Srom i 0e £i6rar£ of QSequeaf 0eo 6s 0im to f 0e £i6rars of (pttncefon Cfcofogtcaf ^etninarjj BX 9178 .H36 H3 1847 c.2 Hamilton, James, 1814-1867 The harp on the willows THE HARP ON THE WILLOWS, REMEMBERING ZION, FAREWELL TO EGYPT, THE CHURCH IN THE HOUSE, THE DEW OF HERMON, AND DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. BY THE REV. JAMES ^HAMILTON, OF LONDO] FROM THE FORTY-FIFTH LONDON EDITION. NEW YORK: ROBERT CARTER, 58 CANAL STREET ; AND PITTSBURG, 56 MARKET STREET. 1847. THE HARP ON THE WILLOWS. Two months ago I went to Edinburgh to attend the Convocation of Ministers. Like ma- ny of my countrymen, my heart used to beat harder when I came in sight of that city of re- formers and covenanters, of hallowed Sabbaths, and crowded churches, and solemn assemblies. Its towers and steeples used to say, Mount Zion stands most beautiful. But on this occasion "how did the city sit solitary !" Its pleasant sanctuaries had a look of widowhood ; and the most melancholy object of all was, a gorgeous unfinished structure on the Castle hill, reared for the Assemblies of the Church of Scotland, but more likely to be their cenotaph. Ministers preached, and congregations worshipped, as under warning to quit : and there was much of a farewell solemnity in every service. In private it was the same ; and, amidst many joyful Meetings and much longed-for inter- course, there was a prevailing tendency to sad- 4 THE HARP ness. There was a mournful and foreboding feeling, like that which reigned in Jerusalem after the voice had cried in the temple, " Arise, depart !" and just before the abomination of des- olation took his stand in the holy place. There was a conviction deeper than ever that the cause of the Church was the cause of God, and therefore not soon likely to become the cause of man. However, a few " hoped against hope ;" and the last evening I spent in Edinburgh, and being rather a cheering word, I remember it the better, in the course of conversation about the Church's prospects, an accomplished barrister said in my hearing, " I have great hope from the honesty of Englishmen. The English are a just people, and, if they understood our case, would do us justice." Now, dear friends, to be as honest as your- selves, I have great fear that you do not under- stand the case, and some fear that you will not study it. If the Waldenses were about to be ejected from those valleys, which they hold by solemn treaty, I could count on your interfer- ence. Or if the civil courts of Constantinople were tampering with the internal arrangements of our Ambassador's chapel, I believe you would think it right that our government should remonstrate. Now that the Queen of Mada- gascar is concussing Christian consciences, I know that many of you are indignant, and ON THE WILLOWS. 5 ^ould interpose your protection if you could. If you will hear me patiently, I promise to show that the cases are too parallel ; and as I shall endeavour to relieve the subject of all intricate details and metaphysical niceties, so I earnestly trust that, if I make out a case of grievance or of suffering for conscience' sake, you who have ere now listened to a voice from Piedmont, will not shut your ears against a voice from the Church of Scotland. At the Revolution — which you and we agree in calling glorious — the government restored to Scotland the religion which the Re- formers gave it. Presbyterianism was estab- lished ; that is to say, a Presbyterian minister was planted in every parish v A house was as- signed to this minister to live in ; four or five acres of land were annexed to this house, on which some oats and barley might grow, and a cow might pasture ; and then to purchase books and furniture, and fuel, and other crea- ture-comforts not indigenous to the glebe, a small salary from a portion of the ancient tithes was superadded. In consideration of the manse, glebe, and stipend, the people of that parish were entitled to the services of the min- ister, could claim their seat in the parish church, and enjoy rich and poor alike, the ordinances of religion. In those happy days each parish chose its own elders, and they, along with such I* 3 THE HARP of the .anded proprietors as were memoers of the Church, chose the minister. And as they usually chose the best, Scotland " flourished by the preaching of the Word." So eminently had Scotland become a Chris- tian nation, that when a union with England began to be agitated, the main subject of soli- citude was the national religion. The wisest men then perceived, what has since been am ply verified, that the Union would be produc- tive of many temporal benefits to the Scottish people. But all were apprehensive that the Church might eventually suffer. They knew that in the Parliament which would hereafter govern them, not one vote in ten would be a Presbyterian vote ; and when any question arose affecting the Church of Scotland, it might be misunderstood and mis-settled. To relieve this nervousness of the nation, a clause was put into the Articles of Union providing that the Church of Scotland, as it then exist- ed, should never be altered, and that the Sove- reign should swear, on his accession to main- tain that Church in all its privileges. This solemn stipulation quieted the appre- hensions of the people ; and after the pathos naturally felt at the " end of the auld sang"* * " There's an end of an auld sang" — the observation of the Lord Chancellor Seafield, as he adjourned the Scottish Par- liament for ever. ON THE WILLOWS. 7 had passed away, the country was settling down into complacency with the new state of things, when an incident occurred which veri- fied the gloomiest forebodings of the old pa- triotic party, and fixed in the vitals of the Scottish Establishment an arrow which, after rankling for a century, threatens to be fatal now. Towards the latter end of the reign of Queen Anne, it is well known that the Jaco- bite party were engaged in machinations to subvert the Protestant succession and restore the Pretender to the throne. Rightly judging that Presbyterianism, and the Presbyterian clergy, formed the main barrier to their purpo- ses in the North, they resolved, if possible, to neutralize this element. It struck them that if they could get the appointment of the cler- gy into their own hands, they might gradually fill the Church with men after their own hearts. Accordingly, to the consternation of every leal- hearted Scotchman, word arrived in Edinburgh in the end of March, 1712, that a bill had been introduced into Parliament for bestowing on certain patrons the power of presenting ministers to all the parishes in Scotland. Some of the ablest ministers were forthwith despatch- ed to London with instructions to offer the most strenuous opposition to the measure. But it was the policy of its authors to precipitate it to the utmost, that it might be an Act of Parlia- 8 THE HARP merit before Scotland could raise its remon strance, and they succeeded. Though Princi- pal Carstares and his colleagues posted to Lon- don as fast as their horses could carry them, they found the Bill in the House of Lords al- ready : and though they succeeded in getting a hearing at the bar of the House, Lord Boling- broke had made up his mind ; and no sooner had the counsel for the Scotch Commissioners ended, than it was moved that the Bill be now read a second time, which being agreed to, it was committed, reported, and read a third time — the whole five stages being condensed with dramatic effect into a single day. By this Act, Presbyteries were " obliged to receive and admit such qualified persons as should be presented by the respective patrons." Heavy as was this blow, and discouraged au people were, there was still some hope concern ing this thing. So deep-rooted was the popu- lar aversion to patronage, that it was some time before patrons ventured to issue presentations, or presentees to accept them, and some even hoped that the act might tacitly subside into a dead letter. On the other hand, though the General Assembly* felt that they and their peo- ple had lost a 'privilege — and that they felt this is sufficiently proved by the fact, that down to * The Supreme Ecclesiastical Court of Scotland, consisting of ministers and ruling elders. ON THE WILLOWS. 9 1784 they continued to protest against patron- age as a " grievance" — they hoped that they had not lost their freedom — that even were patronage in active operation there might still be protection for the people in the courts of the Church. There existed on the Scottish statute- book and unrepealed law, declaring that " the Lord Jesus, as king and head of his Church, hath therein appointed a government in the hand of Church-officers, distinct from the civil magistrate ;" and " that the civil magistrate may not assume to himself administration of the Word and Sacraments, or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven." They believed that the Act establishing the Church had made the spiritual courts the final judge in causes spiritual, even as it had made the civil courts the final judge in causes civil. They hoped, that in virtue of this co-ordinate and independent jurisdiction, they might decide for themselves whether the patron's nominee was or was not a qualified person, and admit or reject him accordingly. At all events, as a presentation to a living is a mere civil affair, and the admission to the cure of souls is a spiritual act, the Church courts imagined that if they should at any time be constrained, in compliance with the prayers of the people, to reject a patron's presentee, it would be compen- sation enough if the patron got the fruits of the 10 THE HARP benefice (as the law provides), in which case the patron might give his protege the living, and a more acceptable pastor might get the cure of souls. By considerations like these, the Church of Scotland flattered herself that her people would still enjoy protection, and her Church courts, spiritual freedom. This persua- sion became positive assurance, when it was found how scrupulously the secular courts ab- stained from tampering with spiritual sentences. In those days the Supreme Civil Court of Scot- land* refused to interfere when asked to dis- charge or overrule the deliverances of the eccle- siastical courts ; and they did so on the simple ground that the Church courts knew best how to deal with spiritual questions ; and even if they did not, the constitution of the country had made the Church Courts supreme IN THE SPIRITUAL PROVINCE. Whether Lord Karnes and Monboddo and the other judges of last century were too fas- tidious in their non-interference — whether they were actuated by a spirit of chivalrous etiquette, or by their knowledge of constitutional law — certain it is, that they forbore from reviewing the sentences of spiritual courts, even as the spiritual courts forbore from reviewing theirs. The General Assembly did not decide on dis- puted march-dykes, or marriage settlements ; * The Court of Session. ON THE WILLOWS. 11 nor did the Court of Session decide on the fit- ness of ministers for their parishes,, or of candi- dates for admission to the communion-table. The General Assembly imposed no fines, and sent nobody to prison.; and the Court of Ses- sion, with similar forbearance, neither ordained ministers, nor deposed them — neither admitted church members, nor excommunicated them. Somehow or other, they held on their several ways in wondrous harmony. There were no collisions, for each kept his own line. Dear reader, if I thought you had patience for it, I would tell you how the collision arose, and I am sure, if you knew all the particulars and were on the jury, you would give a deo- dand on the Court of Session engine. It was in the year 1834, on the 24th of May — I remember it well, for I was there myself — and in the Tron Kirk of Edinburgh, where the General Assembly was sitting, that a ruling elder rose to bring forward a motion. His name was Sir James MoncriefT, a man long known at the bar of Scotland as the best law- yer there, and by that time one of the Lords of Session. He made a speech very learned and very long; — of which speech the substance was, that ever since the Reformation, the Church of Scotland had paid respect to the wishes of the people in the settlement of min- isters ; so much so, that according to its uni- 12 THE HARP form interpretation, no minister was qualified for a parish, unless he were acceptable to its Christian people, the communicants of that parish. But though the doctrine of the Church had been uniform, its practice had varied. A call or invitation from the people had always been, in Presbyterial usage, a pre-requisite to the settlement of a minister. But sometimes this call had been so scanty that it could scarcely be deemed an invitation. And with a view to make the practice correspond with the theory, he would propose that, whenever a patron issued a presentation, the very first thing the Presbytery should do, would be to send the presentee to preach in that parish, and then to call together the male heads of families in communion with the Church, and ascertain their mind. If they consented to have this man for their minister, good and well. The Presbytery should proceed to examine him, and if they found his literature, theology, and character, sufficient to warrant them in ordain- ing him, they should admit him to that parish. But if a majority came forward, and solemnly declared that- apart from all factious motives —they were constrained, by regard for their own and their children's souls, to refuse this man for their minister, Lord Moncrieff pro- posed, that this Veto by & majority of the people should disqualify that presentee, and that the ON THE WILLOWS. 13 Presbytery should not intrude him into that parish against the expressed mind of its Chris- tian householders;* but should send word to the patron that he might present another. The majority of the Assembly thought this an ex- cellent proposal ; all the rather that the Crown lawyers, the Lord Advocate and Solicitor- General, declared that it was perfectly compe- tent for the Assembly, in virtue of its inherent powers, to pass such a law, and as it was a judge of the Supreme Civil Court, and one so noted for his legal skill, who introduced the measure. And so, to the great joy of thou- sands, the Yeto Law was passed.t For some time it wrought delightfully, and almost every one was saying, How much the patrons are improved ! for, in point of fact, the patrons presented such acceptable ministers, that out of 200 only ten were vetoed. But at * The Veto Law restricted the privilege of objecting, in the settlement of ministers, to those parishioners who were both heads of houses and members of the Church. In Scotland, none are communicants, or members of the Church, except those with whose religious knowledge and good character the ministers and elders are satisfied. In Church-of-Scotlani language, the people are the communicants, the members oJ the Church, the professing Christian people. t It is important to remark, that in this Assembly were no ohapel ministers, or ministers of quoad sacra parishes. Besides the Crown Lawyers in Scotland, the Lord High Chancellor, and the Attorney- General of England, both extolled the Veto Law, as a great public improvement. 