tihxavy of Che trheolo^ical ^tmimvy
PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY
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PURCHASED BY THE
MRS. ROBERT LENOX KENNEDY
CHURCH HISTORY FUND
BX^9225 .L42 M14 1862
Hacfarlane/ George, 1807-
1874 . . j
The life and times of George'
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LIBRARY OF PRINCETON
MAR -8 2005
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
LIFE AND TIMES
GEOKGE LAWSON, D.D.
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WJLLIAM OLIPHANT & C^.
THE
LIFE AND TIME
^. APR "Zt I960 ' '
GEOEGE LAWSON, D.D.,
SELKIRK,
PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY TO THE ASSOCIATE SYNOD.
GLIMPSES OF SCOTTISH CHARACTER EROM 1720 TO 1820.
^ THE
7
EEV. JOHN MACFARLANE, lA.:^,
EDINBURGH : WILLIAM OLIPHANT AND CO.
LONDON : HAMILTON AND CO.
MDCCCLXII.
MT-KRAY A^ID GIBB. PRINTERS, EDINBUKGII.
TO
THE EEV. PROFESSOR HARPER, D.D.,
AND
THE SURVIVING MINISTERS
OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
WHO STUDIED THEOLOGY AT THE SELKIRK HALL,
IS INSCRIBED
THIS HUMBLE MEMORIAL
OF
THEIR GREATLY BELOVED
AND JUSTLY VENERATED TUTOR.
PEEFACE.
' Edinburgh, \lth May, 1848.
' To the Rev. George Lawson.
' Rev. and dear Sir, — It has long been a subject of deep
regret to us, in common, we believe, with many others, that
the Church and the world, after the lapse of so many years,
are yet unfurnished with anything like an adequate memorial
of the very remarkable endowments and attainments, as a
scholar, a Christian, a minister, and a theological tutor, of
your late venerated father ; and we fear that the period is
not distant when the supply of the deficiency will become
utterly impracticable. We are persuaded that sucb a work
would meet with a most welcome reception, and are so
impressed with the conviction that it would permanently
conduce to the promotion of the highest interests not only of
our own denomination, but of the Church of Christ in general,
that we would feel as if guilty of neglect of duty, did we not
employ the means in our power for gaining an object so
desirable. We naturally look to you as, in many points of
view, the person best qualified for executing such a work,
and trust that we shall not look in vain. Should, however,
there appear to you insurmountable obstacles in the way
of your undertaking it, it is our unanimous opinion that
measures should be adopted for prevailing on your neighbour
and friend, the Rev. Dr Henderson, of Galashiels, who was
so intimately acquainted with your father, and whose powers
of biographical writing have been so satisfactorily proved, to
o PREFACE.
engage in this labour of love. — We are, Rev. and dear Sir,
yours most truly,
' William Kidston, D.D. David Inglis.
John Jamieson, D.D. David Stewart.
John Brown, D.D. John Clapperton.
Archibald Baird, D.D. James Elles.
James Harper, D.D. William Lee.
William Pringle, D.D, David M. Inglis.
John Newlands, D.D. Andrew Scott.
William Johnstone, D.D. James Anderson.
David Smith, D.D. Andrew Elliott.'
To this joint application, Mr Lawson, after considerable
hesitation, yielded. He commenced to write his honoured
father's memoir, but had only proceeded in it a few pages,
when he was called suddenly to his owu account. Other
attempts were made to prevail upon Dr John Brown or Dr
Henderson to undertake the duty, but without success. All
hope of a memoir of the great and good Professor was then
abandoned.
The history of the present effort is very simple. I was
walking one morning on the Well Road at Moffat, in the
autumn of 1859, with the Rev. Alexander Lowrie, of East
Calder, and the Rev. John Lawson, of Selkirk (the Profes-
sor's grandson and successor). The subject of the memoir
was broached, and, on Mr Lawson's promising to furnish
the family documents and other papers, I consented, perhaps
rashly, to undertake it. Since that time, the preparation of
the present volume has been, during leisure hours, my careful
and somewhat laborious work. I soon found out that I had
undertaken a Herculean task, and, oftener than once, aban-
doned it as impracticable. The suitable materials were scanty,
and had to be dug out of chaos and confusion. Dr Lawson
kept no diary, so that the simple story of his life has been
woven out of current traditions, and such letters as have
PREFACE. 9
been recovered and with difficulty deciphered. From such
materials, not easily collated, unconnected and loose, though
in themselves precious, the compilation has grown into a
considerable biography. Forty years ago, with living and
lustrous memories crowding about the mind, the work might
have been done with comparative ease. As it is, and with
every wish to make the best use of the materials at my dis-
posal, the reader will find in it huge chasms and wide gulfs
that could not be bridged over. He may expect to look
upon the detached and fractured columns of some great reh-
gious Parthenon, partly embedded beneath the sands of time,
partly carried off by the spirits of the just men who were its
high priests, and partly excavated only now by a somewhat
trembling and feeble hand. The book, in short, is a kind of
resurrectionist. It not only bids Lawson ' come forth,' but
other graves are opened at that call : he could not be un-
swathed and re-exhibited alone ; • his friends and associates
also arise to share with him in this tardy tribute to the
memory of departed excellence. When the reader has read
but a small way into this book, he will be satisfied that no
other arrangement could have been more agreeable to the
generous mind of Lawson himself. He was a man that
refused flattery, and, as for praise, he neither coveted nor
courted it. If, however, just praise was abroad at any rate,
he was the very man to decline it, unless enjoyed with those
whom he beUeved to be at least equally worthy of it with
himself. In this way I have been enabled to do slender
justice to some of the early worthies of the Secession Church,
whose names we would not willingly let die. My chief con-
cern, however, has been about Lawson, in the manipulation of
whose memorials I have felt as if I were digging np the bones
of some great mammoth, which must be interlaced with
sinews and ligaments, clothed with flesh, animated with life,
and moulded into characteristic likeness simply by the vitaHty
of truth being made to breathe throughout the whole. While
10 PREFACE.
making the freest and fullest use of authorities, I have not
blemished the letterpress with many references or explana-
tory notes. I have much pleasure, however, in recording my
obligations to those students of Dr Lawson and other friends
who have communicated much valuable information — espe-
cially to the Revs. Dr M'Kerrow, Bridge of Teith ; Dr Simp-
son, Sanquhar; Dr Pringle, Auchterarder ; Dr M'Kelvie,
Balgedie ; John Johnstone, late of Glasgow ; John Lawson,
Selkirk ; D. M. Inglis, Stockbridge ; Thomas Adam, late of
Peebles; Alexander Lowrie, East Calder; Peter Carruthers,
Longtown ; W. M. Taylor, Liverpool ; John Haddin,
Rothesay; and the late George Sandy, Gorebridge.
If any shall be disappointed with this work, let them be
consoled with the hope, that some more discriminating and
judicious limner may now be provoked to attempt, and
enabled to achieve a better. JN^^eauwhile, I feel thankful that
this labour of love has been attempted by me. To have
done even a moiety of justice to ' George Lawson ' is worth
having lived for.
Appearing, as this memoir does, so soon after the auto-
biographies of Drs Sommerville and Carlyle, though contem-
plated and begun before it was known that such MSS. were
in existence, this Secession fragment presents a striking con-
trast. These autobiographies form one of the best indirect
justifications of the Secession of 1734. And this imperfect
memorial of the Secession worthies of these times, may help
us to perceive the more clearly our obligations to the Head
of the Church, for calling into being and service, at that
period, a band of men, and a system of means, which have
preserved evangelical religion in our land.
My apology for the occasional use of the ' ego ' is, that I
found it the easiest and most natural way of communicating
certain pieces of information.
Park Grove, Glasgow, November 1861.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE, ... 13
CHAPTER 11.
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT, ... 48
CHAPTER HI.
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS, ... 92
CHAPTER IV.
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS, . . 143
CHAPTER V.
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS, . . . 205
CHAPTER VI.
THE HAI.L AND ITS MEMORIES, . . . 270
CONTENTS. .12
CHAPTER VII. ^^^^
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS, . . .311
CHAPTER Vin.
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES, . . .353
CHAPTER IX.
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS, . . . 397
CHAPTER X.
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED, . . 443
Appendix, . . , . .481
THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
CHAPTER I.
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE.
Forty-two teaks have well nigh gone since George Lawson
died. There has been, during that long interval, a general
craving for some proper record of his remarkable life ; but
no one has come forth to undertake it. ' There is no remem-
brance,' saith the Preacher, ' of the wise more than of the
fool ;' and of the wicked man it is said, ' His hght shall be put
out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.' Such, however,
has not been the fate of his memory whose holy story is to be
written upon these pages. He was not a fool in any sense,
and no man ever Uved who prayed more earnestly concerning
the wicked, ' My soul, come not thou into their secret : unto
their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united.' The ' spark
of his fire' still shines. He lives in the admiring remembrances
of multitudes. It is still true in his case, that ' the memory
of the just is blessed ;' and true this shall ever be, even though
this effort to embalm that memory should fail. Thirsting for
immortality, a heathen poet says, 'I shall not all die :' neither
can the ' all ' of a good man's life be eclipsed, though the dim
and flickering hght of tradition be its solitary lamp. In the
case of George Lawson, ' tradition ' is nearly the total of what
avails us for illustrating his character. His contemporaries
are dead, very few of his students remain, and the number of
those who keep the sacred reminiscences is daily diminished.
14 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Every just consicleratiou, therefore, points to the present as
' the accepted time ' for ' rendering honour to whom honour
is due.' As some entranced limner seizes the setting of the
golden sun to sketch the landscape, at that moment hghted
up with rays still beautiful and glowing, though fast fading
away — as filial reverence employs the artist to portray the
parental face, while expressions that enshrine the past still
play and sparkle amid the wrinkles of age, or as the Nestor
of some old philosophy encircles it with the last halo of en-
thusiasm ere yet new theories are called to occupy the upper-
most seats, — so would I avail myself of the ' traditions and
commandments ' that remain, to possess the Church with the
simple, but touching and instructive narrative of the life of the
Sage of Ettrick. That story I for the most part write as I
have read it out of the friendships and recollections of de-
ceased and surviving admirers. Dr Lawson was dead before
I could be interested in such matters. I may have seen him,
and sat on his knees, when he was wont to visit at my grand-
father's or father's house, but I have no recollection of it, so
that I cannot even say, ' Virgilium tantum vidi.' Yet I have
lived so much among those circles where he was most in-
timately known, that I sometimes feel as if I had seen and
known him too. Certainly none of his personal friends can
exceed my admiration of a character, the sahent points of
which have been before my mind since I could think. Photo-
graphs taken from the living person are expected to be
accurate, while copies from them, though slightly indistinct,
may still be discernible likenesses. To the latter class this
sketch of life and character properly belongs. It is but a
copy, and even that not from the original. It reflects only
the tinted but truthful impressions of undying memories.
George Lawson was born on the 13th March 1749. His
•birthplace was Boghouse, a small farm about two miles
from the village of West Linton, Peeblesshire. As its name
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE. 15
imports, the surroundiug scenery is neither beautiful nor
sublime. You will find there neither towering rocks, nor
waving forests, nor flowery meads, nor fairy dells — no, not
even a heather-hill, — the country all about is just a ' hog.^
Pollok conceived and elaborated his immortal poem amid
scenes equally bleak and uninspiring ; the ' divine dreamer '
wrote his allegory in the cell of a prison ; and Milton dictated
' Paradise Lost ' with sightless eye-balls. There need be no
wonderment, then, that George Lawson should grow up and
imbibe the spirit of future genius and greatness amid the
Boeotian regions of such a clime. Talent and worthiness
seem to be much more independent of external nature than
even poetic or abstruse temperaments. Superior minds are
always ascending from discouraging, if not repressive circum-
stances, while the luxurious and the lovely in society, in
nature, or in art, rarely either foster or form the inceptive
promises into sterling and striking characters. Be this as it
may, Lawson's mind was originally more susceptible of im-
pressions from the discipline of a Christian up-bringing, than
from the adjuncts of scenery, or the provocations of proximate
genius. He came up from the peasant tribe, the quarter
from which the most of our Scotch churches derive their best
preachers and writers. Some have traced what they are
pleased to call the sternness of Presbyterian polity to the
bleak and rugged surface of our land, the one being to some
extent the creature, and bearing the complexion of the other.
It is not so. Our religious views and church peculiarities are
mainly produced from the national habit of appeaUng to the
Word of God as our sole authority for everything appertaining
to faith and practice, and have no more to do with physical
aspects and conditions than the rise and progress of Chris-
tianity had to do with the mountains and deserts of Palestine.
We are indebted for such specimens of Christian excellence
as Lawson's life exhibits, to that conscientious and enlightened
appreciation of G od's Word for which ' the common people '
16 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
and middling classes in Scotland have been for centuries
remarkable. The same thing is noticeable among the like
classes in England — from this have sprung and prospered the
churches of Nonconformity. Dissenters on both sides of the
Tweed have, in consequence, found for themselves religious
instruction in a way and manner best suited to their social
position. Wealth and rank incline towards State-churchism,
and seem to prefer that, in the matter of religion, others shall
both think and pay for them. Apart from more sacred con-
siderations, the mere political aspects of this question are
worthy of the statesman's notice. Dissent — evangelical and
patriotic — has ' per se' done the State good service. It has
provided for the masses the sound religious education which
underlies true loyalty. Nonconformity and patriotism have
oftener than once in the history of our country been con-
vertible terms. There was much both of truth and point in
the reply which George III. once gave to one of the gardeners
at Kew. The man was a Scotchman, and a member of Dr
Waugh's church. Wells Street, London. The King asked
him whether he attended church, and where. The gardener,
in his reply, mentioned that Dr Waugh was in the habit of
praying for his Majesty every Sabbath in the public services
of rehgion. ' Indeed ! ' said the monarch, ' then he must
surely be sincere, as I do not pay him for it.'
Charles Lawson and Margaret Noble, the parents of George
Lawson, had neither rank nor riches, and ran no danger of
incurring the satire of the lines —
' They who on noble ancestors enlarge
Produce their debt instead of their discharge.'
They were placed in that happy medium which is considered
most favourable to comfort and respectabihty. Charles,
whose ancestors had resided in the parish of Trac^uair, in the
eastern part of Tweeddale, tenanted the small farm at Bog-
house, and afterwards removed to another of moderate extent,
\
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE. 17
called ' Hallmyre.' These farms adjoin each other, and both
lie in the parish of Newlands. He carried on at the same
time the trade of a carpenter, which was not unusual in those
days, when neither the mode of farming nor the general size
of farms required the constant attention of the tenant. He
was particularly noted for his ' early rising,' being generally
found at work by one o'clock in the morning. This implied
another habit — retiring to rest at an early hour. Such,
however, was the almost universal custom of that district,
and, indeed, of almost all the rural parts of Scotland ; and
he was not in that respect peculiar. It was the unusual hour
of commencing his daily employment that distinguished him
among his neighbours. He was known sometimes to begin
and complete the making of a plough ere the sun rose ; but it
must be recollected that the Scotch plough then was a very
different implement from the improved one of our day : if not
more simple in its construction, it was of coarse make and
finish, and consequently could be much more expeditiously
got ready for use.
Along with his wife, who was in several respects a remark-
able woman, and of decided piety, Charles saw it to be his duty
to connect himself with the Secession Church at West Linton,
a small village lying at the foot of the Pentland Hills on the
banks of the Lyne, which is a tributary of the Tweed. The
congregation which had been formed there by the Associate
Presbytery of Edinburgh assembled for some time among the
mountains and glens of Baddinsgill, not far from the famous
rock of Harbourscraig, where the Covenanters had hewn out
a pulpit, from which, in the days of persecution, they had
often preached the Gospel. Amidst these scenes, where our
fathers had sought refuge from the violence and bloodthirsti-
ness of their persecutors, the inhabitants of West Linton and
the surrounding country who were attached to evangelical
truth, upheld divine ordinances, in defiance of insult and oppres-
sion. At the first they were favoured with occasional visits
B
18 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON,
from the fathers and founders of the Secession Church. The
famous Ralph Erskine, of DunfermUne, frequently preached
to them. They were regularly formed into a congregation
in 1737, five years after the Secession commenced; and in 1740
their first minister, the Rev. James Mair, was ordained. Soon
after this their numbers were greatly increased, and out of
no less than twenty-three of the adjacent parishes. They
were a people distinguished for theological knowledge and
pious zeal. With what has been called ' systematic divinity '
they were familiar. They read and digested the works of
Owen, Manton, Baxter, and Boston, the intellectual giants of
a former age, and hence became so knowing and expert as to
be called ' living bodies of divinity.' They had the habit of
meeting at each others' houses on appointed evenings for the
purpose of religious discussions, along with devotional exer-
cises, when in support of their views, they quoted adroitly
from their favourite authors. Such meetings were sometimes
insensibly prolonged till the dawn of day. These, too, were
the days in which they travelled great distances to be present
at the dispensation of the Lord's Supper. On one occasion
thirty-two members of the Linton church went all the way to
Dunfevmhne to enjoy that ordinance. The savoury recol-
lections of his ministrations to them in their early history as
a church, would no doubt prove a strong attraction to the
place where Ralph Erskine dispensed with such unction the
word of Hfe.
As Dr Lawson was brought up under the ministry of Mr
Mair, and was considerably influenced in future life by his
early teaching and example, it may be proper here to intro-
duce a few notices concerning him. By all accounts he was
a man of undoubted and ardent piety, which stimulated a
sound judgment to work well in the cause of his Divine
Master. He was a strict, though not what is called a ' hyper'
Calvinist. He organized and consolidated an excellent con-
gregation, and after thirty-four years of a faithful and eflBcient
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE. 19
ministry he ' fell asleep in Jesus.' ' He was frequently em-
ployed in private and public catechising. Every visit to Mr
Mair, by any of his people, especially if young, was improved
by him as an opportunity of questioning them on some reli-
gious topic. If they waited upon him to apply for member-
ship, or baptism to their children, or even to request him to
perform the marriage ceremony, they were subjected to a strict
and lengthened theological examination. When he examined
in districts of the congregation distant from the place of wor-
ship, his ministry was attended by his people in the district.
The examination generally lasted the whole day. There was
a forenoon examination, then an interval, and then an after-
noon one. When he met with instances of ignorance, as he
was a man of hot temper, his reproofs were often expressed
not in very measured terms. He was accustomed to tell
them that, if they did not increase in knowledge, he would
send them back to the "Auld Kirk" (the Church of Scotland).
Yet his reproofs, though often severe, were submitted to by
his people, so firmly did they believe that he had their spiritual
good at heart.' ^ Though Mr Mair seems to have been in all
respects a 'quadratus homo,' a sterling character, the infirmity
of a ' hot temper ' cleaved to him. He was not always care-
ful either to curb or stifle it. Dr Lawson, when a student^
was often exposed to its ebuUitious, which may account for
the happy manner in which through hfe he imposed restraints
upon his own. To generate disgust in their minds against
drunkenness, the Spartans used to exhibit their slaves under
its brutifying influence. Many an excellent virtue has been
trained under similar influences. The calm and well-regulated
temper of Lawson may have been studied under the unhappy
hastiness of Mair. It is told that on one occasion, when the
student was delivering a trial discourse before the Presbytery,
his minister suddenly exclaimed, ' Be sententious ; come to
the point, man!' Mr Lawson was struck dumb and sat
' Address by Rev. Wm. Fleming, of West Calder.
20 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
down, as he could not then venture to abridge what he had
carefully composed. He was desired, however, by the Pres-
bytery to proceed, while Mr Pattison, of Edinburgh, remarked
that ' they would be very hapjjy to hear such another dis-
course from Mr Mair himself.' At another time, Mr Lawson
had delivered what is called ' a critical discourse,' upon which
Mr Mair animadverted with undue severity, especially upon
the plan or method which had been adopted. In his defence,
a member of Presbytery observed, that such was the very
plan recommended by the Professor, Mr Brown, of Had-
dington. ' Do not tell me that,' replied Mr Mair ; ' that is
not the Gospel way of it. Mr Brown had no college lair ;
and as for George Lawson, he just wants to be singular that
he may get himself a name.' Mr Mair had a man-servant,
and they had frequent bickerings. At last the man resolved
to quit Mr Mair's service, and told him so. ' Hout, man,'
said the minister, 'what's making you think of that ?' ' 'Deed,
sir,' was the reply, ' to tell you the even down truth, your
temper is so bad that I cannot bear it any longer.' ' Fie, man,'
rejoined Mr Mair, ' I am sure you ken that it is nae sooner on
than it's off again.' ' Weel a wat,' replied the servant, 'that's
true ; but then the evil is, that it's nae sooner off than it's on
again.' But the most affecting instance of this unhappy
temperament ends so touchingly, and so much to his credit,
as to justify our giving it a place. The Rev. William Kidstou,
of Stow, had come to Linton to assist Mr Mair at the dis-
pensation of the Supper, and was most cordially welcomed.
He had not been long in the house when some unseemly ex-
plosion on Mr Mair's part took place; and this was succeeded
by similar outbursts, so sudden, sharp, and causeless, as
greatly to surprise the Stow minister. Mr Kidston, indeed,
determined to leave the house and return home next morning.
He retired to his apartment for the night. He was awakened
by hearing a low, solemn, continued voice, as if from one in
prayer. He listened. Houses were not then so compactly
THE YOUTH AND HIS PKOMISE. 21
built as now, and good men were probably more given to pray
audibly. The voice was Mr Mair's. He was confessing
and bitterly lamenting before God his sins, and particularly
those of the preceding evening. He especially lamented the
stumblingblock he must have cast in the way of his young
brother ; besought God that he might not mar his brother's
edification and comfort ; and that he himself might have
grace to be more on his guard while the stranger was with
him, and at all times. Though a man of great firmness, and
not much given to the melting mood, Mr Kidston was so over-
come as to lay aside all thoughts of leaving Linton. He
remained and assisted with comfort. The late Dr Kidston, in
telling this meident, repeated his father's words when advert-
ing to it : — ' The good man was dissolved into tears. I too
shed tears when I thought of the deep contrition which had
been so speedily discovered ; for, if I had been in such a
passion, it would have been a day before I could have prayed
as he did. His outbreak and* his prayer made me like him all
the better.'
There was what is usually called ' a character ' in this
worthy man's congregation, who not unfrequently tried a
temper so very irritable. His name was Walter Jackson. He
was a 'Sir Oracle' of his kind; and to his opinions, especially
of the ministers' sermons, the people looked with considerable
interest. He was, however, as such characters generally are,
an unjustly severe critic, his taste being rather to find fault
than to commend. He manifested his mind of the preacher
by his attitudes in the pew. When pleased, which was seldom,
he sat erect and looked the preacher in the face ; when dis-
satisfied, he gradually turned round till his back was towards
the pulpit. The late Dr Husband, of Dunfermline, was a
popular preacher. His fame had reached West Linton ; the
people were on the tiptoe of expectation ; and when he did
come and preach, they were all delighted ; but they ' held
their peace ' till Walter's judgment was known. He listened
ZZ THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
attentively for a while, but, to the surprise of the congregation,
he gradually turned his back upon him. The Doctor himself
noticed it, and afterwards facetiously remarked, that the
man's behaviour told that in his estimation ' the preaching
was no great thing, and that, after all, there was in it a great
deal more whistling than red-land,' The prayers of even
godly men at that time were very long and heavy, compre-
hending sometimes a system of divinity. Jackson was no-
torious for length. He was attending a funeral at Hallmyre.
The company had assembled in the barn to get some refresh-
ment, and, having partaken, he was asked to return thanks.
He commenced in right good earnest with the fall of Adam,
and was going down from one great Bible doctrine to another,
till patience was exhausted. Significant looks passed among
the mourners ; one by one they deserted the barn, and the
funeral procession started for Newlands churchyard. When
Walter came to a close, and opened his eyes, he found him-
self alone, and on inquiry discovered that the procession was
fully a mile on its way. His conceited soul was chafed.
By means of a small patrimony, as well as by industrious
and frugal habits, Charles Lawson brought up in comfort a
family of six sons and two daughters. He enjoyed a high
reputation for intelligence, prudence, piety, and activity, and
was chosen and ordained to the office of the ruling eldership —
an office which he held with unimpeached character till his
death. Two of his sons studied for the ministry, — George,
the eldest, and John, the second of the family. The latter,
however, was thrown into delicate health by a fever, and re-
linquished his studies. He seems to have been a young man
of piety and promise, and was often remembered by his elder
brother with sincere regret. There is but one relic of this
interesting lad, which some will feel to be alike curious and
suggestive as an illustration of manners in those days. We
refer to an extract from a letter of his to his brother George.
Its date, and the circumstances to which it refers, are some
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE. 23
years posterior to Lawson's settlement in Selkirk, but this
seems the proper place for inserting it : —
* Hallmtee, March 28, 1774.
' Dear Brother, — I am in no better a state of health than
when you left this place, notwithstanding of having applied
to Mr Reid, of Peebles. Some of the rest of our folks are
but in an indifferent state of health at this time also ; but
we must be submissive to God's will of providence concern-
ing us.
' I went on Wednesday to the auction of Mr Mair's library ;
and after a sermon by Mr Brown, he and John Mossman
cried by turns. I bought for you Hopkins' works at seven
shillings, and Boston's three volumes on the Catechism at
nine and sixpence.^ The books, for the most part, sold above
value. Mr John Scott bought Manton's works at one
pound ; but then they wanted the half of the second volume,
and some of the volumes were in a bad order. I bought a
foUo copy of Jenkin on Jude, not very good in case, at five
and sixpence. — From your loving brother,
' John Lawson.
P.S. — Mr Scott bought also Poole's Synopsis, about one
guinea.'
In this letter we have a curious picture. It must have
been customary then, or there, to precede an auction of
books, especially of a minister's books, by a sermon. The
minister present must also have taken a share in ' crying,' or
managing the sale. The Mr Brown that on this occasion
' cried ' with John Mossman, is very likely to have been the
celebrated Professor in Haddington.
George Lawson, the subject of this memoir, seems from
his childhood to have manifested not a few of those peculi-
arities for which in after life he became remarkable. He
• These books are still in Dr Lawson's library at Selkirk.
24 THE LIFE OP DR LAWSON.
was somewhat infirm in bodily constitution, and was there-
fore an object of unusual parental care. Disappointed in
their wishes with regard to John, they were the more
anxious (as many Scotch parents in similar circumstances
have been, are now, and, it is hoped, will long continue to be)
to have at least one of their sons a minister of the New
Testament. At an early period of life, George had been
seized with small-pox of a very malignant character. In his
case it was expected to be fatal. Having dedicated him to
God in baptism, Charles Lawson and his wife were now pre-
pared to surrender him in death. All hope of recovery for
a time had gone, and the bitterness of reahzing a first
bereavement was well nigh over, when it pleased God to
answer their prayers and restore their son, as if from the
dead. We see now for what reason this mercy was granted
— not for their joy alone, but for the glory of God and the
edification of the Church. The disease, however, left upon
him obvious marks of its severity, together with a weakness
in his eyes from which he never fully recovered, and which
frequently rendered it difficult and painful, in some instances
impossible, for him either to read or to write. In other re-
spects he acquired, and long retained, a comfortable measure
of health. The affliction, however, in his eyes was a con-
tinual remembrancer to him of what God in his childhood had
wrought for him. It was, moreover, a kind of ' thorn in the
flesh ' left, ' lest he should be exalted above measure through
the abundance of the revelations ;' and often disposed him
to morahze on the subject, both for his own and the good of
others. Many years after, he wrote a most interesting letter
upon the subject to a friend similarly afflicted. This most
apostolic document was printed after his death in the deno-
minational Magazine.
The discrimination of Charles Lawson, and the partiality
of his wife, were not slow to accord to_ ^eir son the pre-
ference which his precocity claimed. It was quite apparent
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE. 25
that the boy was, according to the parlance of these days,
' out of the ordinary.' His thirst for knowledge was intense ;
his capacity for receiving it was great ; his diligence and ap-
phcation were unremitting. At the same time, he evinced
a total indifference, or rather an utter aversion, to any me-
chanical employment or trade. If he could not have his
books, he at once manifested disaffection. He indicated
little or no aptitude for occupations generally assigned to
boys residing on a farm, of which the following is a some-
what amusing instance. He had been sent on one occasion
by his father to Goldie's Mill, about a mile from Hallmyre,
with a sack of grain, to be ground into meal for the family,
as was then customary. The sack was laid upon a horse,
which George was instructed to lead by a halter. He pro-
ceeded along the road, never doubting that the animal was
following him, but all the while poring over the pages of a
book, or pursuing some train of thought. The horse, how-
ever, had contrived to free himself from the halter, and George
arrived at the mill without either horse or sack, to the aston-
ishment of the worthy miller, who predicted that much good
could never come of a youth so thoughtless alike of man and
beast. The horse was found quietly grazing by the wayside,
not far from his father's house.
On another occasion he was sent to fasten a cow with
what was called a ' tether,' in a field of grass. There was
an unfenced field of growing corn quite adjacent, and George
was ordered so to ' tether ' the cow as to keep it clear of the
corn. According to the old proverb, ' one can only go the
length of his tether.' It did not occur to him, however, that
the animal could ' complete the circle.' He thrust down the
tether-stick into the pasture ground, but on the very edge
of the corn-field. The cow preferred the more substantial
article ; and while the herd was devouring his book, she
devoured the grain.
These little incidents are given simply as early specimens
26 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
of that absence of mind about worldly matters, of which he
never could entirely divest himself. It may be proper here
to notice, that some alleged specimens of a similar or of a
more glaring kind have been greatly exaggerated in the
report, while others are entirely false. It was quite clear,
however, that his nature was alike indisposed and incapaci-
tated for minute attention to merely secular matters ; and
his parents had the good sense to consult this pecuharity,
and afford him all proper opportunity for gratifying his thirst
after knowledge. Previous to their deciding the weighty
matter of his future in life, Charles Lawson and his wife con-
sidered it respectful to their minister to take him into their
counsels, and be guided by his superior wisdom. They,
accordingly, one day got their son put in order, and took
him with them to the manse. Mr Mair Hstened with ap-
parent interest to their views and proposals as to their getting
a tutor for him, and thereafter sending him to college.
George himself, somewhat abashed in such a presence, had
edged himself into the window recess, and, whether from
absence of mind or affected indifference, occupied himself by
writing with his finger upon one of the panes of glass. He
was, however, suddenly called to his senses by hearing Mr
Mair, in a rather angry tone, thus address his father : ' I tell
thee, man, he has no mother-wit. If a man want lair, he may
get that ; and if he want riches, he may get them ; and even
if he want grace, he may get it ; but if a man want common
sense, I tell thee, man, he will never get that.' It is just to
Mr Mair to add, that it was not long after this before he
discerned the precocity and attainments of young Lawson,
and took great pleasure in leading and pressing him forward
in his education. Such encouragement was needed during
his whole curriculum ; for, though of pregnant genius, dih-
gent application, and rare advancement in hterary, philoso-
phical, and theological studies, he alone seemed unaware of
it all, and would have held back in his course but for the
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE. 27
stimuli employed upon him by others. Nothing was lacking
either on the part of his parents. They educated him ac-
cording to their circumstances ; and his progress was alike
easy and rapid.
The late Rev. John Johnstone, of Ecclefechan, was for a
time classical tutor to George Lawson ; and fortunate, indeed,
for the future scholar was it that such a teacher was then at
West Linton. Mr Johnstone laid the foundations in young
Lawson's mind of that mass of learning which has made him
a wonder to many. He was a student of theology under
Professor Brown, of Haddington, and occupied his time dur-
ing the recess by teaching. He was an excellent scholar,
and in every respect well qualified to elevate the classical
tastes of his pupil, and to give them a direction towards those
sacred offices upon which, in after life, they were to be em-
ployed. It is due to the memory of this most excellent man,
that we embalm it thus in the biography of his distinguished
pupil. Dr Lawson invariably spoke of him in terms of almost
enthusiastic veneration ; and not unfrequently, in his lectures
at the Selkirk Hall, was this early teacher referred to as one
of the most accomplished of men, and one of the best speci-
mens of a Christian minister. The late Dr Beattie, of Glas-
gow, who was a native of Ecclefechan, and brought up under
Mr Johnstone's ministry, often spoke of him in similar
terms ; and to some it may be perhaps more interesthig to
be told, that one of the most remarkable writers of the day,
Thomas Carlyle, was also born and brought up in early life
under the ministry of the Secession minister of Ecclefechan.
It is not the least creditable specimen of Mr Carlyle's good
sense and good feeling, that he still remembers the guide and
instructor of his youth. We have heard that he has oftener
than once declared, ' I have seen many capped and equipped
bishops, and other episcopal dignitaries ; but I have never
seen one who more beautifully combined in himself the Chris-
tian and the Christian gentleman than did Mr Johnstone.'
28 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
This is gratifying testimony. It prompts the prayer, that
ere life's fitful fever is past, the memories of that Gospel which
he heard from his honoured Scotch pastor may return with
mighty and merciful effect upon a mind, sometimes erring,
but ever, we fondly hope, steadily going onward and upward
to its God and Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Mr
Johnstone was for fifty-two years the minister of Ecclefechau
Secession Church, and died in 1812, eighty-two years of age.
