Thomas M'Crie the Elder
Encyclopedia
Thomas M'Crie was a Scottish
historian, writer
, and preacher born in the town of Duns
in November 1772. He was the eldest of a family of four sons and three daughters. His father was a manufacturer and merchant of Dunse, and lived to witness the literary celebrity of his son, as his death did not occur until 1828.
Thomas M'Crie was born and nursed in the class of Secession
called "Anti-burghers" during the time when it still retained much of the primitive earnestness and simplicity of the old days of the covenant. Upon being sent to the parish school, young M'Crie soon became not only an apt scholar, but distinguished for applying the habits of hard work in which he would later employ in his historical and antiquarian research. This progress, however, was somewhat alarming to his cautious father, who saw no reason for impoverishing a whole family to make his first-born a finished scholar. Had these paternal purposes been carried out, perhaps the future biographer of John Knox
and Andrew Melville
would have become nothing better than a thriving Berwickshire
store-keeper, or a prosperous mercantile adventurer in London
. But kind relatives interposed, and the boy was allowed to follow his original bent. This he did so effectually that before he had reached the age of fifteen, he was himself able to become a teacher in two country schools successively.
. His mother joined him for part of the journey. His favourite studies at the university were those allied with ethics
, philology
, and history
. In this way his course went on from year to year, his studies being frequently alternated with the laborious work of a schoolmaster, but his mind exhibiting on every occasion a happy combination of student-like diligence. In September 1795, he was licensed to be a preacher by the Associate Presbytery of Kelso; and in this capacity his first public attempts were so acceptable that, little more than a month after being licensed, he received a call from the Associate congregation in Potter Row, Edinburgh
, to become their second minister.
A short time after he had entered the work of the ministry, he married Miss Janet Dickson, daughter of a respectable farmer in Swinton
, to whom he had long been attached. Their long marriage lasted until the death of his wife some years later.
s were distinguished by a careful attention to those requirements of eloquence and rules of oratory, in which he excelled. Indeed, the older brethren seem to have been of the opinion that M'Crie's eloquence and speech was carried to such an undue length that it was in danger of glorifying himself more than the Word of God. He soon appears to have been of the same opinion himself, more especially after a missionary tour through the Orkney Islands
, hitherto in a state of grievous spiritual destitution, but now eager to hear the word of life, in whatever form it was proclaimed; and there he saw, in the demeanour of his primitive audiences, the vast importance of the great doctrines of salvation, as compared with those mere human appliances by which it is adorned and recommended. This wholesome conviction brought him back, not, however, with recoil into the opposite extreme, but into that happy medium where the true grandeur of the subject is allowed its full predominance, and where its expression is valued by how much the speaker himself becomes invisible behind his all-important theme.
This, indeed, is the secret of true pulpit eloquence; an eloquence M'Crie attained after his return from Orkney. The consequence was that his acceptability as a preacher increased, his congregation became more numerous, and a deeper spirit of earnestness was manifested in their general bearing and character.
The same spirit of disinterested devotedness to his work was also evinced by Mr. M'Crie in trials which some may reckon equally hard to be withstood. Though his flock was numerous, it was chiefly from the humbler classes, so that his income was a small one; and in 1798, the price of provisions rose so high that families of limited means were reduced to near or outright poverty. In this state of things, the congregation of Potter Row adopted the generous resolution of increasing the salary of their minister; but no sooner did he hear of it, than he wrote to them a letter, earnestly dissuading them from the measure. "The allowance which you promised me," he said,
This kind negation was gratefully received, and inserted in the minute-book of the congregation. Here, however, the disinterestedness of their pastor did not terminate. That period of famine
, so universal throughout Britain
, and still well remembered in Scotland
as "The Dearth," had reached its height in 1800, so that the middle were now transformed into the lower classes, while the lower were little better than paupers. At this crisis the minister stepped forward with a generous proposal; it was that, in consequence of the prevalent poverty, the amount of his stipend should be reduced. The people, however, who were able to appreciate his motives, refused to consent, and thus ended a contest that was equally honourable to both.
, not so much about Christian
doctrine as about Christian polity. What is the duty of the state in aiding, upholding, and fortifying the spiritual government of the church? And what is the nature and amount of that deference which the church should render to the state in return? The relationship between these powers was fully established in Scotland by the first and second Books of Discipline, and finally ratified by the Westminster Confession of Faith
.
But toward the close of the last century, the principles of the French revolution
, so active in other countries, had also found their entrance into Scotland; and there they menaced not only the civil but also the ecclesiastical authority of the state. This was especially the case in that body called the Secession
, to a part of which Mr. M'Crie belonged. The Seceders had caught that Gallican spirit so hostile to kings and rulers, and they now found out that all connection between church and state should cease. Each was to shift for itself as it best could, without the aid or co-operation of the other; while kings and magistrates, instead of being bound by their office to be nursing fathers of the church, were engaged to nothing more, and could claim nothing higher, than what they might effect as mere members and private individuals. In this way the Voluntary principle was recognized as the only earthly stay of the church's dependence, and the party who adopted it thenceforth became, not seceders from the Establishment, but Dissenters. It was thus that they closed and bolted the door against any future reunion with the parent church, let the latter become as reformed and as pure as it might.
In this painful controversy, Mr. M'Crie was deeply involved, and he took the unpopular side of the question, holding fast by those original standards of the Secession which the majority were so eager to abandon. The result was that numbers and votes prevailed, so that he, and three conscientious brethren of the church who held the same principles with himself, were formally deposed in 1806. The dissidents, under the new name of the Constitutional Associate Presbytery, were thus dispossessed of their churches, but not of their congregations, who still adhered to them. They repaired to new places of worship and continued to exercise their ministry as before. In this way they formed a separate and distinct, though small and unnoticed body, until 1827, when they united themselves with another portion of protesters from the same synod
, under the common title of Original Seceders.
In the following sentence from one of his letters in 1802 can be glimpsed the man who set at nought the demolition of such things as cathedral
s and monasteries
when they hindered the erection of a true church, and who was well fitted to become the biographer of him whose stern principle was, "Pull down the nests and the rooks will flee." "There is something," he thus writes,
Sentiments thus inspired, and researches so conducted, were not allowed to lie idle; and accordingly, from 1802 to 1806, he was a contributor to the Christian Magazine, the pages of which he enriched with several valuable historical and biographical sketches. The titles of these sufficiently indicated the nature of his present studies, while their excellence gave promise of what might yet be accomplished. The chief of them were an Account of the concluding part of the Life and the Death of that illustrious man, John Knox, the most faithful Restorer of the Church of Scotland
, being a translation from the work of Principal Smeton
; a Memoir of Mr. John Murray, minister of Leith
and Dunfermline
, in the beginning of the 17th century; a Sketch of the Progress of the Reformation in Spain, with an account of the Spanish Protestant Martyrs; The Suppression of the Reformation in Spain; the Life of Dr. Andrew Rivet, the French
Protestant minister; the Life of Patrick Hamilton; the Life of Francis Lambert, of Avignon; and the Life of Alexander Henderson.
The journal in which they appeared was of limited circulation, and its literary merits were little appreciated, so that these admirable articles were scarcely known beyond the small circle of subscribers to the Christian Magazine, most of whom were Seceders.
In this way, the mind of the author had been imbued with the subject of the Reformation at large; and he had been thus led to study its developments, not only in Scotland, but in Spain
, France, and Italy
. But in which of these important departments was his first great attempt in historical authorship to be made? Happily, his mind was not out at sea upon this conclusive question, for by the close of 1803 his choice had been decided. It was that of a leal-hearted Scotsman and zealous Covenanter
, and on the proposal that had been made to him of writing a separate work instead of unconnected articles, he thus replies:
It is easy to see how this variety, comprising the chief personages of the first and second great movements of the Scottish Reformation, would finally resolve themselves into John Knox and Andrew Melville, to whom the others were merely subsidiary. With Knox, therefore, he commenced; and the task was not an easy one. Obscure authors had to be discovered, and long-forgotten books resuscitated; contending facts had to be weighed, and contradictory statements reconciled; while a mass of manuscripts, such as might have daunted the most zealous antiquary at a period when Scottish antiquarianism was still in infancy, had to be pored over and deciphered. And all this was to be accomplished, not by the sung Fellow of a college, reposing in learned leisure in the deep shadow of Gothic
halls which the sound of the world could not reach, but by one who had the weekly and daily toil of a Scottish Secession minister to interrupt him, as well as its very scanty emoluments to impede his efforts and limit his literary resources.
