Life

He was born at Scone

Scone, Scotland

Scone is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The medieval village of Scone, which grew up around the monastery and royal residence, was abandoned in the early 19th century when the residents were removed and a new palace was built on the site by the Earl of Mansfield...

, where his father was a farmer, 6 November 1808. He was apprenticed to a gardener; but was led to study for the ministry. In his university career at Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

  had for classfellows two men, whose biographies he later wrote: James Halley, who died quite young, and James Hamilton

James Hamilton

-Dukes:*James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton , heir to the throne of Scotland*James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton , Scottish nobleman*James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton , Scottish nobleman...

, afterwards minister of the National Scotch Church in Regent Square, 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...

.

After completing his theological studies he was called, in 1838, to be minister of St Peter's Church, Glasgow, one of the new churches built under the extension scheme of Thomas Chalmers

Thomas Chalmers

Thomas Chalmers , Scottish mathematician, political economist, divine and a leader of the Free Church of Scotland, was born at Anstruther in Fife.-Overview:...

. He became popular, and after 1843 was connected with the Free Church of Scotland

Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900)

The Free Church of Scotland is a Scottish denomination which was formed in 1843 by a large withdrawal from the established Church of Scotland in a schism known as the "Disruption of 1843"...

.

In the year 1863, on the appointment of Robert Rainy

Robert Rainy

Robert Rainy , was a Scottish Presbyterian divine; his father, Dr Harry Rainy, Professor of Forensic Medicine in the University of Glasgow, was the son of a Sutherland minister....

 to a professorship, Arnot was called to be minister of one of the congregations of the Free Church in Edinburgh. There he edited a monthly religious magazine, the Family Treasury. He three times visited America: in 1845, to minister in the dominion of Canada; in 1870 as a delegate from the Free Church of Scotland to congratulate the presbyterian churches in the northern states on their reunion; and for the third time, in 1873, as a member of the Evangelical Alliance

Evangelical Alliance

The Evangelical Alliance is a London-based charitable organization founded in 1846. It has a claimed representation of over 1,000,000 evangelical Christians in the United Kingdom and is the oldest alliance of evangelical Christians in the world....

, to attend its meetings at New York. Having been a sympathiser with the northern states and the anti-slavery movement, he was well received in the United States.

The degree of D.D. was virtually offered to Arnot by the University of Glasgow

University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...

, and afterwards formally by the University of New York

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

; but for personal reasons he declined. He died after a short illness at 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...

, 3 June 1875.

Works

His works include:

• 'Life of James Halley.'
• 'The Race for Riches, and some of the Pits into which the Runners fall: six lectures applying the Word of God to the traffic of man'. It had a wide circulation both in the UK and America, following up the principles of Chalmers's 'Commercial Discourses.'
• 'The Drunkard's Progress, being a panorama of the overland route from the station of Drouth to the general terminus in the Dead Sea, in a series of thirteen views, drawn and engraved by John Adam, the descriptions given by John Bunyan, junior.'
• 'Laws from Heaven for Life on Earth; Illustrations of the Book of Proverbs.' 2 vols. This treated maxims of Hebrew wisdom viewed from a Christian standpoint in the nineteenth century.
• 'Roots and Fruits of the Christian Life.'
• 'The Parables of our Lord.'
• 'Life of James Hamilton, D.D.'
• 'This Present World.' Some thoughts on the adaptation of man's home to the tenant.
• A posthumous volume of sermons.