' Endowed with strong natural talents (says the epitaph on
his monument), which were cultivated by a liberal education,
and sanctified by divine influence, he was as a scholar respect-
able, as a theologian learned, and as a minister able, faithful,
and laborious. His unaffected piety, unspotted morals,
habitual cheerfulness, and dignified manners awed the vicious,
edified the saints, and excited a sentiment of universal esteem
and veneration. Having, through the course of a long
ministry, fully declared the whole counsel of God, and strik-
ingly exemplified its holy and elevating influence on his temper
and conduct, he closed a life of useful labour by a death full
of comfort and hope.' It remains to be told, that when Mr
Johnstone completed his theological term, he left to undergo
trials for hcense, and consequently did not resume his voca-
tion at West Linton. Thus preceptor and pupil were parted ;
and with mutual regret. It is said that the whole family of
Lawsons were afflicted, and that young George especially
wept for days thereafter. Many years afterwards, and when
his pupil had been elevated to the Chair of Divinity, the
Ecclefechau minister sent his son to the Selkirk Hall.* When
the youth presented the usual certificate from his father as
moderator of the session, Dr Lawson shook him kindly by
the hand, saying, ' There is a woe, my young man, pro-
nounced against your father.' The son looked somewhat
' Afterwards the Rev. John Johnstone, first of St Andrews, and
latterly of Glasgow, — the only surviving son and the inheritor of many
of the gifts and graces of his father.
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE. 29
surprised ; but the Professor put all right by adding, ' All
men speak well of him.'
The time came when the boy-stndent at Hallmyre must
quit, for the first time, the parental roof. He was now ready
for college, and was matriculated at fifteen years of age as
an alumnus of the IJniversity of Edinburgh. The University
at that period was under the principalship of the celebrated
historian, Dr Robertson. During the preliminary sessions,
he attended Professors George Stewart for Humanity, Hunter
for Greek, Stevenson for Logic, Mathew Stewart for Mathe-
matics, Ferguson for Moral Philosophy, Russell for Natural
Philosophy, and James Robertson, the author of the ' Clavis,'
for Hebrew. He made good use of his opportunities, being
a dihgent and successful, if not a distinguished student. He
returned to his humble home in Peeblesshire during each
recess, employing his time in dihgent preparation for the
following session. Life in Edinburgh was to him nothing
more than a continuation of his intellectual labours and re-
searches in the retirement of the farm-house. He mingled
very little with society, and indulged in none of the amuse-
ments or froUcs which have sometimes made student-Ufe in
the city a sad caricature, if not sometimes a disastrous
tragedy. The grace of God, that had been given to him in
childhood, encompassed him as a shield, and carried him com-
paratively innocent through an ordeal equally trying to genius
and piety. It is sad to think of the number of hopeful youths,
especially of such as come from the holier shelters of rural
life into the city, who regularly fall victims to the seductions
which meet them on every side. On the shores of the aca-
demic curriculum may be seen the blanched bones of many
young and promising hopes, which, under happier stars, might
have been beautifully developed into every variety of useful
and Christian life. When we think of the exceeding simpU-
city and unsuspecting nature of Lawson, we marvel that he
rode out that first voyage of worldly experience so skilfully
30 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
and SO unharmed. No doubt he owed much of his safety to
the holy training and example of his patriarchal home, but
above all to the influence of godly principles, and the suf-
ficiency of godly grace.
From his studious and retiring habits, George made but
few acquaintances and still fewer friendships at college ; but
such as he did form were of a choice description. Some of
these are too famous to be overlooked in this sketch of his
life, and others of them must occupy such a prominent place in
it as to warrant our assignment to them of special notices. We
refer, among others, to Michael Bruce, Wilham Dryburgh,
John Logan, George Henderson, David Greig, and Andrew
Swanston.
Michael Bruce has been long and favourably known as
the poet of Lochleven, and the author of a few of the most
beautiful lyrics in our language, especially the ' Ode to
Spring,' and the ' Hymn to the Cuckoo.' ' I have often '
(writes one of Dr Lawson's daughters) ' heard my father refer
to Bruce. Indeed, his early days and youthful associates
were subjects in which he took great delight. He cherished
the memory of Bruce with the deepest veneration and ardent
aiFection, on account of his fervent piety, amiable disposition,
and true genius.' He was born at Kiunesswood, a small
village in the parish of Portmoak, of which the celebrated
Ebenezer Erskine was minister previous to his translation to
Stirling. For Michael's as well as for Ebenezer's sake, many
visit this village and its churchyard, which are situated on the
north-east banks of Lochleven amid the sunny slopes of the
Lomond Hills. The thatched cottage in which the poet was
born still remains. His parents were very poor, and had to
hire out their children to herd cattle on the Lomond Hills.
For six successive summers was the young poet thus employed.
On these hills, however, he did more than feed the flocks of
others : he fed his own ardent mind with the ideas of sub-
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE. 31
limity and beauty which the grandeur of the surrounding
scenery called forth, — even thus early he looked round on
nature and on life with the eye which nature bestows only on
a poet. Dr Mackelvie, his accomplished biographer, says
that ' his poem on " Lochleven " is wholly made up of these
reminiscences, and ought to be regarded by the reader as the
impressions of the shepherd-boy clothed in the language of
the student and of the scholar.' By the use of such means as
he could command, he studied hard, and actually qualified
himself for entering the college at an unusually early period
of life. At this juncture his father received intimation that
he had fallen heir to a small legacy of 200 merks Scots. ^ It
was at once determined to send Bruce to Edinburgh, where,
by dint of saving and borrowing, his father was enabled to
keep him till he finished the required sessions. The following
extract from one of his letters proves that he was often in
most straitened circumstances : — ' I daily meet with proofs
that money is a necessary evil. When in an auction, I often
say to myself, How happy should I be if I had money to
purchase such a book ! How well should my library be fur-
nished, " nisi obstat res angusta domi ! "
" My lot forbids, nor circumscribes alone
My growing virtues, but my crimes confine."
Whether any virtues would have accompanied me in a more
elevated station is uncertain ; but that a number of vices, of
which my sphere is incapable, would have been its attend-
ants, is unquestionable.' Having left college, Bruce became
a teacher at Gairney Bridge, near Kinross, the place where
the four ministers that seceded from the Church of Scotland
in 1732 met and formed themselves into the first Associate
Presbytery. To assist his finances, he here determined to
publish a volume of his poems, but declining health prevented
him. His friend Lawson had heard of his purpose, and thus
alludes to it in a letter which he wrote to him from Boghouse
1 About L.ll, 2s. 2fd.
32 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
in February 1766 : — ' Pray inform me when Mr Swanston
proposes to begin his course of lectures, and whether you
design to attend them, I would have been glad to have
seen your criticism on Moir's pamphlet, or some of your new
compositions, unless so large that they cannot he conveyed^ Having
attended one session at the Divinity Hall in Kinross, Bruce
removed to another school, fifteen miles to the west of that
town. The place was called Forrest Mill. There was
nothing here attractive in the scenes of nature. He conse-
quently fell back upon his memories of Lochleven, and com-
posed the poem of that name, which is so much admired by
the lovers of a poet's holiest and sweetest musings. By this
time consumption had begun its ravages in his frail body,
which compelled him to return home. The hope of recovery
soon died within him, as is but too mournfully indicated in
these lines from his matchless lyric, the ' Ode to Spring .- ' —
' Now Spring return*, but not to me returns
The vernal joy my better years have known ;
Dim in my breast life's dying taper burns,
And all the joys of life with health are flown.
' Starting and shivering in the inconstant wind,
Meagre and pale, the ghost of what I was ;
Beneath some blasted tree I lie reclined,
And count the silent moments as they pass —
' The winged moments, whose unstaying speed
No art can stop, or in their course arrest ;
Whose flight shall shortly count me with the dead,
And lay me down in peace with those that rest.'
About this time he received a visit from his friend Lawson.
He was in bed, ' his countenance pale as death, while his eyes
shone like lamps in a sepulchre.' The interview was short
but deeply affecting, as their souls had been knit to one
another in love.
' I am happy to see you so cheerful,' said Lawson.
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE. 33
' Why should not a mau be cheerful on the verge of
heaven?' said the dying poet.
' But,' said Lawson, ' you look so emaciated, I am afraid
you cannot last long.'
' You remind me,' was the reply, 'of the story of the sailor
whose ship was wrecked, and who, when told that the vessel
was sinking, replied, " Let it sink, it is not mine." I say with
the sailor. Let my body fall, it is not mine.'
Very soon after this he died, in the twenty-first year of his
age. His Bible was found upon his pillow, marked down at
Jeremiah xxii. 10, ' Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoau
him ; ' and on the blank leaf this verse was written,
* 'Tis very vain for me to boast
How small a price my Bible cost :
The Day of Judgment will make clear
'Twas very cheap, or very dear.'
An edition of his poems was soon afterwards published, but
justice was never done to this truly amiable youth till his Kfe
was written and his fine poetic genius was described by Dr
Mackelvie of Balgedie. The above notices are taken from that
touching and elegant work, wherein also will be found a most
successful and masterly defence of Bruce against the pilferings
of Logan.^
Of William Dryburgh Dr Mackelvie has thus beautifully
written : — 'Like Bruce, he was a youth of extraordinary piety,
and, alas ! like him also, a youth of consumptive habit. Both
of them had a presentiment that they were to drop into a pre-
mature grave ; and the probable brevity of their mortal ex-
istence, and their delightful hopes of a glorious immortality,
were the frequent subjects of their conversation and corre-
spondence. As pilgrims, soon to make their exit from this
1 See Lochleven and other Poems, by Michael Bruce ; with a Life of
the Author from original sources, by the Rev. Wm. Mackelvie, D.D.
1837.
C
34 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
world, and as heirs together of the grace of life, they were
drawn towards each other by sympathies and regards such as
none but pious minds can feel. Their presentiment was con-
firmed by the events : Dryburgh died in his eighteenth year,
and Bruce followed him to the grave in less than a year after.
How keenly our poet felt the death of his friend, is evinced
by a letter which he addressed to Pearson upon receiving
the intelligence of the event. ' I have not many friends,' says
he, ' but I love them well. Death has been among the few I
have ; poor Dryburgh ! but he is happy. I expected to have
been his companion through life, and that we should have
stepped into the grave together ; but Heaven has seen meet to
dispose of him otherwise. What think you of this world?
I think it very little worth. You and I have not a great
deal to make us fond of it ; and yet, I would not exchange
my condition with any uufeehng fool in the universe, if I were
to have his dull hard heart into the bargain. Farewell, my
rival in immortal hope ! my companion, I trust, for eternity !
Though far distant, I take thee to my heart ; souls suffer no
separation from the obstruction of matter or distance of place.
Oceans may roll between us, and climates interpose in vain —
the whole material creation is no bar to the winged mind.
Farewell ! through boundless ages fare thee well. Mayest
thou shine when the sun is darkened ! Mayest thou live in
triumph when time expires. It is at least possible we may
meet no more in this foreign land, this gloomy apartment
in the universe of God ; but there is a better world, in which
we may meet to part no more. Adieu.'
John Logan was only for a short period the associate of
Lawson and his friends during their studies in Edinburgh.
Having become tutor in Sir John Sinclair's family by the
recommendation of Dr Blair, the Professor of Rhetoric in the
University, he manifested symptoms of backshding, and in the
end joined the Established Church. He became the minister
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE. 35
of the second charge of South Leith, which, after twelve years,
he resigned, retired to London, and died in 1788. In a letter
from one of the Selkirk family to Dr Mackelvie it is said,
' Logan was one of my father's companions at college ; but,
so far from encouraging an intimacy with him, he rather kept
aloof from him. Though a man of true genius, his fellow-
students did not look upon him as an exemplary or religious
character.' For a time, it seems he had exercised an undue
influence over Bruce and Lawson, when intimate intercourse
was broken up by a simple circumstance. Logan had induced
them to accompany him in a walk into the country on a
Sabbath afternoon, and, to amuse himself, commenced to
throw stones at the walls or trees which skirted the highway.
They remonstrated in vain. After this they seldom met.
When the elder Bruce decided to publish his son's poems, he
went to Leith and entrusted the precious manuscripts with
Logan, who undertook to edit the volume. Dr Mackelvie has
proved that several poems, afterwards published by Logan)
as his own, were Bruce's ; and especially some of the most
beautiful of the paraphrases of Scripture which are sung in
public worship by the Scottish churches, and which Logan
had submitted to the General Assembly as his own com-
position.^
George Henderson was the son of the proprietor of Turf-
hills (an estate near Kinross). He and Lawson were fellow-
students all through their classical and theological career.
Their friendship was ardent and uninterrupted. Soon after
his license, Mr Henderson was called and ordained to be the
assistant and successor of the Rev. Mr Fisher, of Glasgow,
one of ' the four' seceding fathers, and whose Catechism has
preserved his name and memory in all the gates of the Church.
This promising young minister, like the other companions of
Lawson, was soon and suddenly cut off in the midst of his
> Paraphrases 8th 11th, and 18th.
36 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
usefulness. He preached in his usual health on Sabbath, and
died on the Thursday following, in the thirty-sixth year of
his age and fourteenth of his ministry. It is to him that
Bruce aUudes in these lines : —
' Nor shall the muse forget thy friendly heart,
0 Lselius ! partner of my youthful hours.
How often, rising from the bed of peace,
We would walk forth to meet the summer morn.
Inhaling health and harmony of mind ;
Philosophers and friends ; while science beamed
With ray divine, as lovely on our minds
As yonder orient sun, whose welcome light
Revealed the vernal landscape to the view.
Yet, oft unbending from more serious thought,
Much of the looser follies of mankind,
Humorous and gay, we'd talk, and much would laugh ;
While ever and anon, their foibles vain
Imagination offered to our view.'
Of David Greig and Andrew Swanston, the two best
beloved of young Lawson's early companions, we shall have
to speak frequently, and at some length, in future pages.
We therefore pass on in our narrative with this single remark,
that these college friendships were never forgotten by him ;
their memories and influences remained upon him through Hfe ;
and with one of them especially — David Greig — he maintained
for more than fifty years the closest and most endearing fel-
lowship. Our youthful companionships bulk largely in our
education. They are indeed elements for good or evil in the
formative period, and have in many instances decided both
the moral and mental future of the man. They may not be
' wiser than all our teachers,' but they often speak with more
authority. It is said that sometimes the boy is father to the
man — the companions of the boy very often are — they make
him. So true is this, that in many cases you may forecast
the horologue of a youth from the associates whom he prefers.
In their manifestation of character you see the bias of his
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE. 37
own ; while in the influences they exert upon him you see
what for him are to be the powers of the world about to be
entered. As we proceed with the life of George Lawson, it
will become apparent that in Bruce, Henderson, Swanston,
and Greig, he found congenial spirits — they were alike in
Hterary and rehgious tastes. With no pretension to poetic
genius, Lawson had a soul that lifted itself up to the sublime
and beautiful, whether in the regions of thought or of nature.
He could not have written the ' Hymn to the Cuckoo,' or the
' Ode to Spring,' but he had a most sympathetic appreciation
of their poetic excellence ; and that love of retirement, when
the beauties of nature lead the soul to nature's God, was as
strong an ingredient in him as in the gifted bard of Lochleven.
In his attachment to Greig especially, we shall perceive Law-
son's harmony with the deep and holy musings of a grave
theologian, and the blissful outgoings of as warm a heart as
ever beat in man. From his earliest days Greig was serious
in his religious studies, and in earnest applied himself to be-
come a ' workman that needeth not to be ashamed.' Hence
sprung up between them a love — a friendship like that of
Jonathan to David ; and hence also their joint separation from
Logan when they discovered his levity, if not his irreligion.
The time had now come when Lawson must bid adieu to
college life, and enter upon the more solid and still more im-
portant study of theology. Having fulfilled his sessions at
Edinburgh, he was examined by his Presbytery, found quali-
fied, and certificated to the Divinity Hall in the autumn of
1766.
The Hall at that period was under the Professorship of
the Rev. John Swanston, of Kinross. Mr Fisher, his prede-
cessor in the Chair, had about two years before that resigned
his office, after having presided over the seminary for fifteen
years. The choice of Mr Swanston by the Synod is proof of
the high estimate in which his classical and theological attain-
ments were held. The text-book of his class was the Medulla
38 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
of Mark, and bis lectures embraced the entire subjects of
orthodox divinity. He was much loved and respected by his
students, and was almost idolized by his congregation.
' Mr Swanston,' said one of them, ' is almost like a god
amongst us.' Scarcely, however, had he got his prelections
on theology into something like method and order, when he
was suddenly cut down by the stroke of death. He had
gone to assist at the dispensation of the Lord's Supper in
Perth, where he was seized by violent and rapid inflamma-
tion, and died before he could be removed to his own house.
Death, however, did not take him by surprise. He had not
a Saviour to seek in that last and awful hour ; from his
earliest days he had ' found Him, of whom Moses in the law
and the prophets did write.' Just before he expired he said,
' I believe that, through the grace of our Lord Jesus, I shall
be saved. I shall not die, but hve in the highest sense, and
hope to declare the works of the Lord eternally.' His latest
words were, ' I would not now return to life for ten thousand
worlds ; for, though my heart and my flesh fail me, God is
the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.' He fell
asleep in Jesus in the forty-sixth year of his age, the nine-
teenth of his ministry, and the third year of his professor-
ship. A worthy witness thus testifies concerning him : ' He
was possessed of singular natural parts ; being furnished
with a quick discernment, great strength of memory and
judgment, and with rich invention. Such was his modesty,
that on every occasion he rather concealed than showed his
abilities, unless when necessarily engaged in the defence of
truth.' The only work he has left is a posthumous volume
of sermons, edited by the Rev. John Smith, of Dunfermline.
These sermons are of high merit ; too multifarious, perhaps,
in their divisions, as most of the sermons of that day were, but
abounding in savoury and massive truths, and with not a few
specimens of fanciful and ingenious illustration.
When George Lawson entered the Hall at Kinross, this
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE. 39
excellent man was in the third and last year of his professor-
ship. Still, though he only enjoyed that one session of his
first theological tutor, he carried the remembrance of it to
his grave. It was under Swanston that he received his first
impulses to the study of the deep things of God ; and it
was at Kinross that he confirmed some of those valuable
friendships which, we doubt not, have survived death. In
many ways his residence on the banks of Lochleven was
propitious to him. The scenery formed a fine contrast to
that of Boghouse ; and the associations of the locality with
the misfortunes of Queen Mary on the one hand, and the rise
and progress of the Church he loved on the other, were re-
freshing and suggestive to a mind now beginning to think
and decide for itself on all important subjects, secular and
sacred. Amid the ruins
' Of Lochleven Castle, famous once,
The abode of heroes of the Bruce's line,'
he could meditate on the crimes and sorrows of queens and
potentates, and turn them, as he did, to good account in the
future lessons of the Christian ministry ; while his visits to
the neighbouring hamlet of Gairney Bridge would strengthen
his attachments to the noble cause which was there accom-
plished and consecrated by the sacrifices, the prayers, the
judgment, and the faith of our fathers. But, in addition, he
was privileged to enjoy at Kinross the society of his most
cherished companions. On the same bench sat Lawson,
Bruce, Henderson, Andrew Swanston (son of the Professor),
and David Greig. Together they read, studied, prayed,
hoped, believed. Lawson was kindly received into the hos-
pitable mansion of Lethangie, where he remained during the
session. David Greig was the son of its excellent proprietor,
and had invited his friend to abide there when he should come
to the Hall. This tended greatly to the increase of their
mutual love and confidence. The domain of Lethangie hes
about a mile to the north of Kinross, upon the banks of
40 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Lochleven, so that the students were frequently entertained
within its pious walls. The worthy ' laird ' himself might
not be able to supply their ardent and lively minds with
much of the intellectual or scientific, but they found him
adept enough at ' the most excellent knowledge ' of Jesus
Christ ; while his admirable son and young Lawson carried
the vintage of their learning into the ' feasts of reason.'
Besides, the paternal residence of George Henderson was not
much farther from Kinross than Lethangie, and to it also
they were often and most heartily welcomed. Turfhills, the
name of Mr Henderson's estate, lies about a mile to the east
of the town. During his attendance at the Hall, Michael
Bruce was mvited to reside there ; so that in either mansion
George Lawson had a choice friend and highly respectable
acquaintances, intercourse with whom, during the session,
greatly contributed to his comfort and improvement. With
Greig in Lethangy, Andrew Swanston in the Manse, and
Bruce and 'Lelius' in Turfhills, the carpenter's son was
truly happy. Short-lived, however, were these, as are all
mundane joys. The sessions of the Hall, then as now, ex-
tended through the months of August and September. The
Professor took farewell of the students as usual, and all
departed in the fond hope that they should meet again on
the shores of that beautiful lake, whose melancholy waves
ohant a dirge over Scotland's most beautiful Queen. Ere a
few months had passed, their honoured teacher was dead ;
and a new appointment to the Chair carried the Hall into
another quarter of the country. Bruce himself died only a
few weeks after Mr Swanston. After this, however, Lawson
and Greig often exchanged visits, which made Lethangie and
Boghouse in after years hallowed spots in the recollections of
both. We have not been able to discover any relics of their
correspondence during their student-hfe ; but it is said that,
along with Swanston and George Henderson, a very intimate
and cordial intercourse was maintained
THE YOUTH AND HIS PEOMISE. 41
The Rev. John Brown, of Haddington, was chosen by the
Synod to succeed Mr Swanston in the chair of Theology. It
is not easy to write or speak of this remarkable man in
anything like measured terms. He was a marvel in the
Church of Christ. Born in a lowly condition of Ufe, he
reached the highest posts of honour that can be held in
this world — a minister of the Cross, and a president in the
schools of the prophets. Without the ordinary advantages
of a sound classical and philosophical education, he became
a most learned divine and an extensive author. Few names
are better known, or more profoundly venerated, than that of
the author of the ' Self-Interpreting Bible.' His early thirst
for knowledge could never be satiated. Dr M'Kerrow tells
us that he ' took delight in committing to memory the cate-
chisms of Yincent, Flavel, and the Westminster Assembly.
He acquired, by dint of study, a knowledge of the Latin,
Greek, and Hebrew languages ; and in process of time, such
was his hterary attainments, that he could read and translate
the French, Itahan, Dutch, German, also the Arabic, Persic,
Syriac, and Ethiopic. The facility with which he acquired
the knowledge of languages gave occasion to some to say, that
he had Satan for his instructor.' Before Michael Bruce
was born, he had kept a school at Gairney Bridge. At that
time he went down every Sabbath to hear Ralph Erskine at
DunfermUne. ' I can never forget,' he said, ' those days when
I travelled over the hills of Cleish to hear that great man of
God, whose sermons, I thought, were brought home by the
Spirit of God to my heart. At these times I thought I met
with the God of Israel, and saw Him face to face.' He was
ordained in Haddington in 1750. He became Professor of
Divinity in 1767, and died in 1787. His last words were —
' Mt Christ.' As the theological views of Dr Lawson were
very much formed upon those of Professor Brown, and as the
Selkirk system was modelled upon that prosecuted at Had-
dington, the following graphic account of the latter, by the
42 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
late venerable Dr Peddle, of Edinburgh, will be read with
interest : —
' At the distance of sixty years, it cannot be supposed that
my recollections can be very minute, or, perhaps, very ac-
curate, I do recollect that, in ordinary days, we had just
one meeting — but of considerable length — from ten in the
forenoon, to twelve, or, perhaps, even one o'clock. The
meeting was begun and ended with prayer, — a service which
was conducted by the Professor, and the students in the order
of the roll. It v/as occupied in an examination on a section
or part of a section of the system, which had been composed
by the Professor himself, and manuscript copies of which were
in the hands of the students, till, to avoid the inconvenience
of several students having only one copy for their joint use. it
was printed. The text of the system was supported by a
profusion of texts of Scripture, which the students had to
quote memoriter as nearly as possible in the precise words.
' Mr Brown never delivered, during the five years that I
attended the Hall, even one lecture on any head of Divinity.
Anything that can be called lectures was occasional, and
consisted of readings from his own manuscripts, of parts of a
large History of the Church of Scotland, of the Secession,
etc., and of some dissertations on the subject of toleration,
together with papers on pastoral duty, etc., many of which
have since been printed.
' Our ordinary meeting was in the forenoon of every day ;
but we had a second meeting often to hear discourses by
students, at which the students were called on, in order as
they sat, to offer remarks on the discourse, its language,, its
method and particular expressions, which commonly occupied
more time than the discourse that was criticised, and in
which the great body of the students took a part. The
Professor protected the preacher against unjust or unduly
severe censures, and the exercise was found, on experience,
to be profitable to the class.
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE. 43
' Every student had more work to perform than now. A
first year's student had only one discourse — a homily of
perhaps nearly half an hour's length, — the text of which was
given him the first day of his appearance, and which he had
to compose and deliver within five or six weeks. The second
year student had to deliver a lecture on a portion of Scrip-
ture, and an exercise and additions from a verse in the Old
Testament. An exegesis was assigned ; but if it could not
be got ready, there was permission to defer it to a subsequent
year. The third, fourth, and fifth years' students had as-
signed to them each three discourses ; a lecture on a passage
of scripture ; a confessional lecture on one entire chapter of
the Confession of Faith, which the student was expected not
to commit to memory, but to read it from his notes ; and a
popular sermon, which was delivered before as many of the
people as chose to attend at an afternoon meeting.
' Meetings were held on the afternoons for hearing sermons,
a meeting of the students by themselves for disputation, and
on the Saturdays for prayer.
' We all loved and revered the teacher. He showed every
day the deep interest he took in our welfare. His addresses
to us, which were frequent, and especially his farewell ad-
dresses at the close of the session, were very impressive,
solemnized the giddiest minds among us, and frequently
brought the tears from our eyes.'
We have no particulars of importance to give concerning
the progress of our student while fulfilling his sessions at
Haddington. He was distinguished, however, for great sim-
plicity of manners, indefatigable application, and almost
premature wisdom. He was much honoured by the Professor,
who admitted him to great confidence and intimacy, and
sometimes hinted that he should be kept in view as his suc-
cessor in the chair. On one occasion, indeed, when Mr Brown
had left the class-room for a few minutes, Lawson, rather
unlike himself, mounted the Professor's chair, and com-
44 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
meaced, in a jocular style, to address the students. On
returning, Mr Brown listened for a moment at the door, till
the voice ceased; and, on taking the chair again, he very good-
naturedly remarked, ' I perceive I have already got a succes-
sor.' The only other incident we have heard of, illustrates
an excellence in his character to which fuller allusion must be
afterwards made. On returning one session to Haddington,
Lawson found that his Hebrew Bible was too large to be
put into his travelling-trunk. He resolved to leave it behind
him, and did so. Several large passages of the Hebrew
Scriptures had been prescribed for that session, and the day
came when Lawson was called upon to read them. He stood
up, and commenced the lesson ; the Professor noticed that he
had not a Bible in his hand, and asked the explanation. ' I
could not conveniently bring my Hebrew Bible,' he replied,
' but I do not require one, — I have committed to memory,
and can repeat it all.' Upon the principle that ' pulchrum
est laudari a laudato,' we may here quote a saying of Mr
Brown, which proves the high esteem in which he held not
only George Lawson, but other three of his fellow-students,
to be often referred to in these pages : 'I do not know
whether I have been of much service in my generation, but I
am happy that I have been the means of bringing up four
such young men for the ministry, as Andrew Swanston,
George Lawson, David Greig, and James Peddie.' The
Professor's estimate of his student was proved in another
way. Obsei'ving his uncommon attainments, he assigned him
peculiar exercises to dehver, of one of which it is honourable
to both parties to state, that he requested a copy, and
engrossed it in the system of divinity which he then read to
his students, and afterwards published to the world. ^
By all his fellow-students he was beloved and admired,
and won amongst them friendships which were the sweeteners
of his life. At Haddington he became acquainted with one
' Dr Adam Thomson.
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE. 45
student, of whom we shall have not a little to say in the
course of this memoir: his name was Husband, between whom
and Lawson there grew up an intimacy, equalUng, if it did
not exceed, that which existed between the latter and Greig.
Dr Husband, of Dunfermhne, and Dr Lawson, of Selkirk,
were for nearly fifty years associated together in all the inti-
macies of private, and in much of the action of public life.
' They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their
deaths they were not divided.' They died within three
months of each other, in 1820.
During the recesses both of the College and of the Divinity
Hall, George Lawson continued to dwell in the humble farm-
house of his father. He never could apply himself to any
kind of handiwork. He was born to be a student — to be a
minister — to work with the brain, — the hardest, as it is the
highest, of all human employment. ' The manifest and strong
tendency,' says one of his friends, ' of his mind, at a very
early period of life, was to book learning and rehgion. In
other concerns he was habitually absent — in these always at
home. It was difficult, and almost impossible, to fix his atten-
tion to any ordinary engagement or pursuit ; but from reading,
study, and the practice of Christian duties, no consideration
could withhold his attention. For the petty details of busi-
ness and amusements he displayed little capacity, and less
relish. In those more noble pursuits, however, towards
which his mind was ever so powerfully carried, things which
rose far above the level of common minds were with him
matters of easy attainment. Here his attention was ever
spontaneous and close; his powers of external perception
awake and active; his mind able to sit in clear and dis-
cruninating judgment upon its own thoughts and operations ;
his memory at once scientific, and quick, and retentive ; his
habits of abstraction easy and correct ; and the association of
his ideas appropriate, prompt, and natural. In most people,
some one power or operation of the mind habitually and
46 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
greatly predominates ; but in the mind of this distinguished
person, there appeared, from first to last, an harmonious and
singular balance of the various mental powers and opera-
tions.' ^ In consequence of this constitutional bias towards a
life of reflection, Lawson was not employed during the vaca-
tions, as many of his companions were. Honourably to sup-
port themselves, they engaged in public or in private teaching.
But he had not only no liking for such employments, he
rather disliked them ; herein bearing a resemblance to the
now famous moderate of Inveresk, to whom the office of
' tutor was an object of abhorrence,' — not, however, precisely
for the same reasons. Jupiter Carlyle thought that most
tutors contracted 'a certain obsequiousness or bassesse,' to
which he could not expose himself. He afterwards corrected
this opinion as to many of them with whom he got acquainted ;
but, unfortunately, he fell into this very ditch himself, when,
in after life, he practised that self- same bassesse in the ecclesi-
astical flunkeyism of the moderates of those days. George
Lawson had no such aversion to the position, only he pre-
ferred to remain and prosecute study at home. On two
occasions only he made the attempt. He became for one
winter tutor in the family of Walter Simpson, Esq., of
Dalwich, who was grandfather to one of Dr Lawson's own
most eminent students;^ and for a much shorter period he
was tutor to the family of Mr Kennedy, of Romanno. Here,
though otherwise very happy with the Kennedys, he could
not be constrained to remain longer than one week. He was
offered, but refused all remuneration. Miss Kennedy, how-
ever, prevailed on him to accept of a present of Leighton's
expository works, in three volumes, which are still to be found
in his library at Selkirk. Had it been in his case as much
a matter of necessity as it was in that of many of his con-
temporaries, he would, no doubt, have set himself manfully
' The Christian Repository, April 1 820, p. 1 94.
* Rev. Dr Simpson, of Sanquhar.
THE YOUTH AND HIS PROMISE. 47
to overcome his dislike of teaching. He had sufficient inde-
pendence of mind, as well as powers of application for that.
But his father's circumstances were easy, and the student was
welcome to all the indulgence he required. Though not in
this hne, he did in other ways indicate his appreciation of the
parental kindness. During harvest he would often betake
himself to the fields, and assist the reapers on the farm,
returning to his studies with fresh zeal and application ;
and, when at length his father died, George refused to take
any share of the family patrimony, which was considerable.
Having now completed his term of study at the Hall, he
entered upon trials for licence before the Edinburgh Presby-
tery. He passed all these trials to the high satisfaction of
the Presbytery ; and, with an unusual reputation for learning
and wisdom, he obtained his license to preach the glorious
Gospel, when little more than twenty years of age.
CHAPTER II.
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT.
The Presbytery's license to preach the glorious Gospel of our
Lord and Saviour is quite a crisis in the young student's life.
Up to this period he has been ' under tutors and governors'
— he has been in ' perils oft ' — his mind and his will have
been held in by the bridles of academic and ecclesiastical
authority, very much to the chafing of the inward ' Hotspur,'
but more to the advantage of the ' hidden part,' wherein he
has been ' made to know wisdom.' Now, however, he is as
' Naphtali, a hind let loose ; ' and having got, he is free to
give, ' goodly words ' to all that have ' ears to hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches.' It is a delicious sensation,
when one, in these circumstances, leaves the bar of that court
before which he has so often feared and trembled, and bounds
forth into the free and bracing air of an accomplished inde-
pendence. Limits and restraints there may yet be, but the
ordeal is passed — examinations are wound up ; and the grand
commission is his, to ' go into all the world, and preach the
Gospel to every creature,' All past sacrifices, and struggles,
and studies, have now obtained their reward ; and, for a
time, it seems as if, this one grand object gained, very little
more remains either to be desired or done. It is interesting
to think of Lawson as he left the Presbytery House in Edin-
burgh on the day of his licence. We think we see his tall,
spare figure rounding the corner of old Bristo Church, and
walking pensively, and, we doubt not, prayerfully, to his
lodgings, or, it may be, towards the road to West Linton. It
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. ' 49
is not likely that, in'these days, there was any public convey-
ance to that humble village. He had often walked on that
road in going to and coming from college ; and, if he did so
on this occasion, it is not difficult to imagine what must have
been his prevaihng thoughts. From his early piety, we may
be sure that he would feel that weight of responsibility which
increased upon his consciousness to the end of his life. He
had just closed one eventful period of his pilgrimage. Its
memories would gather around him like the shadows of a
serene evening, deepening and darkening into the fancies of an
untried future. The almost voluptuous sense of emancipation
from scholastic and clerical discipline would probably, for
the moment, be lost under the solemn realization of his new
position and its imperative demands. He would think, and
none could think more meekly, of his unworthiness to serve
God as a minister of the New Testament. He would, perhaps,
play the coward for a time, as many good men have done at
such gates of entrance into the battle-ground of faith and
service, saying, ' Who is sufficient for these things ? ' The
slopes of the beautiful Pentland Hills, if they could, might
testify to the agony of his prayers that night, as he wended his
way along their base to the home of his boyhood. In after
years, to this ' Nathanael' — this ' Israelite indeed' — the Master
might whisper, ' When thou wast under the shadows of these
hills, I saw thee.'