2 14 THE HARP last, the new law fell heavy on one individual. A licentiate,! — was presented to a large parish, with 3,000 inhabitants. Two of the people thought that he might do well enough for a minister ; but all the rest thought that he was not fit to be their minister. Consequently, the Presbytery refused to admit him. Hereupon this man and his patron raised an action against the Presbytery, and petitioned the Court of Session to find that the Presbytery was bound to take him on trial, with a view to ad- mission. So far as any spiritual consequences (such as ordination) were implied in the de- cision, the Presbytery declined the competency of the Court of Session to judge the case : but as they were anxious to ascertain whether their rejection of a vetoed presentee implied that he should also lose the living, they allowed the case to be argued in their name so far as any civil effect was concerned. Five of the judges * In the Church of Scotland there is a staff of probation- ers or licentiates who are allowed to preach, but who exer- cise no other function of the ministry. These probationers are eligible for th% ministry, but they are not ministers. They have received no ordination, and are permitted to preach merely to make trial of their gifts. If a probationer who is presented to a parish, be not unacceptable to the people, he is ordained and becomes a minister. Allowing that patronage is a trust reposed in patrons by the State, it becomes an in- teresting question, whether this trust is designed for the be- nefit of probationers or the good of the people 7 It has usually been exercised for behoof of the former. ON THE WILLOWS. 15 held that this was not a case for the Court of Session at all ; but that if they were to give an opinion, they must say that the General As- sembly had done quite right in passing the Veto Law, and the Presbytery had done no wrong in obeying it.* But the other eight judges were of a contrary opinion, and the House of Lords affirmed their judgment. Since this decision, it has become the fashion in the North to carry every case out of the Church courts into the Court of Session. Pres- byteries are prohibited from deposing ministers convicted of drunkenness and theft. Ministers are prohibited, under pain of imprisonment, from preaching in certain districts of country. Kirk sessions are forbidden to debar from the Lord's table parties whose presence they con- sider a desecration. And the General Assem- bly itself is not at liberty to admit any member, whom the Court of Session may disapprove. And so uniformly do a majority of their Lord- ships decide against the ecclesiastical parties, even when their decisions contradict one an- other, that it has become the more prudent, because more economical course, to allow judg- * Besides Lord Moncrieff, the original author of the Veto Law, these five included Lords Jeffrey (more familiarly known in the worlds of philosophy and criticism as Francis Jeffrey,) Cockburn, Glenlee, and Fullerton. The names of the other eight, however respectable in their station, would not be interesting to English readers. 16 THE HARP ment to go forth in absence. As it is, the law expenses have become such a grievous fine, that the stipend of some parishes is arrested for payment of costs, and pious and accomplished ministers, with their families, are, in the absence of their wonted income, reduced to painful straits. Though this be matter of exultation with their oppressors, and not complained of by the sufferers themselves, the English nation is not what it was, if such severities when known arouse no indignation. But to resume and end this narrative. The Presbytery of Auchterarder did not obey the sentence of the civil courts, ordering them to admit to the ministry the vetoed presentee. They refused, because they believed that the court had, in this cause, no right to command. They refused, because they thought it would be a solemn mockery and a sin to ordain a man to a cure of souls, where every one de- precated and dreaded his admission. They thought, that the only inducement to ordain him would be to give him a right to the sti- pend ; and as the patron was now in the pos- session of the stipend, he might, if he pleased, hand it over to his protege. But the presentee prosecuted the Presbytery for 16,000/. of dam- ages, because of the wrong which they had done him in refusing to admit him ; and both the Court of Session and the House of Lords ON THE "WILLOWS. 17 having found in his favour, it is now finally declared by the civil courts, that they will enforce their sentences against the spiritual courts by civil pains and penalties ', the or- dinary compulsitors of the law. When this decision was given last autumn it put an end to all expectation from the civil courts. Till then, the most desponding could scarce believe their own forebodings, or per- suade themselves that their Church was so changed from what their ancestors had left it, and they themselves once imagined it to be. But the decision of last August ended eyery dream, and bade the Church make ready for the worst. It was in this emergency that the Meeting or Convocation mentioned in the outset was con- vened. It originated with a select body of the oldest and most experienced ministers. They invited all of their brethren who had manifested concern for the ancient constitution of the Church, to assemble in Edinburgh, on the 17th of November last. Nearly 500 came together ; and it was very plain that no ordinary call could have brought from the remotest head- lands of a rugged land, such a company in the dead season of the year. After a prayer-meeting in St. George's Church, and a sermon by Dr. Chalmers, — "Unto the upright there ariseth light in the 18 THE HARP darkness," — the ministers adjourned to Rox burgh Church. Dr. Chalmers took the chair. It was agreed, that during each sederunt three of the brethren should engage in prayer ; and in this way confession and supplication assumed a prominent place in the business of each Meet- ing. None but ministers were present. In or- der to encourage each member freely to speak his mind this privacy was requisite, and it tended greatly to impart a confiding and con- versational tone to their proceedings. For our own part, it made us feel, that the innermost side of good men is the best side ; and whilst listening to the brotherly tone of their com- munings, so unlike the defiance and disdain of high debate, and to the noble sentiments of Christian heroism and self-renunciation which were ever and anon expressed, we wished that the world were present. And, during the de- votional exercises and at intervals throughout the deliberations, when sudden light or consola- tion broke in, in a way which brought tears to many eyes, we would have liked that all the Christians in the kingdom could be present, for we felt assured that the Lord himself was there. And then, when we looked at the materials of the Meeting and saw before us, with few ex- ceptions, all the talent, and, with still fewer ex- ceptions, all the piety of the Church of Scotland, we wished that those were present in whose ON THE WILLOWS. 19 power it lies to preserve to the Scottish Estab- lishment all this learning and this worth. There was the chairman, who might so easily have been the Adam Smith, the Leibnitz, or the Bossuet of the day ; but who, having ob- tained a better part, has laid economics, and philosophy, and eloquence on the altar which sanctified himself. There was Dr. Gordon, lofty in simplicity, whose vast conceptions and majestic emotions plough deeper the old chan- nels of customary words, and make common phrases appear solemn and sublime after he has used them. There were Dr. Keith, whose labours in the prophecies have sent his fame through Europe, and are yearly bringing con- verts into the Church of Christ ; and Mr. James Buchanan, whose deep-drawn sympathy, and rich Bible-lore, and Christian refinement, have made him a son of consolation to so many of the sons of sorrow. There were Dr. Welsh, the biographer and bosom friend of Thomas Brown ; Dr. Forbes, among the most inventive of modern mathematicians ; and Dr. Paterson, whose " Manse Garden" is read for the sake of its poetry and wisdom and Christian kindness, where there are no gardens, and w T ill be read for the sake of other days when there are no manses. And there was Dr. Patrick McFarlan, whose calm judgment is a sanction to any measure ; and who, holding the richest bene- 20 THE HARP fice in Scotland, most appropriately moved the resolution, that rather than sacrifice their prin- ciples, they should surrender their possessions. And not to mention "names the poet must not speak," there were in that assembly the men who are dearest of all to the godly throughout the land — the men whom the Lord hath de- lighted to honour — all the ministers in whose parishes have been great revivals, from the Apostle of the North, good old Mr. Macdonald, whose happy countenance is a signal for ex- pectation and gladness in every congregation he visits ; and Mr. Burns, of Kilsyth, whose af- fectionate counsels and prayers made the Con- vocation feel towards him as a father ; down to those younger ministers of whom, but for our mutual friendship, I could speak more freely. When we looked at the whole, knowing some- thing of all, we felt, first, such an assembly never met in Scotland before ; secondly, it will depend on them, under God, whether Scotland can ever furnish such an assembly again ; and, thirdly, what a blot on any reign, and what a guilt on any Government, which casts forth such a company ! And then, after some sadder musings, came in this thought, Yet, what a blessing to the world if they were scattered abroad, everywhere preaching the word ! Six days were spent in deliberation. Nearly all asrreed that the Church of Scotland waa ON THE WILLOWS. 21 ruined by the late decision, and that she could not submit to these encroachments of the civil courts without losing her character as a true Church of Christ. The next question was, What should be done ? It was agreed to make a final application to the Legislature for relief — for protection to the Church courts in the exercise of their spiritual jurisdiction — and if this application were refused, it was the almost universal conviction that it would be the duty of ministers and people, rather than protract the struggle and embroil the country, to leave the Establishment. Accordingly, that final application is now made ; and it depends very much on the peo- ple of England what answer shall be returned. No measure will meet the case which does not give the Church courts of Scotland freedom from secular molestation in the discharge of their spiritual functions : in other words, no measure which does not give the ministers and Christian people of Scotland the same immu- nities which they believed till now to be their birthright, and which they unqestionably en- joyed in the reign of William III. The fol- lowing considerations in behalf of such a mea- sure, are respectfully submitted to whatever of justice, generosity, and Christian principle, may exist in England : — I. The Treaty of Union has been violated. 22 THE HARP By that treaty it was solemnly stipulated thai the Presbyterian Church government, as then existing, should be the only Church govern- ment within the kingdom of Scotland ; and that each successive sovereign, " at his or her accession to the crown, should swear and sub- scribe, that they shall inviolably maintain and preserve the foresaid settlement of the true Pro- testant religion, with the government, worship, discipline, rights and privileges of this Church, as above established by the laws of this king- dom" (of Scotland.) Adherence to this stipu- lation is farther " declared to be a fundamental and essential condition of the said treaty or union in all time coming." And on the strength of this stipulation the Union was completed. Now, among " the rights and privileges" which the Church of Scotland enjoyed before the Union, spiritual freedom was unquestionably one. Her people were not liable to the intru- sion of unacceptable ministers ; nor were her Church courts, when deliberating on the most sacred interests of Christ's kingdom, liable to the intrusion, the intimidation, and coercion, of secular tribunals. If the Church has lost her freedom, when did she loose it ? To this there is only one answer : In the year 1712, five years after the Union was effected : A law was then enacted, which, if the interpretation put on it by the civil courts be sound, has ON THE WILLOWS. 23 robbed the Church of Scotland of the dearest " right," the most precious " privilege," which, at the time of the Union, she enjoyed ; her accountability, in sacred things, to God alone. If this interpretation be incorrect, if the civil courts misunderstand the law, then the Legis- lature should say so, and rescue the Church from the groundless molestations of the secular power. If the interpretation be correct, if the civil courts rightly interpret the statute, then the Treaty of Union is broken, and Scotland must look to the good faith of England for redress. 2. The case of the Church of Scotland is one of peculiar hardship. And when I say the Church of Scotland, I mean those in the Scot- tish Establishment who adhere, as almost all her pious ministers and people do adhere, to the original constitution of the Church of Scot- land. If they do not get redress, they must leave the Establishment ; and even though it be for Christ's sake and the Gospel's, there is some hardship in forsaking houses and lands. The manses of Scotland are pleasant homes ; and if you will ask any friend who ever took leave of one, he will tell you that it was a desolate day when the flitting was moving down the avenue, and after seeing that the kitchen-fire was out, and taking a last look of the dis- 24 THE HARP mantled parlour, he delivered the key to the new-comer, shook hands with the neighbours, and went away. The manse of a good min ister is a hallowed dwelling, and more of in- door quiet, and family affection, and Sabbath gladness, is condensed into it than into any home on earth ; and after one who has been long its inmate has taken his last look of the deserted fields and smokeless chimneys, he feels it of little moment where he shall kindle his next fire. Besides, it is the place where all the parish naturally resort when advice or assist- ance is needed ; where the sick send for cor- dials, and the sad go for comfort, and the per- plexed go for counsel ; and whose simple hos- pitality ranges from the Sunday scholars up to parish elders, the farmers, and, sometimes, the laird. The consequence is, that though the Great House may be shut up for years, and the landlord with his establishment cease to sojourn in it, except in rare instances, it will not awaken such tenderness on either side as a removal from the manse. The people of Scotland are not given to the melting mood ; and two cen- turies ago, when 400 ministers were constrained to leave their parishes for conscience' sake, they felt it very hard ; but neither they nor their people said much. When the creels* were * Large panniers slung over the horse's back, in which the young children were carried. When Mr. Dunbar, the min- ON THE WILLOWS. 