Kiltire, four miles west from Lawers, but when going to the place of meeting I felt that humiliation under God's gracious hand which filled me with hope. The house was crowded, and many were outside at the windows. There must have been 250 in all. I spoke from John x. 27, and had my closed lips again opened, to my own astonishment. The people were deeply solemnized and tenderly moved. It was our last meeting, and I know that many would have wished to shake hands at parting ; yet I was rejoiced to see that they seemed so solemnly engaged about the truth, that few sought after this and went rapidly off in solemn silence. Indeed, I think I never had so pleasing a separation from any people. Glory to the Lord ! In walking home I overtook a few of the people. They said nothing, but walked in thoughtful silence, and in some cases wept. ... In looking back upon this work from the beginning till now, it appears to me more clearly the fruit of the sovereign operations of God's Spirit than almost any other that I have seen. We have never needed to have any of those after-meetings which I have found so necessary and useful in other places, the people were so deeply moved under the ordinary services. I never saw so many of the old affected as in this case. The number of those affected are greater in proportion to the population than I have ever seen, and there has been far less appearance of mere animal excite- ">ent than in most of the cases that I have been acquainted /ith. Perhaps most of these advantages are to be traced to the excellent ministry under which they have been, and to their universal acquaintance with conversion as a necessary change, and one that some of their fathers underwent. ^^ Lawers, 6r»c., Saturday, August 2^th. — I left my dear and kind friends at half-past twelve by the coach, after visiting a young man on his sick-bed, a son of the Baptist 2o6 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. minister. Many of the people recognized me as we went along. Mrs. M'N or Mary M'G , who was on the road, burst into tears and threw herself down upon the dyke. "We had a delightful drive. At Kenmore a gentleman in clerical . dress, who had been on the front of the coach, addressed me and said, ' You have very affectionate hearers ; I am glad to see it. I am a minister of the Church of England, and have under my care fifteen thousand souls in the heart of London,' &c. Another English gentleman who was standing at the inn said to me, 'That is one of the excellent of the earth, his name is Mr. W -. He was a missionary, but had to come home from bad health, and is now travelling from the same cause.' He had a livery servant with him. He left us at Aberfeldy, and I went down and spoke to him while the horses were changing. He seemed a sweet humble Christian man. 'Oh!' he said, 'that is a heavenly scene, if we had only a heaven within ; at least / want that,' &c. We parted with Christian salutations. The Lord's people are indeed one in hi7n, though separated in the world. . . . '■'■Moulin, Tuesday September Zth. — This morning I rode with Mr. C. to Straloch, in this parish, through Glen Brirachan, and then preached to about five hundred in the open air at twelve o'clock. I was under a heavy load of conscience all the way to the place of meeting. I got a little relief during the time that Mr, Drummond of Kirkmichael, who had come to meet us, prayed in an adjoining house before I began ; but still I was in such bondage of spirit that I could hardly speak to the people, feeling as if they were seeing the infidelity and hypocrisy of my heart from my countenance, and so being unable to look them directly in the face. My text was Isaiah xxxii. 2, first clause, in which I considered, ist. Why we needed a covert, &c. 2d. What was meant by the wind and tempest. 3d. Who the 'man' spoken of is. 4th. How he becomes a hiding-place. After some introductory remarks on the text I prayed, and then got considerable liberty in speak- ing of the evil of sin, and its deserving the wind and tempest ^t. 23.] MOULIN, 207 of divine wrath. However, when I proceeded to the second head, this assistance was withdrawn, and I was so dark and dead that I had to draw quickly to a close. I prayed, and gave out a concluding psalm, during which Mr. Campbell came and pressed me to say a few words more, as there were people there who in all likelihood wOuld not be got at again. This affected me, yet I could get no greater liberty to speak, and told him that I could not speak at that time for the whole world. I intimated when I had pronounced the blessing, that I desired to speak further to them, and that I was persuaded there must be some cause, either in me or in some of them, for the withdrawal of the Spirit of God ; but that though I had no message for them at that time, I would rejoice to remain with any who were really desiring a blessing to their sozils, and join in crying to the Lord for his help. No one went away. We joined in prayer, the people with far greater solemnity, and I with some degree of liberty ; and after I had ended I felt so carried above the power of my enemies, that I began at once upon the topics I had left ; and throwing down the gauntlet to the enemies of Jesus, I spoke for a long time with such assistance that I felt as if I could have shaken the globe to pieces through the views I got of the glory of the divine person of Christ, and of his atoning sacrifice to rescue sinners from eternal death. The people were bent down beneath the word like corn under the breeze, and many a stout sinner wept bitterly. We separated about four o'clock, and I felt myself called, in con- sequence of what I had seen and felt, to agree to Mr. Urummond's request that I should go to Kirkmichael on Sabbath week instead of to Grandtully as I had intended. Glory to the Lord! We had some of the gentry there in tears/ . . . " Wednesday, September ()th. — I rode up in the forenoon to B., the property of Mr. S. of S., Perth, where he and his family at present are; with the view of preaching at Tenandry church, near which they are. The scene is the most sublime 2o8 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. that I have almost ever seen, including the pass of Killie- crankie, &c. &c. ; but I have no time, even had I the power, to describe the grandeur of the Lord's works in nature. I felt the temptation to be unfaithful to the 'rich man' with whom I was called to live, and through this compliance un- faithful also to the poorer classes around. If we are unfaith- ful to the rich and great all our faithfulness to others must be more or less hypocritical. This I felt, and being made to cry to the Lord for help, I got so completely over it that when preaching in the evening at Tenandry, with the S.'s, Mrs. H. of S., the builder of the church,^ &c., present, I spoke boldly and openly of many things that the rich alone could under- stand, and which they would find it hard to bear unless they would unreservedly submit to Christ and his cross. We met at five o'clock ; I spoke from Hebrews iv. 7. At first I had assistance enough to expound, but not enough to reach the conscience with keen exhortation and reproof. However, after praying, I got this for a considerable time, and the people were so much affected that all were rivetted in their looks and some were weeping audibly. The plan followed was this : — I considered the meaning of, ist. Hearing God's voice. 2d. Hardening the heart. 3d. The arguments against this sin. (a) Our losing the promised rest ; (d) Our having been long called already — 'after so long a time;' (c) Our being called 'to-day.' After I had prayed I sought to im- prove these truths by selecting a few passages of God's word, such as 'Ye must be born again,' &c.; 'Come now and let us reason together;' and pressed the people by the arguments of the text to hear and obey these immediately as ^/te voice of God. It was this part that seemed to come chiefly home. We had an after-meeting with the anxious, who seemed to be numerous.^ . . . ^ Situated in the birch wood overhanging the pass of Killiecrankie. * "This service," says one who was present, "lasted from five o'clock till nine, beginning early for the convenience of those who had long distances to walk home, and continued late because the /Et. =5.] LOGIERAIT. 2 09 ^^ Saturday, September 12th. — At six P.M. I left Moulin manse, and had a very solemn and affecting parting from this dear family. The servants I conversed with individually during the day, and all, but particularly three of them, were very deeply affected, as they had previously been in church at several of the meetings. Leaving Moulin by Mr. C.'s gig, I drove down the strath to Logicrait, where I was kindly re- ceived by Mr. Buchanan (another Moderate minister) and his sister. I spent the evening for the most part alone, and in conversation with Mr. B., who is a man of superior talents and attainments in knowledge, and seems to have a good dis- position towards those remarkable outpourings of the Holy Spirit in Scotland against which so many are arrayed in open enmity. ^^Logierait, Sabbath, September i'})th. — The morning was fine, and an immense congregation assembled at twelve o'clock in the churchyard, with whom I continued unin- terruptedly until five P.M., singing, praying, and preaching the word of life. The subject was 2 Corinthians v. 19-vi. 2. The people were very solemnly affected, indeed more visibly so than on any previous Sabbath that I have been in the Highlands ; at one time many were crying aloud in agony, and tears were flowing plentifully throughout the audience. One of the addresses that seemed most signally blessed originated in a somewhat remarkable way. As I was about to engage in prayer at the middle of the service, I noticed two young gentlemen looking down upon the audience from a little eminence a few hundred yards distant from us ; and feeling a strong desire to say something that might arrest them in their carelessness at so awfully solemn a time, I called on the people of God to join me in praying for them, hearers hung upon the preacher's words until the sun had set and the full moon had arisen. It was a memorable night in the history of many." — N'otes of Addresses by the Rev. William C. Burns, edited by M. F. Barbour, page 28, where a sketch of the sermon will be found. O 2IO LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. and spoke so loud that they could easily hear me. When I was doing this a third young man ascended to my view, and joined his companions. The three put me in mind of the three young men who were so remarkably converted at the Kirk of Shotts, when going to Edinburgh to be present at some scenes of public amusement. I told this anecdote, en- larging upon many things which it suggested with much liberty, and the impression seemed to be deeply affecting. The young men in my view, as soon as they heard me speaking of them, and had the eyes of the congregation turned upon them, withdrew from their position and came near, concealing themselves behind the church, where they no doubt heard what was said. The rich people, with very few exceptions, remained to the end ; and some of them I thought seemed solemnly affected, at least for the time. Some of the most pointed appeals were addressed specially to them. Mr. B. seemed satisfied, and gave me encouragement to come to him again. Both he and Mr. C. of Moulin expressed them- selves as agreeably disappointed, having expected to hear something very exciting, and not solid and sober. '■'■Monday, Septe7nber \\th. — This day I spent chiefly alone, in letter-writing, &c., having no meeting in the evening. Oh ! how sweet and profitable to my soul I find a day on which I have no public duty ! Would that I had more such, if it were the Lord's holy will ! In ordinary cases they would be absolutely indispensable, but when the Lord moves in so mighty and sovereign a manner as he is doing now, the mountains become a plain. " Tuesday, Septeinber i^tJi. — Mr. B. left to-day to be absent from home for a fortnight, and parted with me, expressing regret that we could not meet again in public, and pressing me kindly to make all the use I could of his house, &c., in his absence. This I did. Wc joined solemnly in prayer before parting. The Lord bless him ! — Evening : I went down three and a half miles coward Dunkeld and preached at Dowally. The subject I forget. The season was pleasant but in no Mi. 25.] BALNAGUARD — INTERESTING INCIDENT. 211 respect remarkable. I went home again to Logierait at night. " Wednesday, September i6th. — Being tired last night, and having told the servant that she need not awaken me in the morning, I slept until past ten a.m., and got up, fearing to be too late for the Lochlomond coach, which passed up to Grandtully on the other side of the Tay at eleven o'clock, and trembling at the thought of being hurried so quickly through my secret duties. ' I got hastily ready, and without taking any breakfast got my luggage ready and set off. On reaching the ferry-boat I learned to my grief that the coach had passed fully a quarter before the usual time, and was already out of sight, and that thus I was left to walk a distance of six miles. I went on with my bag in my hand, thinking that the Lord might have some design of a gracious kind concealed under this frowning occurrence ; and when I had gone about one and a half miles, and was passing through the little village of Balnaguard I discovered one which fully explained his mysterious intention. For after I had passed a great number of people engaged under the burning sun in cutting down and also in gathering in the plenteous fruits of the earth, two men in the prime of life came running to meet me, evidently under concern about their state, and pointing to a school-house beside us, the shutters of which were shut in consequence of it being the harvest season, pressed me to meet the people there though it were but for half an hour. I went in, and in the course of not more than seven minutes the room was. crowded to the door by people of all ages, from the child of seven to the grandfather of seventy. We prayed ; I read the 70th Psalm in the metrical version, and made a few remarks on the last eight lines ; we then prayed again, and I came away leaving these dear people in as solemn a frame, to all appear- ance, as I have ever witnessed any audience. There could not be fewer than one hundred and twenty present, and among these I hardly saw one that was not shedding tears. The wonderful providence by which we had been brought 212 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1S40. together affected us much, and I was so much struck with the deahng of God in this and in the state of the people, that I intimated another prayer-meeting among them for Friday forenoon, when I expected to pass them on my way to visit Dowally a second time. During the time of our meeting I noticed a farmer of the name of M'G. of H of Grand- tully, come in and stand hstening with the most rivetted attention to what was said. He was a rough-looking man, and one whom I noticed in this character the first night that I was at GrandtuUy, saying to myself, 'How wonderful it would be to see that man brought under conviction of sin.' From his appearance at Logierait on Sabbath, and now at this meeting, I entertained a hope that this might be the case. When I came out and met him, my hope was agreeably con- firmed. Having to go from home on business, and being anxious to be at our meeting at GrandtuUy in the evening, he had set out very early and was now returning in the utmost haste. When he heard that I was at Balnaguard he sent home his horse that he might be present and accompany me home. We accordingly had a good deal of solemn con- verse on the way. He seemed under deep concern, and pressed me to go in, though my time was nearly gone, and pray with them. I did so, and hardly had I entered when the room was filled with old and young, collected from the harvest-field. Without saying a word we joined in prayer, and so remarkably was the presence of God granted that all were in tears, and some cried aloud. After prayer I left this scene, which was certainly one that displayed the finger of God as much as any one in which I ever was, and walked home in company with R. D., a stepson of M'G's., and the boy who cried out in the church at GrandtuUy on the first night that I was there. He seems to continue under deep concern, and has got some comfort since that time. He went, dear boy, with me to carry my bag. When we had got to a considerable distance, a number of those who had been affected in the house came running across the ^t. 25.] SUBJECTIVE PREACHING. 213 fields to meet us again, weeping bitterly; but I did not en- courage this, and sent them to secret prayer. I arrived at Grandtully by five o'clock, and hardly conscious of fatigue. 'The Lord will give strength to his people.' *As thy days, so shall thy strength be !"' Here we must reluctantly break off this remarkable and deeply interesting itinerarium. Remarkable and interesting I cannot doubt that it will be regarded by every Christian mind, however difterently men may judge in regard to some of the points which it naturally raises for consideration. It brings, indeed, into the strongest relief at once that in him which in the view of all was most admirable, and that v/hich was most peculiar, and in the view of some open to question. In particular the pre- dominantly, sometimes almost exclusively subjective char- acter of his ministry stands out in the broadest light. He spoke, apparently could speak, only what he felt, and that only while he felt it, and so far as he felt it. He must utter the very present experience and conviction of his soul, or be silent altogether. Out of the abundance of the heart alone could his mouth speak. The declaration of a mere intellectual belief, or remembered conviction of the past, seemed to him a mockery and almost a falsehood. His preaching was thus in the strictest sense a cardiphonia — the voice of an instrument that could sound only as the breath of the eternal Spirit of God swept over it. Truths merely known, believed, arranged in logical sequence in the mind or in written discourse, was to him no message from God to human souls; but only truth "quick and powerful," and glowing in living fire ^vithin the heart. 214 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. Most significant in this point of view are such expressions as these in one of the above extracts: "I could not speak at that time for the whole world." He said afterwards of the same occasion to a friend, "that the adversary of souls had been at his right hand the whole time; and that each statement which he sought to make from the Word of God seemed to be contradicted by a voice within as soon as made." At another time he felt as if the people might see through his very eyes the hypocrisy and falsehood of his heart, while he uttered mechanically the sound of words, the life and power of which he did not feel. I offer no opinion now in regard to the profound question here involved : whether the principle on which he acted was in itself just; or whether, if just for him, the course of action to which it led were a fit precedent and example for other men. The question is not even properly raised in this form, for his whole ministry during those remark- able years was so plainly exceptional that no warrantable inference can be drawn from his case to that of others. His function and vocation was rather that of the old prophets uttering from time to time the message and the "burden" given to them under the immediate impulse of the Spirit who gave it, than that of the priests whose lips ought at all times to keep knowledge, and to impart its sacred lessons to others even when for the time they enjoy not the full sweetness of it themselves. Even those who may think that the principle on which he acted was carried out by him to too extreme a point will scarcely deny the general truth, that however it may be with the other functions of the pastoral office — as of instruction, JEt.25.] PREACHING AND EXPERIENCE. 215 admonition, counsel, persuasion, consolation — for the special work of awakening souls an awakened and imme- diate sense of eternal realities is of all things most essential. It may be possible enough to explain a doctrine or enforce a duty without anything more than a general and habitual conviction of the truth involved, yet surely if we would make others weep we must weep ourselves. At least if in this matter he erred, he erred on a safer side than that of those who would divorce altogether the message of the preacher from the experience of the man, and who can discourse of the deepest and most sacred exercises of the soul with an equally free and fluent speech, with a cold and with a burning heart. Better a single word spoken in the spirit, than a thousand words of mere sounding breath; better to utter in a few broken sentences a real message from God, than to speak with the tongue of men and of angels a heartless, soulless message of our own. After all it can scarcely be doubted that the extreme fluctuation of feeling and of consequent freedom of utter- ance manifested in these journals was in great measure owing to that exhaustion of the vital powers, and that lack of opportunity for studious meditation which the incessant labours of this period entailed; and that in more favourable circumstances his spiritual experiences might have been more equable, and his power in the pulpit more constant. It would appear from expressions which occur here and there in the journals that this was occasionally at least his own impression, and there is much in their general tenor which goes strongly to confirm 21 6 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1840. that view. It is observable how often his times of deepest depression immediately succeeded his times of highest elevation, as though the one were at least in large measure the reaction of the other. The temporary quiescence of the feelings, equally with the corresponding languor of the bodily frame, was but the inevitable and even salutary result of the sudden unbending of the bow which had been too long and too tightly bent; and it was his trial rather than his error that he could, during these three remarkable years, so seldom obtain that needful restorative repose. It was in circumstances such as his that the gracious Master, who knoweth our frame and remembereth that we are dust, said to his disciples, when they were worn out with the greatness of their labours and with those manifold distractions which left them no leisure even to eat, " Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest awhile." There was no such interval of retreat permitted to him now; but the enjoyment of that precious boon was reserved for another and not distant day. CHAPTER IX. 1841 — 1844. NEWCASTLE, EDINBURGH, DUBLIN. DURING the next three years Mr. Bums was in- cessantly engaged in evangeHstic work, partly in places which he had already visited, and partly in new fields. Of the latter the most conspicuous were New- castle, Edinburgh, and Dublin, and to a brief notice of his labours there I propose to devote the present chapter. They were, of course, in most respects essentially similar to those which we have already described in Dundee and Aberdeen, but still possessed some features sufficiently distinct to deserve a separate, though less detailed record. At Newcastle, the first aspect of the field and his first trial of the work were not encouraging. I know not if the " sins and sorrows of the great city" be really greater there than in other communities of similar extent and character with which he had been before acquainted, but it seemed to him, at least, as if it were so. The giant forms of evil with which he had everyAvhere to contend, stood forth before the eye in more naked and unblushing prominence, as though iniquity were, in truth, too strong to feel ashamed or hide its face. He found himself in the presence of a power which, alike in its extent and terrible 2l8 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [iS4i-44- energy, startled and shocked him, and threw him back as scarce ever before on the power that is infinite and divine. "The people of God," he writes a few days after his arrival, "are rallying in their places, and we have them of every name on our side. Ah ! but the Lord is with me as a mighty, terribl^^NS^"'' This is enough." "I ask it as a favour,'^h^ writes to his endeared friend Mr. Milne, "a.nd^/£tm for it, that you will lay before your people the case^'of Newcastle, an irourwalled citadel of Satan. Al- nughty power, and that alone, can make a breach and /plant the banner of salvation in the Lamb on its proud ramparts. They Pi7isf cry, they must wrestle; for the devil is in the field, and the day will be hot." While, too, "the enemy thus came in like a flood," it seemed to him as if the forces on the other side were comparatively few and feeble. "The Scotch Church," says he, "is low here; the audiences were not large. During the week I preached every night but Tuesday and Saturday, but chiefly to the church-going few, including some Christians, with a view to stir them up to come nearer to God. . . . Went out at meal hour and began to invite sinners. Very apathetic. The sleep of death is on the city." The spell of apathy, however, was soon, at least par- tially, broken. The announcement of a Sabbath pleasure trip of a more than usually offensive kind having met his eye, his spirit was stirred within him, and he denounced it in a terrible placard, which he signed with his owti name and posted up in every street and open place in Newcastle. It fell like a bomb-shell in the midst of the community, startled the ears alike of friends and foes. iEt. 26-29.] THE NEWCASTLE STREETS. 219 and drew general attention to the preacher and his mes- sage. A solemn tract on the sins of the city and the impending judgments of God was at the same time pre- pared and sown broadcast among the people. The newspapers too, both local and metropolitan, took up the matter, bitterly denounced his proceedings, and thus still more loudly rang the bell of alarm in the ears of a com- munity from whom he only desired a hearing, even though they should strike while they heard him. ''News- papers and Socialistic placards," wrote his friend Mr. Bonar of Kelso, "have been making Edinburgh, and I suppose other places, ring with your doings in Newcastle." But he remained calm amid the storm, unmoved alike by the rage of enemies and by the doubts and fears of friends, so only the cause of Christ were helped, and not hindered. "The people in Scotland," said he, "are thinking that the opposition must be awful here. But it is like bomb-shells thrown over our heads and bursting at a distance. They know more of it in London than I do in Newcastle. 'Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.'" Meanwhile, according to his wont, he soon exchanged the empty churches for the open and crowded streets — preaching to varying audiences and with varying tokens of success on the quay, at the 'Spittal Square, in the Com and Cloth Markets, in the open space beside the castle, sometimes in continuous and impressive discourse, some- times in a running fire against Secularist or Romish objectors who started up as opponents from amongst the crowd; sometimes alone, and sometimes dividing the ground with the political lecturer or the puppet showman, 2 20 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44- who spread forth their rival wares at a few paces' distance. He had some encouragement, but no very marked or decisive evidence of blessing. He speaks from time to time of "solemn attention;" "very great attention and eagerness;" "a very large and deeply solemn audience;" "a large audience who stood rivetted to the end;" of a "service of three hours' duration, in the castle-yard where Whitfield preached of old;" "and would have remained almost till midnight;" "a considerable audience who con- tinued immovable under darkness and rain;" "the people so much impressed that the stars were out in the sky before we separated;" "some of the old sailors on the quay weeping, and pressing their money on those who gave away the tracts at the end;" yet there were few or none who sought him out in private for spiritual counsel and instruction. Perhaps this might in part arise from the fact that his street audiences here consisted almost exclusively of men — the softer and more impressible sex having, as he suggests, either less curiosity, or more fear of noisy crowds, than in the cities of the north. Now and then, too, after all his labours were over, he would go forth into the dark streets, with a bundle of his "plain sentences" under his arm, that he might see the city in its midnight dress, look down into the depths of that abyss of ruin which for the love of God and man he so vehemently longed to sound, and it may be hold out the torch of life eternal to some poor wanderer whom he might never hope to meet at any other place or time. Strange scenes would sometimes on these occasions meet his eyes and ears: "I went out after coming into my iEt. 26-29.] THE MIDNIGHT STREETS. 221 room and with a bundle of the "plam sentences" paraded some of the chief streets. In this I met with some strange incidents. I offered near the mouth of the Arcade a copy to a gentleman half-intoxicated. He swore fear- fully and said, 'Oh, what a cursed country this is! I might go through every town on the Continent, and not meet with such another rascal as you infesting me. Rome is infinitely better than this," &c. On another occasion he writes: "After the meeting I spent a half-hour on the street with tracts, and met with awful proofs of the enormous wickedness of the people, also with many whose language amid their sins seemed almost to be, Oh ! that I were saved, oh! that you could do me any good." One is reminded of the heathen in Tertullian's days, of whom he tells us that even their oaths and ejaculated utterances of grief and fear bore witness to their deep consciousness of God and of a higher world, and showed that the "testi- mony of the soul" was by its very nature on the side of Christ.^ Sometimes conscience would still more distinctly speak and take part with the reprover against the sinner : "I spoke to three young gentlemen intoxicated; they mocked; but one of them, having separated from the rest, went along with me a short way. He then left me and whistled for his companions, but they had deserted him ; and conscience-stricken he called after me, and when I Avent back asked where I was from, my name and resid- ence, and promised to call on Friday at five p.m., saying with some feeling, 'he had much need of a lecture.'" Still there was no deep and general impression, and ' Testimonium animse naturaliter Christianae. 