And what a welcome home the young probationer would
get ! He had all along been an object of holy interest to his
parents. For him old Charles Lawson had risen early and
toiled hard in the workshop ; for him Margaret Noble had
economized in barn and dairy ; for him the younger branches
of the family had cheerfully denied themselves, — all under the
blessed hope, that they should live to see and hear him in a
pulpit. That hope was about to be realized. There was, of
course, great joy that night at the farmer's ingle ; and fervent
prayers at family worship would crown the sacredness of that
50 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
memorable day. That worship over, the evening meal con-
sumed, what else could be the burden of their talk but the
coming Sabbath, and his first appearance in the pulpit of
good Mr Mair? Expectation was high, for the lad was
believed to be both learned and pious. Nor did he disap-
point hopes. The Sabbath dawned. It was evident that
something unusual was on the tapis that day in this quiet
hamlet. There was a stir about the place quite uncommon.
A small group here and there were conversing near to the
meeting-house, and kindly wishes were expressed that the
' young lad ' would acquit himself creditably. And he did
so. He walked up to the pulpit with becoming gravity of
manner — a gravity which kept itself on and in his manner to
the close of his ministry. After the preliminary devotional
exercises were over, he gave out his first text (which cannot
now be ascertained), and, without stop or stutter, delivered a
long and interesting discourse, to the satisfaction of Mr Mair,
the laudable gratification of his kinsmen, and the benefit of all
concerned. It is esteemed a success in our churches in
Scotland, if the trial of a first sermon be got through without
what is called ' sticking' the discourse. This means, that the
discourse has been committed to and delivered from memory
— not only without the use (in the pulpit) of any notes what-
ever, but also without any pause, or break-down, or resort to
the manuscript of the preacher. Lawson's first sermon had
this merit at least, if merit it may be esteemed in a man
whose powers of memory were almost supernatural, and who
for fifty years continued to deliver memoriter hundreds df
sermons and lectures of the highest order of intellectual and
evangelical power.
But the probationer's life must now be commenced. He
must leave his father's house and itinerate among the ' vacan-
cies,' as it is customary to designate those churches whose
pulpits have been deprived — by death or translation — of their
ministers. The old farmer had just one thing more to do for
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 51
his son. At that time there were no railways, no steamboats,
and even very few stage-coaches in Scotland. Probationers
of the Chnrch had, therefore, to make their journeys on foot,
or provide themselves with ponies. They had, in addition, to
get what were called ' saddlebags,' or flexible portmanteaus,
which contained the books, the parchments, and the body-
clothes, and were thrown across the back of the animal behind
the rider. Fond fathers, who wished to encourage their sons
to study for the ministry, used to say (and the compiler had
it said to himself), 'If you be diligent and well-behaved, I
will carry you on till I put you on the saddlebags,' — meaning
that the necessary means for maintenance and education
would be supphed up to the period of licence. This, the last
equipment of all, was provided for George Lawson ; and
having ' put him on the saddlebags,' the tie that had till now
linked him to the old man's bounty was broken for ever. He
left the homestead where all his earthly wants had been
hitherto provided for, and set out into life to receive and
fulfill the appointments of Providence.
He did not turn out what is called a popular preacher.
As his character and tastes were developed, it soon became
apparent that he had proposed to himself a higher object
than mere popularity. He aimed at becoming acceptable
through usefulness. He therefore studied profoundly, in
order to preach simply. His general deportment was then
what it ever was : distant alike from mere sanctimony
and levity, he was devout, happy, exemplary. His youthful
appearance, his tall figure (he was about six feet in height),
and his winning artlessness, deepened the impression made by
the respectabiUty of his public discourses. It was even then
anticipated that he would prove himself to be an extra-
ordinary and distinguished minister of Christ ; and such,
indeed, he became, though to a degree even beyond the
fondest hopes of his admirers.
The pay or stipend of the probationer in those days v.'as
52 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
only half a guinea for a Sabbath-day's work. Provision and
lodging, however, were found both for man and beast. The
' beast,' on the arrival of the preacher at any town or hamlet,
was sent off to the stables of some farmer — a member of the
vacant church, — and who was but too proud to show kind-
ness to the preacher's 'friend,' while the ' man' was received
into the house of some other member who might be wiUing,
sometimes for love and sometimes for money, to grant the
required accommodation. It was understood then that the
right of the preacher to this arrangement extended from
Friday to Friday. Some really interesting and characteristic
anecdotes are told all over the Secession Church, illustra-
tive of this somewhat patriarchal state of things. The
celebrated Rowland Hill was, when on a visit to Scotland,
similarly entertained. On that occasion he happened to be
' put up' in the most homely manner in a habitation near to
Haddington. He was travelling, of course, on horseback.
At family worship in the evening, Mr Hill prayed fervently
for the good folks of the house, and then for his ' dear steed."
Surprise was expressed afterwards that he should pray for a
beast ; but Mr Hill satisfied them that he was right in doing
so, as he was entirely dependent upon the animal for getting
through his Master's work from county to county, and from
town to town. The only incident in this direction in the
' preacher-hfe' of Lawson that has survived, refers in a
simple way to his scholarly turn of mind. He had been
lodging, in his peregi'inations, with a worthy elder, whom he
sometimes rather mystified with his learned criticisms on
Scripture, as they conversed on the deep things of God. One
night they were reading together the ninth Psalm, which is
addressed ' to the chief musician upon Muth-labben.' On
reading this, Mr Lawson remarked, ' This word " Muth-lalhen"
is a word which nobody can make anything of ; it is not
understood.' The elder replied, interrupting the reading of
the Word, ' You are but a young man yet, Mr Lawson, and
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 53
though you do not understand that word, older and deeper
scholars than you are maybe able.' The preacher did not
answer, but finished the reading of the psalm. In after years,
when the fame of the Selkirk divine was far and wide, that
same elder was heard testifying that ' he came to find that
George Lawson, even in youth, knew a vast deal more than
many older scholars and divines.' This method of lodging
the probationers of the Church was of mutual benefit to them
and to the people. It made the members of congregations
personally acquainted with the ministers of religion, and
consequently greatly strengthened their attachment to the
cause of the Secession, which was not so independent then as
it is now. We are disposed to trace to this arrangement not
a Httle of that sacred regard for the office of the Christian
pastorate, for which the Scotch people are remarkable above
all others. They have always discerned Divine authority in
the institution; and for that reason have uniformly paid
appropriate respect to the ' earthen vessels ' in whom the
Gospel treasure has been placed, not that the glory might be
theirs, but that God should be glorified in them. The
modern facilities in travelling have many advantages, but it is
doubtful if the speed of transit has, in this respect, at all
benefited the Church. There is a danger of letting go the
hold we have ever had of the affections of the people, by the
temptation to hasten away from one place to another ; and
thus may be stifled, just as it begins to breathe, that
partiality for the men which often grows on from them to be
intertwisted with the system they represent.
Mr Lawson's acceptability as a preacher was speedily
proved. He was, in course, appointed to supply the pulpit
of the Secession Church at Selkirk, which had been recently
rendered vacant by the death of its first minister, Mr Moir.
In due time he was unanimously called to be Mr Moir's suc-
cessor. The usual steps, however, towards his ordination,
were not immediately taken. His predilections lay elsewhere.
54 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
He had recently preached as a candidate to the congregation
of Orwell, or Milnathort, in Kinross-shire, and it was resolved
to give him the call. This resolution, however, was not
carried into eifect. It was understood that the opinion of the
Professor at Haddington had been taken upon it, and that he
dissuaded the people from going further in the matter. It
seems Mr Brown had an aversion to any of his students being
called to more than one vacancy, which accounts for the
arrestment made upon the Orwell movement. To Mr Lawson,
this, on many accounts, was a sore disappointment. To the
locality of Orwell he was much attached. It lies near to
Kinross and Lochleveu. He could see the grave of Michael
Bruce from its heights. He could walk in a forenoon to the
kind patrons of his first Hall days, and live over again in the
mansions of Turfhills and Lethangie the fellowships of his
dearest earthly friends. Above all, his ' fidus achates,' David
Greig, had been, or was about to be, called to Lochgelly, in
the immediate neighbourhood. No arrangement could have
been more gratifying to him, than to have been located where
their friendship could be enjoyed in uninterrupted fulness and
freeness. But to the dispensations of Providence he did then,
as he did ever, meekly bow the head. He was consequently
ordained pastor of the Selkirk Church in 1771. The follow-
ing extract, from the minutes of the Edinburgh Presbytery,
will show that the procedure in this ordination was in danger,
from the very laudable firmness of the court upon the subject
of a just and liberal support to the minister : —
Haughhead, near Pennicuick, I6th May 1805.
' My Dear Sir, — After some Httle search in the records of
Presbytery, I have found the minute of which you desired me
to send you a copy — the tenor whereof follows : — " Edin-
burgh, March 19, 1771. The Presbytery met, etc. Mr-
George Lawson having deUvered'the rest of his trials assigned
him, and answered extempore questions in Divinity, the Pres-
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 55
bytery approve of the same as parts of trials for ordination.
Moreover, having conversed with the commissioners from the
congregation of Selkirk, and finding them not duly authorized
by their constituents to satisfy the Presbytery with respect to
their reasonable demands upon that congregation, of paying
up to the children of their deceased minister fifteen pounds
sterling more than is done, which makes one half-year's stipend
after his death, and of settling seventy pounds sterling per
annum upon Mr George Lawson, whom they have now called
to be their pastor, the Presbytery are dissatisfied with the
commissioners' want of due power on this head; yet, being
unwilling to delay the settlement of Mr Lawson, they hereby
declare that the payment of the demand for the orphans of
their late pastor is just and reasonable, and that they are de-
termined to insist upon it. They further declare that, accord-
ing to the expense of living in the country, seventy pounds is
no more than barely sufficient to make their minister live
comfortable, and that the Presbytery will claim said provision
whenever they understand the congregation is deficient, unless
it be found they are incapable to afford it; and having ten-
dered the call to Mr Lawson, and he having taken it and re-
turned it to the moderator in the usual manner, they agreed
that his ordination be expeded on Wednesday, the 17th
April next ensuing," etc. Extracted from the records this
16th May 1805, by
' Pat. Comrie, Presbytery Clerk.
' To the Rev. Geo. Lawson.'
Of the interesting services of Mr Lawson's ordination there
are but scanty reports. The Rev. WilHam Kidston, of Stow,
presided on the occasion. He had himself been called to the
same church previous to his settlement at Stow. He had sub-
sequently ordained Mr Andrew Moir, now he ordains Mr Law-
son, and thirty-five years subsequently he was appointed by
the Presbytery to perform the same service when the late Mr
56 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
Lawson of Kilmarnock was translated to his venerable father's
pulpit. Declining health, however, prevented his fulfilment of
this duty. He was a strong-minded and judicious expounder
of God's Word, a profound theologian, and an eminently de-
vout man. In after years it fell to Dr Lawson to preach his
funeral sermon at Stow. One anecdote remains of Mr Kid-
ston's ministry at Stow, which is worthy of record here. It
has been told of several others, but I have heard the late Dr
Kidston tell that it had its origin in the following incident : —
Mr Kidston had gone to a country farm-house to preach and
baptize the farmer's son. The service, as was then customary,
took place in the large barn or threshing-floor, which was
usually filled with the neighbours and friends, who received
their invitation from the pulpit on the previous Sabbath, the
misdemeanour of private baptism being thus avoided. When
the services were concluded, the minister and a few more in-
timate friends remained to dinner with the family. When the
time came for drinking to the health and happiness of the
child, Mr Kidston gave the following toast : ' Here's wishing
the health and long life of the wean, and may he be a better
man than his father.' All heartily joined in the same, except
the farmer himself, whose countenance fell, and whose tongue
became dumb during the remainder of the afternoon. Mr
Kidston mounted his pony to depart. The farmer stood be-
side him. ' Good night,' said the minister. ' It's no good
night yet, sir,' rephed the farmer, who took hold of the bridle
and led the pony forward. When they had cleared the
homestead, and were a httle on the way, Mr Kidston asked
the farmer the meaning of his conduct, and whether anything
had been done to offend him. After a little pause, the farmer
said, ' I want to know, sir, whether you have heard anything
ill of me.' ' No, John,' replied Mr Kidston, ' I have not. Is
there any ill I should have heard V ' I know of none, sir,'
said John; ' and yet at the baptism to-day you affronted me
before all my family and friends, by wishing my wean to be a
mmmmmtm\itt,m umi^hiwuiiii.ilHi^kww* «...«.— 1«- > i«<n.i .->i^i,>t -.-Tn— ,f.i,^t.^a»T. t:».
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 57
better man than his father.' ' Oh,' said the minister quickly,
' is that all V ' Yes,' quoth the farmer, ' that is all, and it is
bad enough.' ' I am ashamed of you, John,' said Mr Kid-
ston ; ' are you such a fool as not to wish every child you
have to be better than yourself?' 'Oh,' said the farmer, as
the light broke in upon him, ' is that all V ' Yes,' replied the
minister, ' that's all.' ' Good night then,' said John ; and they
parted.
When Mr Lawson was ordained, the Secession Church in
Scotland was nearly forty years old, and had already risen to
be an influence for good and an authority for Gospel in the
land. It had descended from heaven, not as the thunder-
cloud, in heavy sweeping streams, pours forth its rain, but
softly and sweetly, as the breath of the Lord moves over the
people, or 'as the dew of heaven, the dew that descended
upon the mountains of Zion.' The sacrifices, the prayers,
and the glorious preachings of the Erskines, Wilson, Fisher,
and Moncriefl", were now bringing forth good fruit. The people
began to know the Gospel sound; and, though not moved by
any ecclesiastical management, they gradually, under the in-
fluence of principle, joined these martyr-witnesses for God
and truth, for liberty and purity, until there was scarcely a
corner of the country to which they were not welcomed. By
this time, however, the split had taken place which ranged
those good and worthy testifiers under separate banners,
yclept the one 'Burghers,' the other 'Anti-Burghers' — pretty
names, forsooth, wherewith, as Christ's disciples, they bur-
lesqued each other. With the Burghers, Charles Lawson and
his family had cast in their lot. Consequently their son,
when he became a minister, joined their ranks ; and he con-
tinued to be a ' Burgher' through life, — that is, attached to
those peculiar views of toleration in religion which have since
become universal in the united body. He was no bigot, but
he held his opinions on such subjects very conscientiously;
and while he was ever ready to give a reason for the faith
58 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
that was in him, he at no time manifested any personal dislike
to those from whom he differed, or clung so doggedly to party
as to overlook at any time the ' major bonum ecclesias,' As
the circumstances which gave rise to the Secession in Selkirk
throw some light upon the ecclesiastical character of these
times, it may be proper briefly to notice them.
In the year 1739, the Duke of Buccleuch, as patron of the
church of Bowden, presented a Mr Hume to the vacant
charge. Only four of the parishioners could be prevailed
upon to sign the call. The Presbytery, in consequence, ruled
that it should not be sustained. A process of litigation was
then instituted before the Church courts. The result was in
favour of the settlement, but only by a majority of one. The
reluctant Presbytery was compelled to proceed with the ordi-
nation. In this, as in many similar cases, the triumph of
might over I'ight tended to the spread of the young Secession
Church. The good people of Bowden could not be convinced
that the dragoons from Edinburgh, who assisted at Mr
Hume's settlement, were scriptural authorities in such a
matter, left the Established Church, and joined the Associate
Synod. A place of worship was erected at Midholm. Mr
Matthew was called, and in due time was ordained. After
this came dissensions and controversy, that split the Secession
into the two parties already noticed, according to the views
held on the paltry subject of a burgess oath. Such of
the members of Midholm congregation as adhered to the
Burgher Synod removed the seat of their church to Sel-
kirk, and, after some disappointments, succeeded in obtaining
Mr Andrew Moir for their minister. This first minister of
the Selkirk congregation appears to have been no ordinary
man. Dr M'Kerrow describes him as ' aman of a high order
of talent,' and of a 'superior style of preaching.' Great
prosperity to the congregation followed upon his ordination.
' Few ministers ever attained to a higher degree of popularity
than he did. When he assisted at sacramental occasions in
>^>i^«>»a*«tfc«M^ * n I !>■» wi ^Mifci^gMOiitiii mil ■ II «««i>.i iti ■iji.v.
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 59
the neighbourhood, the people flocked to the tent, and listened
to him with admiration. Even infidels and scoffers at re-
ligion were struck with the style of his preaching and the
manner of his address, and were sometimes heard to say,
" Come and let us go to the tent and hear Moir, for he speaks
his nonsense in a graceful way," ' ^ He had a very dignified
and commanding appearance; and to him that text has been
appKed, 'A choice young man and goodly; there was not
among the children of Israel a goodUer young man than he.'
He lived in stormy times, but was equal to their demands.
Though brilliant, however, his ministry was brief. He died,
at the age of thirty-nine, in 1770, and in the twelfth year of his
ministry. His memory is still savoury on the banks of the
Ettrick, as at once the founder and father of what is now the
United Presbyterian Church in Selkirk. There are traditionary
remembrances of this able and sainted young man's pastorate
which justify this. An old hearer of his, when asked if he re-
membered him, said to the present pastor — a grandson of Dr
Lawson's — ' 'Deed, sir, I mind Mr Moir weel ; he was a burn-
ing and a shining fight. I can honestly assure you he was
far more pojndar than a' you Lawsons.' His dying scene
must have been deeply impressive. Only a few hours before
his death, he called for a pen, and wrote these simple but sweet
lines, more full of God's redemptive truth than of genius or
poetry : —
' For me God's Prophet came from heaven,
To assure me that a Son was given !
For me God's Priest was crucified,
For me He bled, for me He died !
For me God's King hung on the tree,
And bare the curse was due to me !
For me God's only child was born,
For me He wore the crown of thorn !
' "What is His name ? My guilty soul,
His name is truly " Wonderful !"
1 DrM'Kerrow.
60 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
But is this child of royal blood ?
Yes ! because He is " The Mighty Lord."
Shall, then, His honours ever cease ?
No; for His name's The Prince of Peace.
And what is this great Prince to thee ?
My Lord ! my God ! Eternally.'
And thus he passed away.
The newly-ordained pastor commenced his ministry on the
Sabbath following the ordination. He preached from these
words in the 26th Psalm: 'Lord, I have loved the habita-
tion of Thy house, and the place where Thine honour dwell-
eth.' The text was eminently descriptive of his own feehngs,
as evinced by his life and practice. A more devout, regular,
and humble attender on Divine ordinances never lived. He
was not only most punctual and constant in the discharge of
his official duties, but embraced every opportunity of attend-
ing the ministrations of others. That the preacher was ac-
counted weak and unacceptable, or that he was reputed a
man of talent and eloquence, seemed to make no difference to
him. It was the ordinances of God that he loved ; and he
repeatedly affirmed, 'I do not recollect of ever hearing a
j sermon from which I might not have derived benefit, if it
were not my own fault : it is a gross mistake to consider
•mere preaching or instruction to be the great or sole object
of pubhc worship.' His sermon on this occasion made a
powerful impression not only on his own people, but on the
whole locality. He was considered to be not so oratorical as
Mr Moir, but more profound and learned. From this day
he took his position, and occupied it for nearly fifty years, ful-
filling in his ministry all the promises of his early days. To
the old couple at home, this was a day to be held in holy
memory. They had now got their hearts' dearest wish — they
had a son in the ministry. Charles Lawson lived to see that
son peerless among his peers. He died in 1786. Had he
lived one year more, he would have seen him occupy the
highest position to which the Church could elevate him. As
■■•—I afc<»ifc<>Bi MiJWTipiM
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 61
it was, for fully fifteen years did he enjoy the paternal feast
of participatmg in the ministry at Selkirk. Hallmyre was a »
long way off, about thirty-five miles ; but he did not grudge
the distance, especially at sacramental times, for the sake of
sitting at the feet of an instructor in righteousness, for whom
he had laboured, and sacrificed, and prayed. His death was
an affliction to that son ; but he ' sorrowed not, even as others
who have no hope.'
Immediately after ordination, Mr Lawson set himself
seriously to the discharge of the duties of his sacred office.
His predecessor left him a congregation accustomed to ' the
finest of the wheat ; ' and it was no easy undertaking to
satisfy the spiritual appetite his fervent and eloquent preach-
ing had created. The people, however, soon discovered that
they had found a ' master in Israel ;' and that if he had not
the splendid rhetoric of Mr Moir, he was before him in what
have been termed ' the profundities of theology.' From the
very outset of his ministry, his remarkable attainments were
evident ; and these, coupled with his fascinating simplicity
and truthfulness, soon captivated all hearts.
Mr Lawson had been only a few weeks settled in Selkirk
when he received the following characteristic epistle from his
friend, David Greig, the commencement of a correspondence
which continued very intimate for nearly half a century,
and was only interrupted by death. Toward the whole of the
Lethangie family, with whom many pleasant days in early
youth were passed, George Lawson cherished the warmest
friendship, and it was amply returned and repaid : —
'Lethangie, July 9, 1771.
' Dear Geordie, — I take this opportunity of informing
you, that your very obhging letter came to my hand on
Saturday last, when at Lochgelhe. I am glad to find that
you still continue to preserve a cheerful temper and a friendly
disposition. Tour long delay in writing me had almost
62 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
tempted me to think that the air of Selkirk had made a con-
siderable alteration on your constitution ; and the duties of
your station, with the circle of your new acquaintances, had
banished from your mind the remembrance of your old com-
panions. I now begin to change my sentiments about yon,
and think that you are George Lawson still, though Rev. be
of late added to your name. I don't mean to insinuate that
the above delay had in the least weakened my affection or
lessened my esteem for you ; but you know that, when usual
testimonies of friendship are denied, we are naturally led to
inquire into the reasons of it, and to suspect that the silence
of our friend is owing to some fault in our own conduct. I
hope you was not offended because I did not comply with
your request at the Synod, to go along with you to Selkirk.
I expect I shall soon make a sufficient amend for that fault,
by staying with you longer than I could well have done at
that time. Mr Henderson is frequently in the country, and
has for these eight days bygone been somewhat indisposed,
which has rendered him incapable of fulfilling his appoint-
ments to the Presbytery. He is much sunk in his spirits,
and continues averse to a compliance with the Synod's de-
termination. None of his trials are yet delivered ; and
whether he will yield to the injunctions of his superiors is
perhaps a little uncertain. You ought to write him upon
that matter ; and I doubt not but that your advice may have
some influence upon him. His call to Glasgow seems to be
clear; and though difficulties occur to him, they certainly
ought not to make him desert his duty. Whether Mr
Porteous will come to Orwal is likewise doubtful. His trials
are all over, and his edict is served ; but the time of his ordi-
nation is not determined. His opposers are as violent as
ever; and their minds are so soured with prejudice, that
there is little ground to expect that they will ever be brought
to a submission. Even the callers are much disheartened in
their design, through the strength of the opposition. How
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 63
matters will turn out, I know not ; but one thing I am certain
of, that religion has suffered much in this place by these con-
tentions. You may reckon yourself happy that you are
settled in a congregation where such a plague does not pre-
vail. You have but little reason to think that the Gospel
is attended with success, where the professors of it are
alienated from one another in affection, and each one strives
to disconcert the design of his neighbour. Nor are differences
even confined to the people, — if that were the case, we would
reckon ourselves in some measure happy ; but the misery
of it is, that ministers are split in affection, and divided in
their judgments. It is hardly thought that Mr Smith and
Mr Forrest will ever be brought to an agreement : the latter
seems to set himself in opposition to all terms of reconcilia-
tion, and is supposed to have his head towards another party.
These things grieve the spirits of the serious, and make our
sacramental occasions wear a very gloomy appearance. This
account of things will damp your spirits, but may serve also
to render your situation more agreeable, which is happily
free of such disturbances. My discourses for Had n go
on but slowly, and I despair of getting them finished to any
purpose. I know you smile at this, who are able to make so
many in one week. But a little too fast, Greordie. Do you
remember what Mr Richardson once said to Mr Brown, when
intimating his difficulties about some of his discourses ? The
Professor said to Will, that he thought he could soon make
a discourse upon such a text ; to which Rich n humor-
ously repUed, " I think, if I were Mr B n, I would soon
make one too." The application is obvious. The longer I
continue to study divinity, the greater difficulties do I find in
treating the truths of the Gospel in a manner that becomes
their dignity, that can be interesting to others, or that can
even satisfy myself. Perhaps, if their genuine power was
personally felt upon the heart, some of these would be re-
moved. ' David Greig.'
64 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Before proceeding further with this narrative, it may
interest the reader to take a quiet walk to the remarkable
localities within Mr Lawson's pastoral circuit.
Selkirk, and a radius of country about eight miles in extent,
now became, and during his life continued to be, the sphere
of Mr Lawson's interesting pastorate. Here this great and
good man lived, and studied, and suffered, and laboured for
Jesus Christ, and for the souls of men. Though at the first
his choice would have been Orwell, he very soon discovered
that his ' lines had fallen in pleasant places,' and was not
only reconciled to, but enraptured with, the place of his
habitation. Had he been somewhat of a cosmopolitan, like
Dr Kitto, we might have enjoyed many opportunities of
sketching the scenery, and describing the manners and the
people of foreign lands ; but in his life there are no incidents
of travel, no hairbreadth escapes, no curiosities either of art
or science, no exciting correspondence, no illustrious associ-
ates, nothing whatever of that racy and diversified material, the
story of which imparts so much piquancy and gusto to other
biographies. It seems to be all the more on that account
our duty briefly to sketch the environs of Selkirk, with which
his honoured name is still, and must long continue to be
associated ; and, also, to notice at least a few of the persons
and events that have given notoriety to the neighbourhood.
The scenery of his life-long visitation and enjoyment is the
most beautiful and picturesque in Scotland ; and he had a
soul that could appreciate and improve upon it. It was, in
its own place, a sort of library to him, — a library whose
books he studied, and whose lessons oft withdrew him from
the abstractions of sacred thought, to the perception and
praise of the Deity, present with and ever presiding over His
own wonderful works. The Ettrick, the Yarrow, the Gala,
and the Tweed — all classic streams — were, through life,
tributaries to his meditations and his devotions. On their
romantic banks he ' walked with God,' and received impres-
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT, 65
sioDS and abode under influences, which did as much to form
his character and employ his mind, as the Ehine, the Po, the
Jordan, and the Ganges have ever done for those who, in
foreign travel, seek to escape the curse of ennui, or satisfy
the cravings after novelties. Indeed, that circle of natural
loveliness within which he passed a lifetime, was to him a temple
wherein he ofttimes communed with his God, braced up his
soul for God's work, and offered unto Him his sublimest
devotions. It was, moreover, the holy place of his dearest
friendships. In harmony with his were the tastes of the men
of God who came about him — men who could first of all
intensify their souls on the service of the sanctuary, and there-
after with him give life and freedom to our social zests when
rambling and musing amid nature's choicest scenes.
' They found tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.'
A volume, indeed, might be written on the subject of these
friendships. Partial allusion has been made to some of them
already. Justice requires that, in another chapter, they
receive more particular notice. If a man is known by his
friendships, the character of Lawson cannot be faithfully
sketched apart from his. Had some of the men who trod
Hfe's path with him lived now, the Church would not will-
ingly have allowed their memories to fade away as they are
doing.
It is not easy, even at this distance of time, to dissociate
Selkirk and Lawson. This small county town has a fame
of its kind, but its chance of being interesting to futurity
may depend less upon its ' Souters ' than upon its ' Lawson,'
Centuries ago, the whole of that country side was one vast
forest. There was then no skriveallty, and no town folks,
and but few county people. There was but one building in
that part of the forest — it was a ' Kirk,' or chapel. Hence
the name ' Selkirk,' or, as it is in the Celtic, ' Scheleckgrech,'
E
66 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
corrupted ' Selcraig.' Selkirk means, ' the Kirk of the Wood,
or Forest.' This one word expresses the situation of the
place itself, and the state of the surrounding country. It is
probable, indeed, according to Sir John Sinclair, that all
the neighbouring districts were once an extensive forest. It
is certain that the banks of the rivers, by which the country
is so happily intersected, were once adorned with wood. It
was amid these sylvan scenes that those plaintive airs were
produced, the pastoral simplicity of which are the pride of
Scotsmen and the admiration of strangers. That vast forest
home is now gone, —
'The scenes are desert now and bare
"Where flourished once a forest fair,
Up pathless Ettrick and on Yarrow,
Where erst the outlaw drew his arrow.' — Scott.
It was in this neighbourhood that the famous battle of
Flodden was fought; and the calamities that then befell
Selkirk gave birth to that exquisite lyric, ' The Flowers of the
Forest.' The town itself has no special claim to be noticed.
It is built on a rising piece of ground, at the base of which
the river Ettrick flows. The scenery, however, for miles both
up and down that romantic stream, is worthy of its reputa-
tion. As you cross the bridge at the west end, you first of
all pass near to the place where the Yarrow and the Ettrick
meet ; and keeping to the right hand, you are at once upon
the fair and wide domain of Philiphaugh. When musing here,
the patriotic and religious zeal of Lawson oft drew long and
large breaths of more intense love ' pro aris et focis.' On
one of these fields was fought, and won by the Covenanters, a
famous battle which undid the eifects of former Royal victories,
and put Montrose and his dragoons to a shameful flight.
The field of battle is now included within the pleasure-grounds
of William Murray, Esq. of Philiphaugh, who has piously
erected a memorial cairn close upon the spot where the heroes
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. . 67
of General Leslie put the Royalists to flight, and bearing the
following inscription : —
TO THE MEMORY
OF THE COVENANTERS
WHO FOUGHT AND FELL ON THE FIELD
OF
. PHILIPHAUGH,
AND WON THE BATTLE HERE,
A.D. SEP. 13, 1G45.
Leaving the grounds of Philiphaugh by the west gate, you
soon come to a small farm-steading called Foulshiels, on the
right hand side of the road. And here we must pause for a
little, for here Lawson was often to be seen in company with
a young man whose fame has become world-wide — Mungo
Park, the African traveller. The family at Foulshiels were,!
from its origin, members of the Burgher Church of Selkirk,
and their son Mungo continued, up to his second journey
to Africa, to belong to it. He was from boyhood a great
favourite with his minister, for he was the second child bap-
tized by him ; and as he grew up, and gave indications of
that marvellous spirit of enterprise by which he afterwards
became so much distinguished, Mr Lawson's interest in him
was greatly increased. It is known that he formed a high
estimate of the young man. He assisted and encouraged
him in his studies, and, above all, took the deepest interest in
his travels. Park often called on Dr Lawson, on his return
from Africa ; and they held long conversations not only on the
adventures of the traveller, but on the manners, customs, and
religious rites of the sable Ethiopians, especially on the
probabilities of their speedily ' stretching forth their hands
unto God,' Dr Lawson was a great snicker — so was Park ;
and the cigars which the young traveller brought home with
him for the minister were rapidly consumed in the library at
Selkirk, or upon the banks of the Ettrick, or by the farmer's
68 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
ingle at Foulshiels, as the stirring stories of African adventure
were told and heard. We can easily conceive the spell
wherewith the hsteners would be bound, when, beneath that
hurable roof-tree, he first recited and hummed that plaintive
air of the African negro's lament for the poor white man : —
' The winds roared, and the rains fell, —
The poor white man, faint and weary.
Came and sat under our tree :
He has no mother to bring him milk,
No wife to grind his corn.
Let us pity the white man,
Who has no mother to buy him milk,
No wife to grind his corn.'
It is somewhat interesting, that recently a monument to Park
has been erected in the principal street of Selkirk, almost op-
posite the door of the minister's manse. When, from his long
silence after his last return to Africa, it began to be whispered
that Mungo must have fallen a victim to adventure in travel,
and when the family abandoned all hope of ever hearing from or
seeing him again, they were much comforted by the sympathy
of their worthy pastor, who kept up their spirits by his wise
and Christian consolations so long as any hope existed of a
return, and who helped them to ' kiss the rod ' when every
hope was abandoned. The profound and extensive sympathy
of the country in the success of the traveller's explorations,
and in his personal safety, tended, no doubt, to strengthen
their hearts, while the universal regret expressed for his
untimely and mysterious death shed a kind of pleasant halo
around his and their name ; but the ' garments of praise '
which the kind and compassionate Lawson substituted for
their 'spirit of heaviness,' and the 'oil of joy' which he
poured out for their ' mourning,' assisted their resignation to
the will of God. Many were their conjectures, for a time,
of Mungo's safe return some day ; and on each visit to Foul-
shiels the subject was again and again discussed, till the
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 69
hearts of all became sick with deferred hope, and the days of
mourning for the dead began, but were not here ended. His
love for Park, and the encouragement he gave him in the
prosecution of his researches, together with the sorrow he
felt for his fate, forms quite a beautiful and touching episode
in the Hfe of the subject of this memoir.
You have not walked a mile from the native place of Park
when you are confronted on the left with the ruins of Newark
Castle, with which the readers of 'The Lay of the Last
Minstrel' are familiar. It stands somewhat elevated on the
banks of the rapid Yarrow, and is thus alluded to by Scott: —
' The way was long, the wind was cold,
The minstrel was infirm and old;
His withered cheek and tresses gray
Seemed to have known a better day.