25 getting ready, the wife would, perhaps, draw a corner of her apron across her eyes, and the children could not very well comprehend it. There was little demonstration of feeling ; and judging by the peaceful submission of the pas- tors, and the silence of their people, you would almost have thought that they acquiesced in the doings of that day. It w T as an illusion. The heart of Scotland was heaving with an indignant sorrow, which found its first relief when it hurled James Stuart from the throne. Should 400 ministers again be forced from their people and their homes, there w T ill be no com- motion. All will pass over silently and peace- fully ; but in the hearts which constitute the heart of Scotland, in the bosoms of its noble- minded and Christian people, will be left a lasting and cruel sense of injury. There are other hardships connected with this case which I will not weary you by detailing. For instance, within the last eight years, and at a cost of about 300,000/., the people of Scot- land, with a few extraneous contributions, have built nearly 200 new churches for themselves. Almost all of these churches are built and oc- cupied by people and supplied by ministers who ister of Ayr, who had once before been banished from his parish, received a summons to leave it a second time, he merely said, "Well, goodwife, ye must e'en provide the creels again." The saying became a Sort of proverb. 3 26 THE HAR* must leave the Establishment, unless the Es- tablishment be emancipated. And what forms the hardship of this case is, that when the ministers and people go, the churches which they have reared at such a sacrifice will be claimed by others. Besides, many parishes are the property of a single individual, and that individual may be so hostile to the Gospel as to refuse ground for •erecting another place of worship. Again, the India and other missions of the Church of Scotland have been mainly supported by the parties about to be driven from the Church. The mission premises will fall into the hands of parties unable or unwilling to support them. The missions will be broken up ; and with crippled resources, the faithful remnant will be ill able to organize them anew. And last of all, some of the parishes which most prize the Gospel are least able to support it. In many places, the utmost efforts of the people are in- sufficient to procure food and raiment for them- selves. It would be mockery to ask them to maintain a ministry. It would be depriving them of their greatest blessing for either world, to take the ministry away. Putting out of view the intrinsic merits of the case, the con- stitutional rights of the Church of Scotland, the equity of her claim, it would surely need to be a strong necessity which would justify any ON THE WILLOWS. 27 Legislature in virtually driving from their homes 500 ministers of Christ, scattering the largest and liveliest congregations in Scotland ; and leaving as sheep without a shepherd those parishes which most prize a faithful ministry. Perhaps some may say, But why go out 1 Who bids them go ? Why not obey the law of the land, and remain where they are ? I answer, or rather they answer for themselves, Because the law is such that they cannot obey it. Had they known soon enough, that the civil law is what it is now declared to be, they would never have entered the Established Church ; and if the Legislature understand the law as the civil courts interpret it, now that they are in the Established Church they must leave it again. They wish to obey the law of the land, and in the hope that haply if they were out of the Establishment the law would then ask them to do nothing contrary to their consciences, they are leaving the Establishment. They go because they feel that it would be sinful to remain. Even as I might leave my dwelling if I found that the lease by which I hold it contained a stipulation with which it were criminal to comply. If I entered in ig- norance of its import, and if, now that I know the construction put upon it, I cannot get it altered, I must even go. It may be very hard, but I cannot help it. The ministers of Scot- 28 THE HARP land wish to lead quiet and peaceable lives ; and rather than disturb the peace, they will abandon their earthly all. Outside of the Es- tablishment they are sure to find a clear con- science ; and there also there is more hope of a quiet unmolested life. 3. Our Common Christianity is endangered. The principle for which the Church of Scotland is contending- is one dear to every Christian man. It is one for which the early Nonconformists and the New England worthies contended so nobly — that God alone is Lord of the conscience, and that the highest tribunal on earth may not abridge the liberty where- with Christ hath made his people free. The doctrine of the Church of Scotland is, that the head of every spiritual man is Christ, and that when a company of spiritual men meet together in their spiritual capacity, Christ is still their Head. In other words, they hold that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only King and Head of the Church. In their ecclesias- tical procedure they desire to follow his will as that will is revealed in his word. They believe that the Spirit of God, speaking through spirit- ual men, is the sole interpreter of that Word ; and they cannot allow the commandments of men — the verdicts of secular courts — to inter- pose between them and their Heavenly King. ON THE WILLOWS. 29 Every Bible Christian will sympathize with them here. Daniel and his friends were not rebels. They were faithful to their king, though the king was a Pagan, and their con- queror. But in matters of faith they deemed it no disloyalty to disregard his decrees. The apostles respected lawful authority, but with the commission of their Master, " Preach the Gospel to every creature," they could not suffer any tribunal to interfere. " We ought to obey God rather than men." And every Christian, be he a minister or a private member of the Church, will acknowledge that there are many things " pertaining to the law T of his God" in which he could not consent to be ruled by secular men. The Church of Scotland is an Established Church. Its ministers are endowed. But it has always been their belief that in accepting this endowment they surrendered nothing. Their theory of an Establishment is, that the nation selects a Church whose constitution and worship it approves, and on this Church, for the benefit of the nation, bestows the bounty of an endowment. But they do not see how this necessarily implies subjection to the State, or the loss of any spiritual privilege. Suppose a rich man endowed a Dissenting chapel, it is presumed that upon the whole he approves of the doctrines taught and the worship practised 3* 30 THE HARP there ; whilst, on the other hand, their accept- ing of his liberality does not imply that they give him the power of admitting or rejecting the members, or of tampering with the inter- nal order of that Church. The Church of Scotland existed as a Church before it became an Establishment. The na- tion found it a Church already existing. The nation approved its polity, its doctrines, and worship. The nation offered to take it even as it stood, and endow it. The Chuch accepted the nation's offer. But so far from surrendering any peculiarity or privilege, it was expressly stipulated that, in accepting this endowment, the Church should surrender nothing — that it should remain the same free, and spiritual, and independent Church which it had ever been. And whatever may be the case with other en- dowed Churches, it has always been the belief of its members that the Church of Scotland, though Established, is free — as free as Churches not Established are. In other words, the office-bearers and members of the Scotch Establishment believed that if civil courts found a pretext for interfering with them, they would find as good a pretext for interfering with the office-bearers and members of non-established Churches. In this confidence, the Church of Scotland has not erred. In the case of the Scotch Seces- ON THE WILLOWS. 31 sion Church, the Court of Session has recently laid down the principle, that even this Church, in the exercise of its spiritual jurisdiction, is amenable to the civil magistrate. The Court of Session claims the power of discharging se- ceder ministers and elders from proceeding against heretical or disorderly members, in cases where civil consequences, such as loss of character or emolument, are involved. And as every case may be reduced to this category, the Court of Session virtually claims the power of reviewing and altering the sentences of all re- ligious communities, established and non-es- tablished, within the kingdom of Scotland. I think that all Christian men should view this last result with consternation. It is the working out of a principle which every faithful follower of Christ is bound to resist in its begin- nings, for it will eventually be the destruction of all our Churches, and the death of religious freedom. Independent^ of this, I cannot view the coming overthrow of the Scotch Establishment — for if its best ministers and most devoted mem- bers be driven out of it, it is virtually over- thrown — I cannot contemplate the destruction of the Scotch Establishment at the present mo- ment without apprehension. Different Churches have been honoured to testify for different truths ; but of all national Churches the Church of 32 THE HARP Scotland has borne the loudest and most em- phatic testimony of the Supremacy of Christ. It has testified for this truth in opposition to the supremacy of the priesthood on the one hand, and of the civil power on the other. It protests that the clergy shall not be " lords over God's heritage :" but recognising every regen- erate man as one of the " royal priesthood," claims for the Christian people rights with which even the Christian pastor must not inter- meddle. And on the other hand it protests, that Cesar shall not claim the things which belong to God ; but believing that Christ's kingdom is not of this world," it claims for the rulers in Christ's house, rights and privileges with which the secular ruler must not interfere. These privileges of the Christian people, and this in- dependence of the Church, are obnoxious alike to spiritual despots and unbelieving worldlings. The lordly ecclesiastic cannot trust the people ; the infidel civilian cannot trust the Church. The supremacy of Christ is doubly assaulted at this day ; and if the faithful Witness which has prophecied this truth so long should now be slain, a main barrier to Infidel and Papal incursions will be taken out of the way. Christian Brethren of this free English land, I leave the matter with you. Necessity was ON THE WILLOWS. 33 laid on me when I took up this pen, and noth- ing but a solemn conviction of duty could have urged me to bring this matter before you in a season of so many and momentous exigences as is this. I believe that the case of the Church of Scotland is a case of injustice and oppression, and I believe that it is in the power of the peo- ple of England, by petitioning Parliament and enlightening their respective representatives, to redress the wrong and remove the grievance. I have much faith in the justice of English- men, and some experience of their generosity ; but I have more faith in Christianity, than even in national character. I believe that a man who is both just and generous may be too busy to attend to an appeal ; or even if he do attend, that he may miss the merits of the case, and not comprehending it, may pronounce an unrighteous judgment. But I believe this is a case which every enlightened Christian may understand, for its first principles are familiar to him. And I believe, moreover, that it is a case in which English Christianity is concerned, " for if one member suffer, all the members suf- fer with it." And I believe, finally, that it is a case in which English Christians will lend their sympathy and aid — for such is the Mas- ter's will: "Bear ye one another's burdens, and SO fulfil THE LAW OF CHRIST." REMEMBERING ZION. TO SCOTCHMEN IN LONDON. When the Israelites were in a city, vast and ungodly, like London, — a city without a Sab- bath — they used when they had opportunity, to sit down and talk of the fair land and the lovely temple from which they had been wrenched away. " By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down ; yea, we wept when we remembered Zion." Dear fellow-countrymen, most of you are so far like the Israelites, that you remember with tenderness the land of your birth, and cannot bear that others should speak of it disparagingly. You like to be reminded of the scenery of Scotland, the summer ver- dure of its straths and glens, and the polished fulness of its deep blue lakes, its wailing win- ter torrents, and the snow-laden mountains which feed them. And you love its ancient minstrelsy, the gathering songs, in whose high pulse the hero-hearts of the olden time still throb, REMEMBERING ZION. 35 and those pathetic dirges which were nature's own anthems, chanted by moorland winds and lonely waterfalls, long before man set them to his music. But there are glorious things of Scotland which you have still more reason to remember ; you have not forgotten the schools and sanctuaries, and sabbath-days, which once were Scotland's own ; and perhaps, you will not refuse to listen a few moments, whilst we would call them to remembrance. Let us here, in this busy tumultuous Babylon, sit down for a little and remember our Zion. You remember the Sabbath days of Scot- land. You remember how the Sabbath was wont weekly to set every house in order through- out the land. You remember the Saturday evening's preparation for the Sabbath's rest ; — the early cessation of labour in the fields and factories, the timely marketing, the lustration of each apartment, the arranging of household furniture, the fetching home of water from the well, and the storing of faggots for the fuel, the busy exertions of young and old to anticipate and supersede all Sabbath toil, which resulted in imparting beforehand a look of Sabbatic neatness and tranquillity to the well-ordered habitation. You remember, too, the friendly visits which neighbour families were wont to exchange that evening, loth to invade the sanctity of one another's houses on the Lord's own day ; 36 REMEMBERING ZION. but glad to take advantage of this breathing time, to cement those friendships which they meant to be hereditary. You remember the Sabbath dawn, with its morning orisons, and the prompt preparations for the house of God. You remember the fresh and wholesome as- pect of the mustering population, as they wended slowly through the church-yard ; the spectacled matron with her bulky Bible wrap- ped in its snowy kerchief, and provided with a fragrant sprig of some favourite herb : the cottar in the homespun suit, which the Sabbath storms of many winters had washed but had not tattered ; and the artizan with his children, whose countenances forgot their week-day toil, as they put off their week-day garments. If it were a parish over which a man of God pre- sided, you remember the reverence of their worship and the solemnity of their hearing; whilst one who understood the case of each, spoke home to the hearts of all, and their com- mon confessions, and thanksgivings, and