2 22 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44. even the partial interest that had been excited began after a season gradually to die down towards the former state of apathy. The congregations in church were small, the audiences in the open air less numerous and less solemn. The sensation created by the Sabbath placards was pass- ing away, and no deeper and mightier influence apparently had come to supply its place. Even some of his friends, who had most sanguinely hoped for a rich and wide- spread blessing, began to lose heart. "I had hope at one time," said one of the most ardent of these, "but now I confess it is gone. Every ear seems closed." He himself too almost despaired. Receiving a letter from Mr. Parker, in which he expresses his astonishment that the people could bear his words, he writes in his journal bitterly, "Alas! the people can bear anything here as yet. The body seems so dead, that though you plunge the knife to the heart there is no pain." But it was only the lowest ebb, before the turning of the tide, and before another day had passed it was in full and buoyant flow. God had only made him utterly to despair of self, that he might the more simply and wholly triumph in Christ. We cannot here indulge in numerous extracts, but one or two con- tinuous passages must be given, as affording a vivid picture of the nature of the hot battle which he had expected and which had come at last, and of the spirit in which he fought it : ^^ Thursday, September 23^. — During the' day I was very weak in body, and was tempted to think of neglecting an opportunity of doing good at the cattle-show, which is held here this day. But the passage turned up, ' If thou say, ^Et. 26-29.] PREACHING AT CATTLE-SHOW. Behold, I knew it not,' &c., and I was compelled to go. I found that there was no opportunity for preaching, as the show was within a park, and the people outside were staying but a few minutes. Alas ! perhaps it may be found in the day of God that there was opportunity. Certainly the show- men found an opportunity of attracting many. However, I only gave away tracts, spoke to the people here and there, and intimated that I would preach in the cloth-market in the evening, which is at the end of the corn-market, the place where, at three P.M., about a thousand were to dine together. The tracts were received by high and low. . . . After dinner I felt my strength of body renewed, and had hope of something being done of God in the evening. A little after six we went to the scene of action, and found a great crowd around the place, many of them trj'ing to see in through the windows, and multitudes waiting for the music at interval?. I thought of heaven lighted with the brightness of a thousand suns, and of poor lost souls longing to be in when it is too late, and forced to hear from afar the joyful praises of the redeemed, loud as the noise of many waters. We had no sooner begun than an immense crowd gathered round. Some of the enemies were enraged and urged the police to interfere, crying, 'Down with him, down with him.' The policeman told me that the people were disturbed by us within, but this was so absurd that he did not insist on it ; and as he could not find us guilty of a breach of the peace, he soon went away. But although the enemy could not oppose us by legal force, they did not cease to show their deadly hatred of what was said and done. Once a stone was thrown, again a quantity of manure, which bespattered my clothes. After- wards, in the time of prayer, when we were prevailing against them without hand, they raised a burst of horrid laughter, and pushed the crowd at the side on me with the view of overthrowing the pulpit. At this time I had to pause in the prayer, and when I began to tell them that they could do nothing without the Lord's permission, and that all they did 2 24 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44- would promote his cause, &c., they were quieted for a time ; and I was led out to speak with greater power, perhaps, than ever before in Newcastle, putting the sword into the very heart and bowels of the town's iniquities. At this time, and ever after it until ten o'clock, when we parted, there was the greatest solemnity, and a deep impression ; and though I was frequently interrupted with questions, they all tended to bring out in a marvellous way the truth of God, so that they who put them were silenced and the people rejoiced. During the first hour and half, we were obliged to contend, at inter- vals, with a tumult of people all around the music in the Corn-market, and the movements of a travelling show taking up its encampment close to us. Even amid those trials, although increased by the contradiction of sinners, I was enabled not to waver nor faint; afterward, however, the meet- ing in the market broke up, the show people were quiet, the streets were nearly empty, and we worshipped the Lord amid solemn silence for another hour and half At this time the singing was truly sublime ; and the whole scene, when con- trasted with what it had lately been, was fitted to deepen the impression of the word in the hand of the Spirit. I did not speak on any text, but used the various circumstances of the feast so near as to set off by way of comparison and contrast the feast of fat things on Mount Zion. I did not proceed regularly, but from time to time noticed such topics as these: — That feast is for the body, this is for the soul; that is one of which you easily take too much, in this you cannot exceed; that is soon over, this will last eternally; that would tire and nauseate if often repeated, this becomes sweeter every day ; that is only open to those who can pay for a place, this is provided freely for the poor : it is madeyr^i? not because it is of little value, but because it is so costly that no money can buy it, and in order that it may be a feast for all; that is made on bullocks and fatlings, but this, oh! wonder of won- ders, is made on the body and blood of God's own Son; the greatest sinners are welcome to it 7tow, and the greater they iEt. 26-29] COMBATS WITH GAINSAYERS. 225 have been they will sit nearer the head of the table as hon- oured guests, in order that the more the grace and mercy of Jehovah may be displayed to view! These and similar points gave ground from time to time for varied information to the mind, and appeals to the conscience which seemed to arrest many; and the effect of this was aided by the many truths which were from time to time drawn out by the ques- tions and objections of enemies. One man cried there was no hell, and demanded a definition of it. He was answered, 'If thy right hand offend thee,' &c., and remained silent. Another said there were no devils, and this was the occasion of tearing away the veil from the iniquities of the town, and exposing their power over men in its deformity and dread- fulness. Many in different ways tried to vex us, but this ex- plained the text, ' Consider him who endured,' &c., and gave us ground for praise that we had not yet resisted unto blood. Nay, one shameless man, whose question the people would hardly bear, asked me, 'How are yoic supported?' a matter of general wonder. I answered him that I never needed to ask a penny from any one, but that even since I came here £\o had been sent to me unasked, and partly without a name ! ^ They seemed confounded. At ten o'clock we asked ' It may be right to state here once for all, that from the time of his leaving Dundee until his departure for China, he relied wholly on such support as was spontaneously sent to him by those who desired to further his special work. The result was that while his own immediate wants were amply supplied, he seldom lacked suffi- cient also to contribute liberally in behalf of Christ's cause and Christ's poor. The above is given as a specimen of such entries in regard to this matter as occur from time tO time in his journal. The following is the first of these, of date, Perth, January, 1840: "Received £1 from a friend for personal expenses, making now in all, given me since I ceased from my engagement at Dundee, ;^53. So wonderfully is the Lord providing for all my wants ! Praise ! Oh Lord ! deliver me from covetousness, and enable me with overflowing gratitude and joy to give all that I don't require P 226 LIFE OF REV, WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44. the parting blessing and separated — indeed only for a moment, for when I got to the lamp I took out my Bible to look at a verse, and the whole crowd gathered round and stood with breathless attention while I read what God had sent me, 'None of these things move me,' &c., and told them some things about my own conversion. We then parted, and it would not have been so soon, had not the policeman desired it. " Though I spoke nearly four hours amid such difficulties in the open air I was not fatigued, and am well to-day. Oh ! that I were only well in soul, and fit to renew the combat. Come, Lord Jesus ! come quickly ! Amen ! Amen ! Glory to Jehovah ! "P.S. — When I came into my room and looked at the Bible which was lyiog open, my eye rested on Psalm cxi. 4, 5. Oh ! how glorious and how seasonable it was! 'He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious, and full of compassion. He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenatitJ' Halleluiah ! ^^ Friday, September i\th. — Sometimes when we think we are much assisted, there may be less divine power attending the word than when we are ready to conclude nothing has been done. I trust, however, that the Lord is bringing me nearer to the town, and that soon his own artillery may be opening fire with effect on its central towers and carrying alarm into its citadel ! It is not at once that we can come into close conflict with such an enemy, and time is needed to study the enemy's position and weak points, that the fire may take full effect. The Captain of the Lord's hosts is all-wise to direct, and all-powerful to execute. He will work, and who shall let it? Who art thou, oh great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shall become a plain ! And he shall bring forth the top stone with shoutings of grace, grace unto to promote the extension of thy blessed kingdom in this poor ruined world. Amen." ^t. 26-29.] "compel them to come in." 227 it. Oh ! how glorious a sight to behold this town awakened from its deep sleep, and calling upon God with the whole heart! 'The waste cities shall be filled \^'\\}a. flocks of men !' Be it unto us according to thy word. Amen. '■'■Sabbath, 26th Septe7nber. ... At five I went out to preach at the 'Spittal, as a man having no strength, yea, as a worm and no man, saying to Mr. S , I never was so low as this. If it were so that I were truly humbled, it>would be different; but I am dead, and that is all. I could not fix upon a text; indeed, every door of hope seemed closed, and I knew that God, and he only, could grant deliverance. I found many already assembled, and in the course of a very short time the crowd became much greater than on any former day, and continued so, and even increasing to the end. I thought of preaching on 'Seeing, therefore, that we have a great high-priest,' &c. ; but when I opened the Bible after prayer, my eye rested on Revelations xx. 15, and this I fixed on, with dawnings of hope that the Lord would again speak by my unclean lips. I began from these sublime and awful words, 'And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it,' &c., making some simple remarks on the throne — its greatness, its whiteness, &c. After prayer, I resumed, and spoke a little with an increasing sense of the divine presence and power on the rising of the dead, our individual rising and appearing at the dread bar of judgment, &c. We then prayed again, and in doing so I felt — more, perhaps, than since I came to Newcastle — as if a direct communication were opened between my soul and the Divine Mind. My heart was truly drawn out and up to God for the advancement of Emmanuel's glory, even more than for the salvation of guilty worms, as a ^^^r/-satisfying end. After this I got closer still to the people, and was enabled in a way quite new to me here, to open up the sins of the town, their defor- mity, their dreadful working, and inconceivably awful issues in eternity. I also found myself in an agony to compel sinners to come to Jesus now, and not even the next hour. 228 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44. which I felt was not man's but God's. Indeed, I felt so much that I could almost have torn the pulpit to pieces, and the audience seemed to sympathize throughout. Oh ! it was a glorious, an awfully glorious scene ! The fleecy clouds were showing here and there bright stars, and the harvest moon was diffusing a sombre peaceful light upon the quiet world around us. We dying, and yet immortal creatures were contemplating the eternity before us, looking to the appear- ance of the Son of Man in the clouds, conceiving ourselves placed at his bar, wondering and thinking what would be our sentence, and whether we would rise with him to heaven, or be drawn from him into hell ; some were, I hope, opening their eyes to their awful destiny as sinners, and on the very point of seeking refuge for eternity from the wrath of God in the cleft Rock of Ages. I trust that some were saved, I have no doubt that God was with us of a truth. At a quarter to nine we closed ; and as we had remained so long in the open air, I thought it better not to meet in the church as we intended, but to retire direct to our closets. After I had been a few minutes in the house, two friends came to me from the church, and told me that it was nearly full with a congregation entirely different from what I had had in the open air, and that they had been waiting for me since seven o'clock. I had again, accordingly, to go out in the Lord's name, and I spoke on the same as in the open air, though by no means with the same consciousness of the divine presence. We came out after a solemn meeting at a quarter to ten." After visiting several other places in the north of England, and among others Sunderland, where he preached "to a dense and hungry audience, who seemed to open the mouth wide for the blessing," he returned to Scotland, in order to take the temporary charge of the congregation of St. Luke's, Edinburgh, in the absence of his valued ^t. 26-29.] LABOURS IN EDINBURGH. 229 friend Mr. Moody Stuart. Of his labours here I am happy to be able to present the following graphic account from the pen of a friend to whom I have been already indebted, and who then watched his footsteps with deep and sympathetic interest: — "In the winter of 1841-2 Mr. Bums supplied the pulpit of St. Luke's, Edinburgh. Mr. Moody Stuart, owing to an affection of the voice, had been advised to spend the winter in Madeira, and Mr. Bums was requested to take his place. He began his work in Edinburgh on the 14th November, preaching in the forenoon from 2 Co. iv. 1-6 ; and Dr. Bruce of St. Andrew's Church (of whom he always spoke with filial affection) in the afternoon, "The work of this winter forms a unique chapter in his life. A special interest attaches to it. He had to be- come both pastor and evangelist. True to the motto of his family, "Ever ready," he soon showed that he could be both. He at once began a course of lectures on the Sabbath forenoon upon the Epistle to the Romans, and another course at the Thursday prayer-meeting upon the Epistle of James. On Monday evening he taught two classes : a female class for expounding the miracles, and a young men's class at a later hour, where he took up the parables of Christ. Every Saturday afternoon he con- ducted a class for children. Two courses of lectures — three classes — sennons upon the Sabbath afternoon sug- gested by the special circumstances of the times or of the congregation: here was sufficient work for an ordinary man. But he was no ordinary man. He was always longing to be on full work again. The college session 230 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44. had begun. He taught a private Greek class in his lodgings.^ The College Missionary Association met every Saturday morning for pra)'er and the reading of essays upon topics connected with foreign missions. He at- tended these meetings, and by the blessing of God infused his own fire into the hearts of many of the students. At the concluding general meeting of the Association, when about two hundred students were present, he moved one of the resolutions, and it was the universal impression that there never had been such a meeting in the college before. "A large number of students attended his ministry — not only divinity students, but gownsmen of all stages with their pale eager faces. Memory recalls such names as Alexander James Campbell, John Donaldson, John Craven, Alexander Thain, Frederick Sandeman, Robert Ireland, Robert Taylor, Duncan Maclaren, M. Macgregor,^ Walter Davidson, Donald Sutherland, Patrick Neill, William Balfour, Neil Macleod, A. Luke, Thomas Gar- diner, Thomas Just, &c. He invited them to his lodg- ings; he sympathized with their difficulties; he guided those who were groping in the dark and seeking the way to Zion. Those who had the rare privilege of meeting him in private, and seeing his close walk with God, were at no loss to understand the power which attended his public ministrations. ^ During the winter of 1844 he also taught a Hebrew class in the New College, for the benefit of the pupils of his revered friend, Dr. Duncan. " Late minister of the Free Church, Gartly. ^t. 26-29.] LABOURS IN EDINBURGH. 23 1 "With him the winning of souls was a passion; calm, but intense, consuming. As Foster has said of John Howard, ' It was the calmness of an intensity kept uniform by the nature of the human mind forbidding it to be more, and by the character of the man forbidding it to be less.' He cast his net into all waters. He wished to get access to the soldiers in the castle. He visited the barracks, dis- tributed tracts, and invited them to his open-air services in the High Street. He frequently visited the Shelter, the jail, the bridewell, the Magdalene Asylum, the Orphan Hospital, the Dean Bank Institution, &c., and preached to the inmates. WTierever the lost or neglected were to be found he was there; like Him who yearned over a world plunged in sin, telling them of rest for the weary and hope for the guilty. From the very refuse of society he gathered jewels for Emmanuel's crown. Very touch- ing to see him, as I have done, giving tracts and speaking tender words to the fallen. To him they were lost pieces of silver; and the thought that they might even yet have Christ for their brother, and heaven for their home, filled him with a tenderness which he had no name for. "In the midst of his abundant labours in Edinburgh, the Lord opened a wide door for him in Leith. From January to March he preached on Wednesday and frequently on Sabbath evening in North Leith, South Leith, and the Mariners' Church, to densely crowded and (to use a favourite word of his own) 'hungry' audiences. The weather was severe — keen frost and snow — but the in- terest swelled and spread until the attendance even on the Wednesday evening was overflowing, and so deep 232 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44- was the impression that the people could not go away- after the blessing. An after-service for prayer and direct- ing anxious inquirers had to be held; and such was their distress that they had to be removed to the vestry, where he sought to give them 'the oil of joy for mourning.' Mr. M'Cheyne took part in one of these services, and spoke and prayed with the anxious. It seemed as if the ever-memorable scenes of Kilsyth, Dundee, and Perth were to be repeated in Leith. So wide-spread was the impression, that a gay lady in Leith said the people were all going mad. In his young communicants' class he soon gathered in abundant fruits of his labom-s in Leith — sheaves of joy. To use his own words, "The Lord gave him spring, summer, and harvest, that winter in Leith." About the middle of March, in consequence of the resolu- tion of the directors of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway to run trains upon the Sabbath, he 'bade the people of Leith farewell for a season, in order that he might give his whole heart to the work in Edinburgh,' "One memorable incident which belongs to his work in Leith I must not omit. He wished to get access to the sailors. One Sabbath afternoon Dr. Gordon agreed to take his place in St. Luke's, and he ran down to preach on the quay at Leith, taking two or three of us with him to distribute tracts and invite the sailors. It was on the 2d January, 1842. He stood half-way between the upper and lower bridges. I was never more struck with his tact and fertility of resource. A large crowd assembled — a sea of bronzed faces. After reading his text — Ecclesiastes viii. 11: 'Because sentence against an evil work,' &c. — ^t. 26-29.] THE LEITH SAILORS. 233 it began to rain heavily. He paused, and prayed that God would restrain the clouds that the people might hear the word. The rain continued, hov/cver, and we ad- journed to a large shed at the head of the quay. He resumed, and the rain ceased. I shall never forget the look of wonder with which that crowd gazed on the clear sky. They plainly felt that there is something deeper in pra;yer than is dreamed of in human philosophy. The preacher spoke as if he had spent his life before the mast : his skilful use of sea-phrases gave rare zest to his discourse — and, rising to a climax, he cried, ' Sailors ! the breakers are ahead ! the storm is rising ! you are running upon a lee-shore! in a few moments the ship (the world) will strike and go down ! The life-boat is Christ ! It is Ipng alongside — it is ready to move off' ! Come away, sailors, come away, or it will be too late !' "It was on Sabbath the 13th of March that the first Sabbath train was run between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Mr. Bums' spirit was stirred to its depths in connection mth this question. His zeal for God and his love for his country were 'as a burning fire shut up in his bones.' He regarded the Sabbath as the palladium of Scottish Christianity. In name of the session of St. Luke's he ■wrote a remonstrance to the shareholders, setting forth the 'fearful iniquity' of trampling upon the sacred day, and the 'awful judgments' which it must inevitably bring down upon the land. He attended the two great meet- ings held in the Hopetoun Rooms and in the West Church by the friends of the Sabbath to oppose the open- ing of the railway; and spoke with great thankfulness of 2 34 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44- the powerful speeches of Drs. Cunningham, CandUsh, and C. J. Brown, and Messrs D, T. K. Drummond and Makgill Crichton, in favour of the entire sanctification of the Lord's-day. He preached for several Sabbaths upon the subject, and discussed it in all its aspects; he prayed with even more than his wonted fervour, that He who saith to the sea, 'Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed,' would arrest the advancing tide of Sabbath desecration: and he inti- mated that he would preach at the railway-station every Sabbath at seven in the morning and at six in the evening — the hours at which the trains were advertised to start. "True to his word, he was at the railway-station at seven o'clock on the following Sabbath morning. He spoke of it as 'a momentous day in the history of Scotland.' A great crowd assembled, and joined with deep solemnity in the service. It was after nine before they dispersed, some of them in tears. He conducted the ordinary services in St. Luke's, at eleven and two, with unusual tenderness and power, as if the morning service had only put a keener edge upon his spirit; and was at the railway- station again at six, surrounded by a dense concourse of several thousands. The station was then at the Hay- market, in the outskirts of Edinburgh, and as the brtiit spread, the people poured out to hear this extraordinary man, as they once did to hear the Baptist in the wilder- ness. Like a soldier mounting the breach, or leading a forlorn hope, he stood upon a large stone, and sang the 'Horror took hold on me, because 111 men thy law forsake,' &c., iEt. 26-29.] SABBATH RAILWAY TRAINS. 235 and preached one of his most characteristic sermons to a deeply impressed audieiice. He continued till nine o'clock in the evening, having been about nine hours engaged altogether. For the next three months his usual Sabbath work was four services — two at the railway-station and two in St. Luke's. He was often engaged for eight or nine hours — he often had to raise his voice so as to be heard by thousands; and yet he used to say that he was as fresh on Monday as on Saturday. He was 'a wonder to many.' Like Ezekiel, he was set for a sign. His brethren in Edinburgh were full of joy at his lion-like courage and noble testimony; and only wished that they had bodily strength to stand by his side. As he himself said, Even if no good was done to souls by these services, the lifting up of a bold testimony for the Lord's- day in the hearing of thousands, and in the face of the world, was a work worth living and dying for. "So grave did he consider the crisis to be that he resolved to hold meetings for prayer every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at noon — to preach in the open- air at other points — and to turn his female class into an evangelistic service in the church. It is not easy even to recount his labours from this date. And instead of being worried or hackneyed, his soul, like Gideon's fleece, was drenched with dew, and his preaching was never marked by greater depth, variety, and freshness. It was the culminating point of his work in Edinburgh. The church was overflowing. The word was sharper than a two- edged sword. There was a Bethel-like fear over the congregation. Every head was bowed. It was felt that 236 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44- 'the living God was in the place.' Some who had enter- tained prejudices against the preacher were ashamed when they found that solidity and impressiveness were the leading characteristics of his teaching. At the spring communion two hundred joined from other congregations. In his young communicants' classes he met continually with deeply interesting cases of persons recently awakened, and heard of others. At the close of a Monday prayer- meeting some remained behind, who seemed to be under * a divine convincing work ; ' and as they went away, one of the elders said with sparkling eyes, 'That's the Lord's work beginning.' And so it was. The day alone will declare the fruits of that winter's work. If the Spirit did not come down as a rushing mighty wind, yet the promise was fulfilled in abundant measure, 'I will be as the dew unto Israel.' What the old chronicler said of the effects of Richard Cameron's preaching, might be said of Mr. Bums' preaching on not a few of those Sabbaths in St. Luke's; 'The people fell into a state of calm weeping.' "I have said nothing of his Sabbath-evening services in the Queen's Park, or of the solemn meetings he addressed at the end of the old Tolbooth Church in the High Street, where there were manifest tokens of the divine presence, and where beyond doubt fruit was gathered unto life eternal. I have said nothing of his quick eye in seizing opportunities of dropping a word in season, in the house and in the street, on coach or track-boat, to any one whom the thousand eddies and swirls of daily life threw in his way. I have said nothing of four evangelistic tours which he made in the midst of his Edinburgh work — one in JEt. 26-29.3 EVANGELISTIC EPISODES. 237 April, 1842, to Milnathort, Bridge of Earn, Perth, Burrel- ton, Collace, Abernyte, Dundee; another in June, to Dundee, Kilspindie, Anstruther, Logic, Cupar-Fife, and Falkland; and two in August and September to the High- lands of Perthshire. One recalls it with amazement. Here was a man who crowded the work of years into months — of months into weeks — of weeks into days. The work of many a lifetime was compressed into this single winter in Edinburgh. He often spoke as if he had a presentiment that his exhausting labours would soon wear out the earthly tabernacle, and he hasted to do the work of Him that sent him. "My space is done, else I could give fragments of his ' Meditations ' which I still vividly remember — morsels of living bread which the Master had blessed and broken. In digging in the field of the Word he threw up now and again great nuggets, which formed part of one's spiritual wealth ever after. A mind of keen insight and power — he was given to study subjects rather than texts, so that if he studied one text he sometimes preached from another — and alwaysionging to resume those habits of close and consecutive study which he pursued until he was carried away by the tide. He was a great puzzle to students — his work, his circumstances, and his methods were so ex- ceptional; but those who were so minded could learn from him the greatest lesson of all for the work of the ministry — the omnipotence of faith a7id prayer. " For reasons which I suppress, I had the privilege of seeing him often in private — generally twice a week. Little notes, too, he used to send me; and although I 238 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44- have lost them, their contents are written 'as if in star- fire' on my heart. Here is one. He had asked me to breakfast, but was unexpectedly called from home. He left a note expressing his regret, and adding, 'We are often disappointed in our meetings with man, but never in our meetings with God at a throne of grace, where we are ever welcome in the blood of Jesus.' In another, written from Dublin, he says — 'May the Lord carry on his own great work within and around us, and may we be enabled to glorify him in life and in death!' The very last words, I think, I ever heard from him — standing at his father's door one night in 1854, under cold November skies — were, ' We must run ! ' " Allusion has been made to those rapid excursions to other fields which occasionally interrupted the more even tenor of his labours at St. Luke's. Of the incessant and exhausting toil which such excursions involved no one acquainted only with the ordinary scenes of evangelistic work can easily form a conception. A single specimen, therefore, we must give, and we do so all the more readily that it will carry us back for a moment amid the scenes of his former labours in Breadalbane and Strathtay: — "To one with an exact knowledge of the geography of Perthshire," says the same eye-witness, to whom I am indebted for the above notices, "his labours during the week from Sabbath the 14th August, 1842, to Sabbath the 21st inclusive, furnish one of the most extraordinary episodes even in his life. There were no railroads then in Perthshire, but he had an interesting fellow-labourer in the shape of a fine fast trotter, as worthy ^t. 26-29.] A WEEK'S WORK IN STRATHTAY. 239 of the name of 'Church Extension' as Mr, j\rChe>Tie's pony. He was a famous rider, and sat his horse hke a knight. On Sabbath the 14th he preached at Blair- Athole (i) for five hours in the churchyard to an assembly of at least 4000 persons, and (2) in the evening in the church for three hours to an audience that would have remained till daybreak. On Monday evening he rode to Moulin, and preached (3) to a deeply affected audience. On Tuesday he rode to Kinloch-Rannoch (20 miles), and preached (4) in a park at the south end of the bridge, from two to five o'clock, to an interesting congregation of shepherds, gamekeepers, foresters, graziers, cattle- dealers, &c., gathered from both sides of Loch Rannoch. After a hurried dinner he struck across the west shoulder of Schiehallion, one of the most trackless and difficult passes in the Highlands — taking a guide part of the way, to Fortingall (18 miles); rode six miles farther to Lawers, crossed Loch Tay to Ardeonaig — preached (5) there on Wednesday at twelve, and recrossing the lake preached (6) at Lawers the same evening. On Thursday he rode down to Grand tully (17 miles), and (7) preached with great power in the churchyard to a dense crowd from Hebrews xii, 18-25. On Friday he rode up to Fortingall (12 miles), where he preached (8) in the open air from two to nearly six p.m., a sermon (Hebrews ix. 27, 28), which made a deep impression, many of the audience being in tears; and returned to GrandtuUy the same evening. On Saturday morning he started at six for Balnaguard, preached (9) there at seven o'clock to a large company, many of whom had got saving good under his 240 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44. ministry previously — caught the mail-cart at half-past eight, reached Edinburgh in the evening, and preached thrice (lo, ii, 12) in St. Luke's on the following day. "The congregation at Blair-Athole on the 14th," continues our informant, "was a most imposing sight. Most of them were men, and the ground being a dead level, and inconvenient for sitting, most of them stood. The thirst to hear was so intense, and the blessing which had crowned his previous visits so wide-spread, that almost the whole population, not only from the vale of Athole, but from Straloch, Strathardle, Kirkmichael, Glenerochy, Dalnacardoch, Foss, Glenfincastle, Strathtay, and Strath-tummel, flocked to hear the great preacher of repentance. As he read the opening Psalm. Ps xxii. 27-31— 'All ends of th' earth remember shall, And turn the Lord unto,' &c., and during the first prayer, you felt as if the light of the other world struck on his face. His text was John xviii. II, 'The cup which my Father,' &c. : and as he proceeded to explain the emblem, 'the cup,' he said, 'Wine is the strength or essence of the grape. God's wrath is his whole being as directed against sin. He looks upon sin as infinitely base and vile, and therefore he is indignant : and the wine of his holy anger is poured out in all its strmgth into the cup of his indignation. This wine was not diluted when the cup was put into the hand of the Son of God. Look at the anguish sin has wrought. The tears of mankind have never ceased to flow since it entered the world. No sooner do they dry on one cheek than they iEt. 26-29.] "THE DISRUPTION. begin to run doAvn the other: no sooner does one widow lay aside her weeds, than another begins the wail : and yet one diluted drop of God's wrath has done it all. What anguish, then, must have been in the cup which the Father gave his Son to drink ! ' Words like these cut deep into rriany a heart that day. I saw a white-haired old man in the gate weeping bitterly, and saying, 'Oh! it's his prayers: I canna stand his prayers!' " Those who could hardly speak a word of English understood him. An old person who literally did not know one word, and always sat on the pulpit stair when he preached, was asked, what was the use of her hearing Mr. Burns? 