And all this for what? The whole literary world was now united against John Knox, whose very name was the signal for ridicule or execration. The man whose heart was so hard and pitiless, who demolished stately architectures and fair churches from sheer hatred of things grand or beautiful, who shared in, or at least who countenanced, the foulest assassinations of the period, and who had finally imposed upon the land a sour, shrivelled, and soul-stunting creed, under the name of a reformation, which, thanks to Moderatism, the country was now getting rid of. This was he whom M'Crie, under every disadvantage, and at every hazard, was resolved to chronicle and to vindicate.
The materials for this important work, as may readily be surmised, had been long in accumulating: as for the Life itself, it appears to have been fairly commenced in 1807, and it was published in 1811. On its appearance, the public was for a while silent: many were doubtless astonished that such a subject should have been chosen at all, while some must have wondered that it could be handled so well. A complete change was to be wrought upon public feeling, and the obloquy of two centuries was to be recanted.
At length, "the song began from Jove," -- for the first keynote was sounded, and the chorus led by no less a journal than the Edinburgh Review
, now the great oracle of the world of criticism, while the article itself was written by no less a personage than Francis Jeffrey
, the hierophant and Pontifex Maximus
of critics. After commencing his critique with an allusion to those distinguished benefactors whose merits the world has been tardy in acknowledging, the reviewer thus continues:
After having stated these palliating circumstances, in which a portion of the general prejudice originated, the critic adds:
This was much, coming as it did from the Edinburgh Review, a work that hitherto had been by no means distinguished for its advocacy of Christian principles or love of evangelical piety; and nothing, therefore, was better fitted to arrest the attention of the world in behalf of the volume that had lately appeared. The subject thus discussed in the great northern journal for July 1812, was taken up by its powerful southern rival, and in the Quarterly Review
of July, 1813, appeared a critique, in which the reviewers, in their admiration of John Knox, seem to have allowed their well-known devotedness to Episcopacy and Toryism for the time to go to sleep.
After expressing their admiration that the Scottish reformer should have found a better biographer than had yet fallen to the lot of even John Calvin
and Martin Luther
, they thus characterize the literary merits of the work:
Still, however, the reviewers could not well get over the old John Knox, the destroyer of cathedrals, the man whose heart was said to be so hard and pitiless that the tears of Queen Mary fell on it as upon cold iron, and in their wrath they administered the following rebuke to the biographer, which, however, he accepted as no small compliment:
"Is not that great praise?" says M'Crie, with good humour, while quoting to a friend this portion of the criticism. The other journals followed the lead of their two Titans; and encouraged by the reception of the work, and the high importance it quickly attained, the author commenced a second edition, in which he judiciously availed himself not only of the advice, but in many cases of the harsh censures of his numerous reviewers. The result was that in 1813, he published a second edition of the Life of John Knox, so greatly amplified and improved, as to be almost a new work; and this, in course of time, was translated and published in French
, Dutch
, and German
.
Previous to the appearance of the second edition, the author had been honoured with the degree of doctor in divinity by the University of Edinburgh, the first instance in which it had ever conferred the title upon a Dissenting minister. This distinction, however, Dr. M'Crie had neither sought nor expected; it was frankly given upon the application of Mr. Blackwood, his publisher, and the chief difficulty lay in persuading the author to allow the initials to be appended to his name in the second edition of the work. His opinion was, that such distinctions were incompatible with the strictness of Presbyterian parity.
A compromise, however, was effected. He could not prevent the world from terming him Doctor, or become deaf when he was thus hailed; but when he went to the church courts he there sought equality with his brethren, and nothing more, and would allow himself to be designated as nothing higher than the Rev. Mr. M'Crie. It would, indeed, have been passing strange if our northern seats of learning had failed to confer their highest honours upon him who had achieved a literary feat so difficult, and achieved it so well. For by one great effort he had rolled back the tide of obloquy under which the most honoured of our national names had been buried so long, and restored it to its proper eminence and luster. He had enabled Scotsmen to avoid the shame which they and their fathers had felt when that name was mentioned in their hearing, and inspired them with an honest pride in the character of their reformer. He had even carried this success into England, and made John Knox as popular there as he was at first, when he was the friend and assistant of Cranmer, the chaplain of Edward VI
, and the solicited but recusant object of an English mitre. But wider and wider still the circle of intelligence upon the character of the Scottish reformer had been expanded, until the pious and reflective of Europe at large were enabled to perceive, and obliged to confess, that the ruthless demolisher of goodly architecture, which every other country had spared, was neither an illiterate Goth nor a ferocious Vandal, but one of those illustrious few of whom history is so justly proud. All this was much, but it was not yet the utmost which Dr. M'Crie had effected. Knox had, as it were, been recalled to life, and sent once more upon his momentous mission. His presence was seen and his voice heard in every district in Scotland. A heedless generation, by whom he was despised or neglected, had been compelled yet again to hear the instructions which he had formerly uttered, and to ponder for themselves how woefully these instructions had been forgot.
In short, their attention had been irresistibly called to the subject of the Scottish Reformation, and the principles upon which their church had been founded, and to the inquiry as to whether these principles were still in operation, or hastening to become a mere dead letter. And this inquiry was neither unnecessary nor in vain. A death-blow was struck at that Erastianism which had lately become so predominant in the Church of Scotland; and such was the spirit of research among the mouldering records of its long-neglected library, and the ardour with which they were published and diffused, that the former ignorance and indifference could be tolerated no longer. These effects went on from year to year, and their result we know. Scotland is now awake, and the creed which was almost filched from her relaxing hand, is held with as tight a grasp as ever.
The next literary undertaking, in which we find Dr. M'Crie employed, was a conflict with an antagonist every way worthy of his prowess. The "Great Unknown" was now in the ascendant, and as he wrote to amuse, he was sure of the sympathies of at least three-fourths of the community. Such he must have felt when he gave to the world the tale of "Old Mortality," in which the Covenanters were held up to derision, while their sufferings were described as justly merited. All this was enough for the novel-reading public, that was too ignorant to know, and too idle to inquire, and accordingly the statements of Sir Walter Scott, embodied as they were in so attractive a form, were received as veritable history. Nothing was now more common in England, and it may be added in Scotland also, than to hear the martyr-spirit of the days of the covenant laughed at, and its choicest adherents represented as madmen, fanatics, and cut-throats. It was needful that the "Author of Waverley" should be met by a fitting antagonist, and this he soon found in the author of the life of John Knox. No two such other men could have been culled from the crowded ranks of British literature
-— the one so completely the type of ancient feudalism
and Episcopacy in grafted on modern Toryism, and the other of the sturdy independence of the good old Whiggamores, and the Presbyterian devotedness of Drumelog and the Grassmarket
.
Dr. M'Crie had also the greater right to step forward on this occasion. An elaborate review of "Old Mortality" was therefore written, and published in the first three numbers of the Christian Instructor for the year 1817. It could scarcely have been expected from one so competent to the task as Dr. M'Crie, that it would have been otherwise than a complete historical refutation of the misstatements of the novel, and a successful vindication of the vilified Covenanters. But it was also something more than this in the eyes of Scott and his admirers; for it attacked him with a strength of wit and power of sarcasm
that threatened to turn the laugh against himself, and foil him at his own chosen weapon. So at least he felt, and his complaints upon the subject, as well as his attempted defence in the Quarterly Review, bespoke a mind ill at ease about the issue of such a controversy. The result was that the novelist was generally condemned, and that his tale, notwithstanding the popularity which at first attended it, sank in popular estimation, and became one of the least valued of all his admired productions.
The success, with which the Life of Knox was attended, would have been sufficient to make most authors repeat the attempt; but, besides this, the task of Dr. M'Crie had already been chosen, of which his first great effort had only been the commencement. The distinguished lights of the Scottish Reformation had long stood arrayed before his view as successively demanding their due commemoration; and after having completed the first and best in the series, the choice of the next was not a matter of difficulty. "If the love of pure religion, rational liberty, and polite letters," he writes, "forms the basis of national virtue and happiness, I know no individual, after her reformer, from whom Scotland has received greater benefits, and to whom she owes a deeper debt of gratitude and respect, than Andrew Melville."