sup- plications, uttered by one voice, were echoed by a hundred hearts. You remember the heart- music which you sometimes heard at the up- rising of the great congregation, when the burly voice of manhood and the quivering notes of palsy stricken age, "young men and maidens, old men and children," praising God, told that he had made their hearts right glad. You remember the REMEMBERING ZION. 37 Sabbath eve, when the children's tasks were over, and the sermons had been repeated ; and with the Bible or the Pilgrim's Progress, or the Four-fold State, each hied away to the barn or the fir plantation, or some of the thousand cot- tage oratories, which God knows full well in that land of many worshippers, till the down- ward sun reminded them that it was time to close these solitary studies, and gather round the household hearth once more. O Scotland ! much I love thy tranquil dales ; But most on Sabbath eve, when low the sun Slants through the upland copse, 'tis my delight, Wandering and stopping oft to hear the song Of kindred praise arise from humble roofs ; Or, when the simple service ends, to hear The lifted latch, and mark the grey-haired man, The father and the priest walk forth alone, Into his garden plot, or little field, To commune with his God in secret prayer. We could recal scenes more sacred still, — the solemnities of communion seasons, — the hallowed incidents of domestic life, — and the dying testimonies and exhortations of well- assured believers. The memory of many a reader can recal the whole, for it is not so long ago since the beauty of holiness adorned many regions of that land ; the relic of better days, or the result of a religious revival in these latter times. But there is no need. It is generally 4 38 REMEMBERING ZION. conceded, that Scotland was once a religious country — more so. perhaps, than any nation in Christendom ; and, it is as generally conceded, that in its better days, Scotland owed to its church whatever family or personal religion it possessed. But on such a subject, it is safest to hear a stranger. I therefore quote the words of one who paid a long visit to that kingdom up- wards of a century ago, and whose verdict is more decisive, inasmuch as he was neither a Scotch- man nor a Presbyterian. " When we view the soundness and purity of her doctrine — the strictness and severity of her discipline — the decency and order of her worship — the gravity and majesty of her government : when we see the modesty, humility, and yet steadiness of her assemblies ; the learning, dili- gence, and painfulness of her ministers ; the awful solemnity of her administration ; the obedience, seriousness, and frequency of he v people in hearing, and universally an air ot sobriety and gravity on the whole nation ; we must own her to be at this time, the best regu lated national church in the world, without reflection upon any of the other nations, where the protestant religion is established and pro- fessed."* Assuming, therefore, that Christianity once throve wonderfully in our native land, and as- * Defoe's Memoirs of the Church of Scotland, 1717. REMEMBERING ZION. 39 suming that the Church of Scotland was the instrument which God employed to bring about this flourishing state of religion, it may be worth while to inquire, whether there be any peculiarity in that church to which these bles- sed results are owing. And in doing this, we wish not to disparage other denominations. We believe that God has owned many churches as well as ours. We have Christian friends in the Church of England whom we dearly love. We rejoice to know that Independents, and Baptists, and Wesleyans, and many others can produce seals of apostleship,* in multitudes of converted souls, as well as we. But we do think, if Church History is of any use, that we should search it to see which form of Chris- tianity best fulfils the purposes of a Church of Christ : and we do think it no slight matter to depart from scriptural rules and usages, even in the minutiae of church government and wor- ship. And from all that we know of the New Testament, and the history of other churches, we feel truly thankful that we are members of the Scottish Church. I. We are thankful for its doctrinal stand- ards. They are clear and simple, and at every sentence they appeal to the written word of God. They are self-consistent. There is not a word in the confession which contradicts the * 1 Cor. ix. 2. 40 REMEMBERING ZION. Catechism, and not a word in either which con- tradicts the Scriptures. We are the more thankful for this after observing that conscientious mem- bers of other churches are embarrassed by real or apparent contradictions in their standards, which it requires an exercise of an ingenuity hurtful to the conscience, to reconcile with themselves or with the truth. The standard? of the Church of Scotland contain the Reform ation doctrines in their fulness. They are not peculiar to our Church. They were pre- pared by an assembly of the most gifted and godly divines in Britain, and are the result of years spent in deliberation, mutual conference, and prayer. Speaking of the Westminster Assembly, says their contemporary, Richard Baxter, " The divines there congregated were men of eminent learning and godliness, and ministerial abilities and fidelity. And being not worthy to be one of them myself, I may the more freely speak that truth which I know, even in the face of malice and envy ; that as far as I am able to judge by the information of all history of that kind, and by any other evidences left us, the Christian world, since the days of the apostles had never a synod of more excellent divines (taking one thing with another) than this synod and the synod of Dort were.''* And his verdict is confirmed by * Baxter's Life and Times, folio, p. 73. REMEMBERING ZION. 41 the enlightened and devoted Archbishop Usher. The Christian world has given its suffrage in favour of the Westminster Assembly, for no summary faith has been so widely taught as its Shorter Catechism. It is a favourite with almost all the Evangelical denominations. And is it not a matter of thankfulness to be- long to a church which at once enjoys scriptu- ral standards, and symbolizes with the other Churches of Christ. II. We are thankful for the simple and spi- ritual worship which God has preserved in the Church of Scotland. There is no church which he has more thoroughly delivered from carnal ordinances and commandments of men. Those who worship the Father in spirit, find nothing here to trammel or encumber them. Those who cannot so worship, will find no subsiitute for devotion to delude them. We do not wish to introduce any thing into our wor- ship which our Master did not warrant, and which his first disciples did not practise. The psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs — the prayers not read from a human form, but prompted to the heart by the Spirit of suppli- cation ; the reading and preaching of the Word, are our ordinary sanctuary service. " It is the Spirit that quickeneth," and where He is not, a form of prayer will not quicken ; and where he is, a form of praver is not needed. 4* 42 REMEMBERING ZI0N. When our ministers are carnal unconverted men, our worship is sufficiently formal ; when they are men " full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," our worship is lively and life-giving. The Lord Jesus designed that none but men of prayer should be his ministers ; and his people should choose none but these for their pastors. Wherever we have faithful ministers we have New Testament worship. Our direc- tory for worship contemplates nothing less, and admits of nothing more. We keep the feast as our Master appointed. We do not kneel in receiving the sacramental bread and wine, for Christ's disciples did not kneel ; and kneel- ing is not the attitude of those who celebrate a feast. We have no altar, for we believe that Christ was offered once ; and we do not find in Scripture the sacrament of the Supper called a sacrifice, nor the Lord's table an altar. Our worship may have little pomp. It does not attract the carnal eye nor the carnal ear ; but it is enough for us that it satisfies the regene- rated soul ; and those who have worshipped in our churches during seasons of refreshing from on high, never felt that the service was mea- gre, or that forms of prayer would improve it. III. We are thankful for the efficient govern- ment enjoyed by the Church of Scotland. We have ministers — whose special office is 'to preach the word and dispense the sacraments. REMEMBERING ZION. 43 There are no ranks nor degrees among our ministers. We have one King, even the Lord Jesus, and all of us are brethren. None exercise lordship over the other, Luke xxii. 25, 26. All are alike bishops, that is, overseers of their particular flocks. All are alike evangelists, or preachers of the gospel. All are alike pres- byters or elders. This is what is meant by presbyterian parity. Then besides ministers or " elders who labour in the word and doc- trine," (1 Tim. v. 17.) we have ruling elders, whose office is to aid the minister in the over- sight and government of the church — visiting the people, instructing and exhorting — giving their counsel where it is asked or needed, — and watching and praying together for the spiritual prosperity of the flock. And lastly, we have deacons, who like their representatives in the apostolic age, make it their special business to care for the poor, and superintend those arrangements which promote the out- ward comfort of the congregation. Our gov- ernment is not arbitrary : it is the government of love and good-will. It is the government of brethren consulting together for the peace and purity of the congregation of which we are all alike members, and for the honour of our heavenly King, of whom we are all alike subjects. And if any thing occurs where we wish advice, or where any one feels himself 44 REMEMBERING ZION. aggrieved, there is the Presbytery or Synod, the council of associated ministers and elders to whom we can go. (Acts xv.) In this we are all like the first reformed churches, with a single exception ; and here again we are thank ful that in our ecclesiastical polity we should so nearly agree with all these Churches of Christ, the Churches of Holland, Switzerland, and Germany, the Huguenots of France, the primitive Waldenses, and our own apostolical Culdees. IV. The Lord has blessed the Church of Scotland with a succession of holy and faith- ful ministers. Time would fail to tell them all. But there were its protomartyrs, Patrick Hamilton, more noble as Christ's faithful witness than as King James's kinsman ; and George Wisiiart, the smoke of whose im- molation wafted the gospel where his voice had failed to carry it. There was its great Reformer Knox, with his excellent spirit, patriotic, most forgetful of himself and of his enemies, but most loyal to his God, by sim- plicity of faith, outwitting crafty men, and with the straightforward zeal of an honest, and therefore fearless heart, achieving results which are only possible to him that believeth. There were John Welch, who after many hours spent in prayer, would preach sermons to which few could listen without weeping : REMEMBERING ZION. 45 Robert Bruce, before whose searching eye, the most intricate and subtle natures felt them- selves revealed ; and beneath whose voice gnarled cedars bent like willows, for the Spirit of God spake by him ; of whose prayers it is said, " each sentence was a bolt shot into hea- ven ; as of his sermons, each sentence was a bolt shot from heaven into the heart :" Hugh Binning, who laid his fine philosophy and precocious scholarship and classic taste all at the feet of Jesus, and was honoured to deliver those discourses, to which grey haired theolo- gians listened, and protested there was " no speaking after him ;" and which fastidious critics now read, and wonder how writings, so pure and elegant, could be produced in a rude country and in a pedantic age : Andrew Gray, whom the Lord made ready in such haste for himself, that ere he reached his twenty-second year, believers ripe for glory, saw that he was riper still ; and whose enrap- tured anticipations of the heavenly com- munion, are to this day the solace of many an aged pilgrim and dying saint in Scotland : James Durham, the humble evangelist, who rejoiced to decrease that his Master might in- crease, but withal the Spirit-taught counsellor, to whom far-travelled inquirers came, and blessed God for a guide so skilful and judicious : Samuel Rutherford, who lived so much 46 REMEMBERING ZION. on high, that you wonder how he had patience to amass such learning, and write so many books — perhaps, the completest instance of absorbing affection for the person of a living Saviour — the liveliest example of a life hid with Christ in God, which these latter ages have produced ; William Guthrie, whose benign and gentle spirit drew all men after him, till persecutors themselves felt the fascina- tion, and Fenwick glebe was built over with the houses of people, who counted it happiness to be near him : so modest, that the only little book* he ever published was printed, because he could not help it ; and yet of that little book, Dr. Owen said, " There is more divinity in it than in all my folios :" John Living- stone, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, of whose ministry we have this record ; that in two parishes, 1500 souls were confirmed or converted under it : Thomas Boston, whose peaceful walk with God is not yet for- gotten in Ettrick Forest ; and whose writings, originally designed for his own shepherds, are now prized in all the churches, and most prized by those Christians who have farthest grown in grace : and to name no more, John Mac- laurin, whose Sermon " On glorying in the Cross," is of all printed Sermons, the one which God has honoured the most, and whose * The Christian's Great Interest. REMEMBERING ZION. 47 appropriate monument may still be found in the city of his sojourn — in prayer-meetings which he originated there a hundred years ago. V. But above all, we are thankful for the many tokens of his love with which the Lord has blessed the Church of Scotland. He has repeatedly poured out His Spirit upon the assemblies of her ministers and elders, so that a zeal for personal and family amendment as well as for ecclesiastical and national reform- ation, was kindled. He has sent to that church frequent times of refreshing, so that once and again, the spectacle has been beheld of whole parishes awake to eternal realities, and entire congregations exclaimed, " What shall we do to be saved ?" In the days when the doctrines of our church are most power- fully preached, and the ordinances of our church most faithfully enforced, the effect was such, that had it but continued, one region of the world should have enjoyed something of millennial holiness and blessedness long ago. Hear the testimony of one, who, with his own eyes beheld it. "At the king's return every parish had a minister, every village had a school, every family almost had a Bible ; yea, in most of the country all the children of age eould read the Scriptures, and were provided with Bibles, either by their parents or their 48 REMEMBERING ZION. ministers. Every minister was a very full pro- fessor of the reformed religion, according to