'Oh,' she replied, 'I can understand the Holy Ghost's EngHsh!" Between the scenes now described and those to which we have next to refer, great and startling events had taken place. The ancient and venerable Church of Scotland, of which Mr. Bums had been an attached and faithful member, had been broken in pieces, and from its ruins had arisen a new and powerful society with which a large proportion of her most devoted sons had cast in their lot. With the movement which led to that remarkable revolu- tion, and with the principles which lay at the foundation of it, he most thoroughly sympathized; and when the critical day of exodus arrived we find him hurrying away from the busy scenes of his evangelistic work in Fife, that he might witness that signal and illustrious act of faith, and share the inspiration and the triumph of that solemn hour: — "Tuesday," he writes in his journal, "to Edin- burgh per steam through a great storm on the way to the Q 242 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44- Assembly. Thursday, I was honoured to join in the solemn procession of ministers, &c., from St. Andrew's Church to the Free Assembly Hall, Canonmills, walk- ing between my father on the one side and Uncle George of Tweedsmuir on the other. This was a scene of which I know not what to say! The opening of the Free Assembly was graciously solemn. Surely the Lord was there." But the scenes which immediately after fol- lowed, though deeply important and spirit-stirring, were not perhaps peculiarly favourable to the quiet prosecution of his special work. The country was all astir and filled with the din of ecclesiastical reconstruction and organiza- tion, and though this enthusiasm of church life and church work was itself of most wholesome influence on the general interests of religion in the country, and indeed, as it is believed, lent an impulse to the spiritual life of many, never to be forgotten, it was scarcely in unison with the peculiar mission of one whose one exclusive theme was that of repentance and the second birth. While therefore he still unweariedly prosecuted his appointed work wherever the divine Master seemed to point the way, he yet felt that the auspicious season for such work had in a great measure, at least for the present, passed. It was a time not so much for the awakening of life, as for the exercising and turning to good account of the life already awakened — a birth-time rather for the collective church than for individual souls. There was, indeed, abundant and most momentous work to be done, but work not precisely of that kind for which he felt himself especially fitted, and to which he believed himself to have ^t. 26-29.] LABOURS IN DUBLIN. 243 been by the irresistible call of God specially devoted. It was his part not to rear, or even materially to assist in rearing, the outward fabric of the house of God, but to help by God's grace in gathering the living stones of which it was to be reared. He was the more willing accordingly to listen to calls which were coming to him, wth increasing frequency and urgency, from fields that lay beyond the sphere of the existing movement, and among these from Dublin, where he found himself on Saturday, April 6th, 1844, under the hospitable roof of his valued friend the Rev. Dr. Kirkpatrick, one of the ministers of Mary's Abbey Church. The following graphic and deeply interesting narrative, for which I am indebted to his kind host, will give some idea of the nature of his labours, and his manner of life in this new and untried field:— "I had seen your brother in Perth, and had invited him to my house in Dublin. He accepted my invitation ; and after he had finished his immediate engagements in Scotland he suddenly appeared at my door, with a small bundle in his hand, containing the whole of his travelling apparatus. His principal object in coming to Dublin was to find opportunities, if possible, of making known to Roman Catholics the message of the gospel. Accord- ingly, he selected as the place of his public labours a suitable piece of ground in front of the custom-house; a place in which Father Matthew had administered the temperance pledge, and where he could address his audience without obstructing the ordinary thoroughfare. This area was surrounded by a low chain fence, inside of 244 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44. which he stood on a chair, and spoke to the people, who occupied the space between him and the building. Here he took his position evening after evening, and amidst innumerable annoyances and interruptions he sought to bring before his ignorant and prejudiced hearers the word of eternal life. It requires no small amount of courage, and tact, and temper, as every one knows who has made the trial, to address an unsympathizing or hostile Irish mob. Mr. Burns was exposed to many opprobrious salutations, derisive questionings, vehement denials of the statements which he made; sometimes the uproar was so loud and long- continued that he was obliged to desist altogether; often his clothes were torn; not seldom the chair on which he stood was broken; but he never was impatient, nor ever for a moment lost his self-com- mand. Amidst the most noisy and turbulent scenes, his countenance was beaming with joy, insomuch that some of his persecutors were constrained to say, ' He is a good man; we cannot make him angry.' The ringleaders of the mob occasionally joined hands, and rushed down upon him for the purpose of driving him from the chair, or of throwing him down upon the street; but he was always protected from the danger of these assaults by a body-guard of three young men, members of my congre- gation, who were never absent from these meetings; and who, standing behind him, caught him in their arms till the wave had passed by and spent its force; and then, having set him on the chair again, he proceeded in his address with as much quietude of manner as if no interruption had taken place. The questions interjected by the crowd ^t. 26-29.] AN IRISH CROWD. 245 from time to time, while he was perhaps in the middle of a sentence, were sufficient to perplex a speaker of less experience and of less self-control than Mr. Bums. Let me give some specimens of the style of interrogation to which he was subjected in the course of his addresses: — 'What book is that which you hold in your hands?' — 'It is the Word of God.' 'How do you know? can you prove that it is the Word of God?'- — 'I shall prove that it is if you deny it; but if we both of us admit it to be from God, why need I stop to prove it?' 'What is your commission?' — 'I shall read it to you, my friends, 'Let him that heareth say. Come.' Eleven years have now passed since I heard the Lord speaking to my heart, and saying ' Come,' and ever since I have been saying ' Come ' to as many sinners as were willing to listen to me.' 'You may go, we don't want you here.' — 'My friends, it is to those who don't want me that I am always most anxious to go; for I find that they are the people who have most need of me.' 'Bravo!' shouted some one in the crowd, pleased witii the readiness and appropriateness of the reply. 'From what country do you come?' — 'From Scotland.' 'Have you no sinners there?' — 'Yes.' 'Have you not much drunkenness in Scotland?' — 'Yes, a good deal.' 'Why did you not stay at home to convert the drunkards before you came over to teach us?' — 'For this reason, in Scotland the drunkards know that they are sinners, and do not attempt to justify themselves in their sins. But here I see people who curse, and drink, and tell lies, who say, nevertheless, that theirs is the true religion. Now these people must be labouring under a great mistake, 246 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C BURNS. [1841-44. and I have come to set them right in this matter.' 'But (mr church is the true church, and we have our priests to teach us and to keep us right' — 'My friends, your saying that you are members of the true church does not prove that you really belong to it. Let me read you a passage from the Word of God. John \dii. 39, 44: 'They an- swered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said unto them. If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. Ye are of your father the de\'il, and the lusts of your father ye wiU do.' This passage fell upon them like a thunderbolt, and silenced them for a season, while the speaker in the meantime pursued his address. The scenes described in the Gospels imder the preaching of the word were thus vi\idly illustrated, and to some extent re-enacted, imder the ministry of Mr. Bums. "On one occasion he proposed to vary the commence- ment of his open-air service by the singing of a psalm. I endeavoured to dissuade him from his purpose, by representing to him, that as his audience knew nothing of our metrical psahns, nor of our psalmody, his attempt to sing would serve but to increase and embitter the spirit of opposition. He was anxious, however, to make the experiment, and announced the 62d Psalm. After read- ing a portion of the psalm, he commenced to sing the 5th verse, ' My soul, -wait thou with patience Upon thy God alone.' The crowd, taken by surprise, listened to the first line in mute astonishment; then burst into a laugh of derision; iEt. 26-29.] "HE HAD NEVER KNOWN FEAR." 247 then forming themselves into a compact phalanx, they rushed do\vn upon Mr. Bums just as he had completed the first two words of the second Une. The three friends, who were ever near, drew him aside till the crowd swept by, and after a considerable interval placed him once more upon the chair; and he then with his usual compo- sure resumed the tune at the part of the line, 'thy God aloae,' which he had reached before he was interrupted. "One evening, when he was obliged to stop short in his discom^se in consequence of his chair being broken, he went down along the quay on the other side of the river, for the purpose of addressing himself to the coal-porters. It was in vain that his friends represented the danger to which he would be inevitably exposed; he replied, that 'he had never known fear.' His courage was soon put to the test ^^^lenever he commenced to speak, an angry- mob quickly assembled, and loud and threatening shouts drowned all his efforts to be heard. The police came to his assistance, and kindly but firmly required him to cease. Still he was unwilling to give up the attempt, but after several ineffectual efforts, the mob becoming larger and more ferocious, the police peremptorily insisted that he should be silent and cross the river in the ferry-boat, 'for if you attempt to go back along the quay,' they said, 'we will not be answerable for your life.' 'But I cannot pay for the ferry-boat' ' It will cost you only a halfpenny.' 'But I have no halfpenny,'^ he replied. 'Here is one for ' See note, page 225 ; also, a touching incident in his journal of date October nth, 1847 (Chapter xii.), illustrating how literally he carried with him "neither purse nor scrip," ic It might be said 2 4" LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44- you,' said a good-natured policeman. Accordingly Mr. Burns stepped down into the boat, and holding up the halfpenny, he cried out to the people on shore, 'See this, my friends, I have got a free passage. In like manner you may have a free gospel, a free forgiveness of all your sins, a free passage to the kingdom of heaven. Without money, and without price.' And thus he proceeded to deliver a message to the persons who were crossing with him in the boat. " It is not to be concluded from these details, that his labours in this arduous field were wholly unsuccessful. One Sabbath morning, his audience at the custom-house were more quiet than usual. His subject was regeneration, 'Except a man be born again,' &c. At the close of his sermon a man who had been listening attentively said, 'Well, sir, if what you have said be true, you had much need to come from Scotland to tell it to us, for we never heard of this doctrine before.' After Mr. Burns left Dublin, several Roman Catholics came to inquire about him, speaking respectfully of his labours, and of the loving and genial spirit in which they were conducted. " During his stay in Dublin we had prayer-meetings in the church of Mary's Abbey almost every day. The prayers of Mr. Burns were very striking — distinguished by deep acquaintance with Scripture, by intense fervour, of him, with absolute truth, during this period, in which, in the matter of temporal provision, he so simply walked by faith, that "when he had gathered much he had nothing over, and when he had gathered least he had no lack." He had never too much for him- self and for the poor, and never too little for himself. ^t. 26-29.] OTHER LABOURS IN DUBLIN. 249 and by strong faith. He truly pleaded A\dth God, and occasionally seemed to get near access to his presence. But his addresses to our Presbyterian people failed to produce much visible impression. His failure in this respect disappointed and grieved me very much. The congregation looked fonvard to his promised visit Avith much interest; having been largely informed of the won- derful success which God had vouchsafed to him in many districts of Scotland, they expected to hear from him a fuller exposition, and a more specific application of scriptural truth, than he was wont to give ; and they were somewhat dissatisfied to observe that his discourses ap- peared to be wholly extemporaneous. I tried to induce him to give some time to special preparation, but without success, and regarding his course of procedure as beyond the range of ordinary men, I forbore to press my objec- tions. I continued, however, to think that he was mis- taken in expecting that his word would be with power when he did not beforehand consider how to divide and to apply it; and that he was also mistaken in attributing his want of success, as he was at that time accustomed to do, solely and exclusively to the hardness of the hearts of the people. His views on these points, I think I have since learned, subsequently undenvent considerable change; and I am sure that he was prepared to adopt any means which appeared to him most directly and effectively to bear on the advancement of the kingdom of God. This great object alone engrossed him. Political or even ecclesiastical affairs had no attraction for him. He was bent earnestly and ever on the salvation of sot'.Is. 250 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44. This grand concern occupied and absorbed his daily prayers, his social converse, his public addresses, the whole course of his thoughts, the whole business of his life. Why are there not more of us like him? The need of such men is as urgent as ever; and we know that the grace of God is not less rich, nor his promises in Christ less sure, nor his gifts less varied or less rich. 'Lord, we believe, help thou our unbelief" The following brief snatch of reminiscence by a respected minister of the Free Church of Scotland,^ gives another vivid touch to the picture, and affords a pregnant hint as to the unseen results of those despised and self- denjring labours: — "I only saw him once in Dublin. I was then a student in Trinity College, and I remember well, passing along by the custom-house I came upon a crowd, which as I drew near appeared greatly excited. I stopped to Hsten, and I found that William Burns (as I afterwards came to know) was addressing them. I think I see him still : with what a strange calmness he spoke ! with what meekness he met all their taunts ! He was hooted, pelted, insulted, but quite unmoved he held open his Bible, and answered every onset by saying, ' But hear me, hear what God says to us in his blessed Word.' I remember he was speaking from John x. concerning the good Shepherd and the door of the sheepfold. At times the crowd were quieted down to listen, and one at least of the hearers walked away, forgetting for the time Greek iambics and mathematical deductions, but filled with the thought, ' That stranger has ^ The Rev. H, M. Williamson, Free High Church, Aberdeen. iEt. 26-29.] UNSEEN RESULTS. 25 1 a peace and a life of which I know nothing.' Next time we met was at the Duchess of Gordon's, Huntly Lodge, on his return on a visit from China; and I have never for- gotten that happy season, or his last words, as, entering the railway-carriage, he said, 'Now for China!'" One or two characteristic extracts from his own journal will carry us still deeper into the heart of the combat and of the combatant. "Ai24 Wellington Street, Dublin, Rev. IV. B. Kirkpatrick's. Monday, April Wi. — ... On Saturday, after being here an hour or two, I thought of going to preach in the open air, but on going through the streets thought it better to wait a little until my way should open more gradually. Yesterday I preached for Mr. Kirkpatrick at twelve, on 'Go ye into all the world,' &c., and in the evening in Adelaide Road Church, on John iii.: regeneration. I had assistance on both occasions, and in coming home at night spoke to numbers. I found them a very engaging people, very open and frank, and accessible to kindness. O that Jesus may be glorified among them ! . . . This evening I felt the hand of the Lord laid upon me so powerfully that I could not but go forth to attempt entering fairly on his work. I went down to the quay to look out for a suitable place to preach, and having found one I tried to begin, urged by his word, * Preach the word,' &c. The enmity which even the attempt to open my mouth provoked showed what I may look for if I do the Lord's will. When I asked some sailors if they would attend they seemed disposed, but shrunk away, saying, 'This is a bad part of the world, for there are too many on the other side of the house.' In coming away to the meeting in the chapel I asked the Lord to direct me to some true child of God — not a minister — who might go with me when I next attempt this work, and as soon as I got to the church I was introduced to one of the elders, who seems the very 252 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44- person. After the meeting, again I met with another, who seems equally desirable. The meeting was very sweet. I spoke a little on the account of Hagar and her son, Genesis xxi., prayed, and was followed by Mr. K. in prayer. He is a man of genuine piety and very considerable power. " Tuesday Evening. — During this day my path has opened a little, or rather not a little, farther. During the former part of the day I wrote letters to Scotland. Was alone with the Lord, and also traversed the city that I might get a full view of its character, naturally and morally, which is always most easily done before you become known. I conversed with Mr. Drysdale, the elder to whom I alluded above as a man of God. . . I spent an hour with him in his work- shop alone. He gave me an awful account of the difficulties of out-door preaching in Dublin ; but after much converse I felt that I must make the attempt. He would gladly have gone with me, but was engaged this evening at the great meeting in connection with the Presbyterian marriage ques- tion, and thus I was left quite alone. However I went, look- ing to the Lord, and took up my position on the open ground to the west of the custom-house, laid my hat on the ground, and standing a few paces from the footpath began to read, ' It is appointed unto men once to die,' &c. I had soon a large and most interesting assembly, but, as usual, the Romanists introduced their questions, and when the answers came too near them they began to make a rush with the view of putting, me down. A police-officer also came and advised me to remove. I said I believed that I was trespassing no law — that that was the ground where Father Matthew spoke — and that I would not remove unless he had authority to stop me. He seemed to be a Romanist, and was evidently set on putting me down, so that after throwing the responsi- bility on him, and telling the people where I would preach to-morrow, I came away with a disburdened conscience. Dear people ! they seemed intent on hearing, and followed me far on my way home despite of all I could do. . . . JEt. 26-29.] DUBLIN JOURNAL. 253 '■'^ Friday, April 12th. — Half-past one o'clock this morning I awoke under a powerful assault of despondency and unbe- lief— tempted to say, Let me sit still and take things in the ordinary way. However, at worship, the fifth chapter of Hebrews, read by Mr. K., particularly the words, 'Be fol- lowers of them who through faith and patience are now in- heriting the promises,' quickened me again. We had some interesting conversation on the need of perseverance, and of in this taking a lesson from O'Connell ; and at half-past nine I went down in the name of Jesus to the scene of last night's meeting. I asked one captain to give me his ship to preach in, but he refused. I was then standing in doubt to what ship to go to next when I saw some poor Romanists — emi- grants, I suppose — on board another vessel, who seemed to know me, and were mocking. I asked them how they were so unwilling to hear the Word of God j they said they loved it, but not from me — that I could not preach it, &c. This opened the way. With all their confidence they mingled many oaths, which I told them certainly showed that they were not on the right way. A crowd gathered, and I had the best hour among them that I have had in Dublin. I was greatly aided in gaining their confidence. They threatened to throw me into the river at first, but I told them I did not mind that — they treated my Master Avorse. One asked me for my commission ; I pointed to 'Let him that heareth say, Come.' One said something vile; I said, 'You know that when you go to confession you must confess, that as a sin.' Another, hearing of confession, and thinking that I was speaking against it, said, 'What do you know about confes- sion?' &c.; I said, 'Not much; but I am saying no more than I know,' and repeated what he had said. He was pleased. One said, 'You must be saved by prayer and fasting;' I affirmed it, but showed the infinitely higher place of the blood of Jesus. One pressed me to prove that the Bible was the Word of God, wishing to bring me under church authority ; I said I would do so if he denied it, but that as 2 54 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1841-44. we both admitted this, why should I prove it, and so we got to more practical and personal matters. I was so full of God's joy in all this that I could not but smile, or rather laugh, in speaking to them ; they wondered at this, and said, 'He is a good man, we cannot make him angry.' I told them I would come back again at the dinner-hour and speak again ; and so we parted. This was a good beginning. At twelve we had a very good prayer-meeting; and all that seems needful is faith, and patience, and prayer. I am just about to return again to the field ; but ah ! I must go deeper this time, and be prepared for the worst that the enemy can devise or execute. 'They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.' Oh ! to be enabled thus to fight and overcome ! "Evening. — The public duty of the day is now over, and I have abundant cause to sing of mercy. At the dinner-hour I got a good many to hear, and had increasing assistance. In the evening I got free of all controversies, and spoke with divine relish on the love of God : 'God commendeth his love toward us,' &c. We met with some opposition; among other things, some one threw a pailful of water at me from a ship's side, but it did not harm me. The impression was greater than before, and though the policeman who first put me down came near, he did not interfere. They are a very interesting people, and if I be faithful to the Lord's call I doubt not to see some or many of them obeying the gospel. It is now near to the end of my first week in Ireland, and I have indeed cause to thank the Lord that so soon I should be within sight of so full and blessed a work. "Saturday, April i2,th. — , , , This day I have kept as a day of rest, with the exception of having a prayer- meeting at twelve o'clock, at which I read Isaiah xliii., and felt something of his presence. This day has been wet, so that I have had less unwillingness to defer my public engage- ments until to-morrow. During the chief part of this evening iEt. 26-29.] RETURN TO SCOTLAND. 255 I have been led to look afresh at the dark side of my pros- pects, and so have felt as if nothing could be done; but again I am revived by God's own perfect words. I have just come to my room from family worship, where Hebrews vii. 18 to the end was read. I saw something of his glory as a priest, and had some nearness and fulness of heart in prayer, and have again a renewal of hope regarding this poor city. I found to-day also that hope and expectation is springing up in the hearts of some of God's children who at first despaired of anything being done. Last night I told those who disturbed us that I knew well that ' the tongue can no man tame ; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison,' but that we would specially pray for them, and that God would fulfil his word, ' He stilleth the tumult of the people.' They seemed struck at this ; I added, I will get you all very quiet yet before I leave you. Nothing gives one so great an opening as joy, and love, and peace ; and I find these poured into my heart when among these poor outcasts in an uncommon measure. Many of the emigrants who in the morning cursed me hung upon my lips in the evening. One poor woman said, 'Ah! I see the tear of mercy in his eye.' When they made any commotion I said, ' Now, the policeman will stop us ;' and they became as quiet as the river beside us." He returned to Scotland on May loth, and after three months of evangelistic work, chiefly in Paisley, Port- Glasgow, Renfrew, and other neighbouring places, pro- ceeded to the British dominions of North America, where we shall have in the next chapter to trace his footsteps. CHAPTER X. 1844-1846. CANADA.^ OUR North American colonies had something Uke a hereditary claim on the services of Mr. Burns, It has been the lot of two of his near relatives to be engaged for a series of years in the service of the church ' This chapter was kindly prepared by the late Rev. Robert Bums, D.D., professor of theology in Knox's College, Toronto, than whom none knew the field of labour better, or had done more to ad- vance the work of Christ throughout its length and breadth. It is given with only such revision as the revered author would himself have given to it had he been spared to impart to it his final touch. Besides him, and chiefly through him, I am indebted also to the following friends who have assisted in furnishing the materials on which the narrative is based, viz. Rev. Alexr. Cameron, of the Free Church, Ardersier, formerly of Canada; Mr. Hector Macpherson, lay missionary at St. Martin's, Perthshire, formerly band-major of the 93d Sutherland Highlanders; Rev. Daniel Clark, of Indian Lands, Glengarry, Canada ; Mr. Donald Catanach, of Lochiel, and his sister, Mrs. Kelly; Rev. Alexr. N. Somerville, of Anderston Free Church, Glasgow; Sergeant Long, formerly of the 93d, now of the Gymnasium, Glasgow ; Mr. James Hosack, merchant, Quebec; the Rev. John Clugston, formerly of that city, now of Stewarton; Mr. William Macintosh, now of Belleville, C.W. ; Rev. Farquhar M'Rae of Knockbain; Mrs. M'Nider, formerly of Montreal, now of Vincent Street, Edinburgh ; Messrs. James Court, John Dougal, Thos. Allan, James Orr, R. M'Corkle, Montreal, and Famham. iEt. 29-31.] DEPARTURE FOR CANADA. 257 in that important and thriving province of the British cro\vn. His uncle, Dr. George Burns, of the Free Church at Corstorphine, was in 1817 called to be the first minister of the Church of Scotland in the city of St. John, New Brunswick, and, with a short interval, he laboured in that important sphere for the period of fourteen years; while another uncle, Dr. Robert Bums, formerly of Paisley, was for fifteen years secretary to the Glasgow Society for sending out Ministers and Teachers to the Colonies of British North America, and was him- self for a quarter of a century employed, first as pastor, and aftenvards as theological professor, at Toronto, in Canada West. The latter having arrived at Montreal in the spring of 1844 as one of the first deputies of the young, fresh, and already renowned Free Church of Scotland, the question was at once put to him, " Have you brought your nephew with you?" In fact, the revivals in Scot- land were more spoken of in Canada than in Scotland itself, and the Free Church deputy carried home with him earnest commissions from the good people of Quebec, Montreal, Kingston, Toronto, and almost everywhere, for the presence and labours of Mr. Bums, and others of similar spirit. Written communications to the Colonial Committee at Edinburgh had also preceded him; and when he reached Scotland in June of that year, he found that the proposal to visit Canada had been made to Mr. Bums, and that proposal having been seconded by the full information now given him, all diflficulties were removed, and in the course of a few weeks Mr. Burns embarked in the brig Mary for Montreal, a free passage to and from 258 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1844-46. Canada having been guaranteed to him by the generous Christian proprietors of the vessel. Mr. Burns sailed from Greenock to Montreal on the loth August, 1844, and reached Montreal on Thursday, September 26th, of the same year. In this connection the names of Mr. James R. Orr, merchant in Montreal, and of Captain Kelso, the commander and proprietor of the vessel, deserve honourable mention. With the first of these gentlemen Mr. Burns stayed during the greater part of his residence in Montreal; and the names of both are associated with the first propitious dawning of the Free Church era in Canada. The following extracts from his journal will show the feelings ■ with which he approached this new sphere of labour, and the spirit in which he entered on it : — "In every circumstance, even to the least, I have seen infinite grace towards me on this occasion. The ship in which I am is an excellent one. As there is no cabin passenger but myself, I have the cabin as quiet as my own study could be, and a state-room in which to meet with God. The means provided for me by the Lord have so exactly met my wants, that I go forth truly 'without purse,' having only two shillings remaining in the world; and yet I am infinitely rich, 'having nothing, and yet possessing all things.'^ I trust I shall be enabled not only to pray much, but also to study more deeply the divine word, and prepare more regularly for the profitable discharge of my awful trust. ... I have got some beginning made among the crew. To-night we had fine ^ See note, p. 225. •JEt. 29-31.] ARRIVAL AT QUEBEC. 