Upon this, therefore, he had been employed for years, and towards the close of 1819 the Life of Andrew Melville was published. Such was the toil which this work occasioned him, which he was wont to say it had cost him "a hundred times more labour than the life of Knox." This will be apparent when we consider not only the immense quantity of facts which such a narrative involved, but the difficulty of finding them, as they were no longer the broad, distinct, and widely-published statements which so largely enter into the history of our first reformers. And yet, though the life of Melville is to the full as well written as that of Knox, and exhibits still greater learning and research, it never attained the same popularity. The cause of this is to be found in the subject itself. After the national hero has crossed the scene, all who follow in his path, be their deeds and merits what they may, must possess an inferior interest. Besides this, Melville was not a reformer from Popery, the common enemy of the Protestant Church, but from Episcopacy; and therefore, while the interest of the event was mainly confined to Presbyterian Scotland, it excited dislike in England, while it awoke scarcely any sympathy in the continental reformed churches. But will the work continue to be thus rated beneath its value?—we scarcely think so. The great question of centuries, the question of the rights of the church in reference to its connection with the state, promises to become more generally felt and more keenly agitated than ever; and in this important controversy, the opinions and example of Andrew Melville are likely to assume their due weight. And where, in this case, will posterity be likely to find a record better written than that of Dr. M'Crie? It may be, that before the present century has closed, his Life of Andrew Melville will be more widely perused and deeply considered than the author himself could have anticipated.
Calamities and afflictions of various kinds were now at hand to try the temper and purify the patience of the hitherto successful author. The perils by which the principle of church establishment was beset, and the prospect of further division among Christian communities, clouded his spirit with anxious forebodings -— for his was not a temper to rest satisfied that all should be well in his own day. Domestic sorrow was soon added to his public anxieties; for his amiable partner in life, who for the last six years had been an invalid, was removed from him by death in June, 1821. Soon afterwards his own health began to fail, in consequence of his intense application to study; and even his eyesight was so impaired with the poring of years over dim and difficult manuscripts, as to threaten total blindness
.
, that land so trampled under foot and crushed into the dust by centuries of oppression, but now rising from the dead; the first to attempt the great historical problem, as to whether a whole nation may be capable of a resurrection and a new life after ages of death and burial. But something more than mere historic curiosity was aroused by the event. Sympathy was also kindled throughout our whole island for the sufferings of the Greeks in their new war of independence
, so that British swords and British money were freely tendered in their behalf. And not the least or the latest in this good cause was the city of Edinburgh, now rejoicing in the title of "Modern Athens," and prompt, by its brotherly sympathy, to make that title good.
Public meetings were called for the purpose of raising money for the relief of the inhabitants of Scio, and for the promotion of education in Greece, and on both occasions Dr. M'Crie was enlisted as the advocate of suffering Hellas. He was now to appear before the public in a new phase. Hitherto he had carefully avoided addressing such meetings, while his pulpit oratory was the stern, unadorned, didactic theology of the old school. But eloquent as was the historian of Knox in the closet, and amidst historic details, was he also capable of eloquence in the crowded popular assembly, with a subject so delicate as Greece for his theme? The answer was given in addresses so imbued with the spirit of ancient heroism and Marathonian liberty, so pervaded by the classical tone of Athenian
poetry, and so wide in their range, from playful, refined, subtle wit, to the most vehement and subduing appeals of outraged indignant humanity, that the audiences were astonished and electrified.
It was now evident that, had he so pleased, he might have been among the first of our orators. But hitherto he had been content to be known as a theologian and historian, while he magnanimously left it to others to shine upon the platform; and having now performed his allotted task, he retired, amidst the deep wonderment of his hearers, to the modest seclusion of his study, and the silent labours that awaited him there.
And these labours were not pursued remissly. Besides his studies for the pulpit, which he prosecuted with all the diligence of his early days, he continued his researches into the history of the period of the Reformation; and in 1825, he published his edited Memoirs of Mr. William Veitch and George Bryson, written by themselves, narratives which he considered of high importance, as illustrative of the covenanting days of Scotland, and to which he appended biographical sketches and illustrative notes. In 1827 appeared his History of the Progress and Suppression of the Reformation in Italy, a work that had formed the subject of his earlier studies, but for many years had been laid aside. It was a most complex and laborious task, as he was obliged to trace the origin, progress, and decline of the Reformation through twenty-five of the Italian states, among which the great movement was divided. Such was the interest of this work, that it was translated into French, German, and Dutch, and inserted by the ecclesiastical tribunal of Rome in the Index Expurgatorius.
In 1829, he published The Progress and Suppression of the Reformation in Spain in the Sixteenth Century, a sequel to The History of the Reformation in Italy during the same period. As a proof of his indefatigable diligence and zeal in the study of history, it may be mentioned here, that in order to make himself fully acquainted with the two last subjects, he had mastered, in the decline of his days, the Spanish
and Italian languages, that he might study the proper authorities from their original sources.
In the old covenanting spirit, he carried the subject to the pulpit, where it had but too much right to enter, and in his lectures on the book of Ezra, where it could be appropriately introduced, he uttered his prophetic warnings.
He drew up a petition against the measure, which was signed by 13,150 names, but this, like other petitions of the same kind, was ineffectual. The bill was passed, and silly, duped, disappointed Britain is now ready, like the Roman voter in favour of Coriolanus
, to exclaim, "An' it were to do again -— but no matter!"
In 1827, he had enjoyed the satisfaction, after much labour and anxiety, of seeing a union effected between the church party to which he belonged, and the body who had seceded from the Burgher and Antiburgher Synods in 1820, under the name of Protesters; and, in 1830, his anxieties were excited, and his pen employed, in endeavours to promote a union between his own party, now greatly increased, and the Associate Synod of Original Burghers. Many may smile at these divisions as unnecessary and unmeaning, and many may wonder that such a mind as that of Dr. M'Crie should have been so intent in reconciling them. But religious dissension is no triviality, and the bond of Christian unity is worth any sacrifice short of religious principle; and upon this subject, therefore, the conscientious spirit of Dr. M'Crie was as anxious as ever was statesman to combine jarring parties into one, for the accomplishment of some great national and common benefit. While thus employed, a heavy public bereavement visited him with all the weight of a personal affliction; this was the death of the Rev. Dr. Andrew Thomson, who, in the full strength and vigour of his days, suddenly fell down and expired upon the threshold of his home, which he was just about to enter.
By this event, which occurred on 9 February 1831, Dr. M'Crie was bereaved of a close affectionate intercourse which he had for years enjoyed with a most congenial heart and intellect, and saw himself fated to hold onward in his course, and continue the "good fight," un-cheered by the voice that had so often revived his courage.
After he had rallied from the unexpected blow, Dr. M'Crie was employed in what was called the "Marrow Controversy," which, notwithstanding the uncouth title it bore, had for its object the vindication of the important doctrine of justification by faith against Arminianism
. This was followed by the Anti-patronage controversy in 1833, a subject which the Kirk
of Scotland had never lost sight of since the time when patronage was first imposed upon it, and which was now fast ripening into such important results as neither friend nor enemy could anticipate.
As might be expected, Dr. M'Crie was no mere onlooker. He belonged to a body whose conscientious hope was a return to the church of their fathers, when it was loosed from its bonds and purified from its errors; but who saw no prospect of the realization of that hope until the right of pastoral election was conceded to the people. Upon this question Dr. M’Crie published what proved to be the last work he was to produce as an author, in the form of an anonymous pamphlet, entitled What ought the General Assembly to do at the Present Crisis? His answer to the question was express and brief: "Without delay, petition the legislature for the abolition of patronage."
The outcry in Scotland against patronage became so loud that statesmen saw they must be up and doing and a committee of the House of Commons
was appointed to hold an inquest upon the alleged grievance. It was natural that the most distinguished of Scotland's ecclesiastical historians should be heard upon the subject, more especially as his testimony was likely to be unbiased either by party feeling or self-interest; and accordingly, besides the many eminent ministers of the Established Church who were summoned before the committee, Dr. M'Crie was called to give his statement upon the effects of ecclesiastical patronage.
He repaired to London
at this authoritative summons, although with reluctance, and underwent two long examinations before the committee, the one on 2 May 1834, the other on 7 May 1834. It was not thus, however, that the question was to be settled; and he returned from London, wondering what would be the result, but comforting himself with the conviction that an overruling wisdom predominated over earthly counsels, and that all would be controlled for the best.