the larger Confession of Faith framed at West- minster, by the divines of both nations. None of them might be scandalous in their conver- sation, or negligent in their office, so long as a presbytery stood ; and among them were many holy in conversation and eminent in gifts ; the dispensation of the ministry being fallen from the noise of waters, and the sound of trumpets to the melody of harpers, which is, alas ! the last mess in the banquet ; nor did a minister satisfy himself except his ministry had the seal of divine approbation, as might witness him to be really sent from God. Indeed, in many places the Spirit seemed to be poured out with the word, both by the multitude of sincere con- verts, and also by the common work of reform- ation upon many who never came the length of a communion. There were no fewer than sixty aged people, men and women, who went to school, that even then they might be able to read the -Sonptures with their own eyes. I have lived many years in a parish where I never heard an oath, and you might have rode many miles before you heard any. Also, you could not for a great part of the country have lodged in a family where the Lord was not worshipped by reading, singing, and public prayer. No body complained more of our REMEMBERING ZION. 49 church government than our taverners, whose ordinary lamentation was, ' their trade was broke, people were become so sober.' "* And though days of outward trial have come upon her, the Lord has begun to bless our church again. If during these years we have seen much evil, we have also seen much good. The Lord has added to this church many such as shall be saved. He has made many of her members less worldly minded, and has put unwonted power into the ministrations of her faithful pastors. Evil men may be waxing worse and worse ; but some happy spots are now clothed in a new beauty of holiness, and God's people are keep- ing nearer to himself, and praying more ear- nestly, " Thy kingdom come." They have sent after Israel, and have doubled their Mission- aries to the Gentiles. These years of trial have been years of revival. The Lord hath done great things for us, and let us magnify his name. * Kirkton's History of the Church of Scotland, 4ta pp. 64, 65. — " Oh the children of my people ! Who shall rf store your lost honour 1 Who shall revive the work of God in the midst of you 1 Ye were a people. Ye were a nation of families, and every head of a family as a king and a priest in his house, which was a house of God, and a gate of hea- ven. Your peasantry were as the sons of kings in their gravity and wisdom. They were men who could hold com- munion with the King of Heaven." — Rev. E. Irving. 5 50 REMEMBERING ZION. And now, dear brethren, having told you what the church of your fathers is, and what God has done for it, we should like that you yourselves would draw the inference. We will not say that you have no reason to be ashamed of your church — as little would we say that you should be proud of it. But if you are patriotic Scotchmen, you should be thankful for the benefits which that church has conferred on your country ; and if you be true-hearted Christians, you should be thankful for the grace which the Lord has bestowed upon that church. And whichever you be, you should express your sense of obligation in the most obvious and effectual way, by countenancing that church, joining her communion, and wait- ing on her ordinances. This Address may be read by some who have not forsaken the house of God, though they have left the church of their fathers. If you have left us, because, after a prayerful ex- amination of the word of God, you find that Presbyterian worship or government is unscrip- tural, or because, in none of our churches could you hear the truth as it is in Jesus, it would be wrong or needless to urge you to return — though even in that case we might invite you to re-consider. But perhaps local convenience or considerations of expediency, or accidental and temporary causes originated your with- REMEMBERING ZION. 51 drawment. If so, it is so far well ; for there is no conscientious scruple to bar your return, and perhaps, were you weighing the matter seriously, there might be reasons sufficient to bring you back. We wish no injury to any Christian body whose fellowship you may have joined. But we feel that we do them no wrong, when we address ourselves to you. For has not the Church of Scotland a first claim on you 1 Was it not your early bene- factor ? Has it not at least been the benefac- tor of thousands of your countrymen at home, and amongst the rest, of kindred of your own? And if justice were done to it, might it not be the benefactor of thousands of your country- men here ? But if you forsake its communion and its sanctuaries, do you not inflict on it a practical injury ; and so far lessen its power to benefit your brethren ? Is it not virtually, though unintentionally, saying, that you know of nothing in the past history or existing con- stitution of that church which should induce you to acknowledge it in your present place of sojourn ? Were you not safe in the Church of Scotland ? Were you and your children not secure of remaining doctrinally sound within its pale ? Have you found a church with purer standards, or more reformed, or a ministry more evangelical ? Have you found a church where greater provision is made for 52 REMEMBERING ZION. the kind and Christian intercourse of pastor and people, or one which in its office-bearers secures to its members more affectionate council in per- plexity, or more sympathy in seasons of afflic- tion and sorrow ? If you used to speak of the Church of Scotland as " the fairest of all the daughters of the reformation," was there no risk in deserting such a church in days so perilous ? And would it not be worth while adhering to such a church, for the sake of our common Christianity, even at some personal inconvenience, and with some occasional self- denial ? This Address may fall into the hands of Scotchmen w T ho have ceased to frequent the assemblies of God's people altogether. Was it not once better with you than now ? In for- saking God, do you not find that he has for- saken you ? In forsaking his people, have you not forsaken your own mercies ? In in- viting you to join our company, we feel none of that delicacy which we can scarcely help feeling in addressing countrymen of other communions. We feel all the satisfaction of issuing an invitation, with which if you com- ply, you will be the first to thank us, and for issuing which nobody of our fellow-christians can blame us. We feel a special anxiety on your account ; for your fellow-countrymen in other communions may be following Christ, REMEMBERING ZION. 53 though they follow not with us. But whilst you habitually forsake the place which He chiefly loves, it is too evident that you are still strangers to himself. And as the short time allotted you for becoming acquainted with him is dwindling rapidly away, each new Sab- bath that you spend in idleness or dissipation, is full of jeopardy, for it may be your last ; just as the first sermon you hear is full of moment, for in it you may find your salvation. If yours be the dreary home which knows no Sabbath, and consequently a home from which joy has withered away ; the day that restores you and yours to the house of God in company, may be the most eventful in your history. From that time forward God may begin to bless you. The benign influence of a hallowed rest will diffuse itself along the week, will sweeten the atmosphere of your home, and tell its tale of blessing in domestic harmony and growing in- door comfort. It will send you with elastic step, and a clear calm head, with a peaceful conscience and unruffled temper, to your Mon- day morning's employ. I? will keep a sharp thorn out of your dying pillow ; and if it lead you to the tomb of a risen Saviour, will more than reconcile you to your own. This Address may fall into the hands of one who once wore a blue bonnet himself, and travelled a Sabbath-day's journey of two or 5* 54 REMEMBERING ZION. three miles to the house of God, and did not deem the journey long. It may fall into the hands of one, whose parents passed into the skies from a country manse, or farm-steading, or cottage by a burn side in Scotland ; and who now sleep beneath the shadow of that " pleasant tabernacle," which never missed their living presence. It may be read by one, from whose orphan eyes the first tears were dried by the man of God, who prayed the last prayer in which his dying father joined. It may be read by one, who in days now distant was spectator of a communion Sabbath in his native land : and who, as he listened to the exhortations of a pastor, whose soul rode aloft on fiery wheels like the chariot of Amminadib, who as he saw the solemn company around the table pass along the tokens of a dying Saviour's love, or arise to " go in peace," when the service ended, — felt for the first time, "Happy art thou, O Israel, who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord ?" — and who may never have felt the same feeling since. Tli is Address may be read by some who have never been so happy since, and who have never prospered since they forgot the Sabbaths and the sanctuaries of their father-land. It may be read by others, who have prospered greatly in the world, and who, under God, owe that prosperity to the better education REMEMBERING ZION. 55 which they received in the parish schools of Scotland, to the lessons of industry, and fru- gality, and self-denial, which they learned from its wise and godly parentage ; and, per- haps, to the fear of God and hatred of evil, which they were taught in its churches and Sabbath schools ; and possibly, because there they were led to choose first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, and*? have found the other things since added. Be the reader who he may, if he was born beyond the Tweed, or baptized in the Church of Scot- land, and has any reason for saying, " Peace be within thee," he is himself invited to come in. Amongst us you will at least find the primitive worship of your ancestral church. You will sing the Scottish psalms to the tunes which the Scottish martyrs sang. You will hear the reformation doctrines as Knox and Melville taught them, and as you yourselves may have read them in Boston, in Willison, and the Erskines. And if you come in the spirit of prayer, you may find our church a Bethel ; you may be enabled to pour out your hearts before God, and whilst you are • yet speaking, He may answer ; and matters which, at present, are too hard for you, may be made plain when you go into the sanctu- ary ; and as there are amongst us some of the Saviour's disciples, who desire above all things 56 REMEMBERING ZION. His presence in these ordinances, and as He is wont to go where these are gathered, who can tell but that in His visits to them, He may- reveal himself to you, and then your hearts will rejoice with a joy which no man taketh from you. In common with the other members of the London Presbytery, having much at heart the welfare of our brethren scattered through this labyrinthine city ; we have resolved to send forth this circular to our countrymen in the neighbourhood, apprising them of the existence of a Presbyterian Church in Regent Square, and inviting them to share in its Sabbath and week-day services. We hope soon to announce the existence of a daily school, conducted on the Scottish sessional system. And in that event you will be enabled to secure for your children here, the same intellectual, moral, and religious training, which at the distance of many years, and some hundred miles, you en- joyed yourselves. Is it too much to hope — it is surely not too much to desire — that our na- tional church may, like Israel's ark, be a blessing wheresoever it goes 7 Is there nothing in presbyterianism, rightly exemplified, from which other churches might learn a lesson, useful to themselves and to the cause of Christ ? Is there nothing in our educational processes, the Bible lessons and catechetic REMEMBERING ZION. 57 training", from which, were a living specimen before their eyes, the intelligent patrons and conductors of metropolitan schools might gather hints, which, in time, would improve their own ? Were it not a blessed thing to see London keeping Sabbath, as Edinburgh, and Glasgow, and Dundee kept it fifty years ago ? Broken, scattered, and disunited, we have hitherto accomplished little good. Knit to- gether, heart and soul, we might accomplish much. In the congregation where God in his providence has planted us, He has awakened much desire for the spiritual welfare of our Scottish countrymen ; and as He has given us one heart and one mind regarding this matter, so we believe he designs to answer the prayer in this behalf, " Come with us, and we will do you good." Or rather, we should say, " Come with us, and we will do one another good," for so bountiful is the God of grace, that when many go to seek one blessing, the more applicants there are, the larger is the share of each. National Scotch Church, Regent Square, February 10th, 1842. FAREWELL TO EGYPT. It has been remarked with truth, that a re- cent ruin is never romantic. The fresh marks of the pick-axe and crow-bar speak of violence in a language too distinct to be pleasing ; and it is not till time has passed his softening hand over the rough work of the spoiler, that you can look at it with an interest which includes no pain. Fresh-fallen plaster and shattered doors and timbers still smoking are not poeti- cal; and it is not till the grey lichen has weathered over the chipped and fractured stones, and the wallflower is clinging high on the tower, and the cold arum and adder's tongue are grow- ing in the sunless recesses, that the ruined con- vent or castle grows picturesque — so picturesque in the disguise of mysterious time, that you tread with pensive step and swelling heart on ruins which when recent would only have been counted rubbish. We fear, that the tale we FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 69 are about to tell labours under this disadvan- tage. It is recent ; for the catastrophe occurred last month. And it is too true; for in little more than a day's journey the reader may see for himself all its sad details of desolate sanctu- aries and forsaken homes and weeping families. But it is co-temporary history. It is a tale of the times, and the russet light of antiquity is not fading over it. And, therefore, some who garnish the sepulchres of the Covenanters and build the tombs of the Puritans may grudge a stone to this modern cairn. But when we re- flect a little longer and remember that it is not so much a tale of ruin as of restoration — when we consider that this disruption of the northern Establishment is the resuscitation of the Na- tional Church, the revival of the Kirk in the energy of its first reformation, in the purity of its second reformation, and in the catholicity of this, its third, reformation, we almost forget the privations with which it has been pur- chased, and rejoice that it is such a modern story. There are readers who value truth so much as to hail a living testimony ; and who can understand how the same faith which car- ried Abraham out of Ur, and Moses out of Egypt, may still enable men, at