259 weather, and met on deck for worship. It was sweet and solemn, the voice of prayer and praise blending with the Avinds in the midst of the mighty deep. Oh that I may be prepared for glorifying God fully in my body and spirit, which are his!" On another occasion he says: "To-day we have been becalmed, and I feel the retire- ment sweet. I think I can say through grace that God's presence or absence alone distinguishes places to me. But ah ! I am yet untried. I know but little of what is in me as yet, and still less of the depth of his redeeming love. ... I have sometimes had glimpses both of the depth of sin and of redeeming love; still, I will need very special teaching if I am to be of use in the western world. . . . "September 2, 1844. — This morning beautifully clear; a gentle north-east breeze, wafting us to our desired haven, brought us in sight of American land, after a delightful run of twenty-three days. . . . Our seasons of divine worship have been increasingly pleasant of late, although I see no mark of a divine work of grace in any one around me. Part of my daily work has been to teach the ship-boys to read. One of them is an interesting black from Africa. Oh that my heart were enlarged in pleading for the ingathering of all nations to Emmanuel 1 " On September loth he reached Quebec, and in his journal we find the following characteristic notice : — "In God's great mercy we arrived here yesterday, after a delightful passage of thirty-six days. As it was the day of holy rest, I did not go ashore, but had worship on board, and spoke on the twenty-second chapter of 26o LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1844-46. Revelation. In the evening I was put on shore, and after looking a little at the aspect of the town, I took up my position alone, and yet not alone, at the market-place, close to the river, and began to repeat the fifty-fifth of Isaiah. A crowd of Canadians and of British sailors soon gathered, who at first seemed mute with astonishment, but soon showed me that the offence of the cross had not ceased by their mocking and threatened violence. How- ever, I got a good opportunity of witness-bearing for God and his Christ; and when I left them had some interesting conversation with some individuals who fol- lowed me. When I came down again, at half-past eight, to the place where the ship's boat was to meet me, I got into conversation with a company of young sailors, two of whom remembered well having heard me at New- castle at the quay and in the corn-market. Some of our poor soldiers and sailors were going about intoxicated. Though it were only to reach these two classes of degraded men, it would be to me a reward for crossing the great ocean. Who knoweth what may be the fruit of this evening's testimony among the wondering crowd ! . . . I have had on board the ship a time for solemn observa- tion of the character and ways of the unconverted, which I trust will be profitable. ' The only book I have had with me beside the book of God is Owen on the Glory of Christ, which I find precious indeed. I have had some seasons of great nearness to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and have found his word full of power and refreshment." On reaching Montreal he at once found himself in the ^t. 29-31.] NEW AND OLD FRIENDS. 26 1 midst both of new and of old friends. The faces of the old soldiers whom he had kno\vn at Aberdeen and at Dundee must have been a sight peculiarly pleasant to him, and a happy omen for the future : — " When we came into the harbour two Christian gentlemen, Mr. Orr and Mr. M'Kay, came on board, and before leaving my little cabin we had sweet communion at the mercy-seat together. I live with Mr. and Mrs. Orr, a godly couple from Greenock, in a delightful situation at the head of the town. Truly goodness and mercy are heaped on me. . • . Be- fore leaving Scotland I observed that the 93d Regiment, the depot of which I laboured among at Aberdeen in autumn, 1840, had removed from Kingston to Montreal, and I trusted that somehow I might get in among them ; but what was my joy and wonder to be told that there were about thirty godly men among sergeants and privates who have a hired room near the barracks in which some of them teach a daily school for poor children gathered from the streets, as well as a Sab- bath-school, and in which they meet for social prayer every Friday from six to half-past eight. This is the Sutherland regiment, of which in its early days the Rev. Ronald Bayne, an eminent man of God — afterwards at Inverness, and then at Elgin — was chaplain ; and that enjoyed until lately the com- mand of Colonel M'Gregor, a distinguished Christian officer, now at the head of the constabulary force of Dublin. . . . I had hardly arrived when I was told they were looking with desire to my coming, and that they wished me to attend their prayer-meeting, and to preach to them next Sabbath. I ac- cordingly went last night, in company with two pious Scotch- men. . . . When we got to the place I found such a scene as I never before saw : a room crowded with soldiers, wives, and children, who were met not to hear a man speak, but to wait upon Jehovah, as their custom was. It put me in mind of the centurion of old. I enjoyed the meeting ex- ceedingly, speaking upon Moses at the burning bush. One 262 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1844-46. of the soldiers prayed, as well as Mr. M'Intosh and myself. In the soldier's prayer I was struck by the petition that they might cherish such expectations of good through my instru- mentality as were warranted by his word, and were accord- ing to his mind. They seemed all to feel too that nothing but the presence of God himself would be of any avail. I found it very affecting to them and me to allude to the church of our fathers in the furnace, and to the people of Ross and Sutherland, from among whom the regiment was at first raised. . . . " Tuesday, September 2\th.— Sabbath was a good day, suffi- cient to remind me of September 22d, 1839, the day of the second communion at Kilsyth. At half-past nine A.M. I preached on the quay, on the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, and his purging the temple — congregation large and fixed. At eleven I preached in Mr. Wilks's church (Congregational) from the words, ' When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.' At half-past one P.M. I addressed the 93d Regiment in Mr. Esson's church— ver}"^ fixed in their attention — more so than I have seen soldiers before. At seven I again preached in Mr. Esson's to a full church, on * If any man will come after me,' &c., and was much aided. " Sattcrday, December \\th, — During the present week my work has gone on as before, but in addition my conflicts in soul about it have been deeper than before, and several new doors have been opened, (i.) Two hundred and fifty of the 71st Regiment have come to the cavalry barracks, whom I visited on Tuesday and Friday, and whom I am to see again on Tuesday, if the Lord will. It seems very remarkable that the 93d and 71st Regiments are the only ones whose depots I visited in Scotland, and that the whole of the 93d and so many of the 71st should now be here. I have met with a number of the 7 1 St whom I knew well in Dundee, and this prepares my way among them. (2.) I have got liberty and more than liberty from the commanding officer of the 89th iEt. 29-31.] THE 93D AXD 7IST. 263 (Irish) Regiment to meet with the men in their schoolroom from week to week. This seemed so unHkely, as he is said to be a Romanist, that I had given up thoughts of applying, but one of the men in the hospital wanted me to ask a favour for him, and this gave me an introduction. (3.) We have got most wonderfully the use of a large room exactly opposite the French church for holding meetings in, both in French and English — all for nothing — the owner being a friend of the gospel — a hearer of Dr. Carruthers the Independent, whose church met for a long time in this very place. This seems a remarkable arrangement, as it is the very best place in the city for reaching the people." When the Free Church was opened at Cote Street, Montreal, the soldiers of the 93d had a distinct service allotted to them in the afternoon. On the arrival of Mr. Burns this service devolved on him; but besides preaching to the entire regiment on the Sabbath, he preached twice during the week in one of the largest rooms in the barracks; and he went frequently to the regimental hospital to address the sick and speak to the patients personally. Such was the high estimation in which he was held by soldiers both of that and of other regiments and of different denominations, that on several occasions when men of the regiment were sick, English- men and Irishmen, Episcopalians and Roman Catholics, have sent to him earnest messages soliciting his visits and his prayers. To quote the words of Mr. Hector Macpher- son, then sergeant-major of the band of the regiment (now a lay-missionary at St. Martin's, Perthshire): "I shall never forget the first sermon he preached on the first Sabbath after his arrival. He gave out' in the usual 264 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1844-46. way the 3 2d Psalm to be sung, and had read the first four lines, when he began to unfold the feelings and experience of a penitent believer, in a way, to me at least, never opened up before nor since, and which was to my afflicted spirit as good news from a far land. It was like oil and wine to my afflicted spirit. It was also greatly blessed to others of my fellow-soldiers. The man of God continued to address us in much freedom of heart and of power for three hours, concluding somewhat abruptly, but with words which indicated a spirit of winning affec- tion to every one: 'I see your time is up, but I hope to have farther opportunities of addressing you,' and solemnly pronounced the apostolic benediction." The many opportunities of hearing Mr. B., enjoyed by the men of the 93d Regiment, were eagerly improved by them; and the following description of the bearing of his preaching upon them, and which has been drawn by one of themselves, then a non-commissioned officer, is singularly graphic: — "I have known the Rev. W. C. B. to send this famous regiment, these heroes of Balaclava, home to their barracks, after hearing him preach, every man of them less or more affected; not a high word, or breath, or whisper heard among them; each man looking more serious than his comrade; awe-struck, 'like men that dreamed they were;' and when at home, dismissed from parade, they could not dismiss their fears. Out of thirty men, the subdivision of a company under my charge, living in the same room, only Jive were bold enough that Sunday evening to go out to their usual haunts; and these must go afraid, as if by stealth, their consciences so Mt. 29-31.] THE PLACE D'ARMES. 265 troubled them; the other twenty-five, each with Bible in hand, bemoaning himself. Now, looking at the whole regiment from what took place in this OJte room of it, you may be able to judge of Mr. B.'s powers as an ambas- sador of Christ with clear credentials ! " While in the city of Montreal, and freely proclaiming the riches of grace in churches, and barrack-rooms, and hospitals, Mr. Burns found the field too narrow; and he went out to the highways, and streets, and squares of the city which was the especial scene of his apostolic labours. For the first two or three nights there was little opposition, but the majority of his hearers being Roman Catholics, the priests were made aware of what was going on and be- came alarmed, and violent opposition was the issue. He never indeed used the word Popery, nor any term directly marking the system, or calculated to give needless offence ; but his finger, it would seem, touched the sore parts of the malady; and the effect was just as of old, when the men that turned the world upside down were assailing the strongholds of heathen superstition and sin. He writes in his journal : — " Tuesday, September 2\th. — Evening at seven in open air in Place d'Armes, in the centre of the city, in front of the great Romish cathedral. The proposal of this tried some spirits among us. When I went a considerable number had assembled, and among them a band of the 93d. I had a fine opportunity, and felt the power of the living God with us. Towards the end our enemies made a commotion. The mayor of the city, a Roman Catholic, came to stop me, but was restrained by God. As we retired about half-past nine we were mobbed, chiefly as usual through the excessive fears of 2 66 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1844-46. friends seeking to guard me from violence. The mayor offered his protection, but I said to the people in his presence, ' No one will harm me — it is my own friends who are creating groundless alarm. I would ask all to go quietly home, and if any one is my enemy he will give me his arm and we will go together.' They quietly moved away. I put my hand on my white neckcloth and moved on unknown to the multitude. If the kingdom of Satan is to be disturbed here, this is but the shadow of what will yet come, and then shall many be offended. . . . " Friday, September 27//?. — At half -past five in Place d'Armes, awfully mocked and pelted, though with nothing deadly, yet got much truth delivered both while here and after going to an adjoining street, where a gentleman walking with me was struck on the back. While in the Place d'Armes, one of the magistrates, evidently, I think, a Romanist, came and ordered me to remove, threatening me with the exercise of his power if I did not. I said I was doing no harm, and would continue, and that he might take me to prison if he pleased ; I was ready. He shrunk away and left me to go on. I feel that standing thus in the breach, though it may have no other effect, invigorates my own faith, lifts a testi- mony honouring to God, and sets me on a high vantage- ground in preaching in the churches. ... " Saturday, September 28//^.— This evening I was again in the field about six o'clock. A great number assembled, and, in contrast with the previous night, they seemed to have ears given them to hear. This continued for some time, but after- wards they began to throw gravel, &c., and to jostle me in the crowd. Little evil might have come of this, had not some who befriended me as a Scotchman sought to save me from danger; and thus my back being turned the crowd rushed on me, and I got away without my hat and one of the tails of my coat containing a handkerchief and Bible. Their enmity was so great that I believe the Bible was torn to pieces as well as the rest, the hat only being recovered. I got into a ^t. 29-31.] "the marks of the lord JESUS." 267 shop, where many who trembled for me would have had me to remain, but I was quite above all fear, and went out again alone among the people, and got much opportunity of declar- ing the truth on the way home. Surely these displays of enmity are a token that the Prince of darkness is in some degree afraid ! " These furious onsets are described by eye-witnesses as having been most terrible, and as having more than once threatened serious consequences. Thus, on one occasion, that evidently referred to in one of the above extracts, his coat was torn, his hat was knocked off and trampled on the ground; and his pocket-Bible, his constant companion, torn from his hand. On the other, a stone thrown with violence inflicted a severe wound on his cheek, and it bled freely. A few of the 93d rushed through the crowd, and one in anxiety said, "^Vhat's this? what's this?" Smiling, he replied, "Never mind, it's only a few scars in the Master's service." He was carried into the medical chamber of Dr. Macnider, near at hand, when that beloved Christian physician skilfully sewed up the wound. He came forth speedily as if nothing had taken place; and looking round calmly from his reassumed position, he exclaimed in the words of the great apostle of the Gentiles: — "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Another hot day of battle is thus vividly described by the Rev. William Amot, of the Free High Church, Edin- burgh, who happened to be in Montreal at the same time, and who himself bravely joined him on the forlorn hope. "Once," he Avrites, "I went with him to the Ha}TTiarket 2 68 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1844-46. Square, where he meant to preach in EngHsh. I went somewhat anxious for his safety, with intent to help him if need should arise. A circle soon gathered. He began to preach. More assembled outside — thicker and thicker the girdle grew, but the roughest were outside. William and I stood alone in the middle of the ring, hedged very closely in, but the gentlest nearest us. Where they stood at first, they remained. No possibility of movement. Noise and throwing of dirt increased. When he became somewhat wearied I now and then took up the address, and the change of voice operated a little in our favour for getting a hearing. One Irish voice from the outside interrupted William at one time, shouting clear over all the din, 'The devil's dead.' A great laugh followed. When it hushed, William struck in with a plaintive voice, tinged almost with the sarcastic, 'Ah ! then, you are a poor fatherless child!' This raised a laugh in his favour, and under cover of it he was enabled to proceed for a while. We were besmeared with mud, thrown from the outer circles, but not hurt. "The violent opposition of the Irish, however, eventually drove him off. He desisted, as the first missionaries did, when the persecution became violent, and went to another city." At length the hostile Romanist mayor was replaced in his office by another of different spirit — an excellent Protestant gentleman, of the Wesleyan body, who lent the full weight of his authority and moral support to the cause of order and of peace. Appearing seasonably at one of the meetings where tumultuous disturbances were appre- iEt. 29-31.] THE FRENCH CANADIANS. 269 hended, he speedily succeeded in calming the storm, and the assembly soon dispersed without injury to any one. Thereafter he waited on Mr. Bums for consultation on the case. As soon as he had stated the object of his visit, said Mr. Bums, "Let us pray/' when as they knelt together he touched the mayor on the shoulder and said, "You'll pray." He did pray, asking the divine direction, and a blessing on the labours of Mr. Burns, and left him with the single request that he would send him notice when and where he would next preach. The city of Montreal was only one, though perhaps the most important scene of Mr. Bums' Canadian labours. His mission was to the whole dominion of Canada, which may be considered now as including, or as designed to include, all the dependencies of the British crown in North America. In 1844 the name embraced only two branches of one province, Canada East and Canada West; the fomier being now termed the province of Quebec, and the latter that of Ontario. Lower Canada was then, as it had been for ages and still is, settled by French Canadians, speaking the French language, and subject to debasing superstition and a dominant priestcraft. The whole land groans under the tyrannical sway of perhaps the most wealthy and powerful hierarchy under the dominion of the see of Rome. We have no doubt that in seeing their splendid palaces, their magnificent cathedrals, colleges, and convents; in seeing the lovely land almost whcdly "given to idolatry," the spirit of Mr. Bums was greatly stirred within him. Hence the interest he took, all the time he was in Canada, in the 270 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1844 46. State of the poor "habitants," the benighted French Canadian Roman Catholics; and hence the avidity and the success with which, as we shall presently see, he revived his knowledge of the French language, so as to be able, in a comparatively short space of time, to speak intelligibly and fluently in the French tongue. Canada West, or Ontario as it is now called, may be termed a Protestant country, inhabited too no doubt by many Roman Catholics especially from Ireland, and by not a few settlers from Germany and the United States; but unquestionably the English and the Scottish elements greatly preponderate. The leading Protestant denomina- tions are. Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, Bap- tists, and Congregationalists. Of these, the first three are each nearly equal in point of numbers, amounting to not much less than one million in all. The population of the whole "Dominion," including Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, is estimated at four millions. Prior to the era of the Disruption in 1843, the state of our countrymen in Canada was anything but promising. The framework of a Presbyterian church was indeed set up, and a number of pious ministers had been from time to time sent out both by the Establishment and the Secession; and the annals of the early Presbyterian church are adorned with a few noble names. Generally speaking, however, the system was cold, formal, and stiff; and spiritual religion in the line of Scottish Presbyterianism was low. The Disruption wrought wonders for Canada. Many pious men in the cities and in the land generally sighed for a change; and the arrival of deputies from the Free iEt. 29-31.] VISIT TO A ROMAN CATHOLIC COLLEGE. 271 Church in regular succession for five years, formed quite a new era in the religious history of the province. No Protestant missionary can be useful to any great extent in "Lower Canada" who is not able to converse and to preach in the French language; and Mr. Burns very soon felt the necessity of revising his attainments in that direction. So successful was he in this, that he not only addressed the "habitants" regularly in their own language, but, seemingly with the view of acquiring still greater facility in the use of it, he wTOte a large proportion of his Canadian journal in the French language. As a specimen of his manner of dealing with his French auditors, and the admirable tact with which he met occasional cases of argument and appeal, we select the following letter addressed to friends in Scotland from a place at some distance from Montreal: — " Farnhafn, Lower Canada, April 2isi, 1845. — My Dear Friends, — When I last wrote to Mr. Milne about a month ago, I was at the French Canadian Missionary House at St. K6, twenty-three miles from where I now am. I returned to Montreal shortly after, and had the great pleasure of receiv- ing on my arrival your welcome letter. I desire to thank you for your great kindness in ministering to my temporal wants, but much more, as you yourselves say, for seeking to bear me on your hearts at a throne of grace. My temporal wants are few, and Canada can easily supply them all; but my spiritual necessities are very great, and I dwell indeed in a dry and parched land, where no water is ; yet I cannot deny that I find by experience that the God of Israel is everywhere present with his poor people, and that his presence is not excluded from the recesses of a Canadian forest. I could not but remark that your season for specially remembering 272 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1844-46. me was very nearly one when I needed very special support, and when I saw the Lord very clearly leading me in a path that I knew not. On the second day after I received your letter (28th March) I again left Montreal, with the view of visiting some desolate settlements of Protestants (chiefly Scotch and Irish) in the quarter where I still am, and also desiring to find some opening among the poor French Canadians, who are the principal inhabitants here and around. One of my fellow-travellers was a young Canadian student at the French college of St. Hyacinthe, with whom I had some conversation. He said if I were at their college they would soon convince me that I was in error. The open- ing was too favourable to be neglected, and I said that if I was in the neighbourhood I would certainly call upon him. In consequence of this the following Wednesday (April 2d) I set out for Yamaska, the seat of the college. The thaw here was so rapid at that time that the most of the bridges were swept away by the breaking up of the ice, which till then, as you may suppose, had formed so strong a covering, that the heaviest waggons could pass and repass upon the rivers. In consequence, I found that the stage could not proceed, and that I must either go on foot or return. I felt it my duty to go on ; and though the distance was considerable (eighteen miles) in deep roads, I easily made it out, and reached the college on Thursday at seven o'clock. I must also mention a circumstance which happened by the way, which was remarkable when connected with what it led to. When I was about half-way I was a little fatigued, and was wishing to find some house where I might rest a little ; but the houses were all French, and I saw no appearance of a public inn. However, the Lord directed me. Beside the road I saw a sheep which had got into a muddy ditch, and seemed to be unable to get out. I of course laid hold of it and pulled it out, thinking of the parable of Jesus. The people in the nearest house came out, and we got into con- versation about the lost sheep in the gospel. I asked them ^t. 2Q-3I.] VISIT TO A ROMAN CATHOLIC COLLEGE. 273 if there was any house where I could refresh myself; they invited me in with them. I told them on entering who I was ; that if they wished it I might pass on, or if otherwise, that I might speak to them the more freely. They did not object to receive me as a Protestant and a Scotch minister of the gospel, and when we began to converse about the nature of my religion as compared with theirs, they were so en- gaged that it was difficult to get away from them, after re- maining with them a full hour and a half. They asked me to remain during the night, as they said that with such roads I could not reach my destination. However, as I was obliged to return from Yamaska the following day (Friday) in order to fulfil another engagement, I resolved to go forward, and bade them adieu. I got easily forward, being supported by a strong sense of duty, and by the presence, I trust, of the great Master himself, and on arriving called for the young man I have alluded to. He seemed more care- less than before, and was evidently afraid to show to any of those around him any mark of anxiety. He said, 'If you. wish to see any of the priests I will let them know.' * No,' I replied ; ' I have no such desire on my own account, as I have no doubt that they are in deadly error, and that this book (the Bible) contains the truth of God. It is for your benefit that I am come, and if you have any desire to be instructed, you must ask them to converse on the subject in your presence. He hesitated at this, but said, ' If you be here to-morrow, you may call at twelve o'clock, when it will be more convenient than now.' I spent the night in a French inn, and the object of my visit becoming known, occasioned doubtless a good deal of conversation, and led in particular two strangers to ask me to converse with them on the subject. At the hour appointed I went to the college, and found the young man of the same mind as before. However, he said, 'I will go and see what the priests say.' He returned after some time to tell me that they absolutely refused to speak with me on these things unless I met them entirely alone. S 2 74 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1844-46. Of course I had no wish for this, as it might have been turned to a bad purpose; and after warning a number of the young men of the awful danger of allowing themselves to be blindly led by those who feared the light, I came away, and set out on my journey. These young men told me they were not allowed to see the Bible, although not younger than seventeen. As I came along the street in front of the French church, thinking that I had seen the end of my visit, to my surprise I met the man in whose house I had been the previous day, and whom some business had brought to the village. On learning the result of my visit to the college, he said, 'Come, we will go to the curd (parish priest) and converse with him.' I told him I was willing, provided he understood that it was on his account that we went. He entered, and after a little returned and invited me in. I there met three priests and a number of their poor parish- ioners, and after explaining the circumstances which led to our meeting, we had a solemn and interesting interview for some time, during which I had an opportunity of stating some important truths which may yet be blessed, and of bringing before them the question of their own personal sal- vation. I have indeed cause to wonder at the strength given me on this occasion, and also, that though our intercourse was altogether in a foreign tongue, I felt scarcely more diffi- culty than in English. Since that time I have been preach- ing among the Protestants exclusively, although now and then I find an opportunity of meeting a few Canadians. Their spiritual sleep is indeed deep, and such as no power but that of God can break, even so far as to lead them to hear the truth. Their leaders cause them to err, and the poor people love to have it so. I have seen nothing very re- markable of a spiritual nature among our countrymen since I came to Canada, but our meetings are often very solemn, and during these past days I have seen as much appearance of impression as since I came to this land. It is my inten- tion to return soon to Montreal for a time, and it may be ^t. 29-3I-] INVERNESS SETTLEMENT. 275 that when this reaches you I shall be attempting again to reach the multitude there in the open air, and that in both languages. You wiU then see what need we have of your prayers. My heart is often among you, and I do often plead for your salvation, and the advancement of Emmanuel's glory in you. I close these lines with the words I spoke on here yesterday evening : 'The grace of God that bringeth salva- tion hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying un- godliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, right- eously, and godly in this present world ; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.' "May these glorious ends be accomplished in you and me to his name's glory ! Commending you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified, I am ever yours in the bonds of the gospel, — W. C. BuRNS." After a second visit of a few days to Quebec, where it will be remembered he first opened his commission as a herald of the cross on American ground, he was invited to visit Leeds and the Gaelic district of Inverness settle- ments, about fifty miles from the city. It was on this occasion he revived his knowledge of the Gaelic language, already somewhat familiar to him from his visits to the Highlands of Perthshire; and the raftsmen who were his fellow-voyagers on the St. Lawrence were valuable assist- ants to him in this work, while he imparted to them the rich treasures of evangelical truth. The settlers at Inver- ness heard from his lips the glorious gospel in the language most familiar to them, and the blessed results were deep and lasting. When Mr. Clark of Quebec and Dr. Burns 276 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1844-46. of Toronto visited the same place in 1863 they found a fresh revival of religion, specially marked by distinct me- morials of the earlier labours of Mr. Bums. The visit of these gentlemen was in the midst of harvest; but the labourers, eager to hear, found two hours at mid-day, besides two hours in the evening, to wait on the preaching of the Word. In regard to the attainments of Mr. Burns in the lan- guage of the settlers, we have been favoured with the following testimony of the Rev. Mr. M'Rae, of Knock- bain, one of our ablest Gaelic scholars.