Amidst these public cares, and a debility that was daily increasing, Dr. M'Crie now addressed himself in earnest to accomplish what, in all likelihood, would have proved the most laborious of his literary undertakings. It was nothing less than a "Life of Calvin", to which his attention had been directed during his studies upon the progress of the Reformation on the continent, and for which he had collected a considerable amount of materials. This, however, was not enough, for he felt that to accomplish such a work in a satisfactory manner, it would be necessary to consult the ancient records of Geneva
, a step which his ministerial duties prevented.
His friends, aware of his wishes on the subject, had offered to send, at their own expense, a qualified person to Geneva to transcribe the required documents; but this kind offer, which was made in 1831, he declined. In 1833, however, his son John, a young man of high talent, who was studying for the church, had repaired with two pupils on a travelling excursion to Geneva, and to him the task was committed of making the necessary extracts upon the subject. The commission could not have been better bestowed. "John has been so laborious in his researches," said the affectionate father, "and sent me home so many materials, that I found myself shut up to make an attempt, if it were for no other reason than to show that I was not altogether insensible to his exertions."
He felt more and more the growing lassitude that was stealing upon him, and thus wrote, eight months afterwards, about the materials that were pouring in upon him from Geneva: "I have neither time nor leisure to avail myself of them; and instead of rejoicing, as I used to do, at the sight of such treasures, I rather feel inclined to weep. Yet if I can make nothing of them, some other may."
Thus he went on until the middle of the following year, his attention to Calvin being in the meantime divided by the great ecclesiastical events that were hastening onward to the disruption of the Church of Scotland. Of the Life of the great Reformer, however, he had already written out, and prepared for the press three ample chapters, in which Calvin's career was traced through the studies of his youth, onward to his adoption of the reformed doctrines, his preface to the Institution of the Christian Religion, and his residence in Geneva. But here the historian's task was to terminate, and terminate most unexpectedly and abruptly.
On 4 August 1835, he was suddenly taken unwell; a stupor succeeded, from which it was impossible to rouse him; and on the following day he breathed his last, without a groan or struggle, but insensible to the presence of his grieving friends who were assembled round his death-bed. Thus died in his sixty-third year of age. His remains were buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard
, and over the grave a simple monument was erected by his congregation, with an inscription commemorative of his worth and their regret.
At his death, he left a widow, for he was twice married, upon whom government, to show their sense of his worth, settled a liberal pension. His children, who were all by his first marriage, consisted of four sons, of whom John, the third, his faithful assistant among the archives of Geneva, died only two years after his father. Besides these, he had one daughter, married to Archibald Meikle, Esq., Flemington.
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
historian, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, and preacher born in the town of Duns
Duns
Duns is the county town of the historic county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders.-Early history:Duns law, the original site of the town of Duns, has the remains of an Iron Age hillfort at its summit...
in November 1772. He was the eldest of a family of four sons and three daughters. His father was a manufacturer and merchant of Dunse, and lived to witness the literary celebrity of his son, as his death did not occur until 1828.
Thomas M'Crie was born and nursed in the class of Secession
United Secession Church
The United Secession Church was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination. It was founded in 1820 by a union of various churches which had seceded from the established Church of Scotland and existed until 1847....
called "Anti-burghers" during the time when it still retained much of the primitive earnestness and simplicity of the old days of the covenant. Upon being sent to the parish school, young M'Crie soon became not only an apt scholar, but distinguished for applying the habits of hard work in which he would later employ in his historical and antiquarian research. This progress, however, was somewhat alarming to his cautious father, who saw no reason for impoverishing a whole family to make his first-born a finished scholar. Had these paternal purposes been carried out, perhaps the future biographer of John Knox
John Knox
John Knox was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of the Protestant Reformation who brought reformation to the church in Scotland. He was educated at the University of St Andrews or possibly the University of Glasgow and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1536...
and Andrew Melville
Andrew Melville
Andrew Melville was a Scottish scholar, theologian and religious reformer. His fame encouraged scholars from the European Continent to study at Glasgow and St Andrews.-Early life and early education:...
would have become nothing better than a thriving Berwickshire
Berwickshire
Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...
store-keeper, or a prosperous mercantile adventurer in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. But kind relatives interposed, and the boy was allowed to follow his original bent. This he did so effectually that before he had reached the age of fifteen, he was himself able to become a teacher in two country schools successively.
Education and marriage
At the age of 16, Thomas M'Crie left home to be enrolled as a student in the University of EdinburghUniversity of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
. His mother joined him for part of the journey. His favourite studies at the university were those allied with ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
, and history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. In this way his course went on from year to year, his studies being frequently alternated with the laborious work of a schoolmaster, but his mind exhibiting on every occasion a happy combination of student-like diligence. In September 1795, he was licensed to be a preacher by the Associate Presbytery of Kelso; and in this capacity his first public attempts were so acceptable that, little more than a month after being licensed, he received a call from the Associate congregation in Potter Row, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, to become their second minister.
A short time after he had entered the work of the ministry, he married Miss Janet Dickson, daughter of a respectable farmer in Swinton
Swinton, Scottish Borders
Swinton is a small village in the Scottish Borders. It is in the former county of Berwickshire, around south-east of Duns, and north-west of the Anglo-Scottish border.-History:...
, to whom he had long been attached. Their long marriage lasted until the death of his wife some years later.
Ministry
At the outset of his ministry, Thomas M'Crie's sermonSermon
A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...
s were distinguished by a careful attention to those requirements of eloquence and rules of oratory, in which he excelled. Indeed, the older brethren seem to have been of the opinion that M'Crie's eloquence and speech was carried to such an undue length that it was in danger of glorifying himself more than the Word of God. He soon appears to have been of the same opinion himself, more especially after a missionary tour through the Orkney Islands
Orkney Islands
Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...
, hitherto in a state of grievous spiritual destitution, but now eager to hear the word of life, in whatever form it was proclaimed; and there he saw, in the demeanour of his primitive audiences, the vast importance of the great doctrines of salvation, as compared with those mere human appliances by which it is adorned and recommended. This wholesome conviction brought him back, not, however, with recoil into the opposite extreme, but into that happy medium where the true grandeur of the subject is allowed its full predominance, and where its expression is valued by how much the speaker himself becomes invisible behind his all-important theme.
This, indeed, is the secret of true pulpit eloquence; an eloquence M'Crie attained after his return from Orkney. The consequence was that his acceptability as a preacher increased, his congregation became more numerous, and a deeper spirit of earnestness was manifested in their general bearing and character.
The same spirit of disinterested devotedness to his work was also evinced by Mr. M'Crie in trials which some may reckon equally hard to be withstood. Though his flock was numerous, it was chiefly from the humbler classes, so that his income was a small one; and in 1798, the price of provisions rose so high that families of limited means were reduced to near or outright poverty. In this state of things, the congregation of Potter Row adopted the generous resolution of increasing the salary of their minister; but no sooner did he hear of it, than he wrote to them a letter, earnestly dissuading them from the measure. "The allowance which you promised me," he said,
"when I first came among you as your minister, and which has been always punctually paid, though not so liberal as what may be given to others of the same station in this place, has hitherto been sufficient. From any general knowledge I have of the state of your funds, it is as much as you can be supposed to give, especially considering the burdens under which you labour. The expense of living has indeed been increasing for some time past, but the incomes of trades-people have not increased in proportion; and as the most of you are of that description, I don't consider myself entitled to make any increasing demand upon you."
This kind negation was gratefully received, and inserted in the minute-book of the congregation. Here, however, the disinterestedness of their pastor did not terminate. That period of famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
, so universal throughout Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and still well remembered in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
as "The Dearth," had reached its height in 1800, so that the middle were now transformed into the lower classes, while the lower were little better than paupers. At this crisis the minister stepped forward with a generous proposal; it was that, in consequence of the prevalent poverty, the amount of his stipend should be reduced. The people, however, who were able to appreciate his motives, refused to consent, and thus ended a contest that was equally honourable to both.
The Scottish Reformation and controversy
After this, the life of Mr. M'Crie was fated for some time to be embittered by ecclesiastical controversy. The great subject of religious debate in Scotland has been, since the ReformationScottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...
, not so much about Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
doctrine as about Christian polity. What is the duty of the state in aiding, upholding, and fortifying the spiritual government of the church? And what is the nature and amount of that deference which the church should render to the state in return? The relationship between these powers was fully established in Scotland by the first and second Books of Discipline, and finally ratified by the Westminster Confession of Faith
Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith, in the Calvinist theological tradition. Although drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly, largely of the Church of England, it became and remains the 'subordinate standard' of doctrine in the Church of Scotland, and has been...