the call of God, to "go out" from endeared associations and friendships, even when they know not whither, and "refuse" distinctions and enjoy- 60 FAREWELL TO EGYPT. ments which sense most values. To such readers we inscribe these lines. It was in last November, that the capital of Scotland witnessed such a gathering of its clergy as had not met since the time two hun- dred years ago when the National Covenant was framed. Every one felt that it was a so- lemn emergency which brought together, in the dead season of the year from distant glens and storm-girdled islands, such a company of Scotland's most devoted ministers. It was a solemn emergency. They met to consider whether they could conscientiously remain the ministers of the Scotch Establishment any longer ; and all felt, that in the decision to which they came, not so much the comfort of many hundred households as the welfare of the national Christianity was involved. It may be right to mention in a few short sentences what had brought it to this conjuncture. The Church of Scotland was founded on the principle, that not only is the Bible the only rule of faith, but the only statute-book by which the Lord Jesus would have his Church on earth be governed. It assumed that Christ himself has given certain office-bearers for the admin - istration of his Church, and that he has given to these office-bearers their Directory, their only Book of Canons in the written Word. And it farther assumed, that in the administration of FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 61 the Church, civil rulers and secular magistrates ought not to interfere with the servants of Christ, but should leave it to them to rule Christ's house — his Church on earth, accord- ing to Christ's own laws. And it still farther assumed that in the event of the Church enter- ing into any connexion with the State — ac- cepting an endowment for instance — the Church was not at liberty to surrender any spiritual privileges as the price of protection, or pecuniary support. This was the theory. And at the Revolution, this theory became the statute-law of Scotland ; and at the Union, it was stipulated that this should abide the stat- ute-law of Scotland for ever. Well, nine years ago, the General Assembly, whose counsels, in consequence of the wide revival of Evangelical religion, had become more Scriptural, restored to the communicants in the different parishes of Scotland a privilege which they enjoyed up to the Union, and for some time afterward, the right of being con- sulted in the appointment of their ministers. In the event of a majority declaring that the individual offered to their acceptance was one by whose ministrations they could not profit, the Assembly ordained that the vetoed candi- date should not be inducted, but that the pa- tron of the parish should be requested to give 62 FAREWELL TO EGYPT. the people the offer of another minister.* In the progress of certain civil suits which arose out of this ecclesiastical law, it was not only- declared by the secular courts, that the Gene- ral Assembly did not possess the statutory power to confer this privilege on the people of her communion, but the civil courts went on to claim powers over the Church courts, at which many stood aghast. For instance, the Court of Session drew a line round certain districts of country, and said to the ministers of the Es- tablishment, " We prohibit you from preaching here under pain of imprisonment." It took its stand at the door of the Church Courts and prohibited certain members from taking their places in Presbyteries and Synods. It imposed a crushing fine on a Presbytery for refusing to ordain a man to the ministry of a parish where, out of 3,000 inhabitants, all, save two, depre- cated his admission. And, not content with inflicting pains and penalties on Presbyteries, it had at last descended to the discipline of se- parate congregations, and tampered with the sacredness of the communion-table. The Church began to see too plainly that not a ves- tige of separate jurisdiction was left to her, and * The Crown-lawyers of the day assured the General As- sembly that the passing of such a law was within their com- petency. In this opinion five of the thirteen Scottish judges afterwards concurred. FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 63 that in endeavouring to restore the liberties of ner people she had lost her own. It was in consequence of the intolerable pres- sure of these encroachments, and the sanction given to them in the Court of highest appeal, that the Convocation of Ministers assembled last November. They met in a place of wor- ship from which the public was excluded, that no one might be restrained from speaking freely among his brethren by the restraint of a stran- ger-audience, and that no measure might be precipitated by the urgency of popular impulse. Every step was taken with caution, deliberation, and much prayer ; and it was very affecting in the solemnity of devotion, and in the freedom of these brotherly communings, to find the same truths which had evaporated into thin abstractions in the language of controversy, re- turning in living realities ; and to see that it was neither Church-power nor popular rights so much as the prerogatives of a much-loved Saviour, for which they had been contending. Successive days of consultation ended in a last appeal to the legislature of the country. It was represented that the recent encroachments of the civil courts within the spiritual province were inconsistent with the liberty wherewith Christ had made his people and their pastors free. It was alleged that by subverting eccle- siastical discipline they would eventually de- 64 FAREWELL TO EGYPT. stroy the Established Church. It was urged that international faith demanded a remedy ; for all these infringements on the Church's liberty were contrary to the stipulations of the Union Treaty. And, in conclusion, it was in- timated, that should this final appeal be met by a refusal — rather than consent to disregard the voice of a Christian congregation imploring protection for themselves and their children against the intrusion of an obnoxious presentee — rather than purchase the benefits of an en- dowment by the omission of any Christian duty, the surrender of any spiritual privilege, they would sacrifice their earthly all, and seek for themselves and their people on the broad ground of British toleration that liberty which they could not find within the pale of the Established Church. This document, with the signatures of more than 400 ministers, was laid before Parliament last spring. Everything that patriotism and principle could do was done to obtain a candid consideration for the Church's claim of right. But though the constitutional grounds on which that claim was founded were never touched, in the emphatic language of a Minister of State, it was thought necessary to put an "extin- guisher" for ever on such pretensions ; and con- sequently, although the Constitution of the kingdom demanded it, and the majority of FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 65 Scotch Members supported it, that claim was by a vote of Parliament rejected. As soon as the final decision of the Legisla- ture was known, it was the hope of many that the General Assembly at its first Meeting would tender a formal resignation of its rights and privileges as an Established Church into the hands of Government. To prevent this no pains were spared. Under various pretexts presbyteries were interdicted from meeting to elect Commissioners, or their representatives when chosen were discharged under civil pains and penalties from claiming their seat in the Supreme Judicatory. Whilst, intimidated by the prospect of worldly loss, a few who had once espoused the non-Erastian cause turned back in the day of battle. It, therefore, became re- quisite to adopt another course, and sever all connexion with a Church which, in such cir- cumstances, would not sever its connexion with the State. Edinburgh is one of those cities which seem designed as the arena of mighty incidents. Commanding that wide prospect of fertile fields, and of the far-stretching ocean, which is itself enlarging to the soul ; overhung by tall piles of ancient masonry, and hoary battlements, which only speak of other years ; looking up to everlasting mountains which carry the thoughts aloft or far on into the future ; and 66 FAREWELL TO EGYPT. with the solemn shadows of the ancient capital diffusing a sedateness over the elegance of the modern town, Edinburgh is essentially an his- toric city — a city familiar with great events, and a proper place for their transaction. On the morning of the 18th May it had the look as if such an event were coming. People were early astir. When the hours of business came, men either forbore their wonted occupations, or plied them in a way which showed they had as lief forbear. Holyrood was one point of attraction, for the yearly gleam of royalty was nickering about its old grim turrets and through its gaunt open gateway. The scarlet yeomen with their glancing halberts, and the horsemen curvetting in the court of the resounding " Sanc- tuary," announced that the representative of majesty was within : and a stream of very va- rious equipages was conveying down the Ca- nongate professors from the college, and red- gowned magistrates from the council-chamber, lawyers from the Parliament-house, and lairds from all the Lothians, besides a long pedestrian procession of doctors, and ministers, and burgh- elders, all resorting to the palace to pay their homage to His Grace the Queen's Commis- sioner. From Holyrood they marched to the High Church. This venerable fabric seemed also to renew the days of old. Beneath that canopy where James, of pedantic memory, used FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 67 to sit, and sometimes dispute with John Durie and Patrick Simpson, sate the representative of royalty, and, all around, the gallery was garnished with the parti-coloured pomp of civic functionaries, whilst the area was filled with that grave and learned auditory which no other oc- casion could supply. The discourse,* " Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind," was a production which, for wise and weighty casuistry, for keen analysis of motive, and fine discrimination of truth, and for felicity of his- toric illustration, would have been a treat to such a congregation at a less eventful season. With the solemn consciousness that in the " full persuasion" of their own minds they had decided in another hour to take a step in which character and worldly comfort and ministerial usefulness were all involved, each sentence came with a sanction which such sermo is seldom carry. When the service was closing, the audience began to disperse with a precipi- tation which contrasted strangely with the fixed earnestness of their previous attention ; for the place appointed for the meeting of as- sembly lay at some distance, and the members were anxious to secure their seats, and on-look- ers were anxious to get near the spot. In the Assembly-hall many of the gallery- * Preached by the late Moderator, the Rev. Dr. Welsh. I has since been published. 68 FAREWELL TO EGYPT. spectators had sate nine weary hours, when at last the rapid entrance of members by either door announced that the service in St. Giles's was over, and languid countenances were again lighted up with expectation. It did not look like the opening of a General Assembly. There was not the usual vivacity of recognition, and that bustling to and fro and ferment of joyous voices which, on such occasions, keep the floor all astir and the audience all alive. Eithei side was serious. The one party had that awe upon their spirits which men feel when doing a great work. Of the other party, some had that cloud upon their consciences which men feel when they are doing a wrong work — when they see others doing what but for want of faith themselves should have been doing ; and others more honest, consistent Erastians of the old school, — had something of a funereal feel- ing, sadness in parting with opponents whom they respected, and a foreboding impression that when these were gone away, it would scarcely be worth while remaining. At last the jingle of horse-gear, and the mea- sured prance on the pavement, with the full near swell of the trumpet, seemed to say in the words of the national melody, " Now's the day, and now's the hour." The martial music ceased, and the Assembly rose, for Her Majesty's Commissioner had entered. The Moderator FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 69 engaged in prayer, and as soon as that prayer was ended, and the members had resumed their seats, amidst the breathless silence which pre- vailed he went on to say, " According to the usual form of procedure, this is the time for making up the roll ; but in consequence of certain proceedings affecting our rights and privileges, — proceedings which have been sanc- tioned by Her Majesty's Government and by the Legislature of the country, and more espe- cially in respect that there has been an in- fringement on the liberties of our Constitution, so that we could not now constitute this Court without a violation of the terms of the union between Church and State in this land, as now authoritatively declared, I must protest against our proceeding further. The reasons that have led me to this conclusion, are fully set forth in the document which I hold in my hand, and which, with permission of the House, I shall now proceed to read." He then read the pro- test, and having laid it on the table, bowed towards the throne, and withdrew. Man by man, and row by row, all to the left of the chair, arose and followed. An irrepressible shout of gratulation from the multitude in the street announced that the vanguard was fairly " without the camp ;" and orderly and slowly retiring, in a few short minutes all were gone. Looking at the long ranges of vacant forms 70 FAREWELL TO EGYPT. from which the pride of Scottish genius, and the flower of Scottish piety had disappeared, there were few spectators who did not feel " The glory is departed." It was a striking sight to see the dark line for half a mile together, moving down the steep declivity which leads to the valley of Leith- Water. In the distance stood, bright in its polished freshness, the new Assembly Hall, on which they had turned their backs for ever. On either side was the crowd of lookers-on — thronging windows and balconies, and outside stairs ; some cheering, and others lifting their hats in silent reverence, some weeping, many wondering, and a few endeavouring to smile. And in the middle of the street, held on the long procession, which included Welsh and Chalmers, Gordon, and Buchanan, Keith, and Macfarlan, Alexander Stewart, and John Mac- donald, Cunningham, and Candlish, everything of which a Scotchman thinks when he thinks of the Church of Scotland. Humble in its original destination, and pre- pared in haste, but of vast dimensions, and crowded with an eager auditory, their new place of meeting was emblematic of that new dispensation in the history of the Church of Scotland which had now begun. The em- blems of Royal patronage were absent. There was neither canopy nor throne. No civic pomp FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 71 was seen. Magistrates had laid aside their robes of office, and none of Scotland's nobles had come. But the heart of Scotland was there, and it was soon borne in on every mind that a greater than Solomon was there. None who heard them can ever forget the fullness and world-forgetting rapture, the inspiration of the opening prayers ; and when that mighty multitude stood up to sing,* it seemed as if the swell of vehement melody would lift the roof from off the walls. And when at last the ad- journment for the day took place, and in the brightness of a lovely evening the different groups went home, all felt as if returning from a pentecostal meeting. A common salutation was, " We have seen strange things to-day." Some, contrasting the harmony and happiness of the Free- Assembly with the strife and debate of other days, could not help exclaiming, " Be- hold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity !" Many remem- bered the text of Dr. Chalmers 7 sermon six months before in opening the Convocation, " Unto the upright light shall arise in the dark- ness." And at the family worship of those memorable evenings such psalms as the 124th and 126th were often sung, and were felt to be u new songs." * Psalm xliii. 