^ Mr. M. is speaking of a visit to Brodick, in the Isle of Arran, in 1847, when Mr. B. was his fellow-labourer: — "As I was always at hand to address the people in Gaelic, he made less use of that language than otherwise he might have done. But on one occasion he read a psalm in Gaelic, and com- mented upon it, when many of the people remarked that they understood him better than they did Mr. , a minister who had been recently preaching to them. On several occasions, when addressing the people in English, he introduced Gaelic words and phrases, and pointed out their expressiveness and beauty. For instance, s^Deaking of the term '■adoption^ he said, 'In your own beautiful language it is uchd-mhachd, bosom-sonship :^ dXi^ again commenting on 2 Corinthians v. 20: *I beseech you in Christ's stead,' he said, 'In your own language it is very striking, as uchd Chriosd, out of Christ's bosom^ as if the preacher were a voice from Christ's own heart inviting perishing sinners. Mr. B.'s knowledge of Gaelic was wonderful, considering ^ Letter dated 12th December, 1868. JEl. 29-31.] PROFICIENCY IN GAELIC LANGUAGE. 277 the short time he had devoted to the study of it." " He pronounced the Gaehc with astonishing accuracy, show- ing a mastery over the very shibboleths of the language." "The copy of the Gaelic Scriptures which he used he had received from a soldier in a Highland regiment, and he manifestly regarded it as a valuable memento." The following notices from an intelligent correspondent afford some interesting ghmpses of his labours elsewhere : "At Williamstown, where the church was denied him by the minister and session, the innkeeper readily allowed Mr. Burns to preach under his roof, to a very respectable audience of attentive listeners. At Lochiel he stood in a waggon by the roadside and freely proclaimed the glad tidings of salvation, one of his hearers, against his wishes, holding an umbrella over his head to protect him from the scorching rays of a Canadian sun. " In the afternoon he preached in a bam, from Psalm xvii. 8, which sermon was blessed for the conversion of one individual, who is now one of the principal elders of the Free Church there. " In Kenyon he preached in English, but many of the Gaelic people waited to hear him. A pious old woman, who understood no English, was asked why she remained. She replied, 'I thought it would be a privilege to be in- cluded in that dear minister's /r^j'trj. And another thing did me good : he seemed to dwell particularly on one word, spoken in such sweet tones, it sent a glow to my heart — the word 'salvation;' what does that mean?' " During the communion services at Indian Lands, where his labours on a previous visit had been blessed to many, 278 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1844-46. he preached for several successive days to crowds of eager hsteners, who with one accord declared they had never heard such glorious truths. In addressing the communicants, one of his persuasive remarks was, 'If you cannot come in by the saint's door, oh ! come in by the sinner's !' A poor idiot who had been present remained after the congregation dispersed, and walked around the small tent (where Mr. Bums still lingered, engaged in prayer), several times, exclaiming, 'You touch my heart, you touch my heart.' Mr. B.'s attention was attracted to him; one of the people told him not to mind the man, he was a fool. 'Ay, ay, one of Christ's fools, perhap^,' which rebuked the man. Learning that there was a small colony of French Canadians several miles distant, he immediately decided upon visiting them, and having first addressed the English people of the place, in a grist-mill, he then preached to the French quite fluently in their own language. They listened as if spell-bound. He aftenvards conversed with them individually in fluent French, and they united in saying, ' He was the best priest they ever heard speak- ing.'" In moving from place to place on his evangelistic tours in the country districts, Mr. Burns did not often avail himself of the conveyances readily provided by friends, but if at all practicable would invariably travel on foot, so as to avail himself of the opportunities afforded in this way of speaking a word in season and out of season to groups of labourers working in the fields, or any one whom he happened to meet travelling on the highway. It is only those who have been in Canada that can know how iEt. 29-31.] "in- JOURNEYINGS OFTEN." 279 trying, and therefore how rare such foot travelHng must be, owing to the extremes of heat and cold, and the rude state of the roads. When going on long journeys, and obliged to sail on the lakes, it was his constant practice to preach on board the steamers to all who might be disposed to hear him. On these occasions he more par- ticularly addressed himself to the deck passengers, usually composed of emigrants and persons of the labouring and of the poorer classes. The calm and peaceful surface of the expanding lakes, and the even flow of the mighty rivers, greatly favoured such evangelistic efforts. The more intelligent and respectable managers on such con- veyances encouraged these efforts by granting a free passage; and there cannot be a doubt that such unre- quited and humble methods of doing good have been frequently owned by a blessing from on high. If Mr. Bums was known after\vards in China as "the man of the book," he was equally so known in Canada, as well as in his native land. The following short sketch taken from his journal may give some idea of the variety and extent of his labours as a missionary in Canada West, while it embraces also places visited by him within the line of East or Lower Canada. "I have preached at St. Eustache, Lachute, St. Andrews, Hawkesbury, L'Original, and Vankleekhill, and yesterday evening I preached twice in French, but these meetings have not been large. — Cornwall, Saturday, July 26tli, 1845. In the course of these last weeks I have preached often in English and in French, at Lochiel, Indian Lands, Kenyon, Roxbury, Finch, MartintowTi, 2 8o LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. • [1844-46. Williamstown, Lancaster, &c. I have had nine little French meetings since the last date. In general they were well disposed to listen to the word. Some of our English meetings have been very large and serious; but alas! the spiritual deadness of this country is very great. It became at last necessary for me to bear a distinct testimony to the principles of the Free Church. The report of the pro- ceedings of the Assembly of that church are interesting. Their prosperity in an external point of view is very remarkable. May their spiritual prosperity be in propor- tion. There was formerly at Martintown near this, a true minister of Jesus Christ named Connel, who appears to have been the means of saving many souls. He died ten years ago, but his memory is blessed, as is that of all the just. After having preached at Cornwall, and further down on the shores of the St. Lawrence, I crossed the Salmon river to Dundee, quite near New York state, and from that place I preached as I went along towards Montreal, where I arrived last Thursday; having visited on my way Fort Covington, in New York state. La Rivifere De Loup, Lake Strove, Huntingdon, St. Michael's, Durham, North Georgetown. Sometimes I have been a little encouraged, but in general spiritual religion, which alone saves the human soul, appears to be very rare. Nevertheless I have met with some people who seem to love the Lord. Yesterday I tried again to preach out of doors, but with little success. They stoned and pelted me with mud, but by the grace of God I escaped danger. One poor man in the crowd recognized me as the person whom he had seen beaten at Dublin near the custom-house. Al- ^t. 29-31.] MANIFOLD JOURNEYS AND LABOURS. 28 1 though a Romanist, he appeared yesterday much disposed to listen to the word, and his testimony in my favour will be undoul:)tedly useful among his countr)mien." After a fortnight's labour at Bytown, now the city of Ottawa, where Mr. Wardrope, the excellent minister there, had been re- cently settled, he visited Bristol, Perth, Lanark, Dalhousie, Beckwith, Smith's Falls, Carleton Place, St, Andrews, Brockville, Prescott, and Kingston. At this last place he remained some weeks, and besides supplying the Free Church there, he preached seven times to the soldiers of the 7 ist Regiment whom he had formerly seen. The principal officer gave him liberty to do so, and this he devoutly notices as a proof of encouragement from God. He preached also in the country all around, particularly Gananoque, Glenburnie, and two other places; meeting everywhere with encouragement more or less. He visited also Cobourg, Belleville, and other places adjacent, such as Demorestville, Picton, and Napanee. When at King- ston he received through Dr. Begg, who had come out as a deputy from the Free Church, a letter inviting him to visit France. The impression on his mind by this circum- stance is thus noted in his journal: — "Perhaps the Lord intends to call me thither, to bear testimony to his truth. May his will be done! Nevertheless, I must go to the upper part of this province; to London, for example, and its vicinity." He then adverts to his visits to, and missionary labours at, Fredericksburg, Peterborough, Ottonabee, Port Hope, Clarke, Newcastle, Toronto, Nia- gara, Streetsville, and Esquesing; "preaching," as he says, "everywhere the word of God which liveth and endureth 282 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1844-46. for ever." "At Toronto," he says, "I had much pleasure in meeting with the young men who are at college preparing for the work of the ministry. There are some among them who seem to be tnie Christians; and they are all making satisfactory progress in their studies." In the summer of 1846 he visited a considerable portion of the western terri- tory, preaching at Oakville, Wellington Square, Hamilton, London, St. Thomas, Williams, Lobo, Southwold, Dun- wich, Aldbro, Mora, Eckford, Chatham, Amherstburgh near the boundary line, Detroit in the United States, and Port Sarnia, meeting everywhere with encouragement. At Amherstburgh, he preached to a congregation of blacks, formerly slaves, who interested him much. At Sarnia he preached by means of an interpreter to an interesting assembly of American Indians, who are under the instruc- tions of the Methodist missionaries; and, as might have been expected, the meeting and exercises were very solemn and edifying. Two months' labours were be- stowed on Imperial, Woodstock, Beechville, Bradford, Lower Stratford, &c. In 1846 most of the places visited by Mr. Burns in Canada West were as yet unsupplied either with Free Churches or ministers; and his labours and varied ministrations were singularly blessed of God, as means of uniting and quickening the members. Among the ministers whom he found settled in those parts, we notice the names of Messrs. Wardrope, Graham, and Macalester, all of whom often spoke of the great refreshing and spiritual edification enjoyed by them and their people from his visits. Of the labours also of the Free Church deputies, particularly Dr. Bonar, Mr. Arnot, JEt. 29-31.] REVIVAL SCENES IN THE FAR WEST. 283 Mr. Somerville, and Mr. Munro, he speaks with great interest. These were the ministers who had the charge of the "Free Church" congregation at Cote Street, Montreal, during his residence in Canada, and each of them appreciated the value of his labours, and readily took part with him in them. Among the varied testimonies we have received to the good effects of the visit of Mr. Burns to Canada, one of the most valuable is that of the Rev. Alexander Cameron of Ardersier, whose opportunities of information were peculiarly favourable. " It was my lot," says he, "shortly after the return of Mr. Bums from Canada, to labour among the Highlanders of Glengarry for some years until health failed. I found the people in a very interesting state of mind, — many of them cherishing a tenderness of conscience and a brokenness of spirit, and thirsting eagerly for the Word of life. Some of all ages were in this condition, but especially young men and young women. The crowds that congregated on the Sabbaths at Lochiel, the most central station at which I preached, were sometimes very great. In the district of Glengarry, where there are now seven or eight ministers, there was then only one, Mr. Daniel Clark of Indian Lands, and myself; consequently the people came from all quarters, travelling five, ten, or even twenty miles and upwards. Many of them started on the Saturday so as to be fonvard in time for the morning service. The poor Roman Cathohcs observing all this, thought the heads of their Protestant neighbours were turned. In one sense it was easy to preach to these thirsty souls, for the word of God 2 84 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1844-46. was precious in those days. It was the same wherever I went; no matter where sermon was intimated to be preached in any school-room or district, the place would be crowded, even although such meetings were continued in different places nearly the whole week, as sometimes happened in winter; and often a few of the more ardent spirits would attend all these meetings, travelling from place to place for this purpose. The face of things began gradually but steadily to change. Old customs and in- veterate habits were one by one abandoned. Balls and merry-makings and New Year's festivals, so frequent in that country, were fast disappearing. Some of the leaders in such things with their own hands cast their fiddles and bagpipes into the fire; and instead of the sounds of revelry the voice of praise and spiritual melody began to be heard in their dwellings. Zion was meanwhile putting on her beautiful garments. Communion seasons were now more like those in old Ferintosh than the former scanty gather- ings in the 'backwoods.' This state of things I ascribe chiefly under God to the labours of Mr. Burns. Doubt- less many other able and excellent men, especially some from the Free Church at home, laboured faithfully, and I believe successfully, in Glengarry; but the visit of Mr. Burns in my estimation was the crowning visit, and the impression produced by his preaching and his godly demeanour was deep, pervasive, and abiding. The great day alone shall fully declare it." The following testimony in regard to the spirit of his mind when engaged in missionary labour in the district of Glengarry is well deserving of record. It is from the ^t. 29-31.] PERSONAL TRAITS. 285 communication of a Christian minister who had long laboured on the same spot, and although specially illus- trative of Mr. Burns' character in connection mth that locality, its leading features are more or less reflected from all the scenes of his labours. '' He appeared to have con- tinually in view an impression that he should do some- thing for God, for his own soul, for the souls of others, and for eternity. His conversation was that of a man of extensive information, who knew how to apply it effec- tually to the best of purposes. His disposition was amiable, his feelings were tender; combined with a clear judgment, great firmness, caution and patience, qualities essential to dealing properly with unreasonable persons and with difficult questions. He did not consider that he had a warrant to proceed in any sacred duty without a consciousness of having the divine presence. I have sometimes seen him on this point in very great per- plexity, earnestly wishing and praying for a special mes- sage direct from Heaven, and doubtful which was duty, to proceed or to keep silence : like Moses who prayed, ' If thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence ! ' " The following sketch under the hand of an intelligent office-beaier of our church in Glengarry, at whose house Mr. Burns sojourned, and by whom he was conducted on his missionary way, may illustrate the obstacles which stand in the way of itinerating labour in Canada, and the manner in which they were met and conquered by Mr. Bums. "A furious snow-storm having come on, he was detained for a week; and the state of the roads pre- vented any public meetings being held; but he improved 2 86 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1844-46. the time by conversing on matters pertaining to the king- dom with our household, including farm-servants, among whom were several French Canadians. We found him remarkably agreeable and sociable as a guest, entertaining us with incidents relative to his labours in Ireland, and those parts of Scotland where revivals have taken place. The recital of incidents connected with such themes always caused his countenance to beam with a heavenly joy. Much of his time also was spent in retirement and over his Bible, which he often carried to the table at meal times, referring to it whenever a pause in the conver- sation gave him an opportunity. Having an appointment to preach in the Congregational chapel, Indian Lands, so soon as the snow-storm subsided, he and I made a des- perate effort to fulfil the engagement. Taking a powerful team of horses and a strong sleigh, we found the roads in an almost impassable state; the horses floundering in the snow, which in some places almost hid them from our view; and in other places they were incapable of moving forward one step, till I got out and made a track before them. In remarking on the state of the roads I hap- pened to say, ' This is awful ! ' but was instantly checked by my dear fellow-traveller saying, ' Oh ! my dear sir, there is nothing awful but the wrath of God.' Although travel- ling at the rate of only one mile an hour, we arrived at our destination in due time, where we found a goodly number assembled; and he delivered an impressive ser- mon, taking for illustration things that he had noticed along our route, such as the clearances in the forest, with the other usual symptoms of progress in the settlements." ^t. 29-51.] THE FREE CHURCH DEPUTIES. 287 References having been more than once made to the services of the deputies from the Free Church to Canada, it may not be unsuitable to insert the following notices from one of the friends who have contributed materials for this chapter: — "When I arrived in Montreal, in 1842, the spiritual condition of the three congregations was deplorably low, and, with very few exceptions, it was so throughout the country. But I make special reference to Montreal, where there were a very few — like the gleanings of the vintage — who were longing and waiting for the sal- vation of Zion. These few were led to unite in prayer to the exalted Head of the Church to hasten his coming by whom he would; and //^ was graciously pleased to hear their cry, and send his servants. The first was Dr. Burns of Paisley, whose first sermon was from Revelation i. 17, 18. To some this sermon was the fulfilment of the promise, 'When the poor and the needy seek water,' &c. I think Dr. Burns was followed by Mr. John Bonar (aftenvards Dr. Bonar), full of love, and meekness, and \visdom, and undaunted courage. He was pre-eminently honoured of God in gathering and uniting the scattered sheep, and in organizing the Cote Street congregation, and, indeed, of advancing the interests of the church throughout the whole province. . In his arrival was beautifully seen the majestic goings forth of Him who is wonderful in counsel. Mr. Bonar was succeeded by other eminent servants of God, whose special mission was to supply the Cote Street congre- gation, which was then the great centre of the Free Church in Canada." Among these may be specially noted Mr. Arnot, then of Glasgow, now of the Free High Church, 2 66 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1844-46. Edinburgh; Mr. Somerville of Anderston, Glasgow; Mr. Munro of Rutherglen; Mr. Macnaughton of Paisley, now of Belfast; Mr. Buchanan of Bothwell, now of D'Urban, S. Africa; Professor King, now of Halifax, Nova Scotia; Mr. J. C. Burns of Kirkliston; Dr. Begg of Edinburgh; Mr. Paterson of Tranent; the late Mr. Miller of Dundee, and afterwards of Newcastle; Mr. Cobban of Braemar; — who, during periods more or less extended, laboured in the cities, and occasionally in the rural districts, to the edifying of multitudes of hearers, and to the effect of laying firm and deep the foundations of what in its character as a "united church" may now with perfect propriety be called the "Free Presbyterian Church of Canada." Mr. Burns returned to Scotland after about two years of incessant labour in Canada in the same vessel in which he had before sailed for the West, arriving in Glasgow on the 15th September, 1846. He was still in vigorous health, yet showing but too evident traces of the exhaust- ing and peculiarly trying scenes which he had passed through. The clear tones of a voice of more than ordinary compass and power were gone; his mind and spirit were worn and jaded; and he had already begun to acquire a certain aged look which he never afterwards wholly lost. He had indeed emphatically "endured hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ," and he bore the marks of it more or less to his grave. CHAPTER XL 1846 — 1847. CALL TO THE CHINESE FIELD, MY readers will remember a statement from my brother's own hand of the circumstances of his first consecration to the missionary work, and of the re- markable train of events by which the fulfilment of his purpose was temporarily, though, as it seemed, indefinitely, delayed. That purpose still remained unchanged. He was still as much as ever, and all through those laborious and eventful intervening years, a missionary at heart, and only waited the intimation of the Master's will as to the time and the place of his appointed work. He had heard the general summons of the divine Commander, " Who will go for me?" and he had resolutely answered, " Here am I, send me." That answer had been recorded in heaven, and lived evermore within his heart. Amid all his home labours he spoke and acted under the solemn sense of it — spoke and acted as a missionary just about to go forth to a distant land, and only addressing a few parting words to his brethren at home ere the final summons to depart should reach him. How that summons came at last, and in what spirit it was obeyed, will be best told in his own words, in the continuation of the same statement just 290 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1846-47- referred to, dated at sea, "Thursday, July 29th, 1847, lat. 25° 30' south; Ion. 28° 40' west. — . . . From this time (July 23d, 1839) until the Disruption I appeared to have a special work to do in my own country, and having no call to the missionary field I thought no further of it than this, that I did not feel it would be lawful for me to settle at home, but only to comply with present calls of duty to preach the Word. In the year 1843, ^-nd still more in 1844, I found my heart very much drawn off from the home field — the days of God's great power ^vith me seeming to be in a great measure past, and ecclesias- tical questions having taken so deep a hold on the public mind, that it was not in a state as before to be dealt with simply about the question of conversion. In these cir- cumstances I went at the call of some friends to Dublin in 1844 to try the field there, but finding no great open- ing I returned to Scotland, and the way being made very clearly open for my going on a visit to Canada, I sailed for Montreal, August 10. In Canada I found sufficient evidence that it was indeed the call of God which I obeyed in going to it; but after labouring there for nearly two years, and having gone over the ground which seemed providen- tially laid out for me, I felt that unless I were to remain there for life, the time was come for my departure. I was confirmed in this view by having had my mind afresh directed towards India by a letter from an acquaintance there, and also by a call from our continental committee to make use of my newly acquired knowledge of French by visiting the continent of Europe. I accordingly sailed from Quebec for Scotland on August 20th, 1846, having ^t. 3X-32] FINAL CALL TO MISSIONARY WORK. 29 1 a deep impression that I should find no special work to do in Scotland that would detain me there longer than a few months, but feeling quite uncertain what would be my ultimate destination. On my arrival I was asked anew to go to the Continent, but against this there were objections. I did not see any prospect of doing much there during a brief visit, and I could not but reflect that at my period of life it must be now decided whether I was to preach from place to place to the end or go to a leathen field, as originally destined. At any rate I felt at I could decide on nothing until I had paid a few iits to those home fields with which I had fonnerly been nnected. This work occupied me during the autumn lid the early part of the winter. I might have protracted '^— jperiod indefinitely, being encompassed \vith invita- I on every hand ; but as I did not see or feel any :al blessing in this work, I preached no more than I d not avoid doing, and then came the question, What jiy duty ^vith reference to the future? About the end le year, at the time of the Parsee's ordination in Edin- gh, I arrived at the clear decision that I was not at ;rty to labour any longer as hitherto ^\•ithout ascertain- whether our missionary committee would still desire to fulfil my original intention. I accordingly called Dr. Candlish, and having laid before him my views, (tt joined with him in imploring divine guidance, he ited that he thought it was clearly my duty to go as iginally destined to the heathen, provided that I found ) special cause as heretofore to detain me, and said that j would confer with others on the subject. He did so, 292 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1846-47. but found that though no one would object to my going if I wished to do so, yet as the Indian stations were all occupied, there was no special opening for me. At this very time, and while they were actually conversing on the - matter, a letter came to the convener of the Foreign Mis- sion Committee, Dr. James Buchanan, from James Hamil- ton of Regent Square, London (convener of the English Presbyterian Church Missionary Committee), making earnest inquiry whether Dr. B, could point out any minister or preacher in Scotland who might be suitabl<" to go as their first missionary to China, seeing they hr contemplated this mission for more than two years, t had as yet been disappointed in finding suitable agen i ,« This seemed to Dr. B. a providential coincidence, aji without communicating with me, he wrote mentioni I ' few names and mine among the rest. Some weeks ela I without my hearing anything further on the subject;] I meanwhile my own experience more and more pointed ; thoughts and desires to the foreign field, and at last the beginning of February a letter came to me from . Hamilton, in which, after reminding me of my origi i design and prospects regarding an eastern mission, , mentioned the position of their own missionary scher and asked what my views in regard to embarking in su . '' an undertaking now were. As he wished a speedy ansv I could only reply that the matter was too varied in . bearings and of too momentous a character to be at on decided on; but that it would be the subject of pray and consideration, as well as of conference with the se vants of God around me. On receipt of my letter, the ^t. 31-32.] SEEKING LIGHT. 293 missionary committee instructed Mr. Hamilton to send me an express and earnest call to become their church's first missionary to China. I received this, but still found myself unable to arrive at a final decision. Regarding the importance of the work there could be no doubt ; but when I considered on the one hand the manner in which God had hitherto called me to labour, and the many calls at home and abroad which I still had to preach the word as heretofore; and on the other considered the uncertainty of my being suited to the peculiarities of the Chinese field, I felt embarrassed, and though I Avrote a letter of acceptance, I could not send it off, but rather suspended the case by letting them know my difficulties, and my need of delay,, with a view of getting further light. I also urged them in the interval to look out for others, and mentioned two ministers to whom they might apply. Another ten days elapsed, during which I was in Edin- burgh, as I had been for some time previously, preaching in St. Luke's, &c., and now also assisting Dr. Duncan in hiS junior Hebrew class, his health being imperfect. The call to China was gradually assuming more and more import- ance in my view, and though some of God's servants seemed to doubt whether it was a field suitable to my habits, &c., yet the prevailing opinion seemed to be that I ought to go. Feeling that I must resume communication with the English committee, I went out before doing so to Kilsyth, at the communion season on the first Sabbath of March, that I might sit, it might be, for the last time at the table of the Lord Jesus on earth ^vith my beloved parents, and that I might have the aid of their counsel, and that of my 2 94 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1846-47. cousins David and Charles J. Brown (of Glasgow and Edinburgh), who were expected to be my father's assist- ants. On the Monday after the communion I wrote to London again to let it be known that I was still weighing the matter brought before me, and that with a view to arrive at a final and satisfactory decision, I would be glad to be furnished with information in regard to the nature of the work in which they would wish or expect me to be engaged, and also to learn what length of time it would require to attain an adequate knowledge of the language with a view to preach the gospel in it. I also stated generally on the subject, ist. That I did not make such inquiries as if difficulties would be sufficient to keep me back, were the path of duty in other respects plain ; but simply in order that I might have full materials for com- paring this call with others that were given me, as from France, &c. 2d. That as devoted to the missionary work I felt that unless it appeared that God detained me at home by some special call, I must go to some field where Christ had not been named, &c. In reply to this letter Mr. Hamilton wrote that he believed the difficulties of the Chinese language had been overestimated, but that they expected about the end of March from China Mr. Hugh Matheson, one of their committee, who would bring them full and recent information, and that this would be communicated to me. At this time I spent four weeks preaching in Bute and Arran, and on the loth of April I went to Edinburgh to preach in Mr. Moody Stuart's. The impression of my duty now became so strong that I felt I could no longer hesitate about signifying my willing- JEt. 31-32-1 THE DECISION. 295 ness to go, and on Monday I Avrote to that effect. I saw that I would dishonour my profession of the gospel, and thus wound the honour of Jesus, if I seemed to linger any longer; and though I had not heard again from London, I felt that on general grounds, and taking even the most discouraging view of the case, it was my duty to go forward. The committee met on this very day, and so discouraging was the view given by Mr. M. of the field and of the missions there, as compared with our missions in India, that the committee resolved to recommend to the Synod about to meet at Sunderland the following Tuesday to give up thoughts of a mission to China, and begin in place a mission in Hindustan. When I heard of this decision, which the receipt of my letter did not seem to have altered, I was at a loss how to act, but saw that now matters were coming to a crisis, and that the issue would be either to shut up my path toward China or set me free from their call altogether. I did not feel any sympathy with their proposal to draw back, and fearing lest they might do so, and thus dishonour the command and promise of the exalted Jesus, I was the more pressed in spirit to go for\vard, that such a consequence might be avoided. I accordingly resolved to go up to Sunderland on the 20th, and meet the Synod on the matter. I did so, and on Wednesday the 21st I found that the Synod were bent on prosecuting the mission, and so on Thursday I was ordained to the work. ... In this manner from step to step my path has been hedged up in this important matter; and now I find myself in the midst of the great ocean studying Chinese, and having the prospect. 