.
But toward the close of the last century, the principles of the French revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, so active in other countries, had also found their entrance into Scotland; and there they menaced not only the civil but also the ecclesiastical authority of the state. This was especially the case in that body called the Secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
, to a part of which Mr. M'Crie belonged. The Seceders had caught that Gallican spirit so hostile to kings and rulers, and they now found out that all connection between church and state should cease. Each was to shift for itself as it best could, without the aid or co-operation of the other; while kings and magistrates, instead of being bound by their office to be nursing fathers of the church, were engaged to nothing more, and could claim nothing higher, than what they might effect as mere members and private individuals. In this way the Voluntary principle was recognized as the only earthly stay of the church's dependence, and the party who adopted it thenceforth became, not seceders from the Establishment, but Dissenters. It was thus that they closed and bolted the door against any future reunion with the parent church, let the latter become as reformed and as pure as it might.
In this painful controversy, Mr. M'Crie was deeply involved, and he took the unpopular side of the question, holding fast by those original standards of the Secession which the majority were so eager to abandon. The result was that numbers and votes prevailed, so that he, and three conscientious brethren of the church who held the same principles with himself, were formally deposed in 1806. The dissidents, under the new name of the Constitutional Associate Presbytery, were thus dispossessed of their churches, but not of their congregations, who still adhered to them. They repaired to new places of worship and continued to exercise their ministry as before. In this way they formed a separate and distinct, though small and unnoticed body, until 1827, when they united themselves with another portion of protesters from the same synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
, under the common title of Original Seceders.
Literary efforts
During the progress of these events, which extended over a course of years, and with which Mr. M'Crie was so vitally connected, their whole bearing of the Original Seceders had a most momentous influence upon M'Crie's future literary labours. They threw his mind back upon the original principles of the Scottish Reformation, and made them the chief subjects of his inquiry; they brought him into close contact with those illustrious characters by whom the Reformation was commenced; and they animated and strengthened that love of religious consistency, and hostility to ecclesiastical tyranny and oppression, that accorded so materially with his original character.In the following sentence from one of his letters in 1802 can be glimpsed the man who set at nought the demolition of such things as cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
s and monasteries
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
when they hindered the erection of a true church, and who was well fitted to become the biographer of him whose stern principle was, "Pull down the nests and the rooks will flee." "There is something," he thus writes,
"in the modern study of the fine arts, belles-lettres, and mere antiquities, that gives the mind a littleness which totally unfits it for being suitably affected with things truly great in characters eminent for love of religion, liberty, and true learning. To demolish a Gothic arch, break a pane of painted glass, or deface a picture, are with them acts of ferocious sacrilege, not to be atoned for, the perpetrators of which must be ipso facto excommunicated from all civil society, and reckoned henceforth among savages; while to preserve these magnificent trifles, for which they entertain a veneration little less idolatrous than their Popish or Pagan predecessors, they would consign whole nations to ignorance or perdition."
Sentiments thus inspired, and researches so conducted, were not allowed to lie idle; and accordingly, from 1802 to 1806, he was a contributor to the Christian Magazine, the pages of which he enriched with several valuable historical and biographical sketches. The titles of these sufficiently indicated the nature of his present studies, while their excellence gave promise of what might yet be accomplished. The chief of them were an Account of the concluding part of the Life and the Death of that illustrious man, John Knox, the most faithful Restorer of the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
, being a translation from the work of Principal Smeton
Thomas Smeton
Thomas Smeton, Smeaton or Smieton was a Scottish minister and Principal of Glasgow University.-Life:He was born at Gask, near Perth, was educated at the school at Perth, and in 1553 incorporated a student in St. Salvator's College, St. Andrews. A promising scholar, he was made a regent of the...
; a Memoir of Mr. John Murray, minister of Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
and Dunfermline
Dunfermline
Dunfermline is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to a 2008 estimate, Dunfermline has a population of 46,430, making it the second-biggest settlement in Fife. Part of the town's name comes from the Gaelic word...
, in the beginning of the 17th century; a Sketch of the Progress of the Reformation in Spain, with an account of the Spanish Protestant Martyrs; The Suppression of the Reformation in Spain; the Life of Dr. Andrew Rivet, the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Protestant minister; the Life of Patrick Hamilton; the Life of Francis Lambert, of Avignon; and the Life of Alexander Henderson.
The journal in which they appeared was of limited circulation, and its literary merits were little appreciated, so that these admirable articles were scarcely known beyond the small circle of subscribers to the Christian Magazine, most of whom were Seceders.
In this way, the mind of the author had been imbued with the subject of the Reformation at large; and he had been thus led to study its developments, not only in Scotland, but in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, France, and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. But in which of these important departments was his first great attempt in historical authorship to be made? Happily, his mind was not out at sea upon this conclusive question, for by the close of 1803 his choice had been decided. It was that of a leal-hearted Scotsman and zealous Covenanter
Covenanter
The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...
, and on the proposal that had been made to him of writing a separate work instead of unconnected articles, he thus replies:
"As you have suggested this, I shall use the freedom of mentioning to you a floating idea which has sometimes passed through my mind, without ever assuming the formality of a resolution or design; namely, a selection of lives of Scottish reformers, in some such order as to embrace the most important periods of the history of the Church of Scotland; in which a number of facts which are reckoned too minute and trivial for general history might be brought to bear upon, and occasionally illustrate it. The order, for instance, might be (I write merely from the recollection of the moment), Patrick Hamilton, George Wishart, John Knox, John Craig, Andrew Melvine, Patrick Simpson, Robert Bruce, &c."
It is easy to see how this variety, comprising the chief personages of the first and second great movements of the Scottish Reformation, would finally resolve themselves into John Knox and Andrew Melville, to whom the others were merely subsidiary. With Knox, therefore, he commenced; and the task was not an easy one. Obscure authors had to be discovered, and long-forgotten books resuscitated; contending facts had to be weighed, and contradictory statements reconciled; while a mass of manuscripts, such as might have daunted the most zealous antiquary at a period when Scottish antiquarianism was still in infancy, had to be pored over and deciphered. And all this was to be accomplished, not by the sung Fellow of a college, reposing in learned leisure in the deep shadow of Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
halls which the sound of the world could not reach, but by one who had the weekly and daily toil of a Scottish Secession minister to interrupt him, as well as its very scanty emoluments to impede his efforts and limit his literary resources.
And all this for what? The whole literary world was now united against John Knox, whose very name was the signal for ridicule or execration. The man whose heart was so hard and pitiless, who demolished stately architectures and fair churches from sheer hatred of things grand or beautiful, who shared in, or at least who countenanced, the foulest assassinations of the period, and who had finally imposed upon the land a sour, shrivelled, and soul-stunting creed, under the name of a reformation, which, thanks to Moderatism, the country was now getting rid of. This was he whom M'Crie, under every disadvantage, and at every hazard, was resolved to chronicle and to vindicate.
The materials for this important work, as may readily be surmised, had been long in accumulating: as for the Life itself, it appears to have been fairly commenced in 1807, and it was published in 1811. On its appearance, the public was for a while silent: many were doubtless astonished that such a subject should have been chosen at all, while some must have wondered that it could be handled so well. A complete change was to be wrought upon public feeling, and the obloquy of two centuries was to be recanted.
At length, "the song began from Jove," -- for the first keynote was sounded, and the chorus led by no less a journal than the Edinburgh Review
Edinburgh Review
The Edinburgh Review, founded in 1802, was one of the most influential British magazines of the 19th century. It ceased publication in 1929. The magazine took its Latin motto judex damnatur ubi nocens absolvitur from Publilius Syrus.In 1984, the Scottish cultural magazine New Edinburgh Review,...
, now the great oracle of the world of criticism, while the article itself was written by no less a personage than Francis Jeffrey
Francis Jeffrey
Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey was a Scottish judge and literary critic.He was born in Edinburgh, the son of a clerk in the Court of Session. After attending the Royal High School for six years, he studied at the University of Glasgow from 1787 to May 1789, and at Queen's College, Oxford, from...