3— 5.— O send thy light forth and tty truth, &c. 72 FAREWELL TO EGYPT. It would be pleasant to dwell upon many of the features of the Free- Church Assemblies ; especially on those deputations and messages of sympathy and congratulation which they received from so many Churches, and on those tributes of approbation and encouragement which coming in from so many quarters made them recognise the good hand of the Lord upon them. But we have only room to state, that Tuesday, the 23d of May, was, after spe- cial devotional exercises, employed in subscrib- ing the " Act of Separation and Deed of Demission, by which 470 Ministers did " Sep- arate FROM AND ABANDON THE PRESENT subsisting Ecclesiastical Establish- ment in Scotland, and renounce all rights or emoluments pertaining to them by virtue thereof." Though subscribed with the utmost calm- ness and alacrity, it would not be easy to esti- mate the sacrifice which that Deed of Demission implied. It is something to renounce the dig- nity of an established Church, and the com- forts of an endowed one. These Ministers did both, and some will best understand the sacri- fice when told, that the gift thus laid on the altar is a revenue of more than a Hundred Thousand Pounds a-year. But this is a ^s»*y gross and vulgar way of stating it. For wno will estimate in pounds and pence the FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 73 home-ties which have since been broken? Who will put a price upon those hallowed re- collections which cluster round every manse and church — all the more tender and manifold in proportion as a man of God was the presi- ding spirit there — round the manse where infan- cy was cradled and childhood made merry, and opening youth first learned to tread with thought- ful and meditative step — the country manse on whose roof-tree rested the blessing of many a passer-by, and from whose quiet chambers ascended, heard by God alone, the prayer of the pious wayfarer turned aside to tarry for a night, and through whose study-windows streamed at winter's early morn the radiance of his lamp who, like his Master, had risen up a great while before the dawn, to meditate and pray ? What money will buy back the joy of those sanctuaries, whose Sabbath-memories are now strangely mingled with the thought of their new occupants — the sanctuary, where, one by one, the Elkanahs and Hannahs of the village presented each loan from the Lord and dedicated the infant Samuel to him who an- swers prayer — the parish church where family by family sat the rural population, the happy matron at the head, and the toil-worn hardy father at the foot of their allotted pew, and the olive plants between — the church at whose window waved, ampler each opening spring, 74 FAREWELL TO EGYPT. the branches whose pleasant shadow spake of better trees and that higher house of God where these be planted, and round whose walls are sprinkled the grassy mounds where the fa- thers sleep, but where many of the children now must not sleep — the church which has the consecration which the Angel of the covenant alone can give — traditions of worthies who preached and wrestled there — recollections of Peniel meetings, new-year sermons, and com- munion seasons when God was in the place — birth-place associations of men who believe that it was there that they were born again ? Many a noble manly heart was like to burst that re- cent Sabbath, when minister and people took their last look of the beautiful house where they and their fathers had worshipped, and gathering up their psalm-books and Bibles which had lain on the book-board so long, they left the vacant pulpit, and the empty pews, " a place in which to bury strangers." But with all its griefs and privations — though in some parishes arbitrary land-owners have refused the humblest hut to the " outed " min- isters, and have prohibited their tenantry from affording them an asylum ; and though many congregations have no other prospect than that of worshipping, like their covenanting ances- tors, in the open air — still the sacrifice has been amply repaid in blessings of a nobler kind. FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 75 1. It is a solemn testimony for truth. It is something to have impressed on the minds of men more deeply the truths, that God alone is Lord of the conscience, and Christ alone Head of the Church ; arid that the relation between a pastor of a Christian Congrega- tion is something too sacred to be formed without the consent of either party. 2. It may remind the world that there is yet " faith in the earth." It is long since by faith Abram left Ur, since Moses forsook Egypt. It is long since the eleventh chapter to the He- brews was written. It is even long since " by faith" the Puritans esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt," and since the Covenanters " endured, as seeing him who is invisible." So incredu- lous had the world become, so ignorant of the existence of any heaven-sustained principle like faith, that up to the last morning, worldly men were betting that not fifty would secede ; and, doubtless, judging by themselves, even minis- ters of the Gospel assured the world, that their solemn protestations notwithstanding, not a hundred would fulfil their pledge. It is well that worldly men and ministers should learn that a class of men exists whose "Yea," is " Yea." 3. It has secured great advantages for the evangelization of Scotland. The Free Church 76 FAREWELL TO EGYPT. has the best of the Ministers, and the mass of the people. It has also the goodwill of the other Evangelical communions, and in co-ope- ration with them, the field of Scotland is now before it. Clerical etiquette, and ecclesiastical trammels, and civil interdicts, will not now re- strain its Ministers. Broad Scotland is their parish, and the last verses of Matthew's Gospel their commission ; and we trust that many people who have long sat in darkness will now see a great light. 4. It has elicited to a wonderful extent the sympathy and fraternal regard of Christian men, and Christian Churches. The kindness and affectionate fellow-feeling of the people of God at home and abroad, have been abun- dantly exhibited ; and the Free Church Minis- ters and people have rejoiced because of the consolation. One expression of this kindness has been of a peculiarly seasonable and affect- ing nature. Many Dissenting congregations in Scotland, Independents, Seceding, Wesleyan, have lent their respective places of worship, and even changed their customary time of meeting for the accommodation of their Free Church friends. 5. It has opened a great deep of liberality among the Christian people of Scotland. The Free Church is emphatically the Church of the Christian People. Comparatively few FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 77 of the noble and wealthy adhere to it ; and the exertions which its members have made are scarcely surpassed by the self-surrender of its Ministers. One eminent legal practitioner has devoted a fifth of his income for life to the cause. We lately heard of a pious man in humble life, who, by his own hard labour, had amassed a considerable sum, and presented nearly the whole of it, 500£., to the Free Church Funds. There was a poor woman in a parish where most of the land belonged to a hostile proprietor ; and in his zeal to prevent the ad- herents of the Free Church from rearing a place of worship, this proprietor endeavoured to buy up ail the smaller properties. This poor woman's only support was derived from a small parcel of ground, little worth, but for which the rich man in his eagerness offered an enormous price. The poor woman withstood the temp- tation, though such a fortune had never been within her reach before. She said, " From my Maker I got it, and to my Maker I give it back." And on the spot of ground thus given, a Free Church will now be built. And just as many Ministers are content to lodge in mean abodes, and even to send their families to dis- tant places, that they may not be compelled to quit the scene of their wonted labours ; so many of their people in their turn have made corresponding sacrifices, have abridged their 78 FAREWELL TO EGYPT. comforts, changed their dwellings, and sold their possessions, that they may aid in this blessed work. Never did the people of Scot- land offer to any cause so willingly. So abundant have the people's contributions been, that some may imagine no foreign aid is needed. It will be enough in a single sentence to say, that nothing can be more remote from the fact, than such a supposition. To build five or six hundred churches in the humblest style requires a large immediate outlay. Scot- land is a country comparatively poor; "not many rich, not many noble, 77 are yet numbered among the adherents of the protesting Church. The people have done enough to show their ardent zeal, and enough to give them a claim on the sympathy and energetic support of Christian men elsewhere. But in the em- phatic words of a communication last week re- ceived from Edinburgh, " unless they are most liberally, munificently ; and promptly assisted, the cause will deeply suffer, and many of our Ministers and people will be exposed to the most cruel hardship.' 7 June 26, 1843. THE CHURCH IN THE HOUSE, In Greenland, when a stranger knocks at the door, he asks, "Is God in this house?" And if they answer, " Yes," he enters. Reader, this little messenger knocks at your door with the Greenland salutation. Is God in this House ? Were you like Abraham, entertain- ing an angel unawares, what would be the re- port he would take back to heaven ? Would he find you commanding your children and your household, and teaching them the way of the Lord ? Would he find an altar in your dwelling? Do you worship God with your children ? Is there a Church in your house ? If not, then God is not in your house. A prayerless family is a godless family. It is a family on which Jehovah frowns. He will pour out his fury upon it some day. " O Lord, pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know 80 THE CHURCH thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name."* A prayerless family and a heathen family are here accounted the same. I cannot mention all the reasons in favour of family worship ; but if you ponder them, the four following should suffice : — 1. The godly householders mentioned in Scripture practised it. Would you desire to be like Abraham, the friend of God ? Wherever he pitched his tent, he builded an altar, and called on the name of the Lord ;t and Jehovah declared concerning him, " I know Abraham, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they will keep the way of the Lord. "J Would you like to re- semble Job, " the perfect and upright man, one that feared God and eschewed evil ?" He used to bring his children together, and rose early in the morning, and offered a sacrifice of as many victims as he had sons and daughters, teaching us how express and special our inter- cession for our families should be, and this he did " continually." § Would you resemble David, the man after God's own heart ? At the close of a busy day, we find him going " home to bless his household." II Do you envy Cornelius, whose prayers were heard, and to whom the Lord sent a special messenger to teach him the * Jer. x. 25. t Gen. xii. 7, 8 ; xiii. 4, 8. I Gen. xviii. 19. § Job i. 5. 8. II 1 Chron. xvi. 43. IN THE HOUSE. 81 way of salvation ? He was " a devout man, one who feared God with all his house, and prayed to God always ;" and who was so anxious for the salvation of his family, that he got together his kinsmen and near friends, that they might be ready to hear the apostle when he arrived, and share with himself the benefit.* Do you admire Aquila and Priscilla, Paul's " helpers in Christ Jesus," and who were so skilful in the Scriptures, that they were able to teach a young minister the way of God more perfectly ? You will find that one reason for their familiarity with Scripture was, that they had " a Church in their house" f In the Bible you find instances of family devotion in all ranks of life, from the king to the artisan, from David's palace to the tent of Aquila ; to teach you that whatever be your situation in life, you should still have a Church in your house. I have sometimes seen family worship in great houses : but I have felt that God was quite as near when I knelt with a praying family on the earthen floor of their cottage. I have known of family worship among the reapers in a barn. It used to be common in the fishing-boats upon the friths and lakes of Scotland. I have heard of its being observed in the depths of a coal-pit. I scarcely know the situation in life in which a willing family might not contrive to pray * Acts x. 2, 24, 31, 23. t Acts xviii. 26 : Rom. xvi. 5. 82 THE CHURCH together. If you live in a scoffing ungodly neighbourhood, so much the better. Abraham built his altar whilst heathen Canaanites looked on. He lifted up a testimony for God, and God honoured him — so that Abimelech, his neighbour, was constrained to say, " God is with thee in all that thou doest."* 2. Wherever religion revives, family worship abounds. When the Spirit is poured out upon the house of David, " the land shall mourn, " every family apart."t I can remember no instance of a great revival, of which this was not an attendant sign. Listen to the account which Mr. Baxter gives of Kidderminster during his ministry. " On the Lord's-day there was no disorder to be seen in the streets, but you might hear a hundred families singing psalms and repeating sermons, as you passed through the streets. When I came thither first, there was about one family in a street that wor- shipped God and called on his name, and when I came away, there were some streets, where there was not above one family in the side of a street that did not so ; and that did not by professing serious godliness gives us some hopes of their sincerity : and those families which were the worst, being inns and ale-houses, usually some persons in each did seem to be religious. Some of the poor men did compe- * Gen. xxi. 22. t Zech. x. 12. IN THE HOUSE. 