296 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1846-47. if the Lord will, of spending the rest of my days in that vast empire of heathen darkness. 'The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light, and to them that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.'" One or two sentences from the ordinary entries in his journal will complete the history of this interesting junc- ture, and throw some additional light on the circumstances of the call which now came to him, and of the posture of his soul towards it: — "The call to this work came to me some months before I had full light to comply with it ; but the way at last was made in all respects very plain. . . . On Tuesday, April 9th, I met in Glasgow James Denniston, returned from Jamaica, and on his way, if God will, to Constantinople as a missionary to the Jews. Thus, after so long an interval, we met again in the place where nine years before, at the University, he had given himself to the Lord to go to the circumcision, and I to go to the Gentiles. Having been so long engaged in other work, we had now the near prospect of entering on the fields in regard to which the vows of God were upon us. It was a confirm- ing interview. To sovereign grace be the praise — the end- less, unutterable praise ! . . . I came up to Sunderland to confer upon the matter," and "found to my joy that the mind of the Synod was to go forward; and I being now ready, and my way hedged in, I was next day ordained according to Acts xiii., and the day following I was in London. The Pres- bytery of Newcastle ordained me — the only one within whose bounds I had previously laboured; Dr. Paterson presided (in his own church we were met), being the only minister remaining in his place of those with whom I had laboured in 1841, &c. ; William Chalmers^ preached at the ordination, ' Now the Rev. Professor Chalmers, D.D., of the English Presby- terian College, London. ^t. 31-32.] HIS ORDINATION. 297 being, not only my cousin, but a minister born at Malacca, the centre of the early Chinese mission under Dr. Milne, &c. These were interesting coincidences ; and still more so was the fact that Dr. Morrison, the first evangelical Chinese missionary, whose Chinese Bible I am now studying, was the son of an elder in the English Presbyterian Church, and was brought up as a Christian in the High Bridge Church, Newcastle-on-Tyne, where, in 1841, I laboured for three months, little thinking of such a position as that which I now occupy." My readers will willingly linger a little longer in the retrospect of this memorable ordination solemnity, which formed so important an era in the history of missions to the far East; and with this view will read with interest the following lines wTitten at the time by an eye-witness, himself a devoted friend of the Chinese cause, and a deep sharer in all the hopes and fears and prayerful aspirations of that solemn time : — " By far the most solemn and striking matter at the meet- ing of Synod has been the setting apart of William C. Burns as a missionary to China. Who could have believed that such would have taken place only two days before? Such an ordination has scarcely ever — if ever — taken place. It is perfectly marvellous. The thing was done suddenly (2 Chron- icles xxix. 36), yet I cannot think hastily, for God hath evi- dently been preparing his servant for it these months past. The more I reflect upon all the circumstances since the time of our first speaking to him on the 21st December, when we told him of the strait in which the Church was for want of missionaries to China, up to the decision of the Synod on the 2 1 St April to ordain him the very next day, the more I am amazed at the wondrous things which have come to pass, and cannot doubt that God has been in them of a truth. "On the 2ist December, 1846, Mr. Burns was much at a loss 298 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1846-47. as to the future; but seeing no open door, and no special call to labour at home, he placed himself in the hands of the Foreign Mission Committee to go to India, his original des- tination. The committee were obliged, from the state of their funds, to refuse his services. Shortly afterwards Mr. James •Hamilton wrote to him, asking if he would go in the service of the English Presbyterian Church in the mission proposed to China. This was made the subject of much thought and prayer, and it was long before he could at all discover the path which the Lord was indicating in the matter. Dr. Dun- can strongly urged him to go; others as decidedly dissuaded him, and endeavoured to show to him that Scotland had still claims upon him. He himself inclined to go for a time to the Continent, and it was long before he could see that he had any call from the English Presbyterian Church, or that China was the field to which he should devote himself. On the loth April he was still in darkness; on the i ith he preached in Edinburgh (St. Luke's), from Jeremiah xv. 16, and John xii. 36, ' Walk while ye have the light.' Light dawned upon him that day; his heart was enlarged towards the heathen; his prayers were full of pleadings on their behalf. Next morning he came to breakfast, and to our utter amazement told us he no longer saw his way to refuse the call, and intended to write to London to that effect that day. A note received the fol- lowing morning mentioned that he had done so. His desire was to have a conference at the meeting of Synod the follow- ing week at Sunderland, when future plans might be decided upon. " The very day he wrote his note, placing himself at the dis- posal of the church for China, the Foreign Mission Committee had a meeting, when it was decided to abandon China — to undertake Central India instead. The information which the Committee had received regarding the number of missionaries already in the field, the difficulty of acquiring the language, and the country being still so generally closed, led to that conclusion. Mr. Burns was informed of that decision. An ^t. 31-32.) LETTER OF AN EYE-WITNESS. 299 elaborate report was drawn up in his best style by Mr. Hamilton to lay before the Synod. " Tuesday morning the 20th April, at nine o'clock the com- mittee met in Sunderland. After much consultation the brethren came to one mind, that we must not abandon China — the Church was committed to it — and Mr. Hamilton was in- structed to draw up an entirely different report. No com- munication had been received from Mr. Burns; but the Church resolved that its duty was to keep by China, and to prosecute the missionary work there, as had been resolved upon two years before. Mr. Bums arrived in Sunderland the next day. His mind was unchanged. China was still his field, whether the Presbyterian Church abandoned it or no; and he was not a little amazed when he heard of the proceedings in committee the preceding day. "The new report was read in Synod; Mr. Hamilton spoke and others followed. Mr. Welsh was asked to pray for guid- ance in the matter, and Mr. Burns was then invited to address the brethren. He did so; giving an account of his early life — his dedication to the missionar)' work — his arrest in Scotland, when the Lord gave testimony to the word of his grace, and the reasons for the resolution now formed. The people were much affected, as was the speaker ; he was obliged frequently to pause, and at last to stop altogether. A meeting for con- ference was shortly after\vards summoned, at which he fully opened up his wishes in the matter, especially as regarded ordination. He wished to go forth only as an evangelist, not to administer sacraments; ' Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.' Acts xiii. was read; Mr. P. L. Miller prayed; and after much discussion it was resolved that he should be ordained the next day at ten o'clock, and proceed to China forthwith. "The ordination services took place in a church in which he had often preached, and by a Presbytery (the only one in England) within whose bounds he had laboured for several months with no small success — a Presbytery from which 300 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1846-47- Morrison also went forth, for his father was an elder of High Bridge Church, Newcastle; and not the lea,st remarkable coin- cidence was the fact that the minister who preached had been born and baptized in China. The service was commenced by the moderator, Mr. Anderson, giving out Psalm Ixxii. 8-11. He read Acts xiii., and sung Paraphrase xxiii. 11-15 : ' Lo ! former scenes, predicted once Conspicuous rise to view; And future scenes, predicted now, Shall be accomplish'd too. Sing to the Lord in joyful strains! Let earth his praise resound, Ye who upon the ocean dwell, And fill the isles around ! ' O city of the Lord ! begin The universal song ; And let the scatter'd villages The cheerful notes prolong. Let Kedar's wilderness afar Lift up its lonely voice ; And let the tenants of the rock With accents rude rejoice ; * Till 'midst the streams of distant lands The islands sound his praise ; And all combin'd, with one accord, Jehovah's glories raise.' The prayers were remarkable for enlargement and fervency — bearing upon every point connected with the solemn work of the day. Mr. Chalmers took as his text John xix. 30, 'It is finished;' and viewed the words, ist. In reference to God; 2d. to man — closing with an application to the occasion — what was left for Christ's disciples to do. The ordination service was conducted by Dr. Paterson with extreme simplicity and apostolic fervour. After the questions had been satisfactorily answered, Mr. Burns knelt down — Dr. Paterson prayed, and laid hands on him — as did the other ministers, and so the JEt. 31-32.] ORDINATION CHARGE. 3OI first missionary of the English Presbyterian Church was 'set apart by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery.' The charge followed, which was suited to the occasion, and suited to the man to whom it was addressed. Dr. Paterson said, 'This is a very solemn occasion to us, and it is also a very solemn occasion to you, dear brother. You yesterday told us how the Lord had directed your heart to offer yourself for this work, and to respond to the call of the Church to go forth unto the Gentiles. You told us that you did not require to return to your home, but were ready to set out with your little scrip on the morrow. And now, I would address to you the words of the Lord to Saul, 'Rise, brother, stand upon thy feet,' &c., Acts xxvi. 16-18. You have seen what few of us have ; you have seen in the past the Spirit of God going forth In his wondrous power, giving testimony to the word of his grace, and the spirits of men bowing before him as mighty trees shaken by the wind. You have seen whole multitudes awed by his presence, and constrained to acknow- ledge that the Lord was revealing himself of a truth. Have you not seen these things? Can you not testify to them? The Lord hath now called thee for this purpose, that you may go forth 'a. minister and witness of those things which thou hast seen.' While yet a stripling, he chose you for a great work, by which he designed to prepare a people for a great event, and to bring many forth to testify for the Lord Jesus Christ as the great and on/y Head of the Church. But he also sends you forth to testify of those things in the which he will appear unto thee — in which he will yet appear unto thee, ' delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles, unto whom now he sends thee.' Yes, brother, he has been preparing you for another work, and he will go before you to open up the way and guide you in all your steps.' Verse 18 was then com- mented on by Dr. P. Dr. P. continued : ' I charge thee there- fore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove. 302 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1846-47. rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine ; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables' (2 Timothy iv. 1-4). Yes, soon, very, very soon the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine ; for they have naturally itching ears, and turn away from the truth. ' But watch thou in all things, endure affliction, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof oi \hy ministry.' "'If nature be shrinking within you, if you feel yourself very weak in the contemplation of this great work to which you have been set apart, let me direct you to another passage (Matthew xxviii. 18-20), 'ALL power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore.' Yes, he has all power and all authority, and must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. ' The earth is the Lord's, and the ful- ness thereof.' He is King of nations as well as King of his Church; he has power to protect and uphold, and he will de- liver you from the nations unto whom now he sends you. Ah ! look to him — to him alone. You may see the stars shining around you, you may think of many a bright light who has gone before into the dark places of the earth ; but let me counsel you to turn from these, and look to Jesus. He is now on the throne, he will shield you, he will watch over you, he will send down an abundant unction on your soul, he will supply all your need. Go forth then in his strength. Remember that God hath given the heathen to his Son for an inheritance ; re- member that Jesus hath promised to be with you alway even unto the end of the world. , Go forth even as a little child, led by Him who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, and who holdeth the stars in his right hand. May thy dwelling henceforth be in the secret place of the Most High, and thy lodging under the shadow of the Almighty !' "This brief sketch gives only an idea of the style of the address, which was listened to with great attention and under ^t. 31-32.] HIS DEPARTURE. 303 deep emotion by many of the congregation in the crowded church. Psalm xcviii. 1-4 was then sung: ' O sing a new song to the Lord, For wonders he hath done : His right hand and his holy arm Him victory hath won. The Lord God his salvation Hath caused to be known; His justice in the heathen's sight He openly hath shown. ' He mindful of his grace and truth To Israel's house hath been; And the salvation of our God All ends of th' earth have seen. Let all the earth unto the Lord Send forth a joyful noise; Lift up your voice aloud to him, Sing praises, and rejoice.' "After the service, Mr. Miller, formerly of Dundee, and Mr. Irving of Falkirk accompanied him to Dr. Paterson's house, and were afterwards joined by Mr. Nisbet, &c., where prayer was made, and at four o'clock Mr. B. left for Newcastle, and preached that evening in Groat Market Chapel. I joined him there at ten o'clock. A considerable number were wait- ing to bid him farewell. We went to the lodging, sung Psalm c, 'All people,' &c., read Mark xvi., upon verse 3 of which he remarked how the women still went on, not know- ing how the stone would be rolled away, and applied it to our duty in similar circumstances. We spoke of how marvellously the difficulties had been removed already in this matter. He was filled with astonishment at the way in which it had been gone about — so little of man in the whole matter — so little preparation in the sight of the world — and the Church so harmonious. We prayed together and then parted. The next morning at five o'clock, I heard his heavy foot pass my door in time for the train to London, on his way to China as the first missionary of the Presbyterian Church in England." 304 • LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [iS46-47- It will have been observed that my brother in finally accepting the call of the Synod declared himself willing, without returning even for a parting visit to Scotland, to proceed at once to his distant sphere of labour. It is said that when publicly asked in presence of the court how soon he could be ready to enter on his work, he replied with prompt decision, " To-morrow." This resolute tone and attitude of spirit was eminently characteristic of him. As a man that warreth, he entangled not himself with the affairs of this life, and moved about ever as a free and unencumbered soldier, ready at a moment's warning to march at the Master's command to any quarter of the world. Amongst the memories of his old classic studies the miles expediius^ was ever, as I remember, a favourite name and idea with him, and to that model did he ever strive to discipline and brace his spirit. Long as he had doubted, and patiently as he had sought and waited for light as to the will of God in this matter, now that that will to him was clear he was utterly without hesitation and without fear. Even the difficulties which stood in the way, and which at that very time had been so greatly magnified as almost to have postponed for the time the attempt to enter a field so unpromising, instead of daunt- ing, only fired his spirit, and made him more impatient to press on, Hke a brave soldier rushing to the breach in a forlorn hope. "This," writes he in his journal, "only strengthened my resolution to go forward, fearing lest the name of that Lord to whom all power is given in heaven * i.e. Without baggage or heavy armour, and so always ready for march or battle. ^t. 31-32-] FAREWELL TO HOME, 305 and on earth might be dishonoured; and I came to Sunder- land to confer about the matter, when I found to my joy that the mind of tlie SjTiod was to go forward." Now then that the matter was decided, his voice was for imme- diate action. The day before he had, I beUeve, left his father's house with the fixed resolution that so it should be. He did not say farewell to those that were at home in the house, but he none the less and solemnly took farewell. "I was," says an elder sister, "the only person at home when he left, our parents being both, I think, in the north. I remember Dr. Hamilton's letter earnestly asking him to be the pioneer missionary for whom the English Presbyterian Church had been so long seeking. This letter was followed by one from Mrs. Barbour, in which she reminded him that in an address to the Students' Missionary Association in Edinburgh, he had said to this effect, that when young men gave themselves to the Lord for the work of the ministry, they were not to prescribe to him where their field of labour should be, but should be willing to go anywhere, ^even to China' I re- member he smiled on reading this, and said he did not remember having said even to China, but went imme- diately and looked at the address, and said, 'Yes it is — even to China.' Before receiving this call he was studying the Gaelic, and seldom had the Gaelic psalm-book out of his hand, but soon after this we saw that the Gaelic was laid aside and the Encyclopedia was brought out, and he was busy studying the Chinese characters. I don't think he gave a decided answer to James Hamilton before the meeting of the Synod at Newcastle ; but having heard that 3o6 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1846-47. some timid persons were daunted by some difficulties that stood in the way, he said, 'That's the very thing that makes my call clear to go,' and at once packed his little carpet-bag to start for Newcastle. The day he went off he was long in papa's study in prayer, and then coming out he silently Avrung my hand and looked solemnly round as if taking a farewell look of the house; he had his Bread- albane plaid over his arm, and after reaching the front- door he turned and hung it up in the lobby, taking one belonging to his mother instead, and giving me an expres- sive look as he did so. I was very much overcome, and watched his receding figure with the feeling that he would not return. I went into the study to give vent to my feelings, and found the Bible left open at Isaiah Ixiv., 'Oh, that thou would rend the heavens,' &c. On going up to the drawing-room I found the Gaelic Testament and psalm-book neatly put into one of the shelves, as if he had done with them, and I then said, 'William will return no more.' In a very few days, as you know, it was all decided, and the first announcement we received was from Mr. Irving of Falkirk, who kindly came straight from the Synod meeting to give us the tidings." So he writes in his journal, the thread of which I now gladly resume: — "I had fully, though not fomially, taken leave of all friends in Scotland before coming up to the Synod, and therefore thought it duty to act upon the text, 'Let me first go and bid them farewell,' &c., and without re- turning back to hasten on my way. This view approved itself to others, and I hoped to have gone off at once through France, and to have been in China in July by the ^t. 3I-32-] PARTING THOUGHTS. 307 steam communication lately established. This was over- ruled, however, on the ground that I would reach the field at a trying season, and by a trying route; and so it was resolved that I should wait for this present vessel, and in the inten'al visit the churches in this S>Tiod. I have been accordingly in most of them — Liverpool, Man- chester, Birmingham, Brighton, London, &c. &c., and see much cause to adore the wisdom and grace of God in this delay. I do not hope again to see my dear parents before setting out; but my brother Islay and his wife from Dundee have come up to see me away, and were with me to-day along Avith two others occupied in my outfit (Mr. and Mrs. Ballantyne), when we took possession of my little cabin and of the ship for the Lord in the exercise of his worship. . . . My beloved parents still spared to us seem to rejoice in giving me up to the Lord for this 'honourable' work. Yes, 'it is an honourable work,' as Dr. M'Donald of Ferintosh said to me in his own veteran spirit, when the Lord permitted me to meet with him once more in Glasgow at the late communion there. . . . Before leaving Scotland I preached in Bute, Arran, &c., and had many calls to other places ; but as no very special blessing seemed to attend the word, I did not feel myself at liberty to refuse a call to labour among the heathen, and that call came to me as one originally self-devoted to that work should the Lord call me. It is thus in one view a dark and solemn dispensation in my case to leave this land. I go away because, either through my sin or the people's, God's Spirit worketh not among us as in years past. But it may be that this is God's own way of shutting 3o8 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1846-47. me out from the home field, and sending me far hence to other Gentiles. 'They essayed to preach the gospel, &c., but the Spirit suffered them not,' and then the vision of the man of Macedonia appeared, and they 'went over to help them.' Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord? A man's goings are of the Lord: how then can a man understand his own way? Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory. Hosanna ! Amen." In such a strain of exalted faith and hope, and with such solemn musings alike of the past and of the future, he closed the eventful period of his home and colonial ministry, and turned his face toward those new scenes to which his divine Master was pointing the way. CHAPTER XIL 1847. DEPARTURE FOR CHINA, THE missionary's departure from England, though delayed in the manner above described, took place at last somewhat suddenly. The ship in which he was to sail, the Mary BannatynCy was dropping slowly down the Channel under a light breeze towards Portsmouth, and it was expected that several days would elapse before we should have to join her there. He had accordingly made several preaching engagements for the intervening days, and was, on the evening of Tuesday, the 8th June, in the very act of entering the Scotch Church at Wool- wich in fulfilment of one of these, when an express from London reached him, conveying the information that a favourable wind had sprung up and carried the ship by a rapid ran to Portsmouth, and that not an hour was to be lost if he wished to join her before she sailed. He accordingly hastened at once to the railway station in hopes to catch the last train, but was, happily as it turned out, too late. Next morning he and I set out together, not without some fears of after all missing the passage, but happily arrived in good time. On reaching the harbour we saw the ship riding at anchor in the roads, 3IO LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1847. and procuring a boat reached it in half an hour. Finding that the vessel would not after all sail till the evening, I resolved to remain on board, and return by the latest boat. We retired to the little cabin and spent the time in reading the sacred Word, and in pouring out our hearts in prayer, for the last time it might be in this world to- gether. He read the 17th chapter of St. John, and the last of 2 Timothy from the loth verse to the end, accom- panying the slow and interrupted reading with many gracious and quickening words out of the fulness of the heart. The latter passage especially he bade me mark and remember, and convey it to his friends and brethren at home as a parting message of love. Coming to the last words he paused for a moment and said: "The last words are, 'Salute Prisca,' &c. ; this you must do for me: for I could not write," and burst into a flood of tears. We wept together. In the course of the afternoon he had shut himself up for an hour or two for the purpose of writing, and I saw afterwards on the table a sheet of paper half- written addressed to his mother; but the effort had been too much for him, and he had given it over. After again joining in prayer we embraced and parted, he again and again exclaiming as he lay upon my neck, "O! is it not blessed; is it not wondrous grace to be separated in this way, separated for such a cause and for such a work?" His last words were, "Remember our father and mother." As we pushed off from the vessel's side, he called after me and pointed to his Bible, which he held up in his hand, as if to say that there was the only thing worth li\ang for in all the world, and the one ever- iEt. 32.] THE "MARY BANNATYNE." 311 lasting bond of union for those who are parted here. A fresh breeze sprung up; the Hght cutter flew before the wind, and in a few moments we had left the vessel far behind us; but long as I watched its lessening form in the deepening darkness I seemed to see him standing in the same attitude still. I felt that I had parted not from a brother only, but from one far above me, a true and eminent saint of God. Just as we were nearing the shore they had drawn up their anchor and spread their sails to the winds. Three hours aftenvards he was again in his cabin, resuming with more calm and collected thoughts the interrupted letter to his mother: — " On board the ' Mary Bannatyne^ off Portstnouth, June ^ih, 1847, 11.30 p.m. — My dear Mother, — My embarkation has been at the last, as I. ■will tell in detail, rather sudden and hurried. I expected not to leave London until to-morrow morning, but the ship got quickly round to Portsmouth, and last night when entering the door of Mr. Thomson's church at Woolwich to preach, a messenger from London met me to say that I must get to Portsmouth without losing an hour lest the ship should be gone. I endeavoured accordingly to leave London by the last train, but was too late, and happily so, for in case I had got away I would not have seen L; but as it was graciously arranged, I came away at seven a.m., and had J., L, and Mrs. I. to the station, and I. all the way. He was on board during most of the day, and left us in the evening. My heart was too full to put pen to paper at that time, and I left as I thought all news for him to give; 312 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1S47. but since he went away I find that by our pilot I may still send a few lines, which I cannot omit the duty of attempting. I have now entered on a new sphere of duty and trial, I mean on board ship. Much fidelity and wisdom are needed to be a witness for the Lord in such circumstances, and I have in this matter as well as with reference to ulterior designs much need of fervent believ- ing prayer. Do not forget us. May all that sail with us be given to Jesus. We have already begun worship in tlie cuddy, and I hope it may be continued throughout, if possible, morning and evening. I felt it a great privilege to have I. with me at the last. May this separation for the gospel be to each of us a blessing. Ah ! what grace is manifested in such a separation ! Why am I not, as many, going forth in search of mammon ; or put to sea, as some are, because they are unprofitable even in man's account on land? Who maketh.thee to differ? O! to live under the full influence of Christ's constraining love ! To us to live will thus be Christ, and to us to die will be gain. We know not the progress nor the end of this voyage, nor what news may reach us from Britain should we reach our destination. Yet I rejoice to go. I feel that I am where it is the Lord's gracious will that I should be, and I would join with all his people in praying, 'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.' All the ends of the earth shall yet remember and turn to the Lord; and all the kindreds of the people shall do homage unto him ; for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the Governor among the nations. On his vesture and on his thigh there is a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords ! iEt 32.] CHINESE STUDIES. 313 Now may the God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be pre- served blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us ! Salute all the brethren for us. Thus in haste again A\Tites, dearest mother, your affection- ate son, — Wm. C. Burns." Such was his farewell, full alike of solemn tenderness, and of brave, resolute hopefulness, to his native land, and to the home of his birth and early years. The progress of his voyage, and his unwearied labours for Christ in the narrow sphere now meanwhile assigned to him, ■\\ill be best followed in the words of his own journal, which again becomes more or less continuous : — "A^ Sea, Wednesday, Jtmc ij^d, 1847. — It is now a fortnight since I embarked in this vessel; and thus far God hath gra- ciously prospered our way. For a week after we set sail we were detained by contrary and, in general, stormy winds at the mouth of the British Channel, but since that time the weather has been delightful, and we have been wafted speedily on our way, so that to-morrow morning, if the wind continue favourable, we shall pass by Madeira. During the first few days I was rather sick, but I have been able from the beginning to do a little at my Chinese studies, and during the last few days my progress has been, I think, encouraging. We have had public worship every evening in the public cabin, and to-day I succeeded in getting it begun also in the morning. . . . '■^ At Sea, lat. 23° south, long. 29° west, Wednesday, yuly iZth. — It is seven weeks this day since I came on board this vessel. Hitherto we have been all mercifully preserved, and have advanced steadily, though not very rapidly, on our voyage. Some of the crew have had illness, but they are 314 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1847. again able for their duties. I have suffered a good deal, and still suffer almost daily, from nausea, which abridges my ability for close application to study. I am, however, able to do a little from day to day in acquiring the Chinese, and occasionally I make more rapid advances. The work is pleasant and profitable from the Bible being my text-book, and in consideration of the momentous end which I have in view. Morrison was enabled to accomplish a great work in preparing such a version of the New Testament as that which it is my privilege to study. I have felt much interested by his Memoirs, which I am again reading. He was a spiritual man as well as a man of strong natural parts, and was thus both naturally and by grace qualified for the work of trans- lation. . . . " I have been graciously permitted hitherto to maintain family worship in the cabin every evening, and generally also in the morning, although with occasional difficulty, the desire not being as yet very great. The illness of one of the seamen opened my way a good deal in the forecastle, and I now have worship there also at least twice a week. On Sabbaths all join with us excepting one or two. When shall the cry be heard among us : 'What shall I do to be saved.'" Yesterday afternoon we passed Trinidad, a very picturesque island, un- inhabited except by a few goats and swine. It stands quite alone in the midst of this vast ocean. Should our voyage be favourable, we shall not again see land until near the Chinese seas. The Island of St. Paul's comes first in sight. I was glad to find on crossing the line that the heathenish practices which used to be comm.on on shipboard, and of which Dr. Morrison gives an account in his journal forty years ago, had no place among us. All went on as usual, with only some passing allusions to the subject. Such changes among our seamen are hopeful. ' Do thou thy glory far advance Above both sea and land,' Psalm xxxvii. '■^Lat. 33° south, lo)i. 14° west. Thursday, August ^th. — This iEt. 32.] A MAN OVERBOARD. 