, the hierophant and Pontifex Maximus
Pontifex Maximus
The Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post...
of critics. After commencing his critique with an allusion to those distinguished benefactors whose merits the world has been tardy in acknowledging, the reviewer thus continues:
"Among the many who have suffered by this partiality of fortune, we scarcely know any one to whom harder measure has been dealt, than the eminent person who is the subject of the work before us. In the reformed island of Great Britain no honours now wait on the memory of the greatest of the British reformers; and even among us zealous Presbyterians of the north, the name of Knox, to whom our Presbyterian Church is indebted, not merely for its establishment, but its existence, is oftener remembered for reproach than for veneration; and his apostolic zeal and sanctity, his heroic courage, his learning, talents, and accomplishments, are all coldly forgotten; while a thousand tongues are still ready to pour out their censure or derision of his fierceness, his ambition, and his bigotry. Some part of this injustice we must probably be content to ascribe to the fatality to which we have already made reference; but some part, at least, seems to admit of a better explanation."
After having stated these palliating circumstances, in which a portion of the general prejudice originated, the critic adds:
"From these, or from other causes, however, it seems to be undeniable that the prevailing opinion about John Knox, even in this country, has come to be, that he was a fierce and gloomy bigot, equally a foe to polite learning and innocent enjoyment; and that, not satisfied with exposing the abuses of the Romish superstitions, he laboured to substitute for the rational religion and regulated worship of enlightened men, the ardent and un-rectified spirit of vulgar enthusiasm, dashed with dreams of spiritual and political independence, and all the impracticability's of the earthly kingdom of the saints. How unfair, and how marvellously incorrect these representations are, may be learned from the perusal of the book before us -- a work which has afforded us more amusement and more instruction than any thing we ever read upon the subject; and which, independent of its theological merits, we do not hesitate to pronounce by far the best piece of history which has appeared since the commencement of our critical career. It is extremely accurate, learned, and concise, and, at the same time, very full of spirit and animation, exhibiting, as it appears to us, a rare union of the patient research and sober judgment which characterize the more laborious class of historians, with the boldness of thinking and force of imagination which is sometimes substituted in their place. It affords us very great pleasure to bear this public testimony to the merits of a writer who has been hitherto unknown, we believe, to the literary world either of this or the neighbouring country; of whom, or of whose existence at least, though residing in the same city with ourselves, it never was our fortune to have heard till his volume was put into our hands; and who, in his first emergence from the humble obscurity in which he has pursued the studies and performed the duties of his profession, has presented the world with a work which may put so many of his contemporaries to the blush, for the big promises they have broken, and the vast opportunities they have neglected."
This was much, coming as it did from the Edinburgh Review, a work that hitherto had been by no means distinguished for its advocacy of Christian principles or love of evangelical piety; and nothing, therefore, was better fitted to arrest the attention of the world in behalf of the volume that had lately appeared. The subject thus discussed in the great northern journal for July 1812, was taken up by its powerful southern rival, and in the Quarterly Review
Quarterly Review
The Quarterly Review was a literary and political periodical founded in March 1809 by the well known London publishing house John Murray. It ceased publication in 1967.-Early years:...
of July, 1813, appeared a critique, in which the reviewers, in their admiration of John Knox, seem to have allowed their well-known devotedness to Episcopacy and Toryism for the time to go to sleep.
After expressing their admiration that the Scottish reformer should have found a better biographer than had yet fallen to the lot of even John Calvin
John Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
and Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
, they thus characterize the literary merits of the work:
"Compact and vigorous, often coarse, but never affected, without tumour and without verbosity, we can scarcely forbear to wonder by what effort of taste or discrimination the style of Dr. M'Crie has been preserved so nearly unpolluted by the disgusting and circumlocutory nonsense of his contemporaries. Here is no puling about the 'interesting sufferer,' 'the patient saint,' 'the angelic preacher.' Knox is plain Knox, in acting and in suffering always a hero; and his story is told as a hero would wish that it should be told -- with simplicity, precision, and force."
Still, however, the reviewers could not well get over the old John Knox, the destroyer of cathedrals, the man whose heart was said to be so hard and pitiless that the tears of Queen Mary fell on it as upon cold iron, and in their wrath they administered the following rebuke to the biographer, which, however, he accepted as no small compliment:
"But of the literal subversion of many noble buildings, which, perhaps unavoidably, took place in the course of this great revolution, Dr. M'Crie permits himself to speak with a savage and sarcastic triumph, which evinces how zealous and practical a helper he would himself have proved in the work of destruction, had he been born in the 16th century. Less, we are persuaded, would then have been heard of Row or Willock, as auxiliaries of Knox, than of M'Crie.... Like Knox himself, he has neither a tear nor a sigh for Mary; and we doubt not that, like him, he would have voted to bring the royal adulteress and murderer, for such both esteem her, to the block."
"Is not that great praise?" says M'Crie, with good humour, while quoting to a friend this portion of the criticism. The other journals followed the lead of their two Titans; and encouraged by the reception of the work, and the high importance it quickly attained, the author commenced a second edition, in which he judiciously availed himself not only of the advice, but in many cases of the harsh censures of his numerous reviewers. The result was that in 1813, he published a second edition of the Life of John Knox, so greatly amplified and improved, as to be almost a new work; and this, in course of time, was translated and published in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.
Previous to the appearance of the second edition, the author had been honoured with the degree of doctor in divinity by the University of Edinburgh, the first instance in which it had ever conferred the title upon a Dissenting minister. This distinction, however, Dr. M'Crie had neither sought nor expected; it was frankly given upon the application of Mr. Blackwood, his publisher, and the chief difficulty lay in persuading the author to allow the initials to be appended to his name in the second edition of the work. His opinion was, that such distinctions were incompatible with the strictness of Presbyterian parity.
A compromise, however, was effected. He could not prevent the world from terming him Doctor, or become deaf when he was thus hailed; but when he went to the church courts he there sought equality with his brethren, and nothing more, and would allow himself to be designated as nothing higher than the Rev. Mr. M'Crie. It would, indeed, have been passing strange if our northern seats of learning had failed to confer their highest honours upon him who had achieved a literary feat so difficult, and achieved it so well. For by one great effort he had rolled back the tide of obloquy under which the most honoured of our national names had been buried so long, and restored it to its proper eminence and luster. He had enabled Scotsmen to avoid the shame which they and their fathers had felt when that name was mentioned in their hearing, and inspired them with an honest pride in the character of their reformer. He had even carried this success into England, and made John Knox as popular there as he was at first, when he was the friend and assistant of Cranmer, the chaplain of Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
, and the solicited but recusant object of an English mitre. But wider and wider still the circle of intelligence upon the character of the Scottish reformer had been expanded, until the pious and reflective of Europe at large were enabled to perceive, and obliged to confess, that the ruthless demolisher of goodly architecture, which every other country had spared, was neither an illiterate Goth nor a ferocious Vandal, but one of those illustrious few of whom history is so justly proud. All this was much, but it was not yet the utmost which Dr. M'Crie had effected. Knox had, as it were, been recalled to life, and sent once more upon his momentous mission. His presence was seen and his voice heard in every district in Scotland. A heedless generation, by whom he was despised or neglected, had been compelled yet again to hear the instructions which he had formerly uttered, and to ponder for themselves how woefully these instructions had been forgot.
In short, their attention had been irresistibly called to the subject of the Scottish Reformation, and the principles upon which their church had been founded, and to the inquiry as to whether these principles were still in operation, or hastening to become a mere dead letter. And this inquiry was neither unnecessary nor in vain. A death-blow was struck at that Erastianism which had lately become so predominant in the Church of Scotland; and such was the spirit of research among the mouldering records of its long-neglected library, and the ardour with which they were published and diffused, that the former ignorance and indifference could be tolerated no longer. These effects went on from year to year, and their result we know. Scotland is now awake, and the creed which was almost filched from her relaxing hand, is held with as tight a grasp as ever.
The next literary undertaking, in which we find Dr. M'Crie employed, was a conflict with an antagonist every way worthy of his prowess. The "Great Unknown" was now in the ascendant, and as he wrote to amuse, he was sure of the sympathies of at least three-fourths of the community. Such he must have felt when he gave to the world the tale of "Old Mortality," in which the Covenanters were held up to derision, while their sufferings were described as justly merited. All this was enough for the novel-reading public, that was too ignorant to know, and too idle to inquire, and accordingly the statements of Sir Walter Scott, embodied as they were in so attractive a form, were received as veritable history. Nothing was now more common in England, and it may be added in Scotland also, than to hear the martyr-spirit of the days of the covenant laughed at, and its choicest adherents represented as madmen, fanatics, and cut-throats. It was needful that the "Author of Waverley" should be met by a fitting antagonist, and this he soon found in the author of the life of John Knox. No two such other men could have been culled from the crowded ranks of British literature
British literature
British Literature refers to literature associated with the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. By far the largest part of British literature is written in the English language, but there are bodies of written works in Latin, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Cornish, Manx, Jèrriais,...