He passed where Newark's stately tower
Looks out from Yarrow's birchen bower;
The minstrel gazed with wistful eye —
No humbler resting place was nigh.'
But passing rapidly along, and leaving behind us the ducal
residence and domain of Bowhil^ Oakwood Tower, the sup-
posed residence of the famous wizard Michael Scott, Thirle-
stane Castle, and many other scenes of border chivalry and
beauty, we come to the one spot of that picturesque country
side to which Lawson, a kindred spirit, often resorted, and
where his favourite exercise of meditation was affectingly en-
gaged in, — the kirk of Ettrick, where the celebrated Thomas
Boston so long held forth the word of hfe ; and its kirk-yard,
where his mortal remains rest awaiting the resurrection of the
just. He needs not that tasteful monument to keep him in
our memories. He will live there so long as the ' Fourfold
State' and the ' Crook in the Lot' are read ; and read these
matchless books shall be, while the Enghsh language lasts, aud
while the grace of God is continued with men. In the pre-
' 1 A palace of the Duke of Buccleuch.
70 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
sent day another interesting spot here engages the attention of
tourists, — the cottage near the kirk, where Hogg, the Ettriek
Shepherd, was born. But Lawson took his friends to visit and
pray over Boston's grave. Boston was a divine according to
Lawson's own heart, and, in common with all sound Calvinists,
he revered highly the memory of a man whose writings had
done so much for the preservation and diffusion of sound
doctrine all over the country. It is believed that at one time
a copy of his ' Fourfold State' was to be found in almost
every cottage in Scotland. He died just as the Secession
Church was about to be born ; and no doubt is entertained
but that he would have come out with the 'four fathers' had
he lived, and joined issue with them in tliat blissful event.
His name, at any rate, is now inseparably linked with perhaps
the most marked man of "the generation that followed him.
The two names of Boston and Lawson sounded long and loud
in the ears, at least of the people of Ettriek Forest and Sel-
kirkshire at large. No two men, perhaps, in the same dis-
trict, have ever been so successful in their Master's work. The
effects of Boston's ministry had by no means decayed when
Lawson appeared on the field, and set the same Gospel trum-
pet to his mouth, and made it give out the same certain
sound, and with the same decided emphasis. Many a true
Christian was reared in the Forest, and in the lower parts of
the county, by these distinguished men of God ; and ' a seed'
still exists in these parts, and probably shall exist to the
latest generation. Let the dilettante, the ' minions of luxury,'
turn away, disaffected, from such rambles and scenes and
associations as these. The genuine lovers of the patriarchal,
the simple, and the sincere in godliness, will account them more
suggestive of the subhme and beautiful in God's eternal truth,
than all the pompous rituals, solemn architecture, and sunny
skies of other and distant climes.
But Dr Lawson has scarcely less interesting associations
with the localities and objects that lie to the east of Selkirk.
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 71
from the confluence of the Ettrick with the Tweed, to Ab-
botsford and Melrose. 'Old Mortality' did not hinder him
from accompanying his friends to the temple of the Wizard,
which stands upon a beautifully wooded sloping bank, washed
by ' Tweed's silvery streams.' And here both he and they
could well expatiate on this world's vain show. Though liv-
ing so near to each other, and mutually acquainted with, and
admirers of each other's peculiar gifts and graces, Sir Walter
Scott and Dr Lawsou seldom met. This is to be regretted.
Had Scott known more of Lawson, his congenial love of
ancient scholarship and ready appreciation of idiosyncrasies
in character, would have drawn him frequently into the
society of so much wisdom and learning, conjoined with so
much naturalness and bonJiommie. Lawson had a most just
appreciation of the genius of Scott in all its relations to the
fine arts, and especially in its bearings upon the morals of the
age ; and he would not have hesitated, had they been brought
into fellowship, to have given the novelist and the poet the
benefit at once of his love and his rod.
To the Eildon Hills, however (the Tremontium of the
Romans), and to the grand old abbey at their base, would the
Ettrick pastor more enthusiastically conduct his friends and
brethren, where they would refresh themselves after study and
work amid the beautiful environs of Selkirk. He himself was
particularly fond of visiting Melrose Abbey. It was not be-
cause his patriotism was rekindled beside the urn where the
heart of King Robert Bruce is supposed to lie, nor because
of the tombs and crypts where so many of the old Scotch
nobles have been buried, nor because of the numerous speci-
mens of Gothic art which seem as if —
' Some fairy's hand
'Twixt poplars straight the osier wand
In many a freakish knot had twined ;
Then formed a spell, when the work was done,
And changed the willow wreaths to stone.'
72 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
It was from his curious and admiring interest in this remnant
of ancient magnificence and beauty, as an incentive to devout
thought. He told Dr Belfrage, that, ' while tracing the various
parts of its exquisite workmanship, he would contrast what he
saw with Ezekiel's temple, so minutely described in the last
part of his prophecy, and made the one aid his conceptions of
the other.' Thus, while the antiquary marks in it only its
memorials of the olden time, its roofs sculptured with sacred
history, the remarkable events of which it has been the scene,
and the interesting pilgrims that have resorted to it, — and while
the poet has brought before the fancy its priests in their vest-
ments, its choir resounding with grave sweet melody, warriors
consecrating their swords at its shrine, nobles uttering their
vows at its altars, the dead interred with sacred pomp within
its precincts, the moon gleaming on its arches and its pillars,
and the rushing of the waters by its side, when ' the deep
uttered its voice and hfted up its hands on high,' — to Dr Law-
son it suggested contemplations more solemn and important,
and pointed them to that fabric which shall endure for ever,
which is built on the foundations of the apostles and prophets,
and of which Jesus Christ Himself is the chief corner-stone.
In these days Dryburgh Abbey contained not the ashes of
the mighty enchanter — Sir Walter was still casting his spells
from Abbotsford over Europe. But there were other reasons
sufficiently powerful to interest Dr Lawson in the venerable
pile, and attract him to its richly wooded environs. He could
follow the beautiful Leader in its meanderings, gaze upon the
ruins of the Rhymer's Tower, enter the Abbey itself, and look
upon the high altar beneath which the last of the Abbots was
buried. A more peculiar gratification, however, was his, to
go up to the tomb where the Erskines lay, or out towards
the Mansion House of Dryburgh, where Ebenezer and Ralph
Erskine were brought up. It was a solace to his mind, amid
much that memorialized the dark and disastrous ages of the
Church, to adore the wisdom and prudence of her only Head,
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 73
in baptizing these fathers of the Scottish Secession with the
Spirit, that stirred up the solitary monk to ' contend earnestly
for the faith once delivered to the saints.'
Having taken possession of the manse, the young minister
was expected forthwith to bring home to it one who should
share with him in its joys and sorrows. Several years, however,
passed away, and he seemed to be as far from the purpose of
matrimony as ever. The fact is, the man was wedded in
heart and soul to his ministry and his books ; and it was con-
jectured that, unless he was prompted in the matter by some
kind friend, he might remain a Benedict all his days. Whether
it be duty or not for miivsters to marry immediatehj after
ordination, may be questioned. In general, they are at such
an early period, without experience and without money.
Faithfulness seems to demand that, first of all, they should
get themselves fairly and firmly seated in their office, ac-
cumulate wisdom and books, and be to some extent aware
' quod valiant humeri.' Their stipends (unless in cities now)
are but scanty, and were still more so in Lawson's days. Yet
it must ever abide a mysterious problem how, on such limited
means, they manage to preserve such a respectable social
position. The barrel of meal and the cruise of oil in the
manse, are seldom if ever exhausted. The pastor in Selkirk
had but a moderate income, and he considered it to be his
duty to have his house comfortably furnished, and his library
well stocked with books, ere he contracted engagements that
should, by increasing his expenditure, uncomfortably limit' his
freedom. At length, however, that most interesting event,
the minister's marriage, became the subject of gossip. It is
said that he was urged to the step by some considerate friend,
who proffered also his advice as to the quarter where success
was probable. It is likely that on this simple circumstance
arose the story that is still current, of his session having taken \
up the matter and undertaken to carry it through. It is said
that a deputation of their number waited upon their good and
74 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
simple minister, and, having broached it to him, offered their
friendly help. Mr Lawson seemed in no ways to be taken by
surprise, and asked them if they could tell him where he was
likely to find a good wife. They at once mentioned a par-
ticular family, where were several daughters, any one of whom
might suit. Acting on this, Mr Lawson (so goes the story)
called ere long at the house where these fair ones resided.
He inquired first for the oldest, to whom he stated his wishes,
but was unsuccessful ; he then proposed to the second, who
also refused him ; and finally he sent for and agreed with the
third, who soon became Mrs Lawson. We have every reason
to beheve that this is entirely mythical. When Dr Kidston
told him that these and such like stories were current, he
replied, 'I know I was, and am still, very stupid about many
worldly things, but 1 am certainly not such a fool as these
things, if true, would prove me to be.' It has been rather posi-
I lively asserted, that he did forget his marriage-day. To be
out of the way, it is told, when a bridegroom, he paid a visit to
his friend Mr Greig, of Lochgelly, not intending to return till
he should bring his bride with him. The marriage had been
fixed to take place at Peebles on a Tuesday forenoon. On that
same forenoon, while engaged in interesting conversation, he
suddenly exclaimed, 'Mr Greig, is not this my marriage-day?'
Thereupon he got all things ready, and set off for Peebles,
which he reached in the evening. The affronted fair one
would not receive him, and he had to go back to Selkirk minus
a 'better half.' If this story be true, he does not stand alone
as a culpable absentee on the marriage-day. The Rev. Sir
Harry Moncreiff told Lord Cockburn, that after he had mar-
ried a late Lord Meadowbank, his Lordship mysteriously
disappeared on the same evening, and, when searched for, was
found busily engaged in the composition of a metaphysical
essay ' on pains and penalties.'
When Mr Lawson did marry, he found a wife among his
own people. She was the daughter of Mr Rogers, a most
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 75
respectable citizen and banker in Selkirk ; a young lady of
personal accomplishments, of unfeigned piety, and of most
amiable disposition and manners. Their union promised to be
the blessedness of their earthly pilgrimage. All uncertainties
and anxieties on the matter being now completely laid aside,
Mr Lawson went again in heart and soul to his much-loved
work; and, for a time, 'table-talk' about the manse and the
young wife was at an end. But, alas ! it was only for a short
time. In less than a year from their marriage, Mrs Lawson
died — died unexpectedly, and childless. The young widower
had a feeling heart, and this death-stroke for a time almost
prostrated him. On coming out of the partial stupor into
which it cast him, he calmly said to the friend beside him, 'I
am soothed by the belief that my dear deceased wife is now
far happier with her divine and everlasting Husband, than
she ever could have been with me.'
This was the first session of Lawson at the college of
affliction. He had passed through other preparatory ordeals,
— he had studied and he had prayed, — but his Master would
now have him tried in the furnace. To Luther's ' Meditatio '
and ' Precatio,' was added the third and last, and perhaps
best preparation of all, God's ' Tentatio.' In the life of Dr
Adam Clarke it is beautifully stated, that ' it is requisite that
he who is to be a judge of so many cases of conscience should
clearly understand them. But is this possible, unless he have
passed through those states and circumstances in which these
cases are founded? I trow not. He who has not been
deeply exercised in the furnace of affliction and trial, is never
likely to be a workman that " needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth." How can a man inex-
perienced in spiritual trials build up the Church of Christ ? '
The wisdom and sympathies indispensable to an efficient pas-
torate were never acquired in books or seminaries of learning.
Hence it is observable that young ministers are frequently
made to feel the truth of their Master's promise, 'In the
76 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
world ye shall have tribulation.' In after years, many a
good and holy man has had to bless God for the yoke he had
to bear in his youth — for the spiritual alembic in which the
straying and strong passions of that period are finely filtered.
Learning and philosophy are, in their own places, highly
valuable ; but when called upon to discharge the more private,
delicate, and difficult duties of a Christian minister, they are
useless. ' It became Him, for whom are all things, and by
whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to
make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.^
Sad and pensive, then, was the solitary of the manse from the
day that he laid his young bride in an early grave ; but the
people in the sanctuary were made to drink the new wine of
his crushed heart. There was not such a thorough and
awful change in his habits of thought and social manners, as
took place in Dr Brown's case, when the ' desire of his eyes '
was removed by a stroke. There was a wondering child at
hand to hear and to record the shriek of nature which rose in
the Biggar manse, when the lovely and the beloved sufferer on
that sofa bade them all in this world farewell. There was
none such here. But, from what is known of the man, it is
sure that the silent cry of distress mounted to the ear of the
Lord God of Sabaoth, as her spirit left him alone. As we
shall see in the sequel, however, this was but the beginning
of his troubles. Other billows were rolling towards him. To
them all he meekly bowed the head, and, loud though the
storm was, men ever heard him say in its midst, ' Thy will be
done.'
Having fulfilled the years of mourning for his first love, he
was married again. The object of his second choice was a
daughter 6f the Rev, Mr Moir, his immediate predecessor,
who is said to have inherited many of her father's amiable
and attractive accomplishments and virtues. She, too, had
been married, and at an early age, to the Rev. Mr Dickson, of
Berwick, a young minister who is reported to have possessed
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 77
very commanding eloquence, and to have been distinguished
by fervent piety and excellent dispositions. He was permitted
to describe a very brief course. His light was just dawning
upon the churches when God removed him to shine in the
temple not made with hands. His young and afflicted widow
went to reside in Edinburgh, and became a member of Bristo
Street Church, over which the late Rev. Dr Peddie had
been recently ordained. Sometime in 1783 they were married
by Dr Peddie. Prepared by severe affliction to enter upon
the duties of life with moderate expectations, and with holy
purposes to become helps meet for one another, they lived
together, from this time, in great conjugal happiness, till it
pleased God again to turn the joys of his handmaid into the
sorrows of widowhood. The fruit of this union was a family
of three sons and five daughters, the early and interesting
deaths of some of whom shall furnish no small portion of the
shady side of this memoir. Leaving the domestic history for
the present, we continue the narrative of his ministry.
Dr Lawson went very seldom abroad. His happiness lay
in and around Selkirk. His excursions were not usually
extended beyond the neighbouring parishes, and these only
when called upon to assist his brethren at the dispensation of
the Lord's Supper. Indeed, it formed one of the highest
social enjoyments of his life, to meet with his clerical friends
upon such occasions. During his long and somewhat retired
life, these meetings made up the all of what may be called
his ' foreign affairs.' TraveUing, in his day, was expensive
and inconvenient : hence, compared with their frequency of
intercourse now, Christian brethren very seldom met. The
mutual assistance they rendered each other at the dispensation
of the Lord's Supper, was therefore hailed as affording them
also precious opportunities of devout and friendly fellowship.
Besides, at that time, even this rich Christian and social treat
was but seldom enjoyed. In some parts of the country, for
a time after our fathers seceded from the EstabUshed Church,
78 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
the Lord's Supper was dispensed only once a year. By and
by it came to be dispensed twice, and it is only a modern
improvement to have it four times a year. These sacramental
occasions were, consequently, anticipated and prepared for,
wrecks, nay, months before they took place ; and happy and
holy meetings they were to all concerned, people and pastors.
As the mode of conducting such solemnities vvhich then
obtained, has almost entirely gone out, I shall endeavour to
give an account of one of them, so that our memories of the
past may include scenes of hallowed interest to our fathers.
Let us describe, for example, a summer sacrament in the
Burgher Church of Dunfermhne, such as Dr Lawson often took
part in, and which was fading away when I first began to ob-
serve with some little intelligence. The month of June was
chosen, as promising the most propitious weather. The neigh-
bouring ministers of the Secession were all engaged to come
and perform their several parts, and the one distinguished
stranger, from Edinburgh, Glasgow, or elsewhere, was also
secured. The services of the grand occasion commenced on
the Thursday preceding, which was observed as a day of
humiliation and prayer — the ' Fast-day,' as it was called. The
minister of the congregation usually conducted the devotional
services, making confessions and supplications on behalf of
their people ; and two of the bretliren in the neighbourhood
preached, the one in the forenoon, and the other in the after-
noon. All worldly business was suspended during the day,
and the evening was devoted to self-examination and reading
and prayer. On the Friday evening there was another diet
of public worship, presided over by one of the ministers, who
was to remain and work over the occasion. By Saturday
morning, ' the tent,' as it was cahed, had been erected at the
north end of the large park immediately behind the church.
This ' tent' was a huge and awkward-looking moveable pul-
pit, from which sermons were preached to the thousands who
assembled from a radius of ten or twelve miles all round,
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 79
and who could not be accommodated in the church. Its use
on the Saturdays and Mondays was given up latterly; but, for
many years, the crowds that came so early as Saturday and
waited over Monday, made it a necessity. On the afteruoou
of Saturday two sermons were preached in the church by
two of the assistants, and the ' tent preaching' went on simul-
taneously. Then came the Sabbath! the sacrament Sabbath!
the June sacrament Sabbath! And, if the day turned out,
as then it almost always did, propitious as to weather, it
proved indeed to be a ' high day.' Early in the morning,
from all the congregations in the neighbourhood, groups of
families were seen quietly and happily finding their way into
the town, and finally taking up their position for the day on
the green where the tent was erected. At that time it was
customary to have no public religious services in any of the
sister churches whose ministers were to be assisting in Dun-
fermline. This was owing partly to the habits of the people
in attending there during the communion, and partly to the
difficulty of finding pulpit supply. Preachers, or probationers,
as they were called, were 'few and far between.' These
'tribes of the Lord' came from Stirling, Alloa, and Kincar-
dine on the west — from Kirkcaldy, Crossgates, and Lochgelly
on the east — from Kinross, and even Perth, on the north —
and from Inverkeithing, Queensferry, and Limekilns on the
south. Their ministers preceded, or sometimes accompanied
them. Besides the two stated ministers, Dr Husband and
Mr Macfarlane, there were almost invariably the ministers of
Inverkeithing, Limekilns, Crossgates, Lochgelly, Kirkcaldy,
Kinross, and Kincardine, together with one distinguished
stranger from a distance. Among my latest and somewhat
misty reminiscences in connection with an occasion of this kind,
are the following : The late Dr Hay, of Kinross, preached
on the Fast-day, and he most ably discoursed on the sublime
scenes of the transfiguration. The late Dr Beattie, of Glas-
gow, preached on the Friday evening from these words, ' Why
80 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
stand ye here all the day idle V — and a most powerful sermon
it was felt to be — given out with all the unction and fervour
of that pulpit oratory which kept one of the largest congre-
gations in Glasgow hanging upon his hps, to the end of a
long and most faithful pastorate. He was then the minister
of the Burgher Church at Kincardine, and deemed it one of
the high honours of his life that he was permitted in his youth
to take, however humble a part in ' the work' with such men,
and at such seasons. On the Saturday, the first sermon was
preached by the late Mr Haddin of Limekilns, who discoursed
from the words, ' Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die V His
meek, Nathanael-like appearance, gi'eatly aided to give em-
phasis to the rich and savoury evangel which he then poured
forth. He was followed by Mr Brown, of Inverkeithing, whose
subject has escaped my memory. But who that knew or ever
heard that prince of Gospel preachers, can doubt of its appro-
priateness and Gospel majesty. Dr Husband and Mr Mac-
farlane, the collegiate pastors of Queen Anne Street Church,
took the presidency in these communions by turns. On the
occasion referred to, my father presided, and, consequently,
took the lead in the services of the day. That large and
spacious church was crowded. There could not be less than
two thousand there, consisting almost entirely of the regular
congregation. His text I have also forgotten; but the 'action
sermon,' as it was termed, was an eloquent and most cordially
delivered message of Divine love, listened to breathlessly, and
many wept. He had a fine stately appearance, and a noble
voice, the very whispers of which could be distinctly heard in
every corner of the building The present day by no means
monopolizes pulpit oratory and fervour. After the action
sermon was preached, came tho service called 'fencing the
tables ' (devotional services, of course, alternated with all the
addresses). This was usually done by the presiding mini-
ster. It consisted, long ago, in a description of the charac-
ters who were not worthy to sit down at the Lord's table;
)
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 81
and then, in the second place, of those who were worthy.
The history of this unseasonable interruption is simply this.
At the origin of the Secession, multitudes left the Established
Church who could not obtain the necessary certificate of
church membership ; and the resort of the conscientious seced-
ing pastors, on sacramental occasions, was to this prac-
tice. They made their solemn appeals to the consciences of
the people, and left the responsibihty with them. By and
by, as matters were brought into order, tokens of admission
to the ordinances were given only to those who, on examina-
tion, were found to be 'worthy.' The 'fencing service,' how-
ever, was still kept up. It did good, — and, if rightly timed,
such as on the afternoon of the Sabbath previous to the
sacrament, must do good ; but the seasonableuess of it now,
immediately before the ordinance, and after the communicants
have taken their seats, may be questioned. It is doubtful if
these ^ debairances' (another name for this peculiar service) ever
kept away one who had determined to communicate ; and we
have heard of some really devout people, whose comfort at
the table was greatly disturbed by it. It greatly depended,
indeed, on the manner in which it was gone about. For the
most part, as far as the very original mode of its performance
goes, we have reason to conclude that it was often useless,
itself sometimes neutralizing itself. An anecdote of these
times will explain this remark. An old man, who had just
been hstening to one of these ' deharrances.,^ was asked what
he thought of it. He repUed, ' I can make nothing of it at
all ; that man (the minister) first shooed (drove) us a' out of
the tables, and then he just shooed us a' in again.' The zeal
of our worthy fathers sometimes carried them the length of
' debarring ' from the Lord's table, not only such men and
women as were ungodly and profligate, but also the devil
himself, and the Pope. Let us not, however, undervalue
their conscientious, and, to a great extent, indispensable efi'orts
at that time, to throw a fence around the Lord's table, and
82 TETE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
thus to preserve purity of communion. We believe they did
their best, and from the best of motives; and to a large extent
they did good.
Immediately after the tables were thus fenced, the minister
left the pulpit, and took his place in a small desk in front of
the precentor, and with the ' tables ' before him. The ' table-
seats' were large square pews, stretching from the pulpit right
up to the back-wall of the church. At the sacraments, the
partitions were taken out, so as to constitute one long pew.
There was one such pew to the right, and one to the left of
the minister ; and a broad passage, running up between them,
allowed the elders to lift the tokens and superintend the circu-
lation of the symbolic elements. After the usual preliminary
services of reading the scriptural warrant, prayer, and a short
address, the elements were given by the pastor to the indi-
viduals sitting at the ends of the tables nearest to the pulpit.
So sooa as this table was served, another short parting ad-
dress was given, and then two verses of a psalm were sung.
During the singing of these, the communicants retired from
the table by the doors at the farther end, and others, coming
in by side passages to the right and left of the pulpit, took
their places ; and when the table was again filled, the same
procedure was gone about. Dr Husband now took the chair,
and conducted the services of the second table, with all that
dignity and solemnity of manner for which he was remark-
able. After him came in succession the assistant ministers,
who addressed the communicants, and dispensed the bread
and wine as long as it was necessary. On such occasions
there were sometimes no less than ten or twelve table-
services ; and fully a hundred members sat down each time.
In this method there was much to complain of. There was
noise and confusion, and a good deal of uncomfortable pressure
in going into and retiring from the table of the Lord. But
there was much to command respect, and even to produce
solemnity. There was, especially, something very impressive
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 83
in the singing of the psahns by the retiring and incoming
communicants. They generally kept to one psalm — the 22d
of the Scotch version — and sung two verses at the filling up
of each table, before the 'table-address' was given. If they
finished that psalm before all the members had communi-
cated, the 103d was selected. The tune invariably sung,
from the beginning to the end of the table-services, was
' Coleshill,' a tune on the minor key, and by many godly
Seceders almost identified with communion work. When all
was over at the table, my father again ascended the pulpit,
and gave what were called the ' evening directions,' — a series
of exhortations to those who had been at the table, as to
the duties and trials awaiting them in the world. Then
came the grand wind-up of the day's work, the evening
sei'mon. This was preached by my grandfather, Dr Husband,
the senior pastor. His text was (the last we remember
having heard him preach from), ' Therefore, we ought to
give the more earnest heed to the things which we have
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.' By this
time it might be seven or eight o'clock. The services had
been going on all day at the tent ; one minister after another
publishing to the people who could not find admission into
the church, the glad tidings of salvation. But, towards even-
ing, many of them turned their faces homeward, speaking to
one another of redeeming love, and sometimes kneehng down
together in prayer by the wayside ; others sought their way
into the church again, to hear what was always understood
to be one of the high things of the sacrament — the evening
sermon. And on this evening they were not disappointed :
for (albeit too young to judge) I will never forget the beauty
of the style, the pathos of the appeals, and the swelUng
eloquence of that grand smger in Israel. I think I have
never heard its equal since, and scarce expect again to be
similarly affected. All was over about nine or ten o'clock, —
the work having gone on without a moment's interruption
84 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
from ten o'clock in the forenoon. Considering the number of
table-services, this was not an unseemly time for dismissal.
Great indiscretion, however, sometimes showed itself at other
country sacraments in these parts, in the matter of lengthy
work. A well-known and truthful story is told of Mr Kyle,
erewhile the Burgher minister of Kinross before Dr Hay.
He contrived, at one time, to lengthen out the services of his
summer sacrament, so as that the 'evening sermon' was not
begun till past twelve o'clock. Dr Husband was to be the
preacher, and he mounted the pulpit in no pleased mood, as
he was rather finically set against such impropriety. His
text was, 'Let not your good be evil spoken of;' and he
commenced and closed in this laconic manner : ' Brethren,
the best practical use I can make of my text is simply to
repeat the particulars on which, had time permitted, I would
have preached.' He, then, in half a minute, went over his
' heads ;' and, having pronounced the blessing, dismissed the
congregation, greatly to the chagrin of Mr Kyle, honest man,
who had been gloating over the idea of the sun's being risen
on Lochleven before the work could be concluded. It is
said he never forgave Dr Husband for this.
Whatever occasion Burns might have had for the profane
caricature of his ' Holy Fair' (the nickname he gives to an
Ayrshire summer sacrament), he would have found no justi-
fication for it in this Fifeshire solemnity. As far as I can
remember, and from all I ever heard, matters were conducted
— especially where it was feared unseemly things might occur
in the tent-green — with great propriety. There might be the
ordinary carelessness in hearing, and perhaps a mistake might
take place in the sober conduct of a few ; but, on the whole,
the demeanour of these multitudes of worshippers was most
becoming. Many of them, at the tent, kept their position
from morn to night, having engaged in all the devotions, and
heard every sermon that was preached, till the intimation was
given that the ' evening sermon' was about to begin in the
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 85
church. No police were required to keep order. I recollect
simply of the salutary awe under which the youngsters, who
were rather restless and migratory, were kept by the tent-
green keepers, who had staffs in their hands, and quietly >
pursued any who were misbehaving. These men used to
touch gently with their staffs any whom the heat of the day
or prolonged attention had rendered drowsy, or, more sharply
such of us as might be disturbing the people. They got
^ the name of the ' nappies'' from this use of their staffs, and
were indeed ' a terror to evil doers.' There no doubt were
sometimes unseemly interruptions to the solemnity of these
services. It was impossible to prevent improper characters
from mingling with the crowds, and their ejection was fre-
quently necessary. This gave rise to many stories which
were told to bring ridicule upon the Seceders. Some, how-
ever, are authentic, and are certainly exceedingly graphic.
There was one person rather conspicuous at tent preachings
in the south country in these times, named ' Jamie Scott,'
whose zeal was more potent than his judgment. It happened
on one occasion that the preacher was much disturbed by the
sudden appearance of some pigs on the hill-side where the
tent was erected ; the shepherds' dogs beheld them, and com-
menced to bark, and to show symptoms of giving chase. The
preacher asked if some one would try and get the pigs re-
moved. Jamie Scott sprang to his feet, and securing his
staff, exclaimed, ' I will go, sir, against these animals. They
were forbidden under the law, and the deil was in them under
the Gospel ; but, by the grace of God, I will scatter them
abroad.' And with that he set off and effected the clearance.
The service then proceeded. At another time Jamie had
thought it proper to strike a man whose conduct at the tent
was displeasing to him ; but the man was disposed to give
battle, and, securing a pitchfork which was at hand, he pur-
sued Jamie out of the tent-ground, who fled in terror. As the
avenger neared him, Jamie became alarmed, and, drawing out
86 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
from his bosom a long tin pen-case, common then, he turned
quickly round, and presented it, exclaiming, ' The sword of
the Lord and of Gideon ! the sword of the Lord and of
Gideon!' His pursuer, imagining that it was a pistol, and
thrown off his guard by the solemnity of the cry, turned upon
his heels and fled. Such things, however, were very rare.
The sacrament Sabbath evening in the manse, after family
worship was over, and the ' ccena' had been eaten, was de-
voted to conversation upon the precious privileges of the day,
and, above all, to the high sounding praises of the 'Lamb'
that had been slain. Monday dawned. The tent-green was
again resorted to, and one or two sermons were preached.
In the church the two senior assistants presided. At this
time, and, generally speaking, for many years, these were Mr
Greig, of Lochgelly, and Mr Brown, of Inverkeithing. The
text of the latter I have forgotten, but Mr Greig's I vividly
recollect. His text was, ' For through Him we both have
access by one Spirit unto the Father,' from which he delivered
one of his usual most profound and solemn discourses, over-
flowing with divinity, and marking out with the hand of a
master the way of the soul to God.
The distinguished strangers that joined this band of holy
men in these days, and upon these occasions, were generally
Drs Hall and Peddie, and Mr Lothian, of Edinburgh ; Dr
Dick, of Glasgow ; Dr Belfrage, of Falkirk ; Dr Smart, of
StirUng ; and Dr Lawson, of Selkirk ; — and a grand set of
godly men they were : their savour is not yet passed away ;
nor, within the Church that owned them, can their superiors
even yet be found.
They all dined together on the Monday afternoon, and
luxuriated for an hour or two in the pure relaxations of
Christian sociality. The time was spent as became men who
had been so occupied for days past. Not a word was spoken
but what was seasoned with salt, and not the shade of any
excess ever brooded over their saintly festivities. And when
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 87
at length the hour of parting came, they all sung an hymn,
and, havmg knelt in prayer together, each man went unto his
own home-
Such are somewhat faint recollections of a Secession summer
sacrament. Changes have taken place since in our mode
of observing the Supper which are decided improvements.
Nevertheless, we should come short of gratitude, if we did
not cherish with some degree of admiring appreciation the
almost patriarchal simplicity of the times we have looked back
upon, and the really apostohc authority wherewith our fathers
impressed the solemnities of our faith.
Such like at Selkirk, and in his own country-side, were the
communion seasons over which Dr Lawson's spirit rejoiced.
And these rejoicings were almost wholly confined to his own
and adjacent counties. He sometimes assisted at Glasgow,
Edinburgh, Dunfermline, and Lochgelly, but not often. Full
of rich memories, however, of the sage of Ettriek, are Stow,
Peebles, Galashiels, Lauder, Newtown, Kelso, Jedburgh,
Dunse, Stitchel, Coldstream, etc. The pleasing and almost
solemn associations of his name and holy wisdom, with their
best and happiest ideas of sacramental work, have not yet
ceased to retain him in their reverence and love.
Dr Lawson was once, but once only, in the great metropohs.
London is now, by reason of the railway, almost at our door.
A visit to it is, therefore, not much thought of. Everybody
goes up, and hence the charm and importance of a visit have
fled. It was far different in the days of Lawson. To go to
London was an occasion for the whole neighbourhood to talk
about ; it was an event, if not an era in one's life. Our fathers
had to make their wills ere they left home, and took farewell
as if their return was very problematical ; and when they did
go, they did not return in such a hurry as we do. The cost of
travelling made it proper that the cause for travelling should
be unusually important. We read of some ministers, in the
days we refer to, going up purely on personal grounds, to see
88 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
the world, and enjoy its pleasures ; to make the acquaintance
of statesmen, or players, or opera-dancers ; and then, having
discussed so many pohtical or church questions, together with
so many bottles of claret, they returned, not to bless, but to
chill, their households and their churches. It was not so with
Dr Lawson upon the only occasion on which he went up to the
metropolis. He was sent up by the Synod to supply the pulpit
of Wells Street, during the illness of the Rev. Archibald Hall,
its first minister. This was only a few years after his ordina-
tion. We have no record of his previous preparations, nor
even of his sayings and doings in that great city. He con-
fined himself very much to his duties to the congregation,
and was frequently with the truly excellent man whose pulpit
he supphed. Mr Hall died, while Dr Lawson was in London,
upon the 6th May 1778. He was a man of decided talent;
and though the period of his ministry in London was com-
paratively short, he speedily commanded for himself a high
place among the brethren in the metropolis. He was the
author of several excellent works, but is best known for his
' Gospel Worship.' He died in the .forty-second year of his
age, but seemed ripe for glory. When dying, he said, ' I see
no other warrant, nor indeed any need of another warrant,
to believe my salvation by grace, to expect victory over
death, and to appropriate eternal life, besides the free and
faithful exhibition which God makes to me as a sinner, of
Jesus Christ, and all things with Him. O that the view of
things which stand clear to my understanding, may be the
daily ministration of the Spirit, and of all His saving and
precious fruits to my soul ! In the view of these truths, I
hope to say. Farewell time and all its vanities, welcome eter-
nity and all its realities ! The springs of Hfe are wasting,
though under many merciful circumstances, which render the
decay comparatively very easy to nature. I have long be-
lieved the truth of the union between Christ and His people.