3 1 5 morning at half-past four o'clock, Thomas M'Leod, an ap- prentice in the ship, fell overboard and was drowned. They tried to render him assistance, but all was vain, as it was dark and rainy, and the wind was changing at the time. He was aged about seventeen, a native of Rothesay, and the son of a widow. The evening before last I had worship in the steerage or half-deck with him and some of the other men, and was led to speak specially of the danger of sudden death to which they were exposed. He seemed attentive, and answered me the question in the Shorter Catechism, * What is Prayer.'" I had also conversed and prayed with him pre- viously when sick. This is all I can say of his case. He is, alas! now numbered with those whom 'the sea will give up' at the last day to stand before the great white throne. It is sad to see andyir/ how little this solemn event seems to affect us. Who can tell but it may be the precursor of other dis- plays of the Lord's righteous hand? May I and others be taught to prepare for the Lord's coming ! I am still enabled to continue worship morning and evening (with occasional interruptions in the morning) in the cabin. In the half-deck and in the forecastle I have the fullest liberty to do all I can for these precious souls. I am sometimes refreshed in these exercises, though I cannot see any special evidences of fruit. * Let us not be weary in well-doing.' We are now about 1600 miles from the Cape of Good Hope. The weather has been fine hitherto, but this being the winter season in these southern regions it is now becoming cold, and may be ex- pected to be stormy. I go on pretty regularly with my Chinese, and find it gradually become more familiar, although it is evident from the nature of the language that it must re- quire long practice to render it at all natural to a European mind and tongue. I occupy myself much in translating the English New Testament into Chinese, and comparing these rude attempts with Morrison's version. This I find an ad- mirable method of mastering the substance of the language, although the peculiar Chinese manner of thought and expres- 3l6 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1847- sion can only be fully attained from studying native authors. This I am also practising to a certain extent. . . . " Thursday, August 26th. — Since the previous date we had some very stormy weather, with an intervening calm of some days. The wind, however, when strongest, was favourable, and has been therefore less severely felt. On Tuesday (24th) it blew almost a hurricane from the north-west. I was stand- ing on the poop when a lofty wave broke over the vessel. By its force and the rolling of the vessel I was lifted from the deck, but having a firm hold I was mercifully preserved. My watch was filled with salt water, and the chain snapped. How in a moment might the pulse of life have been thus ar- rested ! ' Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee ; because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.' In the cabin our conversation occasionally turns upon the things of God. I have, however, more to do generally in witnessing for our God and Saviour's authority and grace by my own walk than by words. Indeed, when one is so closely connected with others as in the cabin of a ship, a holy and consistent deportment is indispensable in order to maintain without shame a verbal testimony for the truth. I have reason to bless the Lord for much of his comforting presence in this my little cabin, where I am so much alone, and also for timely aid in more public occasions. How holy and how useful is the Lord willing that I should be ! This is a solemn thought, involving an unknown amount of responsibility. ' Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name,' &c. One of my daily duties is to teach Dr. Morrison's little daughter to read. She had just got the alphabet, but is now making encouraging progress — an interesting child. She commits to memory verses of hymns, and has now got ' The Lord's my Shepherd,' &c. Jesus, look on this child, for thy name's sake : Amen. For the last few weeks I have little nausea, and am able to make encouraging progress in the Chinese. . . . '■'' Entrance of Java Sea {opposite North Island), Satur- JEt. 32.] ANJER BAY. 3 1 7 da_y night, October ()th. — I am now near the close of another week of mercy and faithfulness manifested toward me on the part of a redeeming covenant God. On Sabbath morn- ing last we were in shallow water, but no land had been seen, the weather being thick. At ten A.M. the curtain was uplifted, and opposite my cabin window appeared the high land of Sumatra at the mouth of Sunda Straits. This joy- ful sight at this moment served to unite the passengers in a short meeting for divine worship when there seemed little likelihood of their assembling, the steward having brought word that neither the captain nor any of the crew could attend. I sung Psalm cxv. 1-4, 10, read and commented shortly on Ephesians iii., and concluded with prayer. I did not go to dinner, as I wished to seek a right view of the sin of trampling on the Lord's-day, and to praise him for his great mercy in saving our ship's company from the temptation to violate it at Anjer, as they might have done.^ ... On Tuesday morning we were within ten miles of Anjer, sailing slowly over a glassy sea covered with the canoes of the Javanese and Malays fishing, or bringing off provisions to offer for sale. Six or seven canoes came under my cabin-window to trade with the captain, &c. I looked out to them, and when they stroked their naked arms and breasts to intimate that they wished clothes, I could only smile, shake my head, and hold up an open book (the book of God), to let them know that I was come to teach them, and not to trade or clothe their bodies. They understood my meaning, and looked to me again and again smiling, as if well pleased; and one man put his hands together as if in the attitude of prayer. In the afternoon God sent us for a short time a favourable breeze, which carried us to Anjer Bay about five o'clock ; but left us outside the anchorage, which, owing to the current, we did not reach until seven a.m. of Wednesday (October 6th). . . . I had many quiet opportunities of meeting the natives who ' It had been for some days anticipated that they would reach Anjer on the Lord's-day. 3l8 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1847. came on board to trade. I particularly spoke to two Malays, Acsan and Cassidcn, who waited most of the day on the poop in charge of provisions which had been bought and sent on board. In compliance with their entreaties (they are contin- ually begging, and understand a good deal of English here) I covered each of them with a long white shirt (the two made for me by Mrs. Hardy, my worthy hostess at Kingston, Upper Canada), and spoke to them as I best could of Jesus' blood- washed garment of salvation, longing for the time when many of their nation shall be found sitting at Jesus' feet as disciples, thus clothed and in their right mind. A subsequent request which they made for soap to keep their shirts clean afiforded a new emblem by which to instruct them. I also met a Mr. S , second mate of the Regma of Bombay, a large vessel passing down from China. I found him to be a brother-in- law to Mr. Smith,^ late Church missionary to China, whose book I have been reading with interest and profit. I gave him two religious books, with an inscribed promise to pray for him. May I remember and be enabled to fulfil all such engagements ! . . . '■'■Java Sea, Monday, October nth. — I had opportunities of speaking further to some of the poor Malays, and learned from them a few words of their language, which seems easy for a European to pronounce. They seem a simple people, rather fitted to obey than to rule ; but, as may be expected, they are awfully deceitful. When going to speak to some of them in a canoe close to the vessel, I saw sitting near me on the quarter-deck an old gray-haired man, unlike any person I had before seen. I thought with myself who he could be, but, strange to say, never thought of China as his country until he came round to where I was standing, and I perceived his gray and scanty hair plaited into the tail and hanging down his back. He was not like any representation of the Chinese that I had seen, much less/5/«;//^ and more intelligent, and he was the first of that great nation that I had seen in ^ Afterwards Bishop of Victoria, Hong-Kong. /Et. 32.] MUSINGS ON THE PAST. 319 person. I exchanged with him a few words in English, which he spoke very well, and when he learned that I knew a little of Chinese, he took out a paper (a receipt for goods that had been bought from him) written in English and Chinese, to see if I knew the characters. I recognized some of them, and found that I had got the correct pronunciation. I went on deck soon after with a part of the Chinese Scriptures (New Testament), that I might show it to him, but he was just leaving the vessel, and our intercourse ended. I had at least mentioned to him the name of Jesus. . . . On Satur- day forenoon we were in company of two vessels from Lon- don to China, the barque Anne and Jane, which sailed a fort- night before us, and the ship Marquis o/Buie, which belongs to the same owners as this vessel, and sailed a month later. Her master, Captain Bannatyne, is from Rothesay. He was on board for some hours. It was indeed a cause of thankful- ness that all this preceded the Lord's-day ; and that on Sab- bath (yesterday) no one came near us to be a cause of temp- tation. We had public worship on the poop as the day was fine. ... I preached from Matthew xxviii. 18-20, 'All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, &c. And, lo ! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.' I felt much supported in opening up briefly these mighty words, and had an opportunity of speaking to present circumstances among ourselves, while I showed on the one hand the d2it_y of Christ's ministers, and on the other the du^y and responsibility of those individuals, Parents, masters, &c., to whom this gospel comes in obeying it themselves, and allowing it to have free course among those placed under them. The rest of the Sabbath I spent in my own cabin, and though there was no further meeting for wor- ship on board, yet I trust the presence of God was among us. The name of the vessel that joined us on Saturday, Marquis of Bute, reminds me of circumstances worthy of being re- corded, but hitherto omitted. In the month of March last I visited Bute and Arran, preaching in Arran to a divided 320 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1847- people without a minister at Brodick, and in Rothesay to the desolate congregation of the lamented Peter M'Bride, a faith- ful and much-honoured servant of God, cut down in the midst of signal usefulness, particularly in his native parish of Knap- dale, in visiting which he died. When at Rothesay I was asked to preach in the parish of Kingarth at an inn in Kil- chattan Bay. The people came out well, many belonging to the Established Church, and some impression seemed to be made. One evening when preaching on 'the new birth,' I made allusion to one whom I had known ten years before in their neighbourhood, who seemed evidently to have under- gone that great change. This was Mr. John Smith, the Marquis of Bute's head gardener (at Mountstuart, some miles from where we were), who was a remarkable man of God; but was hated on this account, and at the time of the Disruption was cast out of his situation for following the protesting church. He had died only a few months before, and his memory was sweet to many and to me also, as I had often enjoyed, along with James Denniston, the solemn privilege, when we were teaching in Bute as tutors during the summer months, of visiting his abode and being benefited by his heavenly converse and prayers. Having been led to ask about his widow, I determined to call on her in returning to Rothesay, at the cottage which he had built in the midst of a garden which he had rented, and which he cultivated in his last days for his support. I somehow deferred, however, my intended visit until the last time that I passed from Kingarth, and this was well ordered. The last evening I was there the poor people insisted on my accepting a few pounds as a token of their gratitude, and to defray my expenses. I refused it as I was not in want, but had at last to yield. The following day I called on Mrs. Smith, found her unwell and troubled in other ways. Her husband had been always open-handed, saying the marqnis would not see him watit in his old days, and now he was gone, and his poor widow said few inquired how she was provided for. She told me what I had not ^t. 32.] MUSINGS OF THE PAST. 32 1 heard, that her husband held many meetings for prayer in Kilchattan Bay, and that when debarred by the factor from the people's houses, he hired the very room where I had spoken of him, and met the people there, and that he was in the act of beginning one of these meetings when the letter was put in his hands which dismissed him from his place. I had worship with her — poor woman — reading Psalm xxxvii. as applicable to his case, and then told her of the money that had been given me, and that I doubted not God intended it for her. She wept as she received it, saying, ' That will just free me from my difficulty. The term is near, and on Satur- day I had to say to the collector for the schemes of the Church for the first time that I could give nothing.' Of the other places which I visited when last in Scotland I spent the longest time in Montrose and neighbourhood, m.inistering to a vacant congi'egation in the town, and to Mr. Bain of Logie's congregation during his absence at Malta. No very remarkable blessing appeared in either place, but among Dr. Brewster of Craig's people — especially the children in the school at the fishing village — a gracious work of the Holy Spirit seemed to be going on, chiefly through the instrumen- tality of the female teacher. Preaching there in the begin- ning of winter I met their venerable pastor,^ who seemed to be ripening for the Lord's garner, and was a few months after called away. I also there met once more that dear man of God, Andrew Bonar of Collace, who had been there before, but Barnabas-like, 'seeing the grace of God, he was glad,' and returned again to exhort, instruct, and comfort them. At Logic I found Mr. T. usefully employed as teacher and elder, one of those who professed to have experienced a change of heart during the awakening at Aberdeen in 1840. When at Manchester in the month of May I found also Mr. M., ' The Rev. James Brewster, D.D., brother of the late distinguished Sir David Brewster, and himself a man of fine culture as well as deep piety. He was our father's near neighbour in his first parish, and an endeared and valued friend. X 32 2 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1847. converted at Dundee, and Mr. J. from Perth, both employed as missionaries, and coming forward to the ministry. May all such prove to be indeed living branches of the true Vine, and bear much fruit by abiding in Him ! '■'■Monday, October 2^th. — Since the previous date I have been able to do comparatively little at the Chinese on ac- count of the heat, which has been very great and oppressive. We have made good progress during the last week, and are now about seven hundred miles only from our destination. We are to-day, however, nearly becalmed, and the future is with our God, who reigneth over all. . , . Taking into view the state of my own soul, and my future prospects in Hearing the coast of China, I felt it duty to spend the rest of the day (Sunday, October 24th, after divine service) in my own cabin, and did not leave it to dinner or tea, or indeed at all. T trust my soul feasted in the Lord's presence, and upon his truth and grace. My heart visited many past scenes of labour and many far-distant friends and brethren in the faith of Jesus ; and I enjoyed more than usual liberty and depth both in confessing sin and in pleading for grace to myself and others. ... I have often found of late the chapters in Mr. M'Cheyne's Calendar for the daily reading of the Scriptures exceedingly suitable to my wants. His Memoir and Remains also I find now more valuable than ever. I am reading also again, and with new interest as we approach the scene of his labours, the memoirs of Dr. Morrison the Chinese missionary. The earlier part of these memoirs especially contains a precious development of his very genuine and eminent spiritual character. He appears to have been indeed an upright servant of the living God. Oh ! for grace to follow in this respect in his footsteps. Dr. Milne was a precious man of God, and his Chinese tracts — some of which I have — seem to be of much value. In these, his works, I doubt not, will follow him. His hfe by Philip has too much of Dr. Philip and too little of Dr. Milne to possess all the interest and importance which might belong to such a work. JE.t. 32.] STORM IX THE CHINA SEAS. 323 And yet some of the biographer's views seem striking and useful, " Mojtday, November Zth. — Subsequently to the previous date for about ten or twelve days we had calms or very light winds, so that we made little progress except to the eastward. The captain was glad at getting so far to the east (close to the coast of Luzon, a large island belonging to the Spaniards, in which Manila is the chief port), as he counted on meeting the north-east monsoon, and so running direct across towards the north-west to Hong-Kong. But how short-sighted is human wisdom even in these natural things ! On Saturday night last it began to blow a gale which continued to increase during the whole of Sabbath, and since this morning has been so very severe that some part of the main-mast has been blown away, and until this moment (half-past eight o'clock P.M.) we are running under bare poles, i.e. unable to carry the smallest sail, at the mercy of the winds and waves, or more truly at the mercy of that living God ' who bringeth the wind out of his treasures.' During the day the wind was from the west, and we were fast drifting towards the land, which is thought to be very near. Had this continued our danger must have soon been imminent ; but as it is ordered in the Lord's mercy, the wind has gone more into the south, and though the storm still rages we drift rather towards our wished-for port, and the hope of deliverance gladdens ever}' heart. I trust these things are ordered for spiritual good to some or many, as well as to manifest the glory of a present God. I have been kept in perfect peace hitherto, I trust, from having the mind stayed on the Lord. The Lord has also wondrously again begun to open a door among us for delivering the testimony of his truth. On Thursday week I found unexpectedly a favourable opportunity of asking again that public worship should be resumed;^ and had the request granted cordially, although I was still to be confined to ^ There had latterly been less liberty in this respect than he had at first hoped. 324 LIFE OF REV. 'WILLIAM C. LURNS. [1847. worship in the cuddy, and not to go into the forecastle. I took the hberty thankfully ; but again renewed my protest against the restriction. Worship accordingly was held every night until this storm began, which made yesterday a silent Sabbath; and this evening, when I did not think of proposing worship, it was requested for the first time by one of the passengers. Thus I trust the truth is gaining ground among us. The moral atmosphere of our society has been for weeks past a good deal purified. Sung Psalm xlvi. ; read Isaiah xxvi. " Tuesday Evening, November ()th. — During last night the storm abated, and this morning revealed the land very near — about twelve or fifteen miles off. Had the storm overtaken us fifteen hours sooner our peril must have been imminent, as we were then within six or eight miles of the shore ; and as it was, had the wind not changed from west to south we must soon have been in great jeopardy, and in still greater suspense and alarm. We have been during to-day advancing prosperously on our course, and I do trust that that almighty and holy Being whose mercies have been so great has still greater, even saving mercies in store for many among us. I am encouraged to hope this more than before, after having been much cast down about an hour ago. No one came at worship time, and the captain came in, looked at the baro- meter, and went on deck. I had gone into my cabin, and was spreading the matter before the Lord when the steward came to tell me the captain was waiting for worship. We had only him and Dr. Morrison, but the meeting was sweet; portion in order, Cornelius and Peter, &c. — opening of the door of faith to the Gentiles, Acts x.; and from some.conversa- tion after we had concluded I entertain the hope that I may soon have full liberty as before to visit among the crew. Should it be so, may the Holy Spirit be present giving liberty to preach Jesus crucified for sin as the refuge for dying souls, and spiritual liberty to every soul to receive him as a Saviour and Lord unto eternal life ! Jesus hath the key of David. He openeth and no man shutteth. It is five months this day JEl S2.] ARRIVAL AT HONG-KONG. 325 since I came on board this vessel. T/ie Lord hath been gracious and true ! '■'■Hong-Kong, Tuesday, December "jth. — After the storm of November 8th we had favourable winds, and anchored in Hong-Kong Bay at midnight on Saturday the 13th. On Monday I came on shore, meeting a very kind and Christian welcome from the friends of the gospel here, and finding such doors of useful labour immediately opened to me, as confirm me in the soundness of those convictions of duty which brought me here. I am most comfortably boarded with a Mr. and Mrs. Power, close to the mission premises of the London Society. Mr. Stevenson^ has been prevented from coming out to minister to the Presbyterians here, and this gives me a greater hold of my own countrymen, to whom I have opportunity of preaching once every Lord's-day in the London Society's chapel. My progress in Chinese is slow compared with my desires ; but still I hope encourag- ing considered in the view of the difficulties of this very peculiar and hard language. On my arrival I was permitted once more to hear from my beloved parents — all well. Our deliverance from the perils of the deep appears now the greater, since we have heard within the last few days that the Anne and 'Jane from London, with which we were in com- pany in the Java Sea, was on the 8th ult. driven on shore near Manila and totally lost. All, however, were saved except one of the crew and a passenger, Mr. Rogers from Edinburgh, who were washed off a raft to which they had betaken them- selves, and were drowned. Another vessel also narrowly escaped, getting into Manila with the loss of all her masts." ^ The Rev. George Stevenson, now of Pulteney Town, Wick, an early and much valued friend, who had been invited to undertake the pastoral charge of the Free Church congregation at Hong-Kong, but had been by providential circumstances prevented. CHAPTER XIII. 1847. THE FIELD AND ITS PIONEERS. " /^~^ HINA proper is a compact territory. You would V_^ only need to cut off a few projections and fill up a few indentations in order to bring it into either a circle or a square ; for its length and breadth are nearly equal. It includes more than a million square miles; and lying between the twentieth and forty-second parallels of northern latitude, it enjoys on the whole an excellent climate. Two noble rivers^ flow do^vn its centre, and fertilize the most populous regions in the world. The ocean, sprinkled with islands, washes its eastern and southern coasts. The mountains of Thibet are its western barrier; and on the north it is still guarded by a wall thirteen hundred miles in length, which it cost the united labours of the nation to erect two thousand years ago. Over this wall or over these mountains, you instantly^ land on bleak deserts and barren wastes; and it is no wonder that in contrast with the encircling solitudes, the Chinese should have called their teeming soil, ' The Flowery Land.' ^ The riwang-ho and Yang-tze-Keang, the "Yellow River" and the "Son of the Ocean." .Et. 32.] china: the land axd the people. 327 " Wide as the surface is, the swarming inhabitants re- quire it all. From the safest calculations, as the imperial census, the present population cannot be less than three hundred and sixty millions, or a third of the world's in- habitants. To stow away such a multitude needs the utmost economy of room; and in its expedients for squeez- ing existence into the smallest possible compass, the Chinese continent resembles the cabin of a ship. Crops are grown in places where you would think none but the birds could have planted them; and in their anxiety to leave every inch available for culture, they contrive to put past themselves and their families in all inconceivable corners. They cannot double their area, but their genial sky allows them to double their harvests by sowing two crops in the year; and as land is so precious, many of this evenly-minded and compressible people are content to live on the water. Most of their rivers are strewed with these floating cottages."^ But in truth the crowded life of the Chinese people is due not so much to the narrowness of the land, as to the variety of its surface. The sterile and inhospitable char- acter of a large part of the empire compresses a popula- tion which on the average is not more dense than that of England into a comparatively limited space. To the west are vast mountain ranges, with giant peaks, frowning gorges, and forests of cedar and of pine ; in the centre is a hilly region, gradually softening do\\-n into those gentle breezy slopes on which the tea plantations flourish; while ^ China and the Chinese Mission, by the Rev. James Hamilton, pp. I, 2. 328 LIFE OF REV, WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1847. to the east and seaward there stretch out wide and fertile plains, studded with tOAvns and villages, and cultivated every inch like one vast garden. It is this last region that constitutes that teeming hive of human life with which we are familiar, and of which alone till recently we could be said to possess any authentic knowledge. The people are quiet, industrious, orderly, mechanically civil, and artificially refined, deeply sunk indeed, like all heathen nations, in ungodliness and sin, but addicted rather to the quieter than the ruder vices. They are intensely sensual, but not fierce or cruel; though the very apathy and shallowness of their nature renders them on occasions singularly reckless of the shedding of blood. They love their children, and have more than any other- heathen people of the sentiment of home and family life; and yet the inconvenience of an overcrowded country induces them to expose by m}Tiads their female offspring. Their religion is a strange medley of diverse creeds, dwelling together in peace, and blending more or less together in the ideas and life of the people. " The first of these was founded by Confucius in the sixth century. It is the religion of the literati, and of the present emperor; but there is no reason why it should be called a religion, except that its votaries believe in nothing besides. It consists of a few moral and practical maxims, and evades the existence of God and the immortality of the soul. The Confucians are the atheists and the philosophic utilitarians of China. Next comes the Taou sect, whose founder, Laou-tsze, lived in the days of Confucius. Un- like the Confucians, who believe in nothing supernatural. JEt. 32.] CHINESE RELIGIONS. 329 the followers of Laou-tsze have peopled earth and air with all sorts of spirits and demons. They deal in magic, and are constantly consulting maniacs and others whom they deem possessed; and it used to be their great problem to discover the elixir of immortality. They are the fana- tics of China. And then we have a sect not of Chinese but Indian origin, and far more popular than the other tvvo, the Buddhists. The object of their ambition is to lose all personal identity, and be absorbed into Buddha. Contemplation and abstraction of mind are their highest enjoyments, and to lose all contact ^vith earthly things — to live ' without looking, speaking, hearing, or smelling,' is the nearest approach to perfection. They are the mystics and ascetics of China. "^ Such as it is, the religion of this strange and singular people obtrudes itself every- where. The land teems with images. " Their temples, houses, streets, roads, hills, rivers, carriages, and ships, are full of idols; every room, niche, corner, door, and win- dow, is plastered with charms, amulets, and emblems of idolatry." 2 Add to these particulars one or two characteristic features more, — their singular reverence for the tombs and for the memories of their ancestors, — their ancestral tablets and ancestral religious rites; their one written, and their many spoken, languages ; their universal system of education and of literary examination and degrees, upon which, by a remarkable anticipation of our recent civil service reforms, the appointment to all public offices of ^ China and the Chinese, pp. 9, 10. * Medhurst's China, p. 219. 330 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1S47. trust and profit depends; their strange and whimsical, but often rich and showy costume — the tails and silk robes of the men, and the cramped feet of the women; their eager curiosity, especially in the inland districts, about the persons and the movements of strangers, making the hapless traveller often ten minutes after his arrival the centre of an excited crowd, which fills doors and windows, and almost stops the traffic of the streets; their fortune- tellers, their story-tellers, their jugglers, and their rude but vastly popular stage-plays, held in the open air, at the ex- pense usually of some rich citizen, and open to all comers; their pleasant life in canals and rivers, in boats which serve often for weeks together both for locomotion and lodging, and which, moored close to the gate of some populous to\\Ti or city, make the stranger at once at home in the place of his sojourning; their multitudinous and meaningless religious ceremonies, in which there is scarcely anything of religion or religious belief; and in fine, their measurement of time not by weeks but by the periodical recurrence of market-days, evermore painfully reminding the missionary that he dwells in a Sabbathless land ; — and we shall be able to form a tolerably distinct idea of the circumstances and scenes in the midst of which we have now to place ourselves, and with which, in the course of our narrative, we shall become more and more familiar. Towards this vast and interesting field the missionary spirit of the Christian Church was at a very early period directed. The charm of mystery and distance exercised a certain fascination over imaginative minds, in behalf of a people whose peaceful industry and prosaic artificial ^t. 32] EARLIEST CHINESE MISSIONS. 