-— the one so completely the type of ancient feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
and Episcopacy in grafted on modern Toryism, and the other of the sturdy independence of the good old Whiggamores, and the Presbyterian devotedness of Drumelog and the Grassmarket
Grassmarket
The Grassmarket is an historic market square in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland.In relation to the rest of the city the area is a hollow, well below surrounding ground levels.-Location:...
.
Dr. M'Crie had also the greater right to step forward on this occasion. An elaborate review of "Old Mortality" was therefore written, and published in the first three numbers of the Christian Instructor for the year 1817. It could scarcely have been expected from one so competent to the task as Dr. M'Crie, that it would have been otherwise than a complete historical refutation of the misstatements of the novel, and a successful vindication of the vilified Covenanters. But it was also something more than this in the eyes of Scott and his admirers; for it attacked him with a strength of wit and power of sarcasm
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...
that threatened to turn the laugh against himself, and foil him at his own chosen weapon. So at least he felt, and his complaints upon the subject, as well as his attempted defence in the Quarterly Review, bespoke a mind ill at ease about the issue of such a controversy. The result was that the novelist was generally condemned, and that his tale, notwithstanding the popularity which at first attended it, sank in popular estimation, and became one of the least valued of all his admired productions.
The success, with which the Life of Knox was attended, would have been sufficient to make most authors repeat the attempt; but, besides this, the task of Dr. M'Crie had already been chosen, of which his first great effort had only been the commencement. The distinguished lights of the Scottish Reformation had long stood arrayed before his view as successively demanding their due commemoration; and after having completed the first and best in the series, the choice of the next was not a matter of difficulty. "If the love of pure religion, rational liberty, and polite letters," he writes, "forms the basis of national virtue and happiness, I know no individual, after her reformer, from whom Scotland has received greater benefits, and to whom she owes a deeper debt of gratitude and respect, than Andrew Melville."
Upon this, therefore, he had been employed for years, and towards the close of 1819 the Life of Andrew Melville was published. Such was the toil which this work occasioned him, which he was wont to say it had cost him "a hundred times more labour than the life of Knox." This will be apparent when we consider not only the immense quantity of facts which such a narrative involved, but the difficulty of finding them, as they were no longer the broad, distinct, and widely-published statements which so largely enter into the history of our first reformers. And yet, though the life of Melville is to the full as well written as that of Knox, and exhibits still greater learning and research, it never attained the same popularity. The cause of this is to be found in the subject itself. After the national hero has crossed the scene, all who follow in his path, be their deeds and merits what they may, must possess an inferior interest. Besides this, Melville was not a reformer from Popery, the common enemy of the Protestant Church, but from Episcopacy; and therefore, while the interest of the event was mainly confined to Presbyterian Scotland, it excited dislike in England, while it awoke scarcely any sympathy in the continental reformed churches. But will the work continue to be thus rated beneath its value?—we scarcely think so. The great question of centuries, the question of the rights of the church in reference to its connection with the state, promises to become more generally felt and more keenly agitated than ever; and in this important controversy, the opinions and example of Andrew Melville are likely to assume their due weight. And where, in this case, will posterity be likely to find a record better written than that of Dr. M'Crie? It may be, that before the present century has closed, his Life of Andrew Melville will be more widely perused and deeply considered than the author himself could have anticipated.
Calamities and afflictions of various kinds were now at hand to try the temper and purify the patience of the hitherto successful author. The perils by which the principle of church establishment was beset, and the prospect of further division among Christian communities, clouded his spirit with anxious forebodings -— for his was not a temper to rest satisfied that all should be well in his own day. Domestic sorrow was soon added to his public anxieties; for his amiable partner in life, who for the last six years had been an invalid, was removed from him by death in June, 1821. Soon afterwards his own health began to fail, in consequence of his intense application to study; and even his eyesight was so impaired with the poring of years over dim and difficult manuscripts, as to threaten total blindness
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
.
Greek independence
Cessation from labour and the recreation of travel were judged necessary for his recovery; and accordingly, in the summer of 1822, he made a short tour of two months to the continent, during which his studies were only changed, not suspended, and he returned home considerably invigorated in health and spirits. On his return, a new and soul-inspiring subject quickly brought him into action; it was the cause of GreeceGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, that land so trampled under foot and crushed into the dust by centuries of oppression, but now rising from the dead; the first to attempt the great historical problem, as to whether a whole nation may be capable of a resurrection and a new life after ages of death and burial. But something more than mere historic curiosity was aroused by the event. Sympathy was also kindled throughout our whole island for the sufferings of the Greeks in their new war of independence
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
, so that British swords and British money were freely tendered in their behalf. And not the least or the latest in this good cause was the city of Edinburgh, now rejoicing in the title of "Modern Athens," and prompt, by its brotherly sympathy, to make that title good.
Public meetings were called for the purpose of raising money for the relief of the inhabitants of Scio, and for the promotion of education in Greece, and on both occasions Dr. M'Crie was enlisted as the advocate of suffering Hellas. He was now to appear before the public in a new phase. Hitherto he had carefully avoided addressing such meetings, while his pulpit oratory was the stern, unadorned, didactic theology of the old school. But eloquent as was the historian of Knox in the closet, and amidst historic details, was he also capable of eloquence in the crowded popular assembly, with a subject so delicate as Greece for his theme? The answer was given in addresses so imbued with the spirit of ancient heroism and Marathonian liberty, so pervaded by the classical tone of Athenian
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
poetry, and so wide in their range, from playful, refined, subtle wit, to the most vehement and subduing appeals of outraged indignant humanity, that the audiences were astonished and electrified.
It was now evident that, had he so pleased, he might have been among the first of our orators. But hitherto he had been content to be known as a theologian and historian, while he magnanimously left it to others to shine upon the platform; and having now performed his allotted task, he retired, amidst the deep wonderment of his hearers, to the modest seclusion of his study, and the silent labours that awaited him there.
And these labours were not pursued remissly. Besides his studies for the pulpit, which he prosecuted with all the diligence of his early days, he continued his researches into the history of the period of the Reformation; and in 1825, he published his edited Memoirs of Mr. William Veitch and George Bryson, written by themselves, narratives which he considered of high importance, as illustrative of the covenanting days of Scotland, and to which he appended biographical sketches and illustrative notes. In 1827 appeared his History of the Progress and Suppression of the Reformation in Italy, a work that had formed the subject of his earlier studies, but for many years had been laid aside. It was a most complex and laborious task, as he was obliged to trace the origin, progress, and decline of the Reformation through twenty-five of the Italian states, among which the great movement was divided. Such was the interest of this work, that it was translated into French, German, and Dutch, and inserted by the ecclesiastical tribunal of Rome in the Index Expurgatorius.
In 1829, he published The Progress and Suppression of the Reformation in Spain in the Sixteenth Century, a sequel to The History of the Reformation in Italy during the same period. As a proof of his indefatigable diligence and zeal in the study of history, it may be mentioned here, that in order to make himself fully acquainted with the two last subjects, he had mastered, in the decline of his days, the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and Italian languages, that he might study the proper authorities from their original sources.
Catholic emancipation
While Dr. M'Crie was thus occupied, the bill introduced in 1829 for the emancipation of Roman Catholics from political restrictions, and their admission into places of authority and trust, was passed. It is perhaps unnecessary to add, that one who had studied and written as he had done, was entirely opposed to the measure. He not only thought it unsafe to concede such privileges, in a Protestant country, to men doing homage to a foreign ecclesiastical power and a hostile creed, but he was also of opinion that by such concessions our country abandoned the solemn covenants to which it had pledged itself since the Reformation, and forfeited the privileges which it enjoyed as the head of European Protestantism.In the old covenanting spirit, he carried the subject to the pulpit, where it had but too much right to enter, and in his lectures on the book of Ezra, where it could be appropriately introduced, he uttered his prophetic warnings.
"We have been told from a high quarter," he said, "to avoid such subjects, unless we wish to rekindle the flames of Smithfield, now long forgotten. Long forgotten! where forgotten? In heaven? No. In Britain? God forbid! They may be forgotten at St. Stephen's or Westminster Abbey, but they are not forgotten in Britain. And if ever such a day arrives, the hours of Britain's prosperity have been numbered."