83 tently understand the body of divinity, and were able to judge in difficult controversies. Some of them were so able in prayer, that very few ministers did match them in order, and ful- ness, and apt expressions, and holy oratory with fervency. Abundance of them were able to pray very laudably with their families or with others. The temper of their minds and the innocency of their lives was much more laudable than their parts." When the Spirit is poured upon us, our cities will all present a similar aspect. 3. It would make your home much happier if you had a Church in your house. It has been said with much truth, " Family prayer is the oil which removes friction, and causes all the complicated wheels of the family to move smoothly and noiselessly." It is one way, and the very best, for bringing all the members of a family together, and for promoting that har- mony of feeling so essential to domestic enjoy- ment. Some families are held together by hardly any bond, except that they lodge under the same roof, and assemble round the same board. But when they meet, it is not to fulfil one another's joy. They are selfish and sullen ; cross words, peevish answers, and angry re- criminations make up all their intercourse. The customary meal is despatched in a gloomy silence, or embittered by fretful words. I have 84 THE CHURCH known families so little at home with one another, that it was quite a relief when any casual visiter dropped in to break the irksome- ness of their own society. I have seen bro- thers and sisters so ill-assorted in the families in which God had planted them together, that they had no subject of common interest, and no mutual love nor confidence. They could converse and be happy with strangers, but not with one another. And I have seen this in families where there was a form of family wor- ship, — a pretence, a semblance of prayer — but never where there was the reality. If yours be such a family, before peace and affection visit it, you must say, " Come and let us seek the Lord." If you would see the dawn of blander days on that clouded and lowering circle, you must cry, " Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us, and so we shall be glad." If you could only persuade them to take into their hands the volume that speaks good will to man, and as they sit to- gether to read by turns its messages of kind- ness ; and then as they bowed before the mercy-seat, if in their common name, you said, Our Father, and confessed their common sins, returned thanks for any mercies which the day had brought, and asked such blessings as all need, this process could not be long persisted in, till you would see its softening and bar- IN THE HOUSE. 85 monizing influence. The dew of Hermon would begin to come down, and you would exclaim as you saw the difference, "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."* But perhaps your family dwells in unity — but it is not a holy unity. It is not sanctified by the Word of God and by prayer. You are happy in one another. You are never at a loss for the materials of a cheerful intercourse. But amidst all the sprightliness, and cordiality, and kind feeling which encompass your fire- side, one ingredient of gladness is wanting. God is forgotten. In the morning, you meet and give one another a joyous greeting, and the morning meal despatched rush away to the day's engagements without a word of ac- knowledgment to that God whose sleepless eye guarded your midnight pillow — without one word of prayer to bespeak his upholding and guidance in this day's untrodden path. And when the evening hour of intercourse is over, and you have discussed the pleasant and pros- perous incidents of the day, you hie away, cheerful but unthankful, to a prayerless slum ber, perhaps to awake in death's dark valley, and find that the Lord is not with you. Your family is united — but it is a short-lived union. Your family-love — God is not in it, and there- * Psalm cxxxiii. 8 86 THE CHURCH fore heaven does not follow after it. How it would give tone and intensity to the affection of your smiling circle, if you could be brought to love one another in the Lord ! With what new eyes you would learn to look upon your- selves, if you came to regard one another as brethren for eternity ! And how it would heighten bliss, and take the sharpness out of sorrow, if " For ever with the Lord," were the thought which joy and grief most readily sug- gested ! Were it manifest of all the members of a family that God is their Father, Christ their elder Brother, and the Holy Spirit their Comforter, such a family would possess a joy which the removal of no member could take away. That joy has often come into house- holds through the channel of domestic devo- tion. For, 4. Family worship is an ordinance which God has often blessed to the saving of souls. In houses where it is conducted with life and feeling, it has often proved a converting ordi- nance. A few years ago, an English gentle- man visited America, and spent some days with a pious friend. He was a man of talent and accomplishments, but an infidel. Four years afterwards, he returned to the same house, a Christian. They wondered at the change, but little suspected when and where it had originated. He told them that when he was IN THE HOUSE. 87 present at their family worship, on the first evening of his former visit, and when after the chapter was read, they all knelt down to pray — the recollection of such scenes in his father's house long years ago, rushed in on his memory, so that he did not hear a single word. But the occurrence made him think, and his thought- fulness ended in his leaving the howling wil- derness of infidelity, and finding a quiet rest in the salvation wrought out by Jesus Christ. In his Fireside, Mr. Abbot tells us of a gay young lady who paid a visit of a week in the family of a minister, an eminently holy man. His fervent intercessions for his children and the other inmates of his dwelling, went to this thoughtless heart : they were the Spirit's arrow, and upon that family altar, his visiter was enabled to present herself a living sacrifice to God. It is with the Church in the house as with the church in the village. The wayfarer may get a word in passing, which he never can forget. The stranger that turns aside to tarry for a night may hear at your family worship the word that will save his soul. Some years ago, an Irish wanderer, his wife, and his sister, asked a night's shelter in the cabin of a pious schoolmaster. With the characteristic hospi- tality of his nation, the schoolmaster made them welcome. It was his hour for evening worship ; and when the strangers were seated, 88 THE CHURCH he began by reading slowly and solemnly, the second chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians. The young man sat astonished. The expres- sions, " Dead in trespasses and sins," "Children of wrath," Walking after the course of this world," were new to him. He sought an ex- planation. He was told that this is God's account of the state of man by nature. He felt that it was exactly his own state. " In this way I have walked from my childhood. In the service of the God of this world we have come to your house." He was on the way to a fair, where he intended to pass a quantity of counterfeit money. But God's Word had found him out. He produced his store of coin, and begged his host to cast it into the fire ; and asked anxiously if he could not obtain the Word of God for himself. His request was complied with, and next morning, with the new treasure, the party, who had now no errand to the fair, returned to their own home. Per- haps, by this time, the pious schoolmaster has met his guest w 7 ithin the gates of the city, out- side of which are thieves, and whatsoever maketh a lie. But I cannot enumerate all the conversions which have occurred at the Church in the House. Many servants have been awakened there. Children have often heard there truths, which, when the Spirit brought them to remembrance in after days — perhaps, IN THE HOUSE. 89 in days of profligacy, and when far from their father's house — have sent home the prodigal. It is not only of Zion's solemn assemblies, but of Jacob's humble dwellings — the little fireside sanctuaries — " that the Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, This man was born there." In your house, there have been, per- haps, several immortal spirits born into the world. Have there been any born again ? Prayerless parents ! Your irreligion may prove your children's damnation. They might have been within the fold of the Saviour by this time, had not you hindered them when entering in. That time when God visited your family with a heavy stroke, they were thought- ful for a season, but there was no Church in your house to give a heavenly direction to that thoughtfulness, and it soon died away. That evening when they came home from the Sab- bath School so serious, if you had been a pious father or mother, you would have taken your boy aside, and spoken tenderly to him, and asked what his teacher had been telling him ; and you would have prayed with him, and tried to deepen the impression. But your children came in from the church or school, and found no Church in their father's house. Their hearts were softened, but your worldli- ness soon hardened them. The seed of the kingdom was just springing in their ^Y- V and 8* 90 THE CHURCH by this time might have been a rich harvest of salvation ; but in the atmosphere of your un godly house, the tender blade withered instantly. Your idle talk, your frivolity, your Sunday visiters, your prayerless evening, ruined all. Your children were coming to Christ, and you suffered them not. And you will not need to hinder them long. The carnal mind is enmity against God ; but no enmity so deep as theirs who were almost reconciled and then drew back. You drove your children back. You hardened them. They may never more be moved. They may grow up as prayerless and ungodly as yourself. If God should change yourself, they may soon be too hard for your own tears and entreaties. If you die as you are, their evil works will follow you to the world of woe, and pour new ingredients into your own cup of wrath. O ! think of these things. A prayerless house is not only a cheerless one, but it is a guilty one ; for where God is not, there Satan is. But I know not why I should multiply words to prove a duty which nature teaches. The poor Pagan with his household gods and family altar will rise in the judgment against some of this generation and will condemn them. In- stead, therefore, of saying more on the obliga- tion and advantages of this most reasonable servic\ t0 ^Jhall endeavour to give some plain IN THE HOUSE. 91 directions to those into whose hearts the Lord has put the desire to begin it. 1. Can you sing? or is there any one in the house who can ? You will find it enliven the service wonderfully if you can make " a joyful noise unto the Lord." The psalm or hymn is a part of the service which the youngest enjoy, and in which they will gladly take a share. 2. There is the reading of the Word of God. You may go straight through, or you may select a course of subjects. For instance, you might read the parables as one series, and the miracles of Christ as another. You might select the biographical portions, and read the lives of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Peter, Paul, &c. : or you might read the Epistles in con- nexion with the history of the Churches, or in- dividuals to whom they are addressed. Thus you might compare Ephesians with Acts xviii — xx., and with Rev. ii. 1 — 8 ; or Thessalonians with Acts xvii. 1 — 13; and you might com- pare the Psalms with the period in David's his- tory when each was written, and the Prophe- cies with those passages which record their ful- filment — a comparison, which a Bible, with good marginal references, will enable you to make. Or you may select passages appropriate to particular seasons. On the morning of a Lord's-day, you might read Psalm xlviii., lxiii., lxxxiv.j xcii., cxviii. ; John xx. ; Rev. i., &c. 92 THE CHURCH On a sacramental Sabbath, Psalm xxii., xlv. ; Isa. liii. ; Matt. xxvi. ; John vi., &c. It might help to keep attention awake, if each read a verse in rotation. At other times there might be more solemnity if the same person read the whole continuously. It would make it more impressive and more memorable, if you occa- sionally asked a question, or made a few re- marks on the passage read. For instance, you read the nineteenth of Luke, and this is your commentary as you go along. 1. " And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2. " And behold there was a man named Zaccheus, which was the chief among the publicans (or tax-gatherers,) and he was rich. 3. " And he sought to see Jesus, who he was : and could not for the press, because he was little of stature." This was the last time that Jesus passed through Jericho. He had often passed quietly through it before ; but now his time was fully come, and he could not be hid. The road was full of passengers at this season at any rate ; for it was Passover time, and they were all go- ing up to Jerusalem. Besides, the sensation in Jericho was increased by the miracle which Jesus had just wrought on the blind beggar, and which we read in the last chapter yester- day. The crowd was so great that Zaccheus could get no opening to push through, and he was so little that he could not see over other people's shoulders. IN THE HOUSE. 93 4. " And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore- tree to see him : for he was to pass that way. 5. " And when Jesus came to the place he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zaccheus, make haste, and come down ; for to-day I must abide at thy house." How surprised he must have been ! Up in the leafy sycamore, he never expected to be noticed. But see ! Jesus stands still and looks at him as if he were about to speak. Perhaps Zaccheus expected to get a rebuke before the multitude for his villanies, when Jesus, in his own gentle way, just says, " Zaccheus, make haste, and come down ; for to-day I must abide at thy house." Grace went with the word. 6. " And he made haste, and came down, and received hinc joyfully. 7. " And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner." There were many who felt that they had a better right to this distinction than the mean grasping tax-gatherer. Many of them felt as if they were not sinners. It lowered their opinion of Christ, that he would condescend to become the guest of such a man. They little knew the reason. ' And Zaccheus stood, and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor : and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." How glad he must have been ! A happy heart devises liberal things — and so happy had 94 THE CHURCH* this visit made him, that his greedy soul had no longer love for money. He stood up like one on whom a sudden thought had come, or who wished to give solemnity to what he said, and declared that he would make it all up to those whom he had wronged, and give half his substance to the poor. This was the effect of receiving Jesus. Where the love of Christ enters, the love of the world goes out. What would the murmurers think when they saw this change upon the " sinner." 9.