331 civilization lent to them little of the interest of romance. Ardent spirits longed to pierce the barriers of that great unknown land, and to claim the first kingdom of the far east for Christ. As early, probably, as the seventh century, certainly as early as the eighth, Christian mis- sionaries from the Nestorian Churches in Persia found their way to China, and sowed the seeds of a Christian belief and profession, the traces of which sur\-ived, though with little power or purity, for several centuries.^ During the twelfth century the western world was filled with rumours and tales, probably not altogether without a basis of truth, of a Christian king ruling over a Christian people in the country immediately to the north of China; who under the name of Prester John exercised the func- tions at once of priest and king, and handed down both name and office to his successors for several generations. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries we trace the footsteps of pioneers of nobler mould and of more pure and enlightened Christian \-iews, conspicuous amongst whom was the Franciscan John de Monte Cornno; a man, says Neander, "in whom we recognize the pattern of a true missionary." After labouring for a season in Persia and India, he found his way at length to Pekin,- obtained influence and favour at the imperial court, translated the New Testament and the Book of Psalms into the ver- nacular tongue, laboured for the education of the young and the rearing up of native missionaries, baptized six thousand converts and founded hvo churches, one of which was so near the royal palace, that the emperor could hear in * See Neander's Church History, v. 115. ^ Ancically, Canibalu- 332 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1847. his chamber the voices of the children singing the praises of God. Wliile yet only fifty-eight years in age he had already grown gray in the midst of labours and hardships whose record is on high, and the results of which the day shall declare.^ He was no unworthy precursor to another, bearing a still more illustrious name, who appeared on the scene two centuries and a half later. In the year 1553 the ardent and holy Francis Xavier arrived at the island of Sancian, on his way to the neighbouring coast of China, on the evangelization of which he had set his heart. After all his labours in India and Japan, he deemed that he had accomplished nothing unless he had unfurled the standard of the cross in the great pastern empire, and claimed possession of its vast doinains for Christ. After manifold obstacles and difficulties he seemed at last on the eve of the accomplishment of his cherished purpose. From the little islet on the shore he could look across to the rocky coast of the land which he so ardently longed to enter, and was in daily expectation of a native merchant junk to convey him there. His purpose was to land fur- tively under cloud of night; he was almost sure to be seized and imprisoned ere yet he had almost begun his work; but he would at least, he thought, have Chinese fellow- prisoners, and in their hearts he might sow the seeds of a harvest that should spring up after he was dead. But the great Master who so often accepts the purpose for the deed, and in whose vast field of labour "one soweth and another reapeth," had ordained it otherwise. While still waiting for the expected vessel, he was seized with a virulent ^ Neander, vii. 76-77. ^t. 32.] FRANCIS XAVIER. 333 fever, under which he sunk. "Stretched on the naked beach, with the cold blasts of a Chinese winter aggra- vating his pains," he wrestled alone with the last enemy, yet his countenance was -lit up with heavenly brightness, and tears of holy joy streamed from his eyes, as he exclaimed with his last breath, "O Lord, in thee have I trusted! I shall never be confounded."^ The fallen standard was soon taken up by other and not unworthy hands. The ItaUan Jesuit, Valignano, halting at Macao on his way to Japan, cast his eyes wistfully towards the neighbour- ing shores of China, still sternly closed against the gospel, and exclaimed, "O Rock, Rock, when wilt thou open!" Not satisfied with mere aspirations, he deputed two of the ablest and most devoted of his companions to attempt an entrance into the forbidden territory. The enterprise was successful. With that remarkable combination of zeal and subtlety which is characteristic of their order, they contrived to establish themselves on Chinese soil, first under the disguise of Buddhist priests, and then under the garb of Chinese literati; and a few years aftenvards we find one of their number, Matthew Ricci, filling an im- portant literary office at the capital, and high in the favour of the emperor, while labouring with devoted zeal for the propagation of the faith which he had come to preach. He died in 1610, amid the tears of his brethren and the reverential mourning of the entire* community, having spent twenty-seven years of incessant labour in China, and leaving behind him more than three hundred churches in a land in which he had been in modern times the first ^ In te, Domine, speravi; non confundar in seternura. 334 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1847. Christian missionary. After him followed in succession Adam Schaal (ob. 1666) and Ferdinand Verbiest (ob. 1688), men in every way worthy to tread in his footsteps, and to carry forward the work which he had so auspi- ciously begun. Like him they were men of science as well as men of faith ; and as in his case, a position of influ- ence and honour was speedily opened to them as savans, which would have been denied to them as missionaries. But though they were patronized and protected not for the sake of their message, but for their skill in arranging the calendar, casting cannon, and negotiating treaties, they seem never to have lost sight of the great purpose of their mission, for which alone they sought to live and were ready any moment to die. While themselves pleading the cause of Christ at the court and in the capital, they were enabled at the same time to stretch their protecting shield over their humbler brethren in the provinces, and to further the admission of fresh labourers within the jealously guarded bounds of the empire. Of the extent of their success we may form some estimate from the fact that in the single year 1671, in which, after a season of perse- cution, their churches were again opened, but all attempts at conversion were prohibited, we find mention of no fewer than 20,000 baptisms; of its quality, however, in a scrip- tural and evangelical point of view, it is more difficult to judge. It is impossible wholly to separate the character of the men from the deadly poison of the system in which they had been born and bred, and which must have shed its pernicious influence more or less into all their teach- ing. Yet we are permitted to believe that the one foun- JEt. 32.] ROMISH MISSIONS. 335 dation at least of saving doctrine really was laid. "Their earlier tracts," says Dr. James Hamilton, "are very different from the legendary stuff circulated in Popish lands. A missionary well acquainted with them says, ' On the Trinity and incarnation they are clear; while the perfections of the Deity, the corruption of human nature, and redemption by Christ are fully stated; and though some unscriptural notions are now and then introduced, yet all things con- sidered, it is quite possible for humble and patient learners to discover by such teaching their sinful condi- tion, and trace out the way of salvation through a Redeemer.' And as some of their first missionaries were earnest men, and evinced their zeal in cheerful martyrdom, some of their converts appear to have been exemplary Christians." It is impossible, for instance, to read with- out deep interest of the learned Mandarin Paul, so called because on his conversion he desired to be the apostle of his countrymen, and who henceforth lived only to advance amongst high and low the cause he loved: or of his widowed daughter Candida, who after providing for those of her own house, consecrated the whole remainder of her fortune to the service of Christ — founding churches, printing Christian books, building hospitals for outcast children, teaching the bhnd story-tellers in the streets to tell, in place of their fabulous tales, the story of the Cross, — who gained even from the emperor the title of "the virtuous woman," and "was bewailed when she died by the poor as their mother, by the converts as their pattern, and by the missionaries as their best friend."^ So we may ^ Medhurst's China, 228. 336 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1847. fondly trust that the unwearied faith and patience of so many devoted labourers, albeit with defective or erroneous views of the tmth they loved, were not unowned by the Master, and that amid much earthly dross there may have been many grains of precious gold, which shall be found "unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." From the days of Verbiest until now, the Romish church has never been without its representatives in China. Of these the French missionaries De Fontaney, Gerbillon, Bovet, and Le Comte, with their successors during the i8th and 19th centuries^ were especially dis- tinguished for zeal, ability, and success. Hindered and interrupted often by imperial interdicts or open persecu- tion, they still held their ground and laboured unceasingly, sometimes openly, sometimes secretly, for the propagation of the faith. At the time at which our narrative begins they numbered 170 missionaries and upwards of 200,000 converts. Meanly as we may estimate the character of their work or the quality of its results, to them belongs the undisputed honour of having been first in the field, and of having held forth a bright example of faith and zeal, which the Reformed Churches were but too slow to follow. In the year 1806 Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary to China, was set apart to the work, in Swallow Street Scotch Church, London, under the auspices of the London Missionary Society, and arrived at Macao on September 4th, 1807. "There, in a warehouse which he rented, he plodded on in his secret labours at the lan- guage, hardly venturing out among the suspicious inhabi- ^t. 32.] MORRISON AND MILNE. 337 tants, and hiding the lamp by which he studied behind a volume of Henrys Commmtary. After ten years of toil he completed a herculean task, and printed in six quartos a Dictionary of Chinese; and after being joined by a like- minded labourer, Dr. Milne, had the happiness to trans- late into Chinese the entire Word, which, by the amazing ingenuity and industry of a brother missionary, was printed in a new and beautiful style." He was a man indeed singularly fitted by the gifts alike of nature and of grace for the work which he had undertaken, and specially at the particular stage which that work had then reached, with "talents rather of the solid than of the sho\vy kind; fitted more for continued labour than for sudden bursts of genius," and with a shrewd caution which was of great price in " a station where one false step at the beginning might have delayed the work for years." For eighteen long years he laboured on unobtrusively and unweariedly, himself but little seen, but his eye ever fixed on the Master and the Master's business. He died in 1834, having been preceded twelve years by his beloved brother and true yoke-fellow Dr. Milne. Though the time of fruit was not yet, they were honoured to gather some precious firstfruits of China unto Christ, conspicuous amongst whom were Leang Afah and Keuh Agang, who long survived them as consistent disciples and zealous and successful preachers of the gospel. But their work was that of pioneers rather than of cultivators of the land; gathering little fruit themselves, but pre- paring the seed for many harvests yet to come. Their true monument is the Chinese Bible and the Chinese Y 338 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1847. College,^ and the enduring memory of that "work of faith and labour of love and patience of hope" in the midst of all discouragements and difficulties, by which, though dead, they yet speak to all that follow after them, and which shall be remembered to their honour in that day "when they that sowed and they that reaped shall rejoice together." They will be ever recognized and honoured as the true fathers of the Chinese Protestant Missions and of the Chinese Protestant Church, With the opening of the five ports to foreign residents and foreign traffic in 1842,^ just eight years after Mor- rison had closed his work on earth, a great impulse was naturally given to the cause of Chinese missions, and re- presentatives of all the great societies in Britain and in America speedily hastened to the field. Within four years there were already in China, or on the way to it, fifty Protestant missionaries. The field so long jealously guarded and hedged around was suddenly throAvn open ^The Anglo-Chinese College founded at Malacca, in 1818, for the cultivation of English and Chinese literature, and thereby promoting the propagation of Christianity in the far East. Dr. Morrison him- self made the munificent offering of ;i^i5oo towards the carrj'ing out of this object, in which we must recognize the true precursor of the educational missionary institutes originated by Dr. Duff in Hindu- stan twenty years later. * By the treaty of Nanking, 1842, the ports of Canton, Amoy, Foo- Chow, Ning-po, and Shanghai were opened, and Hong-Kong was ceded to Britain. By the treaty of Tien-sin, 1858, the ports of Neu-Chwang, Teng-Chow, Tai-wan, Swatow, and Kien-Chow, and the river Yang-tse-kiang up to Hankow were opened to commerce. By convention of Peking, i860, Tien-sin was opened to trade, and Cowloon ceded to Britain. JEl. 32.] THE FIELD THROWN OPEN. 339 and lay white unto the harvest, and eager reapers were hastening from every side to cut it down. Such were the main incidents in the past history of the work on which the subject of this memoir now entered, with the ardent zeal of a Xavier, with the patient con- stancy of a Morrison, and with a consecration of heart and an abnegation of self equal to any of those who had ever trod that distant shore. CHAPTER XIV. 1847— 1850. BREAKING GROUND. " T~^ ORTY years have elapsed," said the Rev. James J- Hamilton, in his report to the Synod early in the next year, "since a young man, a native of Newcastle, and brought up in one of our Presbyterian Churches, effected his circuitous and almost clandestine passage as the first Protestant missionary to the Chinese empire. Arriving solitary on a shy and unwelcoming shore, with no Christian friend to cheer him, and no European arm to shelter him, that faithful servant of Jesus spent years of lonely and perilous toil in conquering a language with which scarce an Englishman had dared to grapple. But many a happy change, the harbinger of changes happier still, may thankfully be recognized in Mr. Burns' entrance on his work. Proceeding boldly to his destination, an hon- oured passenger in one of Britain's gallant argosies, and needing no alien interposition to smuggle the evangelist into a land which Britain then forbade the evangelist to tread, landing in open day, and beneath the glad assur- ance of the Union banner, he found the missionaries of two hemispheres, as well as Chinese Christians, there be- fore him. And whilst we would join our dear friend in Mt. 32-35.] FIRST WORK IN CHINA. 341 commemorating these bright distinctions of his lot, we record with special thankfulness the progress which he has already made as a Chinese scholar. The wonderful labours of Morrison and his coadjutors notwithstanding, the language still remains of all human dialects the might- iest bamer to intercourse; . . . and with all the helps afforded by his predecessors in this arduous work, and with all the facilities for quiet and unmolested study in an English settlement, we fully reckoned that years might pass before Mr. Burns could make any practical essay in that appalling tongue. Already, however, before faith and energy its terrors seem to disappear; and although it is only a year since our brother began to apply his mind to the study, and though he had only been two months arrived when last he wrote — we record it with joy and wonder — he was already attempting to publish the Word of life in the speech of Sinim. Having obtained access to the prisoners in the public jail, he was enabled to read the Scriptures to them, and even to address them briefly so that they understood." To this last incident he thus refers in his journal of date January 4th, 1848: — " During the past month I have been making some progress in the Chinese, and have had some opportunities of bringing into use the measure of knowledge already acquired. A fortnight ago Dr. Morrison (whose little daughter I still give a lesson to, and with whose Chinese comprador I read the Scriptures in English and Chinese) asked me to go and visit in the prison three Chinese cri- minals under sentence of death for murder, and who were 342 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1847-50- in deep distress and anxious to be visited by the ministers of Christ. Unable to do much, I felt called to do what I could; and as the execution of the sentence was delayed longer than usual in consequence of the absence of the governor, I had almost daily opportunities of meeting these poor men. I generally went alone, but at other times in company with the Chinese preacher Chin-Seen. They were very anxious to hear of the way of salvation through Jesus, and evidently strove to understand my broken Chinese. Although unable to say much to them I made them read with me Christian books, and on several occa- sions I even joined with them in prayer, through the medium of their own tongue. They did not speak the Canton dialect, which I am chiefly studying, and this no doubt made my rude attempts less intelligible; yet I felt encouraged, and enjoyed, I think, something of the power of grace in praying with and for them. One of these poor men has received a commutation of his sentence." This first beginning of his work in the sphere of direct missionary effort is characteristic, and must have been peculiarly congenial to him. Like that divine Master in whose steps he walked so closely, it was ever his delight most of all and first of all to care for those for whom few else cared, to leave the ninety and nine in the safe and quiet pastures, and go to seek the utterly lost in the far wilderness. The publicans and sinners in the highways and hedges, the neglected crowds of railway labourers or factory workers, the soldiers in the rough barrack-room, or amid the terrible temptations of the great city streets, had ever, in his native land and in Canada, had a special JEt. 32-33.] FIRST WORK IN CHINA. 343 attraction for him, as those to whom, as most needing, he owed the deepest debt of compassion and help. He loved to walk like Christ on the shady side of the world, and to be as a "brother born" to the sorrowful, the outcast, the forsaken. And so it was that in China by a singular coincidence it happened that his first care was directed to that very class to whom three hundred years before the apostolic Xavier had looked as the probable objects of his first missionary efforts — only that now in these happier times, it was not needful to become a prisoner in order to become the teacher of prisoners. It was quite in the spirit too of his whole life thus immediately to begin his work with such imperfect means of communication as were then at his disposal, instead of waiting until a more perfect knowledge of the language should have given him the advantage of clear and fluent utterance. In haste to reach the souls of those he had come so far to seek, he was impatient of the last barrier that still separated him from them; and if he could not yet break down that partition wall, he might yet at least hold broken converse with them through those narrow chinks and openings which he had already made. He could speak only, indeed, with stammering words and broken sentences; but those stammering words and broken sentences might still convey some grains of the precious gold — reflect some glimmerings of the eternal saving light — and that infinite blessing he dared not even for a moment withhold. Be- sides, while seeking to teach tliose poor prisoners the way of life, he would be at the same time learning something from them. He would sharpen and polish his rude in- 344 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1847-50- strument in the very act of using it, exercise his stammer- ing tongue and correct his broken sentences, while by their means he sought to instruct and comfort others. It was on the same principle that, as he tells us in his first letter from Hong-Kong, he from the first attended regu- larly the daily Chinese service conducted by natives at the mission-house, and gave lessons in English to the boy that waited on him along A\^th another, while " they repaid him ^\^th their Chinese, which he endeavoured to speak with them as best he could ; sometimes succeeding in being understood, and sometimes provoking a smile only." Dr. Hamilton I believe is perfectly right in attri- buting his remarkable success in mastering the difficulties and disarming "the terrors" of this singular tongue mainly to the " faith and energy " with which he girded himself to the task. He had indeed naturally a more than ordi- nary faculty for the study of language, and that faculty had at an early period received the very best discipline and training; but the natural faculty was more than doubled by the intense and concentrated energy with which, when called for by the highest ends, he used it. Here, as in everything else which concerned the service of his divine Master, whatever his hand found to do he did it with his might. As before in the case of the French in Canada, so here he might be said for the time to have almost wholly lived in the element of Chinese thought and Chinese speech. He spoke Chinese, ^Mrote Chinese, read Chinese, heard Chinese, sang in Chinese, prayed in Chinese. Far into the night sometimes might his voice be heard reciting aloud the words of life, or pouring out JEt. 32-35.] STUDY OF THE LANGUAGE. 345 his heart before God in the broken accents of that strange tongue which for Christ's sake he had determined with as htde delay as possible to make his own. Six years after this, as I heard recently from a relative, when on a visit to England, he surprised a company of friends by suddenly pronouncing the blessing before meat in Chinese, and then calmly repeating the same in English. It was only an extreme instance of that which was in reality the ruling principle of his whole missionary life. From the first and in everything ".to the Chinese he became as a Chinese that he might gain the Chinese " — Hved in their world, thought their thoughts, spoke their words. It was thus alone, as it seems to me, that he was enabled in after-years, as the prompt and fearless pioneer of the missionary band, to make those rapid transitions from one sphere of labour to another, which required in each case the forgetting of one language and the learning of another. The acquiring of a new Chinese dialect was comparatively an easy task to him, because he lived habitually in a Chinese element, and was thoroughly imbued with the very spirit of all Chinese thought and speech. The following extracts from his journals and letters will still further illustrate the nature of his work, and the spirit which actuated him during the first, and necessarily in a great measure preparatory and tentative, part of his missionary life : — ^'' Houg-Kong, Dec. 2'jih, 1847. — ^^^ dear Mother, — I am again allowed the opportunity of addressing you from this distant shore, that you may know something of 346 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1847-50. what I am doing, and that I may find at last some vent for those feeUngs which the thought of those from whom I am so far removed awakens. I have been, since I last \vrote, going on with my Chinese studies, and I desire to be thankful that I am enabled to make a little progress, while the difficulties that still remain to be encountered before I can attain to anything like a full mastery of the language, are so many that, were it not for the greatness of the end in view, I would be disposed to abandon the undertaking." Then after referring to his visits to the prisoners, "It is encouraging," he continues, "even already to be able to point even in a few expressions to the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world — to that Root of Jesse to whom the Gentiles are to seek and find his rest to be glorious. Among our own countrymen last Lord's-day was interesting, as that on which for the first time a congregation met here in connection with the Presbyterian Church. The place of meeting at present is central and convenient (an old bungalow, immediately behind the club-house); and though the numbers attending may not at first be very large, yet it is hoped that by the blessing of God this may form the beginning of that which shall issue in important results, both among the Chinese and amongst our own countrymen." To this congregation he continued to minister during the whole period of his stated residence in Hong-Kong, without, however, undertaking the task of constituting a regular church, or "entangling himself in any way that might retard his labours among the Chinese." Meantime, Avhile his spare time and spare thoughts were given to his JEt. 32-35.] HIS OWN HIRED HOUSE. 347 countrymen, his main strength and his whole heart were still with those in whose behalf he had come, and with whom, in the whole circumstances of his life, he more and more identified himself Leaving the comfortable lodging in a European family in which he had been at first received, he removed to a hired house of his own in the midst of the native population, where he might bury him- self out of sight with Chinese companions and in a Chinese home. His mode of life there must have been a very humble one in the eyes even of his humbler neigh- bours, if one may judge from a significant incident which he aftenvards playfully told me. There had been some commotion in the neighbourhood in consequence of some petty robbery or other misdemeanour, and an excited crowd was passing before the door in eager pursuit of the culprit. "Oh! you need not look there," cried one from amongst the throng, "// is only a poor foreigner. ^^ " Corner of Aberdeen Street, Queen's Road, Tuesday^ February 2()t/i, 1848. — During these two months mercy has abounded towards me. May I have grace to bless and glorify the God of my life and salvation! In my work among the British population I have been in some degree encouraged, though not in any manner fitted to show me that they ought to be the principal object of my efforts to promote the kingdom of God. Our meetings on Sabbath continue rather to increase, but on week-days very few attend. Early in January I began to feel my need of having the assistance of some native of this province to read with me, in order that I might get acquainted with the colloquial dialect, and acquire as far 348 LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [1S47-50. as possible the right mode of intonating each word — a point of the greatest importance in order to effective speaking, and one of the greatest difficulty. The Lord has graciously, I trust, guided me in this. A brother mission- ary spoke of my want to Mr. Gutzlaff, who kindly fur- nished me Avith a teacher, a young man from Canton city, whom I have found very suitable. He came to me on January 25 th. After a week or two I found it would be desirable, in order to give full employment to my teacher, and also to open up my way into Chinese society, that I should get him if possible to open a small Chinese school; and I thought it would be well if I could get a house having accommodation for this purpose, and where I might my- self live with none but Chinese around me, and so be obliged to speak the language at all times. It is in this view that I have taken the house in which I now am. I entered it a week ago (February 2 2d), and found myself alone, with none but my two Chinese servants, to whom, however, I had been providentially directed, and whom I found willing from the first day to come and worship with me. We read and have continued to read together in Matthew's Gospel (Morrison's version), and I pray with them imperfectly. These beginnings have encouraged me. 'Wlao hath despised the day of small things?' Yesterday my teacher came to live here, and he expects to be able to open a school in the lower flat of this house, which was formerly a druggist's shop, and is very suitable for this purpose, and also for collecting a small congrega- tion, should the Lord incline them to come, and give fit- ness to enter on the solemn work in a manner so public." ^t. 32-35-] "whom have I IN HEAVEN BUT THEE?'' 349 But while he thus "thought it good to be left" amongst heathen strangers and amid strange associations and ways of life "alone," he still did not feel lonely. Here as else- where to him one place differed from another mainly in the degree in which he possessed the felt presence of God,^ and enjoyed a holy freedom and enlargement of heart in His service. The chief effect of solitude was to bring him nearer to those from whom for the, gospel's sake he had been so far separated, and to impart an increased tenderness and fervour to his affectionate remembrances and prayers: — On the 28th March he ^\Tites to his mother : — "After having had worship with my Chinese family (two servants, a teacher, and three boys) I take up my pen to endeavour to hold some kind of communication, from this distant region of the earth, with those who are dearest to me on it. I feel, as I did last time, the want of hearing from any of you; but I have been comforted in some degree by the absence of any bad news, whether by the papers or by Mrs. K.'s letters. May the living and true God be the God and Redeemer and portion of each of my beloved friends, and be more and more gracious to, and more and more glorious in the eyes of my beloved parents as they advance to the borders of the unseen and eternal world ! May you be enabled to say with the divine Psalmist, *^\^lom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon ' The reader will remember the touching entry on page 259: "I think I can say through grace that God's presence or absence alone distinguishes places to me." 35° LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM C. BURNS. [i£47-5o. the earth whom I desire besides thee : my flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever ! ' 'As for me I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.' May your faith be as the shining light, shining more and more unto the perfect day ! Oh ! that I might hear in this far land of those of our dear kindred that as yet love not Jesus, having the eye divinely opened to behold His beauty and preciousness ! For myself I am here in the midst of a people of a strange language, and who know not the true God nor Jesus Christ whom he hath sent to be the light and life of men, and yet I cannot say that I am solitary or forsaken. I feel indeed more at home here than I did when I was last among you in Scotland, when the weight of that call which I believe I obeyed in coming here was resting upon me, and making me as a stranger among my own kindred. "When I last wrote I had newly taken up my abode here with my Chinese domestics, and had been encouraged by feeling able to read and pray with them (though feebly) in their own tongue. My teacher had not then joined me, and I was uncertain whether he would succeed in getting a school formed on the principles of the gospel. In this, however, I have been encouraged beyond my expectation. He got a few boys to come from a little distance of his own acquaintance, and as soon as he opened the school others came from the neighbourhood of their o^vn accord; so that for the last fortnight he has had regularly from twelve to fifteen scholars. Were we to make any effort I believe we could get more; but in .