He drew up a petition against the measure, which was signed by 13,150 names, but this, like other petitions of the same kind, was ineffectual. The bill was passed, and silly, duped, disappointed Britain is now ready, like the Roman voter in favour of Coriolanus
Coriolanus
Gaius Marcius Coriolanus was a Roman general who is said to have lived in the 5th century BC. He received his toponymic cognomen "Coriolanus" because of his exceptional valor in a Roman siege of the Volscian city of Corioli. He was then promoted to a general...
, to exclaim, "An' it were to do again -— but no matter!"
Career's end and more controversy
The career of Dr. M'Crie was now drawing to a termination. His literary labours, especially in the lives of Knox and Melville, combined with his extreme care that every idea which he gave forth to the public, and every sentence in which it was embodied, should be worthy of those important subjects in which he dealt —- all this, connected with the daily and almost hourly avocations of his ministerial office, and the numerous calls that were made upon him, in consequence of his interference with the great public movements of the day, had reduced him to the debility and bodily ailments of "threescore and ten," while as yet he was ten years short of the mark. But his was a mind that had never rested, and that knew not how to rest.In 1827, he had enjoyed the satisfaction, after much labour and anxiety, of seeing a union effected between the church party to which he belonged, and the body who had seceded from the Burgher and Antiburgher Synods in 1820, under the name of Protesters; and, in 1830, his anxieties were excited, and his pen employed, in endeavours to promote a union between his own party, now greatly increased, and the Associate Synod of Original Burghers. Many may smile at these divisions as unnecessary and unmeaning, and many may wonder that such a mind as that of Dr. M'Crie should have been so intent in reconciling them. But religious dissension is no triviality, and the bond of Christian unity is worth any sacrifice short of religious principle; and upon this subject, therefore, the conscientious spirit of Dr. M'Crie was as anxious as ever was statesman to combine jarring parties into one, for the accomplishment of some great national and common benefit. While thus employed, a heavy public bereavement visited him with all the weight of a personal affliction; this was the death of the Rev. Dr. Andrew Thomson, who, in the full strength and vigour of his days, suddenly fell down and expired upon the threshold of his home, which he was just about to enter.
By this event, which occurred on 9 February 1831, Dr. M'Crie was bereaved of a close affectionate intercourse which he had for years enjoyed with a most congenial heart and intellect, and saw himself fated to hold onward in his course, and continue the "good fight," un-cheered by the voice that had so often revived his courage.
After he had rallied from the unexpected blow, Dr. M'Crie was employed in what was called the "Marrow Controversy," which, notwithstanding the uncouth title it bore, had for its object the vindication of the important doctrine of justification by faith against Arminianism
Arminianism
Arminianism is a school of soteriological thought within Protestant Christianity based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic followers, the Remonstrants...
. This was followed by the Anti-patronage controversy in 1833, a subject which the Kirk
Kirk
Kirk can mean "church" in general or the Church of Scotland in particular. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it.-Basic meaning and etymology:...
of Scotland had never lost sight of since the time when patronage was first imposed upon it, and which was now fast ripening into such important results as neither friend nor enemy could anticipate.
As might be expected, Dr. M'Crie was no mere onlooker. He belonged to a body whose conscientious hope was a return to the church of their fathers, when it was loosed from its bonds and purified from its errors; but who saw no prospect of the realization of that hope until the right of pastoral election was conceded to the people. Upon this question Dr. M’Crie published what proved to be the last work he was to produce as an author, in the form of an anonymous pamphlet, entitled What ought the General Assembly to do at the Present Crisis? His answer to the question was express and brief: "Without delay, petition the legislature for the abolition of patronage."
The outcry in Scotland against patronage became so loud that statesmen saw they must be up and doing and a committee of the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
was appointed to hold an inquest upon the alleged grievance. It was natural that the most distinguished of Scotland's ecclesiastical historians should be heard upon the subject, more especially as his testimony was likely to be unbiased either by party feeling or self-interest; and accordingly, besides the many eminent ministers of the Established Church who were summoned before the committee, Dr. M'Crie was called to give his statement upon the effects of ecclesiastical patronage.
He repaired to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
at this authoritative summons, although with reluctance, and underwent two long examinations before the committee, the one on 2 May 1834, the other on 7 May 1834. It was not thus, however, that the question was to be settled; and he returned from London, wondering what would be the result, but comforting himself with the conviction that an overruling wisdom predominated over earthly counsels, and that all would be controlled for the best.
Amidst these public cares, and a debility that was daily increasing, Dr. M'Crie now addressed himself in earnest to accomplish what, in all likelihood, would have proved the most laborious of his literary undertakings. It was nothing less than a "Life of Calvin", to which his attention had been directed during his studies upon the progress of the Reformation on the continent, and for which he had collected a considerable amount of materials. This, however, was not enough, for he felt that to accomplish such a work in a satisfactory manner, it would be necessary to consult the ancient records of Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, a step which his ministerial duties prevented.
His friends, aware of his wishes on the subject, had offered to send, at their own expense, a qualified person to Geneva to transcribe the required documents; but this kind offer, which was made in 1831, he declined. In 1833, however, his son John, a young man of high talent, who was studying for the church, had repaired with two pupils on a travelling excursion to Geneva, and to him the task was committed of making the necessary extracts upon the subject. The commission could not have been better bestowed. "John has been so laborious in his researches," said the affectionate father, "and sent me home so many materials, that I found myself shut up to make an attempt, if it were for no other reason than to show that I was not altogether insensible to his exertions."
He felt more and more the growing lassitude that was stealing upon him, and thus wrote, eight months afterwards, about the materials that were pouring in upon him from Geneva: "I have neither time nor leisure to avail myself of them; and instead of rejoicing, as I used to do, at the sight of such treasures, I rather feel inclined to weep. Yet if I can make nothing of them, some other may."
Thus he went on until the middle of the following year, his attention to Calvin being in the meantime divided by the great ecclesiastical events that were hastening onward to the disruption of the Church of Scotland. Of the Life of the great Reformer, however, he had already written out, and prepared for the press three ample chapters, in which Calvin's career was traced through the studies of his youth, onward to his adoption of the reformed doctrines, his preface to the Institution of the Christian Religion, and his residence in Geneva. But here the historian's task was to terminate, and terminate most unexpectedly and abruptly.
On 4 August 1835, he was suddenly taken unwell; a stupor succeeded, from which it was impossible to rouse him; and on the following day he breathed his last, without a groan or struggle, but insensible to the presence of his grieving friends who were assembled round his death-bed. Thus died in his sixty-third year of age. His remains were buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard
Greyfriars Kirkyard
Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a number of notable Edinburgh residents are interred at...
, and over the grave a simple monument was erected by his congregation, with an inscription commemorative of his worth and their regret.
At his death, he left a widow, for he was twice married, upon whom government, to show their sense of his worth, settled a liberal pension. His children, who were all by his first marriage, consisted of four sons, of whom John, the third, his faithful assistant among the archives of Geneva, died only two years after his father. Besides these, he had one daughter, married to Archibald Meikle, Esq., Flemington.
Works
(in addition to those mentioned in the text of the article above)- The Duty of Christian Societies towards each other, in relation to the Measures for Propagating the Gospel, which at present engage the attention of the Religious World; a Sermon, preached in the meeting-house, Potter Row, on occasion of a Collection for promoting a Mission to Kentucky. 1797.
- Statement of the Difference between the Profession of the Reformed Church of Scotland as adopted by Seceders, and the Profession contained in the New Testimony and other Acts lately adopted by the General Associate Synod; particularly on the Power of Civil Magistrates respecting Religion, National Reformation, National Churches, and National Covenants. Edinburgh, 1807.
- Letters on the late Catholic Bill, and the Discussions to which it has given rise. Addressed to British Protestants, and chiefly Presbyterians in Scotland. By a Scots Presbyterian. Edinburgh, 1807.
- Free Thoughts on the late Religious Celebration of the Funeral of her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte of Wales; and on the Discussion to which it has given rise in Edinburgh. By Scoto Britannus. 1817.
- Two Discourses on the Unity of the Church, her Divisions, and their Removal. Edinburgh, 1821.
- Sermons (posthumous volume). Edinburgh, 1836.
- Lectures on the Book of Esther (posthumous), Edinburgh, 1838.
External links
- Original source text from Electric Scotland; used with permission.
- Letters translated by Thomas M'Crie