I saw it was mauifestly a Scripture doctrine ; I believed it to
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 89
be a very important one ; but I think one consolation from
it opens, of late, on my mind with a kind of evidence and
satisfaction which I never before perceived. By this union,
Christ's righteousness is my righteousness, His death my
death. His life my life, His glory my glory ! Here I often
solace myself. In this medium, death and the grave are
divested of all their gloom ; judgment appears to be a joyful
solemnity ; eternity a delightful, boundless object of expecta-
tion and desire. If ye love Me, ye would not weep, but
rejoice, because I say, I go to My Father.'
No information remains as to Dr Lawson's visit to the
capital. It would have been peculiarly gratifying to have
heard his remarks on men and manners there. His obser-
vation must have been keenly exercised, and his pious philan-
thropy greatly stimulated, as he walked through those endless
and crowded streets, and gazed for months on its palaces, and
princes, and people; on its churches, institutions, and courts ;
on its riches and its poverty ; on its virtues and its vices. Of
this one thing, however, we may be assured ; he was not guilty
of that contemptible flunkeyism which dances attendance on
the great, which seeks importance by sinking its manhood.
He had no business either with Prime Ministers or Scotch
Peers. He neither patronized the drama nor the opera ; and
had he written the memoirs of his own life, he could not have
recorded, as a neighbour of his did, that ' the theatre was the
richest source of my amusement in London.' ^ But one inci-
dent survives of his six months' residence in London. He
had been invited to dinner with a family, where he was to
meet Dr Hunter, at that time a minister in high popularity.
From the simplicity of his appearance and manners, Dr
Hunter thought him a fit subject for his wit, and treated him
rather with rude freedom. Dr Lawson felt his indignation
kindled, and thought not only of repelling his insolence, but
of exposing him to shame on account of the spirit he had
• Dr Somerville, p. 157.
90 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
manifested, and the claims he had adyanced. But this reflec-
tion, he said, made him let him alone — ' London is the scene
of his duties, — what I say may injure his usefulness. His
reflections can do me no harm. It will be far better for me
to gain a victory over myself than over him.' He received,
some time after his return, a long letter from the Rev. John
Newton, from which it appears that he had made the acquaint-
ance of that justly esteemed minister of the Lord Jesus.
It would have greatly enriched this memoir if Dr Lawson's
letters to him bad survived. The admirable and character-
istic epistle from the author of ' Cardephonia' amply repays
perusal. The principles and objects of the Evangelical
Alliance are anticipated in every line.
The following is the only letter of Dr Lawson's we have
found, in which the London visit is referred to : —
' Selkirk, June 31, 1801.
' My Dear Friend, — I need not say that your last favour,
as usual, afforded me much pleasure. I quite agree with
what you say of the distance of time between your first and
second visit to London. How many of our friends have been
removed from our eyes in the space of twenty-three years !
How soon will an equal space of time ghde away ! Who
will be found living in the world at the end of it ? Why are
men so infatuated as not to live in a constant readiness for
that day which will remove them for ever from all earthly
connections 1 Often have I thought of some of our dear
London friends, whom we must see no more till our eyes are
closed in death. London would now be a dreary place for
me, till I had spent some weeks in it ; but I have good cause
to believe that those whom I most loved are now angels in
heaven. When twenty-three years more have passed, it is
probable that you and I will be with them. Some of our sur-
vivors will talk of us with regret, but we will think of them
with compassion. I hope you will remind my remaining
THE PASTOR AND HIS CIRCUIT. 91
Mends of my name, and of my regard for them. Messrs
Hastie, Auld, Tassie, Mrs Scott, Mr and Mrs Wilkie, are now
almost my only remaining friends in London. It would afford
me great pleasure to spend, were it possible, a few weeks with
you and our clerical brethren, and my other remaining Lon-
don friends. May the influences of the Holy Spirit be richly
dispensed to them all, and to the beloved friend to whom I
now write ! — Yours most sincerely,
' G. Lawson.'
CHAPTEE m.
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS.
Various anecdotes connected with Dr Lawson's ministry at
Selkirk have been abroad ever since he left the world. Many
of these are highly characteristic, alike of pastor and people.
They, no doubt, refer to different periods of his life ; but it
is perhaps the best plan to introduce them at this stage of the
memoir. Every care has been taken to reject the spurious,
and to insert only such as are considered authentic by his
friends. We shall reserve such as are illustrative of his pro-
fessorial peculiarities till we come to narrate the ' Hall' life
at Selkirk. It may be simply premised, that none of these
anecdotes, discovered to be genuine, compromises, in the
slightest degree, the character which he bore through Ufe
for great propriety of demeanour. He greatly succeeded in
never allowing ' his good to be evil spoken of.' There were
certainly modes of expression, at that period generally re-
ceived as both courteous and sensible, to which modern fas-
tidiousness might except ; but the reader will find very few
even of these in what follows. They are all very like the
man, and serve more than any elaborate description to bring
out his simplicity of character, his amazing knowledge of
Scripture, and manly sagacity. ' Anecdotes, it has been said,
if true and alive, are always valuable ; the man in the con-
crete, the totus quis, comes out in them.''
Dr Lawson's call to Selkirk had been unanimous. There
was only one individual opposed to it, who took every oppor-
' Dr John Brown's letrer to Dr Cairns.
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 93
timity to annoy the young minister. On one occasion, when
on a diet of pastoral visitation, he came to this person's house,
and being desirous of conciliating him, he entered into con-
versation with him in a very frank and friendly style. His
mildness, however, had no mollifying effect : this person
watched every opportunity to contradict and find fault with
him. At length captiousness had the effrontery to assert
that the young minister had actually told a lie since entering
the house, when he meekly said —
' I am not aware of having committed so grave a mis-
demeanour as that with which you charge me.'
' Yes,' rejoined the man, ' you have ; for, when I asked you
to stay and take tea with us, you replied that you would not,
and yet you have done both : is not this something like
telling a lie ? '
' You must have read the story,' answered Mr Lawson, ' of
the angels in Sodom, who, when Lot pressed them to enter
his house and lodge with him during the night, refused, and
said, "Nay; but we will abide in the street all night;" and,
instead of doing so, when Lot pressed them much, " they
turned in unto him, and entered iuto his house : and he made
them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did
eat." Now, do you suppose that these angels told a lie? No,
they only changed their mind ; and so I too have just changed
my mind, and have remained to partake of your fare.'
This proved a silencer to the individual, who had, in his
conceit, opined that he had caught the good man in a snare.
The youthful Samson showed that the withes wherewith he
was bound were as tow when it toucheth the fire.
It was seldom, if ever, that any one got the better of Dr
Lawson in free and easy conversation. A worthy farmer
once rather posed him, upon the occasion of one of these
visits. He had been asking the farmer why his son was not
present, —
' He is out shooting the crows,' was the reply.
94 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
' And why does he shoot the crows ? ' he asked.
' Because they destroy the grain,' said the farmer.
' The crows have as good a right to the grain as you,'
rejoined Dr Lawson.
t ' Ay, sir,' repUed the farmer, ' but they do not pay any
rent.'
He had a strong aversion to everything like self-confidence
or presumption. As he had none himself, he could not well
endure it in others. He was once at a funeral in an old
deserted churchyard, near Selkirk. He here encountered a
person who pretended to be a preacher, in his way, and
seemed to himself a man of no small consequence. He began
to declaim among the people in the burying-ground, and
made sundry rather dogmatical assertions ; among others, he
declared that he took everything stated in the Bible in an
exactly literal sense, and in no other. Dr Lawson, who was
within hearing, stepped forward, and simply said, ' It is
written in the book of Revelation, that " a great red dragon
appeared in heaven, and his tail drew the third part of the
stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth." Now,
sir, do ye take that as it stands ?' The oracle became dumb.
He was generally very careful to notice, and, in his pulpit
instructions, to improve, any providences that were impressing
his own or the public mind. During a season of prevailing
sickness among the young of the congregation, he intimated
one Sabbath, that a prayer-meeting would be held in the
course of the week, for the purpose of supphcating the Divine
mercy. When he arrived at the church on the night
appointed, he found, instead of the thin attendance of the
ordinary meetings, that a large audience had assembled.
Accordingly, without any premeditation, he entered the pulpit,
and preached a long and suitable discourse from 2 Kings iv.
19, ' And he (the child) said unto his father. My head, my
head ! And he said to a lad. Carry him to his mother.'
From these words he not only improved the visitation, but
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 95
showed how parental solicitude should be directed towards
the physical as well as the spiritual welfare of the young and
afflicted.
He was once riding down to Newtown, to preach on the
Monday after the communion. He was met by some people,
who told him that, on the previous day, one of the beams that
supported the gallery had given way, and that, though none
were killed, some were seriously injured. On entering the
pulpit, he read out as his text, ' And David was displeased
because the Lord had made a breach upon XJzzah.' At
another time, a wall had fallen near to his own church, and
several persons were much hurt. His text on the following
Sabbath was 1 Kings xx. 30, ' But the rest fled to Aphek,
into tlie city ; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven
thousand of the men that were left.'
He told his students, in one of his lectures on Providence,
the following anecdote respecting himself. He was travelKng,
one stormy day, between Traquair and Selkirk, over Minch- 1
muir, a bleak and solitary mountain, from the summit of
which there is a spacious view. He was on horseback, and
was ambhng along the edge of a steep descent that led into
a lonely glen, taking sweet delectation in musing on the
scenery around, when a strong pufF of wind suddenly up-
lifted his hat and wig, and twirled them down the declivity
far beyond his reach. He stood, exposed to the blast, and
knew not what to do. He could not leave the horse alone
to pursue the fugitive articles, and it might have cost him his
life to have gone over the hill with his head unprotected.
Providence, however, had help at hand. A shepherd lad,
who was crossing the heights in quest of his flock, came lip
at the critical moment, at once descended the defile, and
recovered both hat and wig. ' I regarded this,' he said, ' as
a striking interposition of Divine Providence on my behalf,
and I think it worthy of record.'
An earthquake was felt in many parts of Europe in 1801.
96 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
He thus alludes to it in a letter to Dr Husband : ' I con-
gratulate you that you are still in the land of the living.
I have the more reason to be thankful, on this account, to the
God of our lives, as your continuance in this world is neces-
sary to the comfort of my own life. The shock of the earth-
quake was moderate, and of short continuance ; but it was
owing to God's mercy that it was less dreadful than those
which have been felt at Lisbon or Jamaica. God grant that
sinners may be awakened to repentance ! Will a man dare to
spend his evenings in gambling or drinking, in chambering and
wantonness ? Will he have security given him that he shall
not be awakened from the sleep of the night by the tremen-
dous voice of God, when He ariseth to shake terribly the
earth?'
Dr Lawson was quite remarkable for the happy use and
application of passages of Scripture. He was very ready to
do so, but never in such a way as to indicate the slightest
irreverence for the Holy Word. The following are authenti-
cated instances. Very soon after he commenced his ministry
in Selkirk, he was told by one of his hearers, of rather a con-
sequential turn of mind, that the people were very well pleased
with his sermons, but by no means with his texts.
'I should not have wondered,' he replied, 'if they had
found fault with my discourses; but why should they find
fault with the Word of God V
' I do not know,' said the petulant individual, ' but that's
what they say, and I aye like to speak a' my mind.'
' Do you know,' inquired Dr Lawson, ' what Solomon says
of such as you V
' No,' replied the man. ' And what does Solomon say?'
'He says,' rejoined the doctor, ' " A fool uttereth all his
mind, but a wise man keepeth it in till after." '
Dr Lawson was never annoyed again by this individual.
On the formation of a church at Galashiels, he chose that
uncommon, but most appropriate text, Ezek. xxxii. 22,
THE limiSTER AND HIS WAYS. 97
* Asshur is there, and all her company.' And when opening
the new church at Lauder, he preached from these words in
Hosea viii. 14, 'Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and build-
eth temples.' From these words he discoursed on the evil
and danger of mere formal or ceremonial worship. At an-
other time, he was on his way to preach at Hawick, and was
suddenly overtaken by a violent tempest of wind and rain.
He was obliged to take refuge in a cottage by the wayside,
near Ashkirk. When the storm ceased, he held on his jour-
ney. The incident suggested a train of thought which led
him to preach from that beautiful test, ' A man shall be as an
hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest.'
Not very long after the late Dr Thomson of Coldstream had
been ordained, he received a visit from the Selkirk Professor
when on his way to some communion. It happened to be on
a Saturday, when young ministers especially dishke to be in-
truded upon. Dr Lawson apologized for having so long de-
layed this piece of courtesy, and for choosing a Saturday to
do it. Young Thomson assured him he was only too proud
of a visit from such a man.
'I remember,' said Dr Lawson, ' the following story: —
One friend called upon another, as I am now doing on you,
and in similar circumstances. He said to his young brother,
" I may say to you what Paul said to the Thessalonians,
' We would have come unto you once and again, but Satan
hindered us.' " " He may have hindered you before," was the i
reply, " but he has sent you to-day." ' I trust, Mr Thomson,
that is not your view of my visit.'
Pie was once assisting the Rev. Mr Pirie, of Glasgow. On
the Monday thereafter, he was sitting, along with Mr Pirie
and some others of the brethren, in the vestry. It was not
yet time to commence what used to be called ' the last diet ;'
and the worthy men, at least some of them, were indulging
themselves with the pipe. The room was soon nebulous, and
one of the party, in allusion to his well-known power to choose
G
98 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
and pick from appropriate texts on sudden emergencies, re-
marked that it would be difficult for him to choose such a
text as would be suitable to the smoky state of the vestry.
He made no reply ; but in a few minutes ascended the pulpit,
and gave out for his text these words, from Psalm cxix. 83,
' For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not
forget Thy statutes ; ' from which, as usual, he preached a
clear, logical, and impressive sermon.
On another occasion he was at the Dunfermline sacrament,
and was the guest of his friend Dr Husband. While at
breakfast, in the manse, on the Monday following, the news
were suddenly brought in of one of Lord Nelson's victories.
Regret was expressed that the news had not reached them on
the previous day, when they might have been improved to the
multitudes that attended from all parts of the surrounding
country. Nothing more was said. Dr Lawson was one of the
two brethren that had to preach that forenoon. His brethren
and the people were astonished when he gave out for his text
a passage that referred to the goodness of God in His deal-
ings with nations, and from which he delivered an admirable
discourse on the special obligations of Great Britain, in her
past history, to the God of salvation.
When Napoleon's cruel wars were causing men to turn
pale, he chose one day, for his text, the words, ' I will make
thee My battle-axe,' and preached a most assuring sermon
from them. He introduced the subject thus : — ' Many a man
never rises above the condition of a ploughman, who has
miUtary talents equal to Napoleon Bonaparte ; but, in the
providence of God, he has never been called to exercise them.
If He required them. He would call them out, and they
would fight valiantly. Napoleon has, in the providence of
God, done wonderful exploits ; and how are we to account
for it ? Simply by looking at these words, " I will make thee
My battle-axe." '
On a certain sacramental occasion he ascended the pulpit
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS 99
to preach what was called the ' evening sermon.' The mini-
ster, however, who preceded him, forgetting that Dr Lawson
was to follow, pronounced the blessing, and sat down, under
the impression that all was over, and that the congregation
would retire. The Professor at once arose and commenced
thus : — ' My friends, you will no doubt think it strange that
the apostohc benediction has been pronounced before the close
of the services ; but in the 16th chapter of the Epistle to the
Romans, and 20th verse, you will find that Paul pronounces
the blessing, and, after adding some important truths, he
pronounces it a second time, verse 24th.' He was engaged,
on another communion occasion, to give what are called 'the
evening directions' after the Lord's supper. But the time
was up ; and, as he disliked protracted work in the sanc-
tuary, he simply said, ' I do not mean to give you any direc-
tions of my own, but " for brass I will bring gold, and for
iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones
iron." ' He then read the third chapter of the Epistle to the
Colossians, and concluded the diet.
Late one Saturday evening, the London mail, in passing
through Selkirk, told the sad tidings that Mr Percival, the
Prime Minister, had been assassinated in the lobby of the
House of Commons. On the following day he preached from
Job xxxiv. 20, ' In a moment shall they die, and the people
shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away; and the mighty
shall be taken away without hand.' A good judge,^ who
heard this sermon preached, informed the compiler that it was
a 'most finished discourse.' Dr Lawson had a marvellous
power of seeing quickly through a subject, and readily threw
it into shape in consequence of his severely logical mind. The
news of Napoleon's banishment to St Helena reached him
when on a visit to Annan. He preached, next day, from a
tent to two thousand people, taking for his text Jeremiah
1. 23, ' The hammer of the whole earth is cut asunder and
' Rev. Dr Pringle, of Auchterarder.
100 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
broken.' A deep impression was left on the minds of the
vast audience. Having lectured through the whole Bible,
he, one afternoon, resumed his laborious undertaking, from
these words, ' Ye see how large a letter I have written unto
you with mine own hands.'
Dr Lawson, indeed, was through life distinguished for his
readiness to speak or preach on any subject. He mentioned
to a friend, that, on one occasion, he gave out that his text
would be found in a certain chapter and in a certain verse.
On turning to the passage he found that he had made a
mistake, and that it was not the text from which he had in-
tended to preach. 'Then what did you do?' inquired his
friend. ' Why,' he replied, ' what could I do but just preach
from the text I had given out?' And he did so, no one but
himself being aware of his surprise.
He went, upon one occasion, to assist at the Kelso sacra-
ment. On arriving, he found that Mr Hall had convened a
greater number of brethren than he considered necessary for
the work. He had not been able to supply his own pulpit
for the Sabbath ; and it was impressed upon him, that, in the
circumstances, he ought not to remain over the Sabbath.
Accordingly, he got up early on the Sabbath morning, and
announced his purpose to start home for Selkirk. ' You
know, brethren,' he said, ' I never like to encourage idleness.
In consequence of my being here, my people must be without
sermon to-day ; and there are plenty of hands here to do a,ll
the work required in Kelso. I shall, therefore, take my staff,
and walk leisurely away, warning by the road as many of my
people as I can conveniently reach.' He did so, — and by the
time he got to Selkirk, a goodly number had been brought
together, to whom, with great power, he ministered the usual
diets of public worship.
He went, on one occasion, to Stitchel to meet Dr Waugh,
who had come dowij from London to pass a few weeks amid
the beautiful and healthy scenery of his native country. By
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 101
this time youug Waugli had been long enough in the south to
have his manners so far conformed to London fashions. As
Dr Lawson and he were walking up the public street, they
met the minister of Stitchel and his young wife. Dr Lawson,
in his plain way, kindly shook them by the hand ; but his
London brother at once resorted to the primitive mode of
courtesy, and kissed the lady. On observing which, Dr Law-
son smiled, and said, ' Oh, Mr Waugh, Mr Waugh, you re-
mind me of the scribes of old, of whom it is written, that they
loved salutations in the market-places.' In the laugh which
this drew forth, the blushing lady recovered her self-possession.
Dr Waugh has almost immortalized the summer sacraments
at Stitchel, especially the tent-gatherings, upon these occa-
sions, on ' Stitchell Brae.' ' 0 that I could again sit among
them,' he exclaimed, ' and hear good old Mr Coventry give us
as much sound divinity in one sermon, as is now found in ten
volumes ! It was a scene on which God's eye might love to
look. Such sermons ! and such prayers ! — none such to be
heard now-a-days. What are your cathedrals, and your
choirs, and your organs ? God laid the foundations of ou?-
temple on the pillars of the earth. Our floor was nature's
verdant carpet ; our canopy was the vaulted sky, the heaven
in which the Creator dwells. In the distance, the Cheviot
Hills ; around us, nature in all her luxuriant loveliness.
There, fields ripening into harvest ; here, lowing herds in all
the fulness of supply for man. On the banks of that little
rivulet at our feet, lambs, the emblem of innocence, sporting
in the shade, and offering to Heaven the only acknowledg-
ment they could, in the expression of their happiness and joy.
The birds around warbUng praises to Him who daily provides
for all their wants ; the flowers and green fields offering their
perfume ; and, lovelier still, and infinitely dearer to Him,
multitudes of redeemed souls and hearts, perfumed by faith,
singing His praises in " grave sweet melody," perhaps in the
tune of " Martyrs." Martyrs, so sung on Stitchel Brae,
102 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
might almost arrest an angel on an errand of mercy, and
would aflford him more pleasure than all the chanting, and all
the music, and all the organs in all the cathedrals of Europe.'
It so happened that Dr Lawson was present at the last
summer communion in which the 'tent' was used on this now
famous Brae; and he preached the last sermon that was
delivered from it, on a beautiful evening in July 1810. As
they talked over the supper-table that night, he mentioned
that it was just forty years since, for the first time, he attended
a Stitchel sacrament ; and then gave some account of ' the
work ' on that occasion. ' How can that be ? ' some one
asked. You were not then a minister.' ' No,' he replied, ' I
wa^ but a student ; but I remember all about it.' He was
asked to allude to this circumstance in his sermon on the fol-
lowing forenoon. ' I have done as outre things before,' was
his answer, and the subject dropped. On the Monday he
gave out his text from John xxi. \S, 19, 'Verily, verily, I
say unto thee. When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself,
and walkedst whither thou wouldest : but when thou shalt be
old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird
thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake
He, signifying by what death he should glorify God.' Having
read these verses, he thus prefaced his sermon : ' Brethren,
the first time I attended a communion in Stitchel was this
time forty years. Tour late venerable pastor, Mr Coventry,
then discoursed from these words in John ii. 11, ' This
beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and mani-
fested forth His glory; and His disciples believed on Him.'
He, on that occasion, chose a subject connected with Christ's
first miracle ; and I, on this occasion, select one connected with
His last. Few of you now present were, at that time, hearers
of the Gospel ; and forty years hence, all, or most of us, shall
be either in heaven or in hell. 0 that we were wise ! that we
understood this! that we would consider our latter end!'
He then preached a most interesting sermon, which was
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 103
listened to with solemn and profound attention. On inquiring
afterwards, it was ascertained that only one of his audience,
an elder of Mr Hall's, of Kelso, had been present on the
occasion referred to.
The stories about his absence of mind are numerous, and
some of them are true. ' Nullum magnum ingenium sine mix-
tura dimentise,' does not in any sense apply to this peculiarity
in his habits ; for though he was, in a sense, a man of genius,
there was such an air of judgment about itj as to throw mere
eccentricities into the shade. It has been shrewdly surmised,
that he is the original of the ' Rey. Josiah Cargill,' whom
Sir Walter Scott so inimitably depicts in the novel of ' St
Ronan's Well ;' and, certainly, the resemblance, in some im-
portant points, is very striking. Sir Walter, indeed, could
scarce miss having the Selkirk scholar in his eye. He was a
near neighbour ; and, though not upon terms of intimacy, they
were well known to each other. Sir Walter had a most pro-
found respect for Dr Lawson's learning, and especially for the
extent and accuracy of his historical knowledge. He is said
to have consulted hira sometimes on historical facts and dates.
In submitting a few illustrations of his ' obliviousness,' or
eccentricity of manner, it is proper to guard the reader
against the idea that Dr Lawson ever fell into such negli-
gences in society ; it was only when he was alone, or prosecut-
ing some weighty subject that lay upon his mind when in the
repose of study. It must also be remembered that freedoms
were allowed in his time, which at present are unknown.
Great changes have come over the manners of quiet social life
since his days, which in some respects may not be considered
to be improvements. In general, he had a correct taste, an
innate sense of propriety, and spoke and acted accordingly.
His son, the late Rev. A. Lawson, used to tell that his
father's mind ' was often so intensely occupied with im-
portant and profound study, that he did sometimes greatly
forget himself, so as not only to cause the gentle smile, but
104 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
the hearty laugh ;' and he gave the following instance. One
very rainy day, as his father was trudging along a road, a
friend, whose door he was passing, saw the plight. in which he
was, and shoved an umbrella into his hand. As he went
along, the rain still faUing, a person met him who noticed
that the umbrella was buttoned up in his great-coat. Think-
ing that the umbrella had given way, he said, ' Doctor, I am
sorry that your umbrella has not served you in this heavy
rain.' ' O,' replied he, ' I have a good umbrella, but I have
concealed it here lest it get wetted by the shower.'
One day, when he had finished his lecture in the Hall, and
when leaving the room, instead of taking with him, as usual,
his Hebrew Bible, he deliberately lifted one of the student's
hats, and walked oif with it. On discovering his mistake, he
returned, and, laying the hat on the table, simply said, ' I
think I have taken away one of your hats instead of my Bible.'
None of the students had courage to inform him, at the time,
of his mistake. His reverend appearance, and their high
respect for him, prevented either speech or laughter.
He did not hesitate when, in the act of preaching, anything
of importance occurred to his mind, to pause, make the inti-
mation, and then proceed. Once, when he had finished his
first particular, he announced his second, thus : ' I remark, in
the second place, that' — Here, he paused, and added, 'I
intend a diet of pastoral visitation, on Tuesday next, among
the families residing,' etc., etc. ; and then, quite composedly,
proceeded with his subject.
There was a particular peg in the lobby of his house, on
which he hung his hat. By some mistake, one of the young
ladies' bonnets had got upon this peg ; and in passing out, the
' worthy man took it down, and would have walked with it
deliberately up the street, had not some one informed him of
the mistake.
The vent of the kitchen chimney was once on fire : the ser-
vant-girl took alarm, ran to the library, and, suddenly open-
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 105
ing the door, shrieked to the Doctor, ' Sir, the house is on
fire!' 'Go and tell your mistress,' he said; 'you know I
have no charge of household matters,' — and so continued his
reading.
One of his sons, who afterwards became a highly esteemed
Christian minister, was a very tricky boy, perhaps mischievous
in his tricks. Near the manse lived an old henwife, of
crabbed temper, and rather ungodly in her mode of living.
She and the boy had quarrelled ; and the result was, that he
took a quiet opportunity to kill one of her hens. She went
immediately to Dr Lawson, and charged his son with the
deed. She was believed, and as it was not denied, punish-
ment was inflicted. He was ordered to abide in the house,
and, to make the sentence more severe, his father took him
into the studij, and commanded him to sit there with him.
The son was restless, and frequently eyed the door. At last,
he saw his father drowned in thought, and quietly slipped
out. He went directly to the henwife's, and killed another
hen, returning immediately, and taking his place in the library,
his father having never missed him. The henwife speedily
made her appearance, and charged the slaughter again upon
him. Dr Lawson, however, waxed angry, — declared her to
be a false accuser, as the boy had been closeted with him all
the time, — adding, ' Besides, this convinces me that you had
just as little ground for your first accusation ; I therefore
acquit him of both, and he may go out now.' The woman
went off in high dudgeon, and the prisoner in high glee.
When he went to assist at the Dunfermhne communion, he
always called upon the Rev. Mr Carruthers, of South Queens-
ferry, and either passed a night with him, or waited till such
time as he could obtain a passage across to Fife.
Mr Carruthers was one of the excellent of the earth, and
cherished the highest regard for his visitor, who reciprocated
the friendship. At one time, the weather became so tempestu-
ous that the boatmen refused to cross. Dr Lawson was ex-
106 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
pected to preach in Dunfermline in the evening, and was some-
what disconcerted. Mr Carruthers and he went down to the
pier once and again, and tried to persuade them to attempt the
passage. But they would not. Dr Lawson asked them when
they thought the wind might fall, and they replied that three
or four hours might elapse. He walked aside a few yards,
evidently vexed ; but returned, saying, ' I insist on your try-
ing to ferry me across. Dr Husband will be very anxious,
and I will be most obliged.' '■ No,^ said the skipper em-
phatically, ' it is impossible. In such a storm the boat is
sure to be lost.' He again stepped aside by himself, and
appeared to be in deep thought, when he was seen taking
out his purse, with which in his hand he returned to the
man, saying quite sincerely, ' Did you say the boat might
be lost V ' Yes,' replied the boatman. ' Well, then,' said
J Dr Lawson, fingering the money in the purse, ' how much
would the boat cost?' overlooking, in his absence, the cer-
tainty of his own and the sailor's loss.
Mrs Lawson and he were once returning from a sacrament
in the country. As was the custom then, they rode upon the
same horse — she on a pad behind him. At her request he
made a detour, that she might call on a friend. Having
slipped off the horse, Mrs Lawson went and made her call,
he promising to wait upon her return. She was not long
I gone, when the horse quietly walked away, and soon reached
Selkirk. ' Here,' called the Doctor to the servant, ' come and
help your mistress off.' The servant looked surprised, and
told him that Mrs Lawson was not upon the horse. He
immediately rode back and took up his wife, who was making
the best of her way homewards.
He inade some awkward mistakes sometimes when out in
the country upon diets of pastoral visitation. He rode off,
one forenoon, to visit at Whitmore Hall. In about an hour
afterwards he was seen riding up the street to his manse,
utterly unconscious that the animal had turned round and
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 107
brought him back to Selkirk, without accomplishing his in-
tended visitation.
He was journeying on foot once to assist at the communion in
Liddesdale. He went off the road, and got bewildered among
the hills. Meeting a herd-boy, he asked him the way to New-
oastletown ; the herd kindly walked with him a mile or two,
and having set him right, returned. This was early in the
morning. When the herd was at dinner in the kitchen, a tap
was heard at the door. ' Come in,' said the boy. ' Can you tell
me the road to Newcastletown, and I will be obliged to you,
for I doubt I have wandered ? ' inquired a stranger. The boy
looked up, and saw that it was Dr Lawson. ' Sir,' said he,
' I think ye're baith daft and donnered. I pat you on that
road this morning already, and what brings you back this way
again?' The doctor recognised his guide, and simply said,
' I daresay I am donnered enough ; but I have reason to thank
God that I have lost none of my senses yet.' The herd there-
after arose, and kindly reconducted him to the right path.
There was great alarm one night in the manse at Selkirk.
The Professor had gone away in the morning to a country
Visitation, and was not expected back till the afternoon.
Afternoon came, but not the doctor. At length a servant
lad from a neighbouring farm called, and said he had come to
take back the horse with which the minister had been accom-
modated by his master that afternoon. He was'' told that Dr
Lawson had not returned. Different parties were now sent
out to search for him, and darkness was fast setting in. After
a considerable time, he returned, under the guidance of a
man who had found him in the midst of a corn-field, sitting
upon the horse, which, while he was meditating, was busy
ruminating the corn on which it fed.
This good man, with all his gravity both of mind and
manner, was by no means insensible to the ludicrous, and
could take as hearty a laugh as others, when there was a time
and an occasion for it. One day he surprised Mrs Lawson
108 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
by bursting into an immoderate fit of laughter as he entered
the manse. On being questioned as to the cause of it, he
said, ' As I was coming down the street, I saw Jock Cuthers
getting a special drubbing from the hands of his wife.' Mrs
Lawson remarked that she did not see in that any great
cause for laughter, but the contrary. ' Ay,' replied the Doc-
tor, ' it may be so ; but the thing that makes me laugh so is,
not that Jock got licked, but that he was so silly as to allow
her. He should be master in his own house.'
Many of Dr Lawson's wise sayings have become proverbial
in the country-side where he so long lived. Some of them are
worthy of being recorded. It is told that he often threw out
remarks in his sermons, evidently unconscious of their being
out of the ordinary, and then passed on as if he had uttered
the simplest commonplace. ' I remember an instance of this,'
said an old man, one of his hearers. ' He was lecturing in
the fifth chapter of First Timothy, and after expounding the
23d verse, he said, "Paul did not always work miracles,
otherwise he would not have ordered Timothy to drink wine,
nor have left Trophimus at Miletum sick."' Alluding to
animated preaching, he said, ' He who, as a preacher, is ani-
mated from beginning to end of his discourse, is not animated
at all.' The late Dr Balmer often, with delight beaming in
his countenance, expatiated on the feats of his tutor's memory
and scholarship. He used to tell that some of Dr Lawson's
greatest sayings were never printed, even when the sermons
themselves, in which they occurred, were published. He in-
stanced his ' Sermons to the Aged,' some of which he had
heard, but which, in their printed form, did not contain many
of the most sagacious reflections that escaped him in their
deUvery from the pulpit. ' You will not find this one,' said
Dr Balmer; ' and I heard it and others of a like kind: " An
old man should know that he is old, and should be willing
that others should know it too." '
Dr Thomson, of Penrith, was asked by him what he
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 109
considered to be the best preparation for good preaching on
Sabbath. Dr Thomson suggested the ordinary prehminaries
of study and prayer, when Dr Lawson added, ' One of the best
preparations for preaching well is a sound sleep.' At another
time, in answering affirmatively the question, whether he (Dr
T.) had slept well, he rejoined, 'The man who sleeps well
must either have a very good conscience or a very stupid one.'
Dr Kidston, of Glasgow, was from a boy a great favourite
with him, and was privileged with his friendship till death.
Had I foreknown that the honour of waiting this memoir
should have fallen to me, I would have carefully taken down
from his lips by far the most authentic, characteristic, and
copious anecdotes and proverbial sayings of this excellent
man. The most and best of these, however, are now buried
with him, and cannot be revived. Dr Kidston had rather a
taste for curious inquiries both in metaphysics and theology.
In the long course of his sixty years' ministry these accumu-
lated, and it was his wont, when with congenial friends, to
present the knotty points to them, and obtain their views.
Dr Lawson was too adroit at cutting such Gordian knots to
be allowed to pass, and many a subtle question did he solve
for his inquisitive friend. On one occasion he submitted the
following query to the Professor : —
' The great commandment is, that we are to love our
neighbour as ourselves. Now, Doctor, does this mean that
we are really to love all our fellow-creatures as fondly as we
do ourselves ? '
' That cannot be,' replied Dr Lawson, ' the import of our
Lord's words ; for then a man would have to love the wives
of other men as dearly as his own wife.'
This reply is certainly subtle, discovering a comprehensive
and acute mind, — a mind that can perceive, at a glance,
recondite and refined analogies ; that can marry thoughts to
one another which were before apart.
When Dr Lawson travelled to London, he had in the coach
110 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
with him two men, who evidently suspected that they had got
a minister and a simpleton with them. They acted accord-
ingly ; but he seemed not to heed it. At last one of them
put to him rather abruptly the startling question, ' How is
it, sir, that a man such as I take you to be, can refuse to
beUeve that Socrates and Plato, Epictetus and Seneca, and
other such wise and virtuous men among the heathen, have a
place among the blessed in heaven ? '
' God,' replied the wise and good man, < has told us in His
Word, that " where no provision is, the people perish," and
that " there is no other name given under heaven among men
whereby they must be saved, but the name of Jesus ;" but
whether it pleased Him in any other way to make known this
name to such celebrated heathens as those you have mentioned,
I do not find that He has anywhere expressly informed me.
I feel that I ought not to attempt " to be wise above what is
written," and that it is not for me to " hmit the Holy One of
Israel." If it please God, in His mercy, and through faith in
His Son, to take you and me to heaven, and that we shall
find there Socrates and Plato, I am sure we will be glad
indeed to meet them ; but if we shall not find them in heaven,
I am also sure that the Judge of all the earth will be able to
assign a good reason for their absence, and that none in
heaven will be either able or willing to dispute either the jus-
tice or the wisdom of His sovereign arrangements.'
During this conversation Dr Lawson had clasped his hands
together, and had continued to twirl the one thumb round
the other. Piqued at the ' clencher' he had received to his
question, his fellow-traveller asked him, 'Pray, sir, do you
always do that ? ' imitating, at the same time, the Doctor's
motion with his thumbs. ' No,' was the philosophic reply,^
' I sometimes do ihis,^ and he twirled his thumbs in the re-
verse way. The two wiseacres thought it best to let him
alone, and so they had quietness during the remainder of the
journey.
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. Ill
Travelling at another time with a young friend, the latter
said to him, ' I do not think you would need to fear much
though your thoughts were laid open.' ' I could not bear,'
he replied, ' that the course of my thoughts, even for one
hour, should be exposed.'
Talking one day of the circumstances of one's birth, he said,
' It is a matter over which we have no control ; but it is
certainly a matter of great thankfulness that we were not
born the sons of princes or of dukes, but in humble life. In
this condition there are fewer obstacles in the way of becom-
ing truly rehgious. In high hfe there is much that is arti-
ficial, and so much devotedness to the things of time, and so
much pleasure-seeking, that the difficulty in the way of be-
coming truly godly is vastly increased.'
No feature in Dr Lawson's character was more conspicuous
or beautiful than his love of truth. That love was supreme
from his very boyhood. He was once charged with having
written and published falsehood. He was astonished. He
seemed almost confused, and scarce could realize it. At
length, with the greatest simplicity and sincerity, he said, ' I
am indeed chargeable, in other respects, with many and great
sins against God ; but, from the earliest of my recollections,
I am unable to remember any one instance in which I have
asserted as true what I knew or believed to be false.' On
one occasion he was invited by Lord and Lady Traquair to
dinner. The family of Traquair is a Roman Catholic one,
and surprise may be felt that such a man as Dr Lawson
should have been thus countenanced. By this time his fame
was widely spread over all that district as one of the wisest
and most learned of men, and the curiosity of that noble house
was excited about him. He went, and on his return Mrs
Lawson made special inquiries about the whole matter,
especially respecting the kind of entertainment, and how the
man of such primitive manners conducted himself at the table
of a noble lord. Among the viands of the repast was a
112 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
savoury dish of mushrooms, of which the venerable guest was
asked to partake. He did so, but he merely tasted tbem.
'How do you rehsh my mushrooms?' inquired Lady
Traquair.
' I do not like them at all, my Lady,' was his reply.
' How could you so speak of her Ladyship's mushrooms?'
asked Mrs Lawson, when he was narrating the scene ; ' it
.was not good breeding.'
' It may be so,' he said, ' but I could not tell a lie, what-
ever came of the mushrooms.'
Dr Simpson thus writes to the compiler : ' Many a time
have we heard the story of Lady Traquair's mushrooms, and
it was always told as illustrative of his unswerving truthful-
ness. How many, in such a predicament, through an assumed
pohteness and dread of giving offence, would have asserted
the very contrary ! But he never allowed an untruth, in any
circumstances, to pollute his hps. Neither, indeed, would he
suflfer any profanity to pollute his ears without bearing testi-
mony against it. This was iinely illustrated on many occa-
sions. The following instances are authentic : — He was dining
one day at a friend's house. A gentleman of the party was
frequently employing, in his conversation, the words, ' The
devil take me.' Dr Lawson at length arose, and ordered his
■horse. The host was surprised, and insisted upon his remain-
ing, as dinner had scarcely begun. But nothing could prevail
on him to do so ; and when pressed to give a reason for his
abrupt departure, he replied, ' That gentleman there (pointing
to him) has been praying pretty often this afternoon, that the
devil would take him ; and as I have no wish to be present
at the scene, I beg to be allowed to depart.' On another
occasion, he had come into Edinburgh to have a consultation
with the late Dr Gregory upon the state of his health. He
was introduced by one of his own clerical friends, who was
on terms of intimacy with this eminent physician. In the
course of the visit Dr Gregory frequently used the name of
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 113
G od. Dr Lawson, on leaving, said to him, ' Sir, it is written,
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy G.od in vain,
for the Lord' will not hold him guiltless tliat taketh His name
m vain.' The Doctor instantly turned round to their mutual
friend, and said curtly, ' Dr , you did not tell me that
Mr Lawson was a clergyman.'
His usual medical adviser (at one time) had contracted this
sinful and vulgar habit of profane swearing ; and, though in
general careful to set a seal upon his lips in the minister's
presence, he sometimes forgot himself. The Doctor had sent
for him on one occasion to consult upon the state of his
health, and gave a pretty minute account of his ailments.
Off his guard, the physician rather angrily said, ' D it,
sir, you are the slave of a vile habit, and you will not soon
recover unless you at once give it up.'
' And what is the vile habit you refer to ? ' simply inquired
the patient.
' It is your practice of smoking — the use of tobacco is
injuring your constitution.'
' Well, if that be the case,' said Dr Lawson, ' I can abandon
the pipe ; but will you permit me to give you a hint too, as
to a vile habit of your own ; and which, were you to give it
up, would be a great benefit to yourself, and a comfort to
your friends?'
' What is that?' inquired the M.D.
' I refer to your habit of profane swearing,' replied the
divine.
' True.' said Dr , ' but that is not an expensive habit, '
like yours.'
'Ah, sir!' rejoined Lawson, 'I warn you that you will
discover it to be a very expensive habit indeed, when the
account is handed to you.'
His preaching was often tender and pathetic, at other
times conscience-striking, leaving, hke the eloquence of
Pericles, a sting in the minds and memories of his hearers.
H
114 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
His exercitations on the decalogue were particularly pungent.
It is said that, when he came to the eighth commaudment, he
insisted strongly on restitution. Next morning, a family, frora
whose house a pair of shoes had been stolen some years
before, found the price of them lying upon the sole of the
window, placed there by the unknown offender. The bow had
been drawn at a venture, but God gave to it the right direction.
In a vei'y simple, and apparently easy way, as has been
already illustrated, Dr Lawson could be cuttingly severe.
To a minister of rather a light mind, bordering on impudence,
if it did not embrace it, he once said —
' Sir, your predecessor was a grave, good, godly man.'
' You do not mean,' replied the other, ' to insinuate that I
am not.'
' I only say, emphatically,' was the reply, ' that your prede-
cessor was an eminently godly man.' The reply operated as
a ' sharp two-edged sword.'
The late Rev. Mr Smart, of Paisley, with some others of
his quondam fellow-students, being on a summer excursion,
called en passant on their old Professor. After some desultory
conversation they happened to take up the subject of ' the
influence of terror.' In illustration, Mr Smart narrated that
a man once attempted to rob an eagle's nest on the face of a
tremendous precipice, being let down by means of a rope.
AVhile engaged with the eaglets, down with fearful swoop
came upon him one of the old couple. He had carried a
sword with him, and he instantly struck at it. In doing so,
he accidentally cut the rope by which he was suspended, all
except one ply. Upon this, he shouted in terror to his com-
panions aloft, and implored them to be cautious in hoisting
him up. He was got up in safety ; ' but,' added Mr Smart,
' such had been the influence of fear in his mind, upon per-
ceiving his most hazardous condition, that his hair, which
was jet black when he was let down, was found to be white
as snow when he was pulled up.'
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 115
' Ay, ay,' said Dr Lawson, wishing to check the marvel-
lous, ' I recollect to have heard of a man whose wig had ;
turned grey from a fright he got.'
He once somehow got benighted when traveUiug from
Selkirk to assist his friend Mr Kidston, of Stow. On passing
a farm-house, he inquired the road to Stow. The farmer's
wife did not know him, but asked him to come in and rest a
while. He did so, when she told him that he was off the
direct road, and that it would be better for him to wait over
the night, and proceed in the morning. He consented.
Supper, in the shape of good oat-meal porridge, was pre-
sented, of which he slightly partook. When done, he noticed
the wife giving a sort of inquiring nod to her husband, to
which he returned another sufficiently intelligible to his
spouse. The ' big ha' Bible ' was then laid upon the table,
and family worship was performed, the worthy woman pre-
siding in the service, and also offering up the prayer.^ Tlie
minister left next morning, and arrived at Stow in peace and
safety. The farmer and his wife were members of the Stow
congregation, and great was their surprise when they saw
their guest of the former evening entering the pulpit. The
wife waited upon him at the dismissal, and apologized for
presenting him with ' porridge ' for his supper ; adding that,
if she had but known who he was, something better might
have been forthcoming, 'Never mind, my good woman.'
replied Mr Lawson, ' I was much obliged to you for your
hospitahty ; but you must allow me to say that I liked your
prayer a great deal better than your porridge.'
' Dr Waugh, of London, used to tell that 'when his father happened
to be from home, the family devotions were conducted by his mother,
as at that time indeed was the practice generally observed by reli-
gious mistresses of families ' (vide ' Memoir of Dr Waugh,' p. 14).
In some instances, however, it seems the mistresses led the devotions
even when the master was present. There were not only giants in
those days, but wives worthy of them.
IIG THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
He was once present at the ordination of a minister some-
where in Fifeshire. During the solemn service a violent
thunderstorm broke upon the place, and cast a gloom over
the minds of the people, especially of those who had not been
favourable to the settlement. He heard some superstitious
remarks upon the subject, and put an end to them by saying,
' You will observe that the Prince of the power of the air has
done his utmost, and yet the ordination has gone on, and no
evil of any kind has been done.' On his return, he had to
cross the Frith of Forth, but waited in a certain brother's
house till a threatening storm had passed over. It was sus-
pected by hira that this brother was not given to hospitality.
Every now and then he would I'ise and look out at the window,
saying, as he resumed his seat, ' Be not uneasy, Doctor, it
will break up yet, and you will get across by and by ;' to
» which he replied, ' Do not fear, sir, for if I cannot get across
I will not stay with you.'
When the French prisoners were at Selkirk, they got up
for their amusement an amateur theatre, and enacted French
plays. Knowing that he was quite familiar with the lan-
guage, they sent him a request, as a compliment, to attend
the performance. He asked, ' Is it customary in France for
ministers to go to the theatre ?' ' There are some who
do, and some who do not,' was the reply. ' Well,' said he,
' it is the same in this country, and I am one of those who
do not.'
Tlie late excellent Mr Elles, of Saltcoats, when on his
marriage tour, called and spent an afternoon, along with his
bride, at the Professor's. The hours wore away, Mr and Mrs
Elles being loth to leave. The good man insisted on them
remaining over the night. But they could not, having pro-
mised to go to Stitchel, where Mrs Elles' father (the Rev. Mr
M'Lay) was minister ' We will have good moon-light all
the way,' said Mr Elles, on parting with him. -Yes,' re-
plied the Doctor, ' and I hope we are all going to that city
THE MINISTEK AND HIS WAYS. 117
" which hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine
in it ; for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is
the light thereof." '
When dehvering his lectures and sermons, he was some-
times so deeply impressed as to be unable to proceed. This
was affectingly the case one day, when he was delivering his
exposition on Joseph's discovery of himself to his brethren.
He wept, and the congregation wept. ' I think,' he said,
' we will all better take a rest for a time.' He then sat down
till composure returned, when he resumed.
These and many other characteristic sayings and doings of
Dr Lawson have been long afloat in the circle of his friends
and admirers. They are here recorded, as well to satisfy a
general expectation, as to illustrate pleasing features in his
character. Jeremy Taylor has been called ' the Shakespeare
of the Church.' We may pronounce Lawson to have been
her ' Solomon.' We conclude the chapter by a mere reference
to the kindliness of his heart and manners towards the com-
munity among whom he resided. He inquired not whether
they were Seceders or Churchmen, rich or poor, blind or
lame. If he could do a good turn to any one, he did it.
Passing by others of a more showy description, we may
simply advert to his passionate sympathies for the poor in
their diseases and destitution ; and when he could not by his
own efforts assist them, he was ever ready to interest others
in their behalf.
He wrote the following letter to Dr Caverhill, a distin-
guished physician : —
' Dear Doctor, — The bearer of this is the wife of one of
my elders. She is very much troubled with a scorbutic dis-
order, as is also her daughter. They are poor, and cannot
pay the medical fee. Will you be so good as give them your
best advice, and place it to the account of the Friend of man
and Saviour of the world V
118 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
We subjoin also, two extracts, as illustrations, from letters
which he wrote to Dr Kidston : —
'Selkirk, Nov. 22, 1800.
' Dear William, — I am sorry to put you to the expense
of a postage, even from Edinburgh, on a subject in which yon
have so little interest, as that of which I am going to speak.
An old man, called John Welsh, who keeps the toll near
Sunderland, a very respectable member of my congrega-
tion has a son lying sick at a place called Partick, near
Glasgow, where he has been since Whitsunday. He has a
wife and six children, and his father's bowels of compassion
are greatly moved for him, though he can afford him little
relief. He begged me to write to you concerning him,
although he did not know whether Partick was in your
bounds or not. I told him that I would write to you to
speak to the brother in whose bounds he was, that he might
take the care of him that is usual in such cases. I made
this promise to soothe the good man's grief, although I am
persuaded his neighbours would not suffer him to starve.
The young man has been a hearer, but not a communicant,
with us, and I cannot attest his character. I believe I
have not seen him for more than twenty years. I hope
you will take the first opportunity of mentioning the man's
situation to the brother in whose bounds Partick is, if it
is not in your own. I could not refuse to the good man's
grief the promise that I now perform ; and you know a
promise made, however inconsiderable in value, must be per-
formed.
' Your father, at the time of the communion, was well, and
as well quaMed as ever for his work. You have probably
heard that Mr Bell, of Wooler, is taken from us. He has, I
believe, left few equals and no superiors amongst us, hi those
qualities that commend esteem or engage love. I am per-
suaded that he is now with Christ.'
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 119
' This will be delivered into your hands by William Emond,
a young man who has the misfortune of being blind, but is
respectable from his behaviour. He has been long a com-
municant with us, and leaves us with a fair, and, I believe, a
well-deserved character. I was once highly pleased in visit-
ing his mother's family, in hearing her say that he had been
a father to it and to her in her widowed condition. He is
now disabled by a new affliction from providing for his mother
and himself, and goes to Glasgow in the hope of purchas-
ing, at an easy rate, a hand organ, by means of which he
expects to be able to supply her necessities as well as he
formerly did by the fiddle. I know not whether you can be
of any use to hira by advice on this subject ; but if you can,
I know you Ayill be happy to serve a man at once deserving
and unfortunate. My best wishes to Mrs Kidston, and for
your young family. I hope she has learned to bear affliction,
to profit by it, and to be thankful that onr afflictions are
mingled with so many mercies.'
Dr Lawson was often doing such beautiful things as these,
and these are the things that make manifest where a noble
heart is beating. His meek but kind intercessions on behalf of
the toll keeper's son and the blind fiddler, will not detract from
the pathos and richness of his benevolent nature. Besides the
young friend to whom he wrote, he could not have found one in
these respects so like himself. It is not now in my power, but,
had it been, I could have ascertained from Dr Kidston how he
managed in the cases entrusted to him by his beloved tutor.
Dr Lawson's usefulness as a minister was often manifested
and felt in the kindly and judicious manner in which he ten-
dered advice when he saw it to be necessary. Perhaps, in
this respect, he was the most inoffensive counsellor that ever
ventured upon the dehcate task. It is often said, that there
is nothing so difficult as the art of making advice agreeable.
He had this art ; not that he was a meddler in other folks'
120 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
affairs, especially where there was strife : this he carefnlly
eschewed, and all conceited interference he studiously avoided.
It is said that John Wilkes, in order to keep away unpalat-
able advisers whom he did not like, had the words, ' audi
alteram partem,' inscribed above his chair ; but in Dr Law-
son's case this device was not necessary. His very presence
was enough to forbid the approach of censoriousness. His
own gentle method comes out beautifully in the following
letters. A lady of his acquaintance had married a French
officer who was a Roman Cathohc, and to her he addressed
the following faithful and delicate lines : —
' I wished to call upon you before you left Selkirk for a
foreign country. Indisposition was one of the causes that
hindered me : now, I believe, it is too late. I therefore bid
you farewell by a few lines.
' You know the reason for which I was dissatisfied with
your marriage ; but I heartily approve of your following the
husband you have chosen, were he to go to the end of the
world. The difference of your rehgion from his is so far from
being a reason why you should not fulfil every duty as a wife,
that it furnishes a strong argument for endeavouring to fulfil
them in perfection, that you may adorn your profession.
' Your husband, I hope, is too generous and too reasonable
to wish you to change your religion, unless you are convinced
of its being false. He would certainly rather wish you to be
honest in the profession of a religion which he may esteem
erroneous, than a hypocrite in the profession of a religion
which he esteems to be true.
' You will, however, meet with temptations to the change
of that good religion which you learned from your worthy
father ; but I hope you will attend to the Bible, and pray
duly for the enlightening and estabhshing grace of the Holy
Spirit, that you may be kept from falling. You know the
sentence pronounced against all who are ashamed of Christ
and of His words, and against all who love any earthly friends,
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 121
or even their own life, more than Christ (Mark viii. 38 ; Luke
xiv. 25-27).
' I pray that you may always enjoy the pleasures of a
good conscience, that, whether present or absent, you may be
accepted of God, and that he may make you the dehght of
your husband and friends while you are in the world.'
To a nephew, who had engaged in a seafaring Ufe, he
wrote as follows. The whole letter discovers a great know-
ledge of human nature and character ; and it is employed to
give effect to the most wholesome admonitions. Extracts
only from this letter are given : —
' I hear that you have made choice of a seafaring life. I
hope you will find that our God is the God of the sea as M^ell
as of the dry land. Those who go down to the sea, and do
business in the great waters, see His works and His wonders
in the deep, and often find reason to thank Him for signal
dehverances from perils of great waters. It was surprising
that Jonah should ever think of fleeing away in a ship from
the presence of the Lord ; but his eyes were soon opened, and
he received a chastisement which brought him down to the
belly of hell, and got an unexpected deliverance which made
him an eminent type of our great Redeemer.
' Your life may sometimes be exposed to alarming danger ;
but the knowledge that this may often be the case will, I hope,
be useful to you. Boast not of to-morrow, for thou knowest
not what a day may bring forth. This may be said of us
who remain on the dry land as well as you : yet seamen are
still more inexcusable than other men, if they do not remem-
ber a lesson so loudly proclaimed by the raging waves and
the roaring wind ; and I do not see how they can enjoy peace
in their minds, unless they endeavour so to behave in the
course of their lives as they would have wished to have done,
when they see themselves carried up by one wave to the
clouds of heaven, and ready to be plunged into the bosom of
the ocean by the next.
122 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
' I hope the grace of God will preserve you from imitating
any of the bad examples that may be set before you by your
companions. It has been the unhappiness of many of them,
that they have not received an education fitted to preserve
them from yielding to the temptations to which they may be
exposed ; but you have been taught the fear of the Lord,
and in you it will be more criminal to practise wicked deeds
with them that work iniquity.'
Dr Lawson had a dear friend in the late Rev. Mr Young,
of Kincardine. In old age his mind became clouded. He
resigned his charge, retired with his family to Edinburgh,
and soon thereafter entered into peace. When his friend at
Selkirk heard of the disturbed state of his mind, he sent him
a very tender and soothing epistle. The vigorous, the tran-
quil, and the gay, are apt to treat such a state of mind
somewhat roughly, and even to ridicule its aberrations and
tremors. Dr Lawson knew better, and therefore simply
expostulates with Mr Young in gentle terms, tries to uplift
his spirit by wise counsels, and then leaves him to that mercy
which will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smok-
ing flax. The extracts subjoined are good specimens of his
style : —
' As I have seldom had the opportunity of seeing you for
many years back, I take this opportunity of putting you in
mind that, by the long-suffering of God, I still continue in
the world, and may derive much benefit from your prayers.
I am not what I once was ; yet through God's mercy I pos-
sess many comforts, and that cheerfulness of spirit which
becomes creatures to whom He is indulgent.
' It gives me pain to hear that a man of your good sense,
and one with whom the credit of rehgion is matei'ially con-
cerned, from the good opinion entertained of you as a
Christian and a minister, should groan under disquieting
thoughts concerning your future allotment from the hand of
God. Do you not remember the pleasant doctrine that you
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 123
have taught from your youth up ? You surely would not
for the whole world have it thought that you call in question
the exceeding riches of the grace of God, who sent His Son
to die that we might live. I hope you will follow the ex-
ample of David, who did what he could to dispel all gloomy
thoughts from the muid, by turning his thoughts to the ex-
cellency of the mercy of God, the wonderful works which
He did in the days of old, and the sure word of God. Your
Bible is much larger than his, and brighter and sweeter is
the light which flows from Him who came to heal the broken-
hearted.
' I would be much dejected were my thoughts always to
dwell on myself ; but, through the righteousness of Christ,
grace reigns to eternal life, and in Him it finds all that
justice can demand from the beheving sinner, I will, therefore,
hope in Christ ; and, as a penitent malefactor once said, No
man ever perisheth with his face turned to the cross of Jesus.
The God of all comfort will, I hope, in due time drive away
every gloomy thought from your mind. For your friends'
sake, for your own sake, for Christ's sake, look in humble
hope to the Saviour ; and may you be enabled to glorify God
by a cheerful reliance on His rich mercy in Christ Jesus ! '
His tender concern for the spiritual welfare of the un-
converted comes beautifully out in the following remonstrance
with a thoughtless young man, who continued to resist the
Gospel of the grace of God : —
' Selkirk, July 1817.
' Sir, — I believe you will wonder, if you have looked at
the subscription of this letter, why I have thought of writing
to you, as I beheve I have had no communication with you
save that of asking you a few questions in your childhood.
But you know I administered to you the ordinance of baptism
in your infancy ; and I hope I may be excused for putting you
in mind of a transaction in which you are so deeply interested.
124 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Sorry am I that you have not more deeply felt the obUgations
laid on you by that seal of God's covenant ; but I am not
without hope, that the instructions of your pious father will
sometimes be occurring to your mind.
' He did not neglect his engagements to train you up in
the service of that God and Saviour in whose name you were
baptized. I am persuaded that he will appear on the right
hand of the Judge of the world, on the day of His appear-
ing. And surely it must be an awful thing for you (which
God forbid), if he should be a witness that you were early
recognised as a member of the Church of Christ, and earnestly
exhorted to walk in His ways, and yet chose rather to con-
tinue to the end of life walking in those ways in which no
man ever yet found rest or peace.
' For your father's sake, I greatly rejoiced to hear that
some further space of repentance has been allowed you.
' I have sometimes thought, what if this favour of Provi-
dence should be an answer to the prayers of your father for
your eternal welfare : God delights in mercy. At the voice
of prayer. He respited for a year longer the barren fig-tree.
If it brought forth fruit, it was well ; but if not, it was to be
cut down as a cumberer of the ground.
' I would not have troubled you or myself with this letter,
did I not humbly hope that God would yet have mercy upon
the son of my departed friend, that he perish not : there is
joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.
' I believe your father is now enjoying the pleasures of an
angel in heaven ; and that neither the conduct nor the mis-
fortunes of any of his children can in the smallest degree
diminish his happiness. Yet I am persuaded that it will be
a great accession to his feheity, to be informed that Divine
grace has disposed you to comply with the gracious declara-
tions so often given to backsliders, and so sweetly enforced
by merciful promises : Jeremiah, thii'd chapter throughout.
I hope you will not count me impertinent in giving these lines
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 125
of advice to one in your circumstances, who is the son of one
whom I so highly respected as your father. I will greatly
rejoice in the day of Christ, if I find that your afflictions and
dangers have been the means of bringing you back to the
God of your father.
' I will not trouble you with anything more, but may just
mention one or two passages of Scripture, which represent to
you the danger of obstinacy in sin after warnings, and the
great encouragements which the God of grace gives you to
return to Himself : Proverbs xxii. to xxiii., xxix. 1 ; Luke
XV. throughout ; Isaiah xl. 6, 7.
• I suppose your father called your name Ebenezer, because
the Lord had blessed him.
' He will be your helper also, after all that you have done,
if you hearken to His merciful call, Jonah ii. 4, — I am, yours,
etc. ' G. Lawson.'
Dr Lawson, like Jacob, was ' a plain man ;' plain in his
appearance, in his dress, in his mode of hving, and in his inner
and outer ways. He affected no style whatever; he lived
above it, because he was really above it. If all mere finery
be, as it is said to be, a sign of littleness, then was he a great
man. What smacked of the thing called ' gentility' was to
him more than a stranger; it was a mystery. He turned
from it, under a natural repugnance to whatsoever was spe-
cious or untruthful. He was not, however, disdainful of those
who were its victims, when they chanced to fall in his way.
He was not haughty towards them ; he pitied them, especi-
ally if they were the professing people of God. But though
exceedingly unpretending in his habits and manners, those
who came into contact with him soon found that he was no
simpleton. In his personal appearance he was imposing
rather than commanding. His unfeigned meekness made the
latter impossible; but his venerable look, and his figure of
fully six feet in height, marked him out as a man who had
126 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
something to say, and who could say it when necessary.
Some consider more the person that speaks than the things
he says, and Dr Lawson's hearers were sometimes in danger
of falling into this mistake. He soon rectified it, and made
them feel that his speech was far more weighty than his per-
sonal claims. He was of thin and spare habit; his com-
plexion was sallow; his eyes were rather small, and of greyish
colour, but full of meaning and kindness. In repose, his face
was quietly thoughtful; but when conversing or preaching,
it was radiant, if not sparkUng, with inteUigence. His usual
demeanour was that of a man who was conversing with what
was within, rather than observant of what was without. In
the pulpit he was grave, solemn, earnest, and preached as
Apelles painted, ' for eternity.' At the dying pillow or in
the house of mourning, he was felt to be ' a teacher sent from
God.' At the fireside, when with his family or his friends,
he was genial in spirit and redolent of anecdote, equally far
from the placidities and platitudes of the mere talker, and the
sonorous drawling of the conceited fop. ' He never indulged,'
says one that knew him well, ' in what are called the plea-
sures of the table.' From taste, as well as from principle, he
was sober and abstemious almost to a fault, for he knew and
felt that the powers of digestion are weakened by retirement
and study; and that, in order to enjoy the pleasures of the
man, the scholar, and the Christian, the indulgence of the
bodily appetites must in all respects be regulated by the
strictest temperance. This, in his case, was the more necessary,
as his constitution was somewhat deUcate. He was never
a robust man, having never fully recovered from the effects
of small-pox in his younger days. Early, severe, and unre-
mitting habits shook still more the frail tabernacle, and ren-
dered that abstemiousness, which, in more robust men, would
have been a fault, in him a real and necessary virtue. The
temperament of genius such as his, whatever be the cause,
is generally delicate. In order to its lofty inspirations and
THE MINISTEE AND HIS WAYS. 127
copious overflow, it will ever be found that appetites of all
kinds must be kept habitually under the dutiful and happy
restraints of Christian sobriety and resignation. At one
period of his life he was threatened with the entire loss of his
eyesight. For a year or two he could but rarely permit
himself to read either the works of others, or what he himself
had written or published. By partially covering the page
with dark blotting-paper, he managed to write pretty cor-
rectly. The glare of the paper, however, gave him so much
pain, as to make it impossible for him to peruse it. In these
circumstances, Mrs Lawson was in the habit of slowly reading
over to him his discourses on the Sabbath morning, as well as
the chapters to be read at public worship, with the subjects
of lecture, the texts, the Scrip.tural quotations, and the
psalms to be sung. One such reading was quite sufficient to
imprint them all on his memory, so that, in the pulpit, he
rarely opened the Bible, repeating all the passages announced
viemoriter. This system continued for a year, when his power
of vision returned as perfectly as before.
When Dr Lawson was seen by discerning and intelligent
men, and especially when they enjoyed his literary fellowship,
he was at once appreciated.
Ou one occasion he assisted the Rev. Mr Glass, of Aber-
deen, at a communion. Several of the Professors of the
University were invited to meet him. Dr Eadd, the Professor
of Oriental Languages, was particularly struck with his pro-
found and extensive learning ; but not less so with his singu-
larly unaffected simplicity, if not severity of manners. In a
letter to Mr Glass, Dr Kidd gives this most graphic account
of his impressions of Dr Lawson : ' I had the honour to be
introduced to the Rev. Professor Lawson on Wednesday
evening. I consider this as one of the most agreeable and
fortunate events in my life. After being in his company
about half an hour, the opinion I formed of him was, that he
is one of the old prophets, or most certainly another Johi
128 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
the Baptist, sent to announce the appearance and the glory
of the latter days. I trust your congregation will derive
much comfort and advantage from his mission. When he
leaves this place, he should preach all the way on his return
home. If he had raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern
girdle about his loins, I am sure he is so much denied to the
luxuries and delicacies of modern fashion, that he would be
content to eat locusts and wild honey. I never regretted
anything more than the refusal of your invitation for Wednes-
day, not for the sake of anything else but his company and
conversation. Would to God that I were as much denied to
the world as he is ! I would this day prefer the station and
temper of George Lawson to the station and temper of
George Rex.' According to Dr Johnson, no one could be in
the company of Edmund Burke for half an hour without
being conscious that he was a great and an extraordinary
man. So thought the acute and accomphshed Aberdeen
Orientalist of the Selkirk sage. Dr Kidd's remark as to the
simplicity and naturalness of his appetites, may seem to be
rather overstated, but it is really not so. His life certainly
did not consist in meat and drink. A rather amusing, but
quite genuine anecdote, illustrative of this, has been furnished
to us by a near relative of the late Mr Greig, of Lochgelly,
which carries out and confirms Dr Kidd's idea. He arrived
one day at the Lochgelly manse quite unexpectedly. It so
happened that Mr and Mrs Greig were entertaining at dinner
a number of their friends. The dishes were numerous, and
the viands various and sumptuous. Mrs Greig was quite
dehghted that the Professor had come at such a time, and,
though every chair was pre-engaged, room was found for
him. He himself, however, was somewhat disconcerted. He
did not refuse to enter into company ; but he rather avoided
what are called ' occasions.' If they did not disturb his mind,
they sometimes deranged his stomach. Mrs Greig was
specially attentive to him after all were seated at the table.
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 129
She asked him to partake of some particular dish, but he
declined it. She then proposed another, which was also
refused ; then a third, a fourth — till, indeed, she had com-
pleted the entire circle of ' good things,' but to no effect.
The worthy man was disinclined to indulge himself, anxious
though he saw the lady to be. She was rather hurt at this
depreciation of her culinary art ; and her mortification was
great, as was the surprise of the assembled guests, when the
Professor, observing one of the waiting servants behind him,
simply said, 'Girl, I will be obliged to you if you will boili
and bring me an egg.' This was quite of a piece with his
remark to a friend, with whom he was conversing on the
variety that obtains in the external circumstances of man-
kind : ' If I were a king,' he said, ' I do not know that I
should live very much differently from what I do — only, per-
haps, I would have a haggis oftener to dinner.'
He did not mingle much with what is called ' society.' A
partial deafness contributed to this. Besides, he had a great
dishke to mere formal visiting, reckoning it, with Cowper,
to be ' an insatiable devourer of time, and fit only for those
who, if they did not visit, would do nothing.' No wise liter-
ary man ever exposed his Kfe less to a ' quotidian ague of
such frigid impertinences' as senseless visits. Still he liked
good company, when he could get and give what was good
for the head and heart. He was a ' discerner of spirits,' and,
without seeming to know it, at once took the accurate mea-
sure of those with whom he conversed. Often did his simple
look and grave appearance lead others astray, and tempted
them to use a liberty which was repelled in such a manner as
to forbid its repetition, without making enemies to himself;
not that he was a Rupert either in debate or in retort, but
that he knew how to answer a fool according to his folly.
He was never awlcward when abroad, and, from pure natural
instinct, conducted himself with equal self-possession in the
presence of a prince and a peasant. We may say of Law-
i
130 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
son's godliness what Hume tells of Sir William Temple's
philosophy, ' it taught him to despise the world without
rendering him unfit for it.' ... To those that knew him
only superficially, he might seem but little acquainted with
men or their ways ; but those who knew him intimately, found
that he had studied men as well as he had studied hooks. In
order to get acquainted with the springs of human conduct,
it is not necessary to mingle in the giddy circles of fashion
and dissipation. ' As face answers to face in a glass, so does
the heart of every human being to the hearts of all mankind.'
Dr Lawson knew himself, and had, with charitable but pene-
trating eye, observed those among whom he had been called
to perform his part in the drama of human hfe. No one had
read more fully, or studied more sagaciously, the natural and
civil, the political and religious, the individual and social
history of the human race. When to all these advantages is
added the important consideration, that of human character
the sign is natural, and the interpretation instructive, we
cannot fail to perceive good reason for expecting in Dr Law-
son — what was readily found, though not perhaps very gene-
rally understood — a profound, and, as it were, intuitive dis-
cernment of human character in general, and of the prevailing
dispositions, in particular, of the individuals with whom he
happened at any time to be brought into contact. This
perhaps comparatively httle understood feature in his cha-
racter, united with his universally known rectitude of prin-
ciple. Christian simpUcity of intention, and almost unparalleled
humility and charity, benevolence and gentleness of disposi-
tion, formed the great and commanding spring by which,
without the formal and provoking use of stern authority, he,
with such httle apparent efi"ort, succeeded so well in swaying
all in his family, in his congregation, and among his students,
with practical results so honourable to himself, and so happy
for all concerned. This great and good man was justly
esteemed and loved, in a degree almost inconceivable by thos
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 131
who have not been under his care. As no one who knew
him ever despised his youth, so no one ever felt disposed to
look down on him when bending under the weight of years
and bodily infirmities. On the contrary, in the spirit not of
Spartan merely, but of Christian reverence for age, not only
his family and his brethren in the muiistry, but also his con-
gregation and his theological pupils, felt, and showed that
they felt, as though the load under which they saw him pressed
had been laid on their own shoulders.
But one of the most fascinating as well as most authori-
tative and powerful of his ways among men, was his sweet
and forgiving spirit. Truly his way in this was pleasantness ;
here his path was peace. He seldom, if ever, gave offence
to others ; when he did so, he rose to an acknowledgment of
his regret. Nothing was so easy to his nature as to forgive,
and, with all his great memory, to forget too, any slight or
injury from others. Instances, illustrative of this feature,
might be given, but there is no need for it ; his whole life of
meekness and gentleness is the proof. He drew near to that
God who ' delights in mercy,' and who ' casts all our sins
into the depths of the sea.' Hence his shrinking from sullen,
brooding, vindictive men. He greatly pitied, but avoided
them. His discerning spirit at once took their accurate
measure. He tolerated no such spirit beneath his own roof ;
and when it appeared in his congregation he faithfully de-
nounced it. He thus continually breathed in a calm and
happy atmosphere of love ; drew around him kindred spirits,
with whom, to the close of life, he practised the gentleness
and kindness of Christ. No man better understood that
chapter of his rehgion which puts the crown upon the head
of charity. Some may think that, with such a meek spirit,
he must have been somewhat lax in his discipline. But it
was not so. However disagreeable, he was faithful and con-
scientious in rebuking sin. At the same time, he often mani-
fested great tenderness of heart towards the fallen, and great
132 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
prudence in the management of the ' fama clamosa.' In his
days it was customary to administer 'rebuke' from the
pulpit, just before pronouncing the blessing, — the person
oiFending being at the far end of the church, confronting the
minister. It so happened that, on a certain Sabbath, a
female member was to be ' rebuked ;' but Dr Lawson forgot
all about it, and pronounced the blessing. One of the elders
hastily reminded him of the omission. He was for an instant
disconcerted ; but, casting a pitiful glance at the young
woman, and leaning over the pulpit, he simply said, ' Go and
sm no more,' and then left the church. On another occasion,
one of his people came to inform him that two of the members
had committed a most scandalous offence, but that he alone
had been witness to it. Dr Lawson was deeply grieved, and
asked, ' Have you told this to any one except to me ?' The
man replied that he had not, and that no one but himself
knew about it. ' Well, then,' replied the minister, ' tell it not.
Keep it within your own bosom. If God, in His providence,
means to permit a scandal to come upon His Church here,
let Him do so ; but neither you nor I must do so. " Tell it
not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon ; lest the
daughters of the Phihstines rejoice, lest the daughters of
the uncircumcised triumph." '
In conducting the public worship of the sanctuary, he
followed the usual method. In prayer he was short, scrip-
tural, and profoundly solemnizing. In the exposition of
Scripture he was textual, natural, and occasionally critical.
It was always evident that he knew a great deal more than
could be communicated, and, equally so, that he was the only
person unaware of the masses of wisdom and thought that fell
so easily from his lips. In his sermons he was methodical.
Though not so much given to ' subdivide' as was then the
custom, he invariably seized and represented the mind of God
iu the passage, elucidated in the purest and simplest lan-
guage the doctrines contained in it, and enforced, in telling,
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 133
sagacious applications, its great practical lessons. He never
speculated; occasionally he unfolded the mysteries of the
Gospel, but never attempted to explain them. Few men
were wise so nearly iq) to what was written; none ever so
sensitively shrinked from attempting to withdraw the curtain
that hid the Holy of Holies from the view. No son of Levi
ever prostrated himself more reverentially before the oracles
of Heaven. There his faith was entirely passive. He was
as a child in God's temple of truth, and only assumed the
proportions, and put forth the strength of a giant's spirit,
when he spake that truth as God spake it, and as God would
have men to believe it. ' Jesus Christ and Him crucified ' was
the great staple of his preaching. It comes behind the real
state of the matter to say that he was ' not ashamed of the
Gospel of Christ.' He gloried ik it; in it all — from its be-
ginning in the ' councils of peace,' to its grand consummation
on the Cross of Calvary ; from its manger in Bethlehem, to
its mediatorial throne in heaven. His pulpit was the shrine
of the ' wisdom of God.' It uttered no uncertain sound on
any portion of the heavenly message. If it became a Sinai
to promulgate and enforce the law, it speedily ascended the
Gospel Zion to 'lift up' the Son of Man to the admiration
and welcome of sinners. We have seen a pulpit in Brussels
made of stone, upon which there is a curiously carved repre-
sentation of the expulsion of our first parents from Paradise
— a significant symbol of a stony-hearted system of teach-
ing. On the Selkirk pulpit it would have been more appro-
priate to have depicted the attractions of the Cross, drawing
all men everywhere into Paradise regained. For this end
Christ died and rose again. For the same end ought all His
ministers to rise into the pulpit and point the soul to Him as
its ' resurrection and life.' This grand feature in the evan-
gelical teaching of Mr Lawson remained upon it through life,
only becoming more and more settled, and softly brilliant, as
he himself grew in grace, and in ' the knowledge and faith' of
1 34 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON'.
his Divine Master. His comportment in the pulpit was
suitable to the lessons which were taught there, grave and
impressive beyond what is common. Had Cowper known
him, it might have been said that he had Lawsou in his eye
when he wrote these exquisite lines: —
' I would express him simple, grave, sincere ;
In doctrine uncorrupt ; in language plain,
And plain in manner ; decent, solemn, chaste,
And natural in gesture ; much impressed
Himself, as conscious of his awful charge,
And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds
May feel it too ; affectionate in look.
And tender in address, as well becomes
A messenger of grace to guilty men.'
He always lectured — that is, expounded Scripture — in the
forenoons of the Sabbath. This custom prevails among all
the Churches in Scotland, which sufficiently accounts for the
proverbial acquaintance of the Scotch people with the Word
of God. It is not practised in many of the evangelical
Churches in England. Indeed, except of the few who ' have
tasted of the good word of God,' the Scotch lecture is looked
upon as a sort of lame apology for the required service, as a
put-off in lack of something more substantial. Hence it is
not popular. It is to be hoped that a change in this respect
is near, and that, when a better taste has been cultivated, and
a higher degree of piety has been reached, this ' searching ' of
the Scriptures will be regarded not only to be a duty, but a de-
cided and most beneficial improvement upon the system. The
Selkirk expositions were masterpieces of correct exegesis,
and were perhaps as thoroughly imbued with the spirit of
Scripture as any uninspired teaching could be. His minute
acquaintance with ' all Scripture' accounts for this. He was
independent of the printed text. Having read the passage to
be explained, he shut the Bible and proceeded in his illustra-
tions, from verse to verse, with perfect accuracy. Thus, how-
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 135
ever instructive the lecture itself miglit be, the people were in
no danger of applying to it the saying on the ' notes of Persius,'
that the ' sauce was better than the fish.' In those exposi-
tions he availed himself of the stores of his mind, especially to
illustrate and enforce such passages of Scripture as are some-
times considered to be too abstruse for comprehension, or too
barren for utility. It was his delight to bring forth the gold
treasured in them.
As a minister, Dr Lawson lived all his days on the most
friendly terms with his congregation. Of placid temper, wise
forbearance, and conciliatory spirit, he went out and in among
them, and his steps were gentle as the fall of moonhght.
With his elders, plain and unlettered, but God-fearing men,
he was not unnecessarily, but pleasantly famihar. He ruled
not them, but the Church along with them. Though univer-
sally allowed to be one of the wisest of men, he took their
counsel with becoming respect. On one occasion a case of
considerable diflSculty was before the session. Dr Lawson
stated his views upon it carefully and at length. They were
just coming to a decision, when one of the elders stepped forth
and gave quite a different view of the case from that of the
moderator, who at once gave way, with the remark, ' Well,
I did not think of that. I feel greatly obhged to you for
stating your view of the matter, and I see that if we had not
taken that view, we should have come to a wrong conclusion,'
— a scene and a saying which illustrate the old Spanish
proverb —
' EI sabio muda consejo, el necio no,'
which, being interpreted, is, ' A wise man changes his mind, a
fool never will.'
He was in a very special manner a ' son of consolation.'
His letters to the bereaved were really heavenly; and his
visits to the sick and dying were as cold waters to a thirsty
soul. Whatever the disease might be, he never shrank from
his duty A young miuisLer obtained from him the following
136 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
characteristic reply, in answer to a request for his advice
on this subject : ' I always feel it to be my duty to visit the
sick, though their diseases be infectious. There is little
danger of infection in so short a visit as is proper in such
cases, and precautions against danger may be used. We
are always safest in the path of duty, and God is a powerful
preserver.' His wonderful knowledge of the Bible, and his
readiness and tact in applying its truths and comforts, quah-
fied him, beyond many, for this most important department
of a pastor's duty. He received, during the course of his
ministry, many affecting proofs of his usefulness in it. On
their dying beds, his people made known to him how God
had blessed his ministry to their souls. It speaks volumes
for his piety and conscientiousness, that he never allowed
other considerations to stand in the way of these visits of
mercy and compassion. He was a profound thinker, and an
enthusiastic student ; but it was never felt by him to be any
sacrifice, to go forth from his study to visit the fatherless and
the widows in their affliction ; to cheer the broken in heart ;
and to point the eye of the dying sinner to the Lamb of God.
That early trial of his, in all probabihty, was God's appointed
mean to prevent him, in the peculiar constitution of his mental
habits, from neglecting one of the first duties of his office.
He was very successful upon one occasion, and in a very
simple manner too, in dispelling spiritual gloom from, and
restoring the joy of God's salvation to, one of the oppressed
daughters of Zion. When on a visit to Dr Husband and
Mr Macfarlane, of Dunfermline, he was taken by them to see
a venerable old lady, very highly respected by her ministers.
She had been dwelling for years in ' Doubting Castle :' she
found no sweetness in the promises ; and went about, as
without the sun, moaning over her hopeless condition. She
could not be relieved from the agonizing conviction that she
was, notwithstanding her Christian profession, ' in the gall
of bitterness, and in the bonds of iniquity.' Her spiritual
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 137
comforters had despaired of her case. Failing themselves,
they had taken many excellent ministers to converse and pray
with her ; but hitherto all in vain. When Dr Lawgou was
introduced to her, she unbosomed her grief to him in a long
and heartrending strain, concluding with the severest re-
proaches against herself, and an expression of her fears, that
as no sinner had ever been so great a one as she, so no punish-
ment would be like to hers. He heard her patiently up to
this, when he meekly and very solemnly broke silence, and
said, " Mrs P , you have very accurately described the
state of my own heart, — you have described the sinfulness I
feel, and which, equally with you, I abhor and lament.' The
good old woman looked confounded. She anticipated no such
reply from such a saint ; and, starting from her seat, said,
' What do I hear ? Is it possible, Dr Lawson, that such is
the state of your heart V Silence was maintained for some
minutes, — the words of the Professor went down into her
soul ; she turned them over and over in her mind, wondering
how it could be that a saint, indisputably of the highest rank,
should classify himself with such as she ; and, at length, as
the clouds were clearing off, and true light began to shine,
she arose from her ' miry clay,' and ever afterwards, with her
feet upon ' the rock,' sung the new song of her redemption.
The captive was set free, and was never again held in such
bondage. It was a word in season, and the Spirit of the
Lord gave it all its efficacy.
To the instruction of the young he gave sincere and zealous
heed ; and by them he was loved — almost adored, so happily
united in him were gravity and suavity of manner. They
kept silence at his counsel ; and the light of his countenance
they cast not down. But this will be more particularly
illustrated when we come to consider his quaUfications as a
Professor of Theology.
He was a decided advocate for social prayer-meetings in
Christian congregations, and took much pains to have them
138 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
established in his own. When encouraging his people to
attend, he would remind them of these sweet Scriptures : ' As
ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, so doth the sweetness
of a man's friend by hearty counsel.' ' If any two of you
shall agree as to anything that ye shall ask, it shall be done
of My Father who is in heaven.' One proof of his practical
wisdom was his enjoining upon his people, in these exercises,
' brevity in prayer.^ He had a particular aversion to long
prayers, whether in God's house or in private. ' We have no
idea,' he used to say, ' how much the devil is served by long
prayers.' Of the same mind was the great and good Robert
Hall. He once complained of a certain individual, that he
had ' first of all prayed him into a devotional state of mind,
and then prayed him out of it.' His advice to his people was
much the same as he was wont to give to his students, ' never
to let their prayers before others exceed ten minutes in length,'
— an advice founded on long experience, and the wisdom of
which is apparent. Long morning prayers in public tend to
quench at the very outset the true spirit of devotion, and
generally assume rather the form of addresses than of direct
suppUcation. Dr Lawson could never endure what he called
' preaching in prayer,' and pointed to it as an error into which
young ministers especially were apt to fall. To avoid this
error, he exhorted them to cultivate the form of ' direct peti-
tion,' knowing that, if this were attended to, no social or
pubUc prayers could be long protracted.
In these days, what were called ' diets of pastoral visita-
tion,' were reckoned, and we hope still are, very important
portions of clerical duty. Dr Lawson most conscientiously
attended to them. Every family in his congregation was
regularly visited in order. Indeed, he took great pleasure in
it. On those occasions he was in the habit of asking the
head of each family what chapter of Scripture had been last
read at worship. Whatever the chapter was, and ivithout
asking for a Bible, he immediately proceeded to comment on it.
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 139
and apply it with singular wisdom to the circumstances of the
family. A meeting for examination in the Church, or other
convenient place, usually terminated the diet.
Dr Pringle mentions that he ' went with him one evening
to the church to witness one of these " examinations." After
the adults had been catechized, he turned to the children, his
questions to whom were wonderfully characterized by sim-
pUcity and clearness, while the substance of them was the re-
verse of superficial. His condescending and winning manner
elicited ready and cheerful answers, to the delight, and some-
times to the surprise of the audience. On the way home Dr
Lawson adverted, with evident satisfaction, to these replies of
the children, and seemed perfectly unconscious of his own
aptness in the matter.'
When out upon such diets of clerical duty in the country
districts, it was customary in these days to have some ' enter-
tainment' ready for the minister, and, as a matter of course,
wine or whisky was included. The custom now is happily
denounced, and, it is to be hoped, will soon disappear.
Though very temperate, Dr Lawson was not an abstainer,
except, like many others in his day, from sugar, that he might
thereby testify against slavery and the slave-trade ; but one
of his remarks on the use of strong drink was, ' I think every
minister should be able to take a little, and for this reason :
When I came to Selkirk, I was visiting in the country.
Among others, I called upon a worthy woman, who lived six
or seven miles out of the town. She asked me to taste a
little spirits, but I declined. I learned afterwards that tlie
good woman's feehngs had been hurt. She had sent all the
way to Selkirk for some good whisky wherewith to treat her
minister, and was quite offended because I refused to partake.
Ministers, therefore, should be able to take a little, just a
httle spirits.'
No wonder though reverence for such a man of God as this
rose high in the vales of Ettrick and Tweed, and that the
140 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
memory of his 'walk and conversation' is still blessed among
the dwellers therein. This habit of pastoral visiting had
many advantages, especially as enabling him to become better
acquainted with his flock. It also attached them more and
more to himself and to his ministry. The congregation wor-
shipping at Selkirk consisted of a few of the burgh people,
but chiefly of the neighbouring farmers and shepherds. It
was a peculiarly interesting sight when they w^ere all seated
on a Sabbath in the house of God ; the more so, if in winter.
Most of them were wrapped up in the shepherd's jolaid, and
at their feet were couched the shepherds' dogs. Of the latter
it is storied that their presence could not have been known,
so quietly did they behave themselves. Sometimes the music
drew from the more sensitive of them a low and prolonged
whine ; and none knew better than they did when the bene-
diction was to be pronounced. They at once started to their
feet, wagged their tails, and slowly marched out with their
masters.
The missionary enterprise was dear to his heart, and he
laboured to indoctrinate his people with their obligations to
Christ in respect of the extension of His kingdom. His admir-
able sermon before the Edinburgh Missionary Society, which
is afterwards to be noticed, proves what lofty and liberal
ideas he had upon the subject, while the liberality of his
people, considei'ing their circumstances, proved that they and
their pastor were in harmony.
Dr Lawson, indeed, seems to have been in advance of his
denomination in this as in other things. At a very early
period he became the advocate for an addition of appropriate
hymns to the psalmody ; and every prudent and practicable
proposal to improve the circumstantials of church govern-
ment or devotion met with his ready support. The entire
character, in short, of a Christian pastor was beautifully
developed in his life — it was 'as the shining hght, which
shineth more and more unto the perfect day.' He was most
THE MINISTER AND HIS WAYS. 141
conscientious in the discharge of all duty in public and in
private. The deep and solemn respect paid to him, while
alive, by the whole neighbourhood ; the sincere sorrow which
was generally felt for his loss when he fell asleep in Jesus ;
and the still unrelenting reverence for his memory which per-
vades the people of Selkirk and the county, is a certificate of
character which comparatively few merit, and which stamps
him as having been a working minister who never needed to
be ashamed.
He thus ' fulfilled his course ' among a people who knew
his worth, and among rural scenes of surpassing beauty.
Not many rich, and not any noble, and few, if any, that were
learned, enjoyed a ministry which has never been surpassed
for all the excellences that go to make up the Christian pas-
torate. He never coveted a change. He loved his people, and
was satisfied to spend and be spent for them, and, to a great
extent, they were worthy of him. His weekly congregation
assembled from homes on the banks of the Tweed, the
Ettrick, the Yarrow, and the Gala — some from farm-steadings
in the upland vales, and others from distant cottages amid
the heathery hills. Maintaining frequent and friendly inter-
course with each member of his widely scattered flock, and
holding stated annual diets of visitation and examination in
every household, he was necessarily much in the country, and
was intimately acquainted with nature in all her varied moods
and forms. Shrouded in winter bleakness, or arrayed in
summer verdure, he ever gazed upon her with a poet's eye.
He often confessed that amid her scenery his spirit was re-
freshed, and braced, and soothed, and his thoughts caught up
to the high and holy things of God. He loved, indeed, above
all, 'the habitation of God's house;' but he exceedingly, also,
enjoyed to meditate on His work in the magnificent temple
which His own hands had framed and reared. The appear-
ance of the mist hovering over the water-courses, or slowly
creeping up the mountain side — the thunder-cloud leaping
142 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
from one hill-top to another — the setting sun sinking in the
western horizon, and painting the heights around ' lone St
Mary's silent loch,' would sometimes fiU him with intense
emotion, and even cause the tears of a pious genius to trickle
down his cheeks. Washington Irving attributed that genial
and imaginative turn of mind which imparts such pleasing
freshness to his works, to the influence of the beautiful in
nature, amid which he dwelt on the banks of the Hudson.
In like manner, we may believe that the sweet and placid
scenery amid which Dr Lawson lived and laboured contri-
buted not a little in fostering his winning simplicity of charac-
ter, and in imparting to his mind that tone of quiet strength
and beauty by which it was unquestionably distinguished.
CHAPTER IV.
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS.
Dr Lawson lived, as we have seen, amid scenes of surpassing
interest and beauty. He knew no other lauds. These were
his ' continent,' his ' incidents of travel ;' and all his ' pencil-
lings by the way' were taken from among them. They were
all the world to him, and, by his great mind, were drawn out
iuto dimensions of sufficient magnitude for every pleasant and
useful purpose. He enjoyed them when alone, and oft re-
sorted to them for the refreshing of his spirit and the expan-
sion of his thoughts. And yet, amid such lovely scenes, he
never was alone. He felt that ' the Father' was always
with him, for a devout mind like his could not study nature
without elevation to nature's God. At the same time, he
loved the society of his chosen friends, and was never happier
than when he accompanied them in their rambles along the
banks of the Yarrow, the Ettrick, and the Tweed. Though
a profound student, he was as profound a friend. He dearly
loved his book and his hour of prayer, but he also dearly
loved his Christian associates, and revelled in their society
or correspondence. Some have thought of him as an ascetic
— almost a stoic — than which nothing could be more wide of
the truth. Apart from his official, his friendships were his
most conspicuous positions. They were the illuminations of
his character, if not to a large extent his public life, occupying
and exercising his thoughts, giving the pecuHar tinge to his
social virtues, and causing himself to be seen, and felt, and
known to be; they broadened and widened the sphere of his
144 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
influence, and kept his light from going out under a bushel.
They were, moreover, his amusements. He took his mental
and moral relaxations out of them. There his own great
mind was unbent, and buoyantly sported itself with the con-
genial minds of the chosen few. He admired nature ; but he
loved and revered man — Christian man especially — and, above
all, devout man in fellowship with God. None knew better
than he, that
'On earth there's nothing great but man,
In man there's nothing great but mind.'
When at any time his friends were met, after a few days
spent with him at Selkirk, their faces seemed to shine as they
spoke of the feast to soul and mind from which they had
returned. Their unanimous testimony is, that, with all his
learning, he was not a mere scholar or self-indulging student ;
certainly not ' telluris inutile pondus,' but a man in every
sense of the word, though rich rather than racy in conversa-
tion, and more inchned, upon the whole, to the receptive than
the communicative. In conversational powers, however, he
was far from being deficient. He was never at a loss to give
his mind, whatever might be the topic under review; and
though his words were felt to be weighty, no one ever con-
sidered them dictatorial. He never lectured in the social
circle. He spoke not as if he were a monopolist, but as it
he were privileged and expected to speak. He had a vast
deal more knowledge and wisdom than Coleridge, but nothing
can be conceived more antithetical than their modes of talk.
The ' Jupiter tonans ' style, large and smashing paragraphs,
or oracular responses, had not even their echoes in the gentle
but massive proverbs of Lawsou. His conversation was equally
far from the Johnsonian style, ' noAt;<?>io/,-/3o/o 6oth»<j(i-/ig^' and
totally lacked that tendency to bully which weakened and
discoloured the otherwise grand and sagacious talk of the Bolt
Court philosopher. There are few now hving who remember
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 145
it ; but from such as do, we have heard the highest testimony
to the dehghtful ease with which, in friendly converse, Dr
Lawson identified himself with the views, the prejudices, and
sympathies of others. Dr Brown used to say, when reverting
to Dr Lawson in conversation, that, when he expressed his
sentiments on any subject, it was just like letting go a piece
of his mind ; that there was nothing like labour or effort in
it ; that it was a dispensation, at his ease, from stores trea-
sured up, without the slightest hesitation as to the matter,
and without dubiety as to the accuracy of his statements.
Dr Lawson took a deep interest in all that was going on
in the neighbourhood and in the world around him. It did
not appear, but it was really so ; and yet he was no gossip —
the very reverse — what he liked to hear was what was gene-
rally interesting. Hence he relished nothing so much as a
free and easy chat with some of the more intelligent members
of his congregation, especially upon the doings and character
of public men. He was very cautious in expressing his
opinion of others, especially of ministers, and never spoke or
allowed others in his presence to speak evil of any one. He
devoted a short time every day to keep up with the current
literature of the press, and regularly read the newspapers.
Though not of Mrs Sidney Smith's mind, that 'a family could
not prosper without a newspaper,' he appreciated the judicious
use of one. The ' Star' and other political periodicals were,
in their place, of deep interest to him. He did not, how-
ever, allow the newspaper to lie in his study, and, like the
dog in the manger, bark and snarl at all other reading — as we
shall see in the following chapter. Madame de Stael thinks
that the newspapers constitute the sole reading of three-
fourths of the nation. Whether her arithmetic be correct or
not, there can be little doubt of the too monopolizing influence
of such secular reading at present. The daily paper is now
the danger, and may be more resorted to than the daily
prayer by multitudes who profess the Lord Jesus. Much of
K
146 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
the cheap literature now-a-days is all the reading that
thousands get. We may expect, not a race of giants, but
of dwarfs, to arise out of it. Dr Lawson's paper, once or
twice a week, told him all about this world that he cared to
know, and never made more solemn reading insipid to him,
nor his habits of reflection to be of the earth earthy. It is
rather interesting, however, to know, that, though much more
a man of the world than he was, his neighbour. Sir Walter
Scott, cared little, if anything, for the newspaper. Lockhart
tells us that Sir Walter read fewer newspapers than any
man he ever knew who had the habit of reading. How are
we to account for this strange phenomenon ? Can it be,
after all, much as religious study is decried, that its tendency
is far more decidedly to interest us in the real well-being of
mankind, than the abstraction of a fine phrenzy, and the in-
dustry of a romantic genius ? We may be sure that it is so.
The study of God expands and warms the human heart.
The worship of any fine art contracts the sphere of sympathy,
and gives to the idolater a microscopic eye.
Among the other social and friendly qualifications of Dr
Lawson, was his love of music. He knew all the ordinary
psalm tunes, and sung them at family worship. He had no
sympathy with the semi-savage remark of one who, in decry-
ing music, declared that it not only gave him no new ideas,
but disturbed those which he had already acquired. Dr
Lawson's tastes lay nearer to the school of Luther, whose
testimony is, that, ' next to theology, music must have the
highest place and the greatest honour.' From what is told
of this singularly good-hearted man, we believe that, had he
lived till now, he would have been among the foremost to
assist in raising the ordinance of praise in the churches from
the dusty and droning estate into which it has fallen among
our people. It may, however, be worthy the consideration
of our music reformers, whether the best plan for improving
public music in churches, may not be to commence this refor-
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 147
mation by encouraging family worship, and having the taste
for sacred song cultivated, as Luther did, and many Germans
do, at the morning and evening services of the domestic altar.
It is well known that Dr Lawson was a great smoker. He
had been afflicted from his youth with asthma. His physician
prescribed the pipe. He was cured of the asthma, but con-
■tinued the use of the weed. He had through life a rather
severe morning cough, and thought that this habit released
him of its severity. He did not seem to have any religious
scruples upon this point. Sugar in his tea he ceased to use,
to show his horror at the slave-trade; but he believed tobacco
to be grown and manufactured without slave labour. At
any risk he would have thrown away the pipe too, if he had
associated it vvith ' the accursed thing.' Some of his friends,
such as Dr Husband of Dunfermline, and Mr Haddin of
Limekilns, were as sturdy smokers as himself; and when they
met together and entered upon the stories of other days, their
heads were soon ' in hubibus,' and, though scarcely visible,
their hearty voices told how happy they were. Robert Hall
was also a great smoker. He acquired the habit at Caoj-
bridge, in order to enjoy the society of Dr Parr. When
Olinthus Gregory expressed surprise that he should so indulge
himself, he replied, 'O, sir, I am only qualifying myself for the
society of a Doctor of Divinity, and this (holding up the pipe)
is my test of admission.' Gregory gave him to read Adam
Clarke's pamphlet on ' The Use and Abuse of Tobacco ; '
and when Hall returned it, he said, 'I can't refute his argu-
ments, and I can't give up smoking.' None of Dr Lawson's
friends, however, claimed such a preparation in order to enjoy
his conversation and society. Without judging of the habit
in his instance, and without at all condemning in the slump the
practice of it by many, certainly the modern abuse of this
weed, by hundreds who have no excuse whatever to offer for
the indulgence, should be deprecated. It is lamentable to
notice in some, while in the prime of life, the nervous shaking
148 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSOX.
of the hand, and the pale or sallow complexion of the cheek ;
traceable not to severe study, but to the slavish use of the
pipe. It were a good service, especially to students of
divinity, to get them persuaded to abandon it. We pronounce
it neither a lazy, nor a dirty, nor a demeaning habit ; but we
denounce it in general, as injurious to health of body, and to
pith, if not soundness, of mind.
It is rather singular, that, being amid so many beautiful
fishing streams, Dr Lawson had no love of the Waltonian art.
He had frequent visits from his friends on fishing excursions,
who dilated on the pleasures and benefits of the sport; but he
was not moved to try the rod. Some of his students were
great fishers, and were tempted by the Ettrick and the
Tweed, whose running streams they often visited. He did
not forbid them, from which we infer that he had no conscien-
tious scruples upon the matter. Dr John Brown had an
instinctive aversion to the sport, as cruel, while Dr Wardlaw,
on the other hand, pursued it enthusiastically. Upon this as
upon other uncertain points, good men must be allowed to
differ. It must be admitted that Dr Lawson's students, on
the whole, excelled in a far more honourable vocation — as
' fishers of m.en.'
But it is now time to notice a few of those friends and con-
temporaries between whom and Dr Lawson there existed,
during their respective fives, such an intimacy as not only to
justify but necessitate some brief allusion to them. Some
of them were the men of their day in the Burgher Synod, and
distinguished ornaments of our Church. It has often been
regretted that no adequate records were made of their lives,
and that they have been allowed almost to drop out of recol-
lection. If, in this biography of their illustrious friend, there
be but a partial resurrection of their names and virtues, it
may not have been written in vain. To Lawson himself it
would have been far more gratifying to have had their names,
than his own, inscribed upon the monumental tablet. By this
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 149
means, too, we shall gain a natural and graceful admission of
the very few letters of Lawson that have been preserved, into
these pages ; letters most characteristic of the man, and of
peculiar and intrinsic excellence. In these he will speak for
himself, and for others too. They will be read with high zest
by all who love exquisite simplicity of style, and wisdom in all
things as unaffected as genuine. Bishop Warburton tells us,
that Thurloe's large collection of letters gives us a thorough
insight into the genius of his times and contemporaries. If
we had pof^session of all or most of the Selkirk correspon-
dence, a similar compliment might have been paid to them;
but it is to be deeply regretted that only a few have survived
the vicissitudes of the last fifty years. These few give us only
glimpses of the grand things which we might otherwise have
enjoyed. Such as they are, however, they are here given to
the reader ; and whosoever he be, of this he may be assured,
that they will amply repay perusal. Dr Lawson was not what
is called a letter-writer : his correspondence was by no means
voluminous ; but it was select and uniformly sincere, and to
some good purpose. Had it been with him as with some, who
would 'as soon open an artery as an inkbottle,' the materials
for illustrating his character must have been fewer in number
than they are. They are not substitutes for, though to a
great extent they supply the want of, a diary.
Andrew Swanston has been already noticed as, perhaps,
in early life the dearest friend Dr Lawson ever had. The
attachment was mutual. Their natural dispositions seem to
have very nicely fitted into one another. ' Next to Jonathan,'
Dr Lawson said, ' I believe Andrew Swanston to be the most
amiable man that ever lived.' After his early death, a brief
but chaste sketch of his character was written by the Rev.
D. Greig, of Loehgelly, and prefixed to an edition of his ser-
mons in two volumes. An extract is here subjoined, not only
to memorialize him, but as one of the few remains of the
Loehgelly divine : —
150 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSOX.
' The author of the following discourses was the eldest son
of the Rev. John Swanston, minister of the Associate Con-
gregation of Kinross, and some time Professor of Divinity
under the Associate Synod. After having acquired the
knowledge of the Latin language at the Grammar School of
Perth, he attended the University of Edinburgh ; and, in the
progress of his education, distinguished himself by a love of
literature and attention to his studies, and a capacity for im-
provement in useful knowledge. When he had finished his
preparatory studies, he entered on the study of theology,
which he prosecuted under the direction of the Rev. John
Brown, of Haddington, who conceived a high idea of his
talents and quahfications for the service of God in the Gospel
of His Son. Having gone through the usual course of theo-
logical studies, he was admitted to trial for license before the
Associate Presbytery of Dunfermline, and, by the discourses
he delivered, gave the highest hopes of his future usefulness.
' In the course of his trials, he was led to reflect on the
awful importance of the ministerial office, and the indispens-
able necessity of personal religion to his undertaking it, either
with safety to himself or benefit to the Church of Christ.
These reflections issued in deep convictions of his own un-
worthiness, and awful apprehensions of Divine wrath. His
distress of mind was inexpressible, and threatened for some
time the dissolution of his frame. All thoughts of com-
mencing to preach w^ere now abandoned, and absorbed in the
inquiry, " What shall I do to be saved?" The terrors of the
Almighty distracted his soul, and drove him to the most
desperate conclusions. He would sometimes abstain from
prayer and other religious duties, from an apprehension that,
by engaging in them, he would only incur the guilt of pro-
fanity. He was afraid to look into his Bible, for he imagined
that there remained nothing for him but " a fearful looking
for of judgment and fiery indignation." Some gleams of
hope, however, would at times break in upon his mind, from
THE FPJEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 151
the consideration of the riches of Divine mercy, and the grace
and all-sufficiency of Christ ; but though the distress of his
soul became less violent, he continued for a considerable
time in a very disconsolate state. The Lord, however, inter-
posed for his relief, by giving him such a discovery of His
glory in the face of Jesus Christ, as dissipated his fears, and
filled him with joy and peace in believing.
' This happy alteration in the state of his mind is acknow-
ledged by him in a letter to a friend, dated Dec. 4, 1778, of
which the following is an extract : —
' " My dear Friend, — You know what desperate conclu-
sions I was wont, on some occasions, to draw against myself,
and how positive I was in them; yet, through the goodness
of God, I have lived to see that they are groundless : and,
however defective my past experience or present exercises
may be, I am fully convinced that it is my duty to believe
that, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, I shall be
saved, even as others. I doubt not but that what I have
mentioned will give you real pleasure, and you will be dis-
posed to glorify God in me."
' It was not long after this that he was prevailed on to
accept of license to preach the Gospel. The discourses now
offered to the public were all composed and delivered shortly
after he was licensed. Being under the necessity, from the
time of his commencing preacher, of delivering several dis-
courses every Lord's day, he had little leisure to attend to
what is called composition. Some of his discourses, not in-
ferior in merit to any of the rest, are known to have been the
production of a few hours. This being considered, the
accuracy of arrangement and propriety of expression, every-
where observable in his discourses, cannot but give a high
idea of his talents.
' Mr Swanston had not been long employed as a public
teacher, when it was evident that he was very highly esteemed
bv all who came within the reach of his instructions. The
152 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Associate Congregation of Perth, after having a few trials
of his gifts, unanimously called him to be their minister, and
had the near prospect of enjoying his stated ministrations.
' The pastoral relation, however, between him and them
never took place, for at this time he began to doubt of the
Divine authority of the Presbyterial form of Church govern-
ment, and at length gave up all connection with the Secession.
Not long after he embraced the views of the Antipsedo-
baptists, and was admitted a member of their communion.
Difference of sentiment taking place between him and his
Antipsedobaptist brethren, occasioned his seclusion from their
society. He still, however, retained the characteristical views
of these Christians, and employed himself, as he found oppor-
tunity, in preaching the Gospel of the kingdom. To this
service he may be said to have fallen a sacrifice, for it was
when he was employed in it that he caught a severe cold,
from which he never recovered. His constitution, which was
always deUcate, soon exhibited strong symptoms of a con-
sumption ; and his friends now beheld, with deep concern, his
dissolution fast approaching. He died at Glasgow, on the
15th of November 1784, in the thirty-third year of his age,
expressing an entire resignation to the will of his heavenly
Father, and a confident expectation of his future felicity. All
is ivell, all is well, were the last words which he was heard to
utter.
' His character must be still fresh in the remembrance of
those who had the happiness of being acquainted with him;
but for the sake of others, the following delineation of it may
not be unnecessary : —
' His understanding was uncommonly acute and pene-
trating, clearly apprehending divine truths in their various
relations and consequences. His powers of discrimination
were strong, by which he readily perceived what was proper
to be said or omitted in the illustration of his subject. His
luminous conceptions of divine truths enabled him to express
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 153
them in language at once perspicuous and forcible. His taste
was just, and capable of giving elegance to his compositions,
if this had been the object of his study. He was cautious iu
admitting religious principles while he perceived not the evi-
dence of their truth ; but, when the evidence presented itself
to his mind, he was resolute in adhering to them, and ready
to profess them at the expense of all that was dear to him.
To the authority of God, speaking in the Scriptures, he paid
an implicit obedience; but he would not suffer human au-
thority to dictate to him in matters of religion. One is your
Master, even Christ, was a saying which he held in profound
veneration. The love of Christ, in redeeming him by His
blood, appeared marvellous in his eyes, strongly affected his
heart, and obtained a commanding influence over his conduct.
To the honour of his Redeemer he was ready to make the
most expensive sacrifices. Things not seen and eternal were
perceived by him in a strong and impressive light, gave a
noble elevation to his mind, and made him look down with
holy indifference on the honours, and pleasures, and advan-
tages of the world. His manner of life declared plainly that
he sought another and a better country ; and few of the saints
have attained to that degree of heavenly-mindedness which
was conspicuous in his conversation.
' In social intercourse he was distinguished by a suavity
of manners which was peculiarly engaging ; modest, affable,
polite, gentle, and amiable, he never failed to rise in the
esteem and affections of those with whom he conversed. His
great humility made him respect the sentiments of others who
were inferior to himself in understanding, while his happy talent
of seizing openings for introducing agreeable and useful hints,
or improving on those of others, rendered his conversation at
once entertaining and edifying. In rational, moral, and reU-
gious conversation, he greatly delighted ; and no one retired
from his company without feeling pleasure or reaping im-
provement.
154 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
' His manner as a public speaker was simple and graceful,
earnest and impressive, indicating the powerful hold which
his subject had taken of his mind, and calculated to call ofif
the attention of his hearers from himself to the all-interesting
truths which he was declaring. He declared the counsel of
Grod with a plainness which met the apprehensions of ordinary
capacities, and, at the same time, with a dignity which com-
manded the respect and secured the approbation of the more
intelligent part of his audience. His action was easy and
natural, arising from the impulse of the moment, and serving
to express the feelings of his soul. Serious and judicious
Christians, after hearing him, felt a disposition to say, Thunlcs
be to God for the glorious Gospel of our salvation ; and may the
Lord of the harvest send forth many such labourers into his
harvest V
On hearing of this accomplished youth's death, Professor
Brown, of Haddington, said, ' Andrew Swanston will have
found a church to his mind now ;' andLawson often referred
to him, saying, ' Heaven will be all the sweeter to me, that
Andrew Swanston is there.' It is known that the late Dr
Peddle, of Edinburgh, excelled in lecturing upon Scripture.
He himself accounted for any virtue he possessed in this way,
to his having often heard young Swanston in Perth, from
whom, he said, he derived his first conception of what a lec-
ture ought to be. His friend's ' divisive courses' did not in
the least abate the ardour of natural affection. He wrote
to him only two years before his death the following ad-
mirable letter : —
' Selktek, March 2, 1782.
' Dear Andrew, — I do not know well whither to address
this letter, but by what information I could get, I hope it
may find you in-Glasgow. You have, it seems, left our com-
munion ; but there are two things that give me much satis-
faction. One is, that I am sure you will never be alienated
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 155
from the friends of your youth. The other is a great deal
more comfortable, that you will be always a Christian, and
therefore never unhappy.
' By what party name you are now distinguished, I do not
certainly know. I believe, if I did, I should have a more
favourable thought of it for your sake, although I am far
from thinking you infaUible. Whatever your connections
are, you will find them to be men like us. In heaven only
you will find perfection of goodness ; and there, I hope, we
shall in a short time be, never to be separated, or to enter-
tain discordant thoughts any more.
' I should be exceedingly glad of a visit from you ; but
this, though promised several years ago, I believe I cannot
reasonably expect. In place of it, give me the benefit of your
prayers, which may do me still more service. I stand in great
need of it.
' I should be much obliged to you, if you would, as soon
as you can, write me a long letter. Fill it with what you
please, except telling me that you retain your friendship for
me ; and inform me of the health of Mr Henderson, and the
welfare of your friends, whom I love for your sake, and your
father's, and their own. You know always where I am to be
found, and can forgive me for any aversion to write when I
know not what to say. Were you to become a Roman
Catholic, I could not lose my friendship for you, although I
might be in doubt whether or not you had lost your senses.
May God bless you and guide you. — I am, ever yours,
' Gkokge Lawson.'
Many years subsequent to Andrew Swanston's death, we
find Dr Lawson in correspondence with Mr John Swanston,
of Glasgow, who inherited not a little of Andrew's amiable-
ness and worth. It is interesting to observe in the following
letters the transference of friendly regard from the one brother
to the other.
^
156 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
To Mr and Mrs John Swanston.
' My dear Friends, — Having opportunity by some of my
own family, I could not deny myself the pleasure of letting
you know that I am still alive, and in as good health as I
can reasonably expect, and that I entertain as warm an
attachment to you as I felt in my younger days. My
daughter Nancy intends to be one of your visitors. She will
never forget what she owes you, and I hope will be the better,
through life and through eternity, for what she has heard
from you.
' I often call to mind the days of youth in which I spent
many pleasant days with you at Kinross. These days have
long since fled. But it will be my own fault if the profit I
derived, or might have derived from them, is ever lost. I
believe a turn is given to the mind by the companions of one's
youth, which, for the most part, has an influence on the
remainder of one's days. This observation, I believe, you must
both have often made, and that it has had a powerful influence
on the education you have given to our dear young friend
(your daughter^), to whom you look for some of your chief
comforts in that declining period of life which is before you,
if God is pleased to lengthen out your lives a little longer.
May you long enjoy that pleasure which her Ufe and health,
her temper and behaviour, give you. I am persuaded that
it would be bitter to her as death, to be wanting in her
endeavours to give you all that satisfaction which parents
have a right to expect from a child so tenderly and carefully
educated. Yet I doubt not that God Himself is your chief
joy. Unhappy must the happiest of those men and women
be, whose happiness rests upon anything so precarious as that
which is but a vapour, which appeareth but for a little while,
and then vanisheth away. ... I lately had the pleasure
of seeing Mr Johnston, of Ecclefechan. He is at present,
' The late Mrs William Graham, of Lancefield.
THE FEIEXD AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 157
I hear, in j^ood health for his years. — I am, yours most
affectionately, ' George Lawson.'
To John Swanston, Esq., Glasgow.
' My pear Friend, — I thank Mrs and Miss Swanston, along
with yourself, for their continued friendship to my daughter
Nancy, and for extending it to her sister. Enmities should
be always shortened ; but friendships ought to be immortal.
Among those who know the Gospel, they will be immortal in
the strictest sense.
' I was much pleased with what you said concerning the
days that are long since passed, never to return. Your
thoughts are congenial with my own. Were I to live as
long as the antediluvians, and retain my faculties, I would
not forget those companions of youth with whom I spent the
pleasantest hours of that pleasant season of life. And none of
them were dearer to me than your brother, now in a better
world. An eternal separation from such friends would be a
tremendous prospect. This, though not the chief part of the
punishment of the ungodly in a future world, could not be
compensated by the pleasures of sin in this life, although they
were a thousand times sweeter, and to last a thousand times
longer than they ever did. The remembrance of such de-
parted joys will bring more pleasure, even in this world, than
pain to our hearts, if we make that use that we ought of it,
by placing our affections on those things that are above,
where some of our best friends now are, and where He who
is infinitely better than all earthly friends ever is. There
are three of us still alive ; and if anything could make me
proud, it would be the thought that I had so long retahied
Mr Greig's friendship and yours, without diminution. The
best title I have to it is my esteem of you both, and the
grateful sense I have ever felt of your unabated kindness.
' When our friend. Miss Kitty, looks back fifty years
hence — if kind Providence spare her so long — she will recol-
158 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
lect many pleasant friends that are lost for a time ; but I
hope she will have the consolation to reflect, that she did her
duty to them whilst she enjoyed their society ; and to be
persuaded, that such as were once dearest to her heart are in
a place of felicity, where she hopes soon, through the grace
of Christ, to join them.
' It would be superfluous in me to lengthen out this letter
by advices to Miss Swanston, in addition to what she has
received from Solomon, and from other counsellors of the
present time, and of the times of old. Yet there is one
maxim which I sometimes inculcate on young persons, that
I think may be useful to them — always to think, and speak,
and act, as they will wish to have done fifty years hence, or
whensoever they look back in years to come ! The days of
old age would not be such evil days as they commonly are,
if men could look back with satisfaction on the years long
past, and never to return. . . . May you all long enjoy in
this world the blessings of the seed of the righteous. We
will seldom see one another whilst we live ; but the hope of
being together through endless ages, would bring down a
portion of the joys of heaven to the earth. — I am, with sin-
cerest affection, yours, ' George Lawson.'
George Henderson, of Turf hills, has been mentioned
in a former chapter, as another of the early and devoted
friends of Lawson. Their acquaintanceship dated from col-
lege days ; was ripened in Kinross-shire, when studying
under Professor Swanston, and afterwards, when at the
Haddington Hall. When Mr Henderson was about to be
ordained over Shuttle Street Congregation, Glasgow, the
Presbytery of Glasgow requested his Selkirk friend to preach
the ordination sermon, which he accordingly did. The course
of this friendship ran rather more smoothly than the former
one, but not more' profoundly. Mr Henderson, however, like
Swanston, soon departed. His early death left a deep im-
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 159
pression on Lawson ; and, together with those of Bruce and
Swanston, greatly helped to deepen upon him that invariable
seriousness, of which, even in his hours of ease, he could never
be entirely divested. Mr Henderson was highly esteemed
in the city of his habitation; and was gradually rising to
eminence and influence, both as a preacher and a citizen,
when ' he was not, for God took him.' He received the
following consolatory letter from Selkirk, when in his last
illness : —
'Selkirk, August 14, 1783.
' Dear George, — I am sorry to hear that you are still in
a poor state of health ; but glad, at the same time, to hear
that you do not murmur at the hand by which you are
afflicted. I hope you are preserved in patience by the same
spirit that sustained our glorious pattern, when He was
ofTering up Himself a sacrifice for us, and leaving us an
example that we " should follow His steps. May God still
teach you to number the days of your affliction, according
to Paul's Christian arithmetic, 2 Cor. iv. 17.
' You have Christ, and (if we may mention them in the
same sentence) you have prophets and apostles, as an example
of patience under long-continued trials ; you have promises
of support to a conclusion of your trials, as soon as infinite
wisdom sees it proper, and of reaping in joy in due time.
' Cleaving to the Lord in the exercise of the proper graces
under temptations, is one great characteristic of the followers
of Christ ; and what behever would not frequently endure
the trial, when at the end of it is a crown, not of gold and
pearl, but of life, even a crown which the Lord hath promised
and will give ?
' It would make you very happy if you were informed that
any of your beloved friends had it in his power to effect your
recovery. But how pleasant is it to consider that a Friend,
unspeakably kinder, can command deliverance at His pleasure,
160 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
and delays it only because it is an expression of greater
kindness to leave you a little longer in your present situation !
' It would be much easier for me to dwell on this subject
than to bear your troubles, were they laid on my shoulders.
But the richest consolations in the world are addressed to us
by One who bore sorrows unspeakably exceeding even the
sore afflictions of David and Job. I think a greater sorrow
can scarcely be felt by us, than that which the apostles
experienced when their Master was about to be taken from
them ; and the sermon spoken to them, and left on record for
our benefit, must be abundantly sufficient, if it is apphed by
the Spirit, to replenish the soul with gladness and triumph,
whatever our outward circumstances may be. — I am, etc.,
' George Lawson.'
David Greig, with the exception of Andrew Swanston,
seems to have been the most beloved of all his early asso-
ciates. They had, through life, a deep mutual respect for
each other's talents and piety. Lethangie House was the
nursery of their glowing loves ; and, as we have seen, Orwell
rather than Selkirk would have been Lawson's choice, that he
might be near his friend, who became the seceding minister
at Lochgelly, only a few miles from Kinross. It must ever
be a regret that no memoir of this imposing and admirable
divine has been written. For fifty-one years he laboured in
the above retired village, and died in 1823, Lawson having
preceded him by only two years into eternity. Few men
ever left the world, of whom so much good and so little evil
could be told. He was an extraordinary man. In person
he was unusually tall, and bulky in proportion. Dignity and
solemnity seemed to labour for the ascendancy in his deport-
ment. In the pulpit especially, he was of commanding and
venerable appearance ; and on all occasions there was a
blending, in his expression, of the meek and the majestic, the
serious and the afi'ectionate. As a theologian, he had few
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 161
equals, and no superior, among his contemporaries. He had
a learned and capacious mind. His discourses were of a high
order of excellence ; and, classed beside the works of Boston
or the Erskines, they would not be found inferior : while, for
force of reasoning, they were not behind Barrow, or Tillotson,
or Charnock. The late learned and venerable Dr Dick, of
Glasgow, was a great admirer of him. While a student, and
when passing his vacations in Kinross-shire, at his paternal
uncle's, he had sat often under Mr Greig's ministry with
great dehght, and ever reverted to it as a privilege of no
common kind. Dr Lawson and Mr Greig were confidential
and frequent correspondents. Some of the Selkirk letters to
Lochgelly have been preserved, and are now subjoined, with-
out note or comment. Left to speak for themselves, they
cannot fail to inform the reader, that friendship between such
men was a plant of heavenly birth, and, having stood the
shocks and storms of time, must now be in its full fruition in
the paradise of God.
Dr Lawson to Mr Greig.
' Selkirk, Feby. 1811.
' My dear Friend, — Your letter, after such a long inter-
mission of epistolary correspondence, gave me great pleasure,
as it gave me a new proof that I still possess what has been
one of the chief pleasures of my life for almost half a century.
I would be very ungrateful if I did not place a full confidence
in your friendship ; yet I have always felt a new joy in
receiving new assurances of it from your own hand. But
the information you gave me in your last letter (but one), of
your son's recovery, afforded double satisfaction. I doubt
not that it was an answer to many prayers. May you still
have reason, on that, and many other accounts, to bless the
Lord, who hath not turned away His mercy from you, nor
your prayers from Him.
' I would have been glad that you had given me some
162 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
account of the state of your own health ; but I am happy to
hear that it is rather better than it was some time ago. You
and I have tasted very much of the goodness of the Lord in
the land of the living. We must not hope to escape the
common lot of the sons of Adam ; but we will praise the
Lord for what is past, and trust Him for what is to come.
' I would have been glad, too, to hear of the welfare of
your son Robert. I hope he will remember the God of his
fathers, from Quebec or Montreal, or from any foreign land
to which Providence may direct his steps.
' I was pleased to hear that your beloved family was
entertained by the small book of sermons. The farther they
advance in Hfe, they will find the more reason to derive their
chief entertainment from the Bible, and from those precious
doctrines which it teaches.
' I conclude from your letter, that my friend Mrs Greig
enjoys her ordinary health. She has yet the prospect of
several years before she arrives at our present period of life.
But these years (if God is pleased to spare her) will appear
a very short time when they are past. They will, however,
be very pleasant in the review, if she is enabled to employ
them as most persons wish to have done.
' You and I cannot often hope now to meet together ; but
I often look back with pleasure to days that I have spent in
your society ; and I would fain look forward with hope to an
eternity to be spent with you in a better world, where we
will regain the friends that we have lost. Do they not look
down upori us with a much Hvelier interest in our welfare,
than they had in the present world 1 — I remain, till death,
and beyond death, your cordial friend, ' G. Lawson.'
Dr Lawson to Mr Greig.
'Selkiek, September 1815.
'Beloved Friejtd, — You will not need to be told that your
letter was very gratifying to us all. We were happy to hear
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 163
that you had suffered no material injury from your kind visit
to us, and that our endeavours to make you happy during
your continuance were not lost. We certainly would not be
so ungrateful as not to wish and endeavour to make the time
of your abode with us agreeable, and it was our happiness to
enjoy the society of a friend disposed to be happy.
' We certainly cannot hope often to enjoy on earth such
golden days as we have often enjoyed in one another's society;
but I hope always to enjoy the fruits of the friendship I had
the happiness in my early days to form with you. I am far
from being so good a man as with this and my other advan-
tages I might have been ; yet I trust that good impressions
never to be. effaced have been the happy result of my cordial
intercourse with you, and I would fain hope that I never will
be separated from you for ever. I am thankful for almost a
half century of your friendship already enjoyed. How thank-
ful ought I to be for the hope (if I am not left to deceive
myself) of an eternity to be spent in the society of my best
friends, and of Him who is infinitely kinder and more amiable
than all earthly friends put together !
' When you parted from us, you were consoled with the
thought of returning to your beloved family, whilst my
thoughts were in a great measure occupied by the employ-
ments of the season.
' When some of our chief pleasures are removed or inter-
rupted for a long and uncertain space of time, let us be thank-
ful that we have so many other comforts left us, and that we
are not altogether incapacitated for those businesses of life in
which we, are to be occupied till we receive our dismission.
' It is a part of our happiness, that when we cannot converse
with our friends face to face, we can do it by letters. If our
personal visits must be discontinued, our intercourse need not
cease. I believe that we may often in our letters say much
the same thing that we have said in former letters. But these
old things have to me — and, I hope, to you also — a charin not
164 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
less pleasant than that of novelty. Nor are they altogether
destitute even of that charm. You could not with certainty
tell me twenty years ago, that you was to be as cordial a
friend to me in my old age as in the days of my youth. — I
am, ever yours, ' G. Lawson.'
Di' Lawson to Mr- Gi'cig.
' Selkirk, 29<A April 1816.
' My dear Friend, — I am sorry that it is put out of my
power to see you and my other brethren at the meetings of
Synod. But all our earthly pleasures must suffer interruption
or come to an end. And when some are taken from us, let
us be thankful that so many are left, and that we have so
much better in prospect.
' My hearing is considerably better than it once was, but I
am under the necessity of being very careful to guard against
accidents that may make it worse. I need your prayers both
for myself and family, as ope of my dear children is at present
in distress, though I hope not in an aldrming degree.
' Your last visit gives me great pleasure in reflecting on it,
both as an expression of your unchanging friendship, and as
it gave me an opportunity of seeing with mine own eyes, how
much better your health was than I once expected ever to
see it.
' You and I have now been long spared to our famihes and
friends, and to one another. I frequently think of the period
of life when men, much better than, myself, were carried out
6f the world in good old age short of that which has been
already granted to me, and to some of the dearest companions
of my early days, whilst others of them are removed to that
world from which there is no returning, and from which it
would be worse than death to return. God forbid that I
should be for ever separated from you, and from our beloved
A. Swanston, and from his venerable father, and from our no
less respected teacher, Mr Brown. I follow them hand rassi-
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 165
bus aquis, but I trust in the same righteousness through
which they found acceptance before God.
' May God bestow His richest blessings on Mrs Greig, on
your sons and daughters, and on all whom you love. I will
never forget the kind hospitality which they have so often
showed to the friend of their father's youth.
' It was but a very short time of life that David enjoyed the
friendship of Jonathan, which afforded him more pleasure
than the possession of the crown. How long you and I will
yet have the pleasure of knowing that the other is in the land
of the living we cannot tell, but we have reason to bless God
for what is past, nor is it Ukely that death can now separate
us for many years, — I am, ever yours, ' G. Laavson.'
Dr Lawson to Mr Greig.
' Selkirk, August 1816.
' My deak Friend, — Your letter came in good season, to
turn my mind to the pleasure which I have long enjoyed in
your cordial and steady friendship. After losing many of
my early friends, I cannot, without thankfulness to God, think
of the survivance of my dearest friend, of one at least than
whom none was ever dearer to my heart.
' I call your letter a seasonable one, because I had received
very unpleasant letters from England, and still live under the
anxious apprehension of receiving more of the same kind.
My beloved daughter, I am informed, is now almost in a
hopeless state. I know that I give you pain by saying so ;
but'I do it in the hope that your prayers will be useful to
her, and to us who are here. The God who commands us
to pray for one another never said to any of the seed of
Jacob, Seek ye Me in vain.
' Dearly did I love my child, and well did she deserve my
love ; yet I am not without comfort. My son tells me that
she still retains her cheerfulness, which he has no doubt is
founded in part on religious considerations. It is difiScult for
16(3 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
US to know our own hearts, and more so to know the hearts
of others. But I humbly hope that, if it is not the will of
God to restore her to us, He will receive her to Himself,
which is far better.
' ' EU had little reason to think that his sons would be
blessed in their death ; and yet, when it was announced to
him, he said, " It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him
good." How much more ought I to acquiesce in the will of
God, who has deprived me of some very pleasant children,
but left me no reason to judge unfavourably of that state to
which they went ! What undeserved mercy does our gracious
God mingle with too well deserved chastisement !
' The time will not now be long deferred till you and I
must enter into that world into which some of the dear
friends of our youth are long since gone. Although I never
thought myself worthy of being compared to them, yet it is
my humble desire and hope to be saved by that grace without
which they must have perished as well as I. What precious
consolations does our religion afford us ! It turns our dark-
ness into light. The face of my afflicted child was always
pleasant and lovely in my sight ; but, although I have little
hope of ever beholding her again in this world, may I not
humbly hope to see her with far more pleasure than ever.
' We are happy at the thought of the pleasure you enjoyed
in your visit to us last harvest. You certainly did us a great
favour in undertaking so long a journey to spend some days
with us. I am happy that, by all accounts which I receive,
your health is still better than it was a few years a*go.
May you be long spared to your family, and friends, and
people.
' How unpleasant were Job's reflections when he thought
of the time when his children were yet about him. My feel-
ings, when I think of the children whom I have lost, or am
about to lose, tend much to raise ray admiration of the forti-
tude of his soul when he lost so many on one day, and not
THE FRIEND AND HIS COERESPONDENTS. 167
one was left. What reason have you to be thankful, as I am
sure you are, that all your family (except one) is spared to
you. And I am thankful for God's goodness to you, and to
myself also, in sparing so many of my children to this day.
' Those children of serious parents are cruel to their fathers
and mothers, as well as to their own souls, who do not behave
in such a manner that there will be hope in their death, if God
should call them out of the world. May God long preserve
your children, and our amiable sister, and enrich you all with
his best blessings. — I am, ever yours, ' G. Lawson.'
The late Drs Hall and Peddle, and Mr Lothian, of
Edinburgh, Dr Waugh, of London, Dr Dick, of Glasgow,
and others of that standing, were all on very intimate and
friendly footing with the Professor at Selkirk. We have
failed, however, in our efforts to discover any correspondence
that passed between them. This is especially to be regretted,
as there is no doubt that there must have been many in-
teresting and important intercommunications, in Dr Peddie's
instance at least. He and Dr Peddie were deeply implicated
in what is called ' the Old Light Controversy,' and were,
along with Dr Husband, of Dunfermline, the leaders of the
debates in the Synod. Dr Peddie, however, was in the habit
of destroying all his letters very shortly on receipt of them.
It would have been an exceedingly rich contribution to this
memoir, if records of these debates, of the private conversa-
tions upon them, and of the letters that were written by the
parties, had been extant. As descriptions of character,
manifestations of courage and pith in opposing intolerance,
and specimens of truly Christian temper in controversy, they
would have been memorials of the men and the times, alike
racy and exemplary.
Dr James Husband occupies a distinguished place among
the friendships of Lawson. As the successor of Ralph
168 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Erskine, he could scarce fail to have been an object of interest
to every good seceder; but, independent of that, he had
talents that comraauded the confidence and admiration of the
Church. Dr William Peddie thus refers to him in the
memoir of his father : ' It cannot be considered invidious to
name Drs Husband, of Dunfermline, and Hall, of Edinburgh,
both of them men of uncommon forensic ability, eloquent and
skilful in debate, dignified and courteous in their manners.
We have always understood that these eminent fathers stood
in the very first rank among the public men of the Associate
Synod.* Dr Husband's father, a respectable merchant in St
Andrews, originated the Secession interest in that ' neuk of
Fife,' and gave to his son an education to qualify him for the
ministry in the new denomination. Young Husband was a
first-class scholar, and wrangled it triumphantly both in the
school and college of his native town, with students who
afterwards rose to eminence. He was for a while classical
tutor in the family of the Prmcipal of the University. His
pupil then, rose, in after life, to be Principal Brown of Aber-
deen ; and the high esteem of that distinguished man for his
quondam grinder was maintained through life, demonstrating
itself by the gift of D.D., which, at his request, the Senatus
Academicus conferred on him. He died in May 1821, only
one year and a few months after Dr Lawson. Dr Belfrage,
of Falkirk, preached his funeral sermon, from which the fol-
lowing sketches of his character are taken : —
' His intellectual faculties were of no common order. His
mind was acute and powerful, and enriched by regular and
liberal study. His discourses were always prepared with
care, and were marked by sublime conceptions of the Divine
character and administration, the elaborate defence and illus-
tration of the doctrines of grace, an accurate knowledge of
the human heart and of all the varieties of human character,
the fearless exposure of folly and vice, the most consolatory
views of the trials of the good, and by the earnest enforce-
THE FEIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 169
ment of every religious and moral duty. As an expositor of
Scripture, he was far removed from all parade of critical skill
— from that expansion and dififuseness in which the proper
design of lecturing is forgotten, and from that flimsiness
which leaves the passage almost untouched ; but was distin-
guished by a clear discernment of its true sense, the vivid
exhibition of its leading ideas, and by the ingenuity and the
suitableness of his practical reflections. His style was ear-
nest, perspicuous, and forcible ; and not merely in the early
periods of his ministry, but throughout his life, the language
of his discourses was characterized by elegance and accuracy.
His ornaments were selected with such judgment, introduced
with such propriety, and managed so happily, that they
never failed to strike or to charm. There was such a dignity
and grace in his manner as a public speaker, that he was
always listened to with profound attention. In short, there
was a combination of excellences in him as a preacher, which
are seldom found united, and which raised him to high dis-
tinction as a master in Israel.
' In his intercourse with the world, there was such a
politeness in his manner, and such intelligence in his conver-
sation, that it may be truly said he never mingled in society
but to improve and adorn it. There was uniform respecta-
bility in his conduct, which could only result from the best
principles of action. Wherever he was seen, whether in the
largest meeting or in the most select party, you still beheld
"the man of wisdom, the man of God." He never had a
disguise to assume or to lay aside, but was always consistent,
honourable, and ingenuous.
' In our ecclesiastical courts he was a most useful member.
There his manner was characterized by exemplary gravity
and patient attention ; and such was his clear discernment of
the merits of every cause, his unbiassed judgment, his zeal
for what he felt to be wise and just, and his happy flow of
powerful eloquence, that he had a great influence in directing
170 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
their measures, and was generally regarded as the best of
their speakers. In the various improvements which have
been made in our Church, he had a principal share. Eager
as he was for these measures, he respected every upright
opponent, and did everything, which wisdom and patience
could suggest, to conciliate those who, under the influence of
their passions and prejudices, resisted these advances to per-
fection.
' As a member of society, he was a zealous promoter of the
public good. Schemes for this purpose were often suggested
or improved by his wisdom, recommended by his eloquence,
or carried into efl'ect by his exertions. Such was his activity,
that he was ready for every good work, and persevered in it
through fatigue and opposition, which would have disgusted
or dispirited others. Such were his decision and promptitude,
that his plans were executed ere a step would have been
taken by the tardy and hesitating ; and so wise were his
measures, that he always did what he wished to be done,
in the best manner, and at the proper season. I need not
add, that in these labours he was most disinterested, and that
his time, talents, and efforts were generally devoted to objects
which tended to benefit others, but which could yield no ad-
vantage to himself.'
Though a Seceding minister, Dr Husband stood high with
the heritors and proprietors of the west of Fife. This was
mainly owing to the wise and judicious scheme for the volun-
tary support of the poor, of which he was the author, and
which, as long as he lived, kept off a legal assessment.
Business connected with this scheme brought him into fre-
quent intercourse with the wealthy men of the parish, several
of whom had seceded with Ralph Erskine, and were members
of his church. There was an annual sermon preached in
Queen Anne Street Church on behalf of this scheme, and a
grand occasion it was. Some distinguished stranger was
brought to preach this sermon, and the heritors attended in
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 171
a body, to liear and to collect. The Earl of Elgin was some-
times present (father of the present Earl), and a friendly-
intercourse sprung up between them, which lasted till Dr
Husband's death. 1 remember of hearing my grandfather
telling, that on one occasion he and my father were invited to
Eroom Hall (the seat of the Elgin family), near Dunfermline ;
and as a motive to their consent, the Earl told them that the
celebrated Mrs Siddons was on a visit to him, and was to
give some readings of Shakespeare in the evening. It was a
great temptation ; but their religious principles, as well as
Christian prudence, decided them to decline. It was neces-
sary at that period for Christian ministers to lift up a testimony
against theatrical entertainments; and though listening to the
simple readings of the great tragedienne may not by some be
considered as coming within that description of worldly
amusements, there was a necessity for self-denial. Every
pious reader of an ' autobiography ' of a Church of Scotland
clergyman (just published), must have been somewhat sur-
prised with the references made in it to this very matter. It
is there told that Mrs Siddons was playing in Edinburgh,
during the sittiug of the General Assembly in 1784, and
that important business had to be suspended on the days she
acted, because ' the younger members, clergy and laity, took
their stations in the theatre in those days by three o'clock in
the afternoon.'^ We are also told that Drs Robertson and
Blair, merely from deference to decorum, did not go, but that
they visited her in private, and regretted, after she was away,
that they did not go with the others and see her public per-
formances. The Seceding ministers, though neither fanatics
nor ascetics, fell upon the times in which these things were
becoming a scandal, and it was therefore consistent with their
witness-bearing character, altogether to discountenance even
the appearances of evil.
Dr Lawson's correspondence with his Dunfermline friend was
' Autobiography of Dr Carlyle.
172 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
somewhat voluminous. Out of his many letters to my grand-
father I select a few, simply to illustrate their mutual respect
and confidence. In the first, the escape alluded to was this :
— When the present spacious church in Queen Anne Street,
Dunfermline, was building, and nearly completed, Dr Husband
had one day ascended to the topmost scaffold. Just as he
stepped off, the scaffolding suddenly gave way, and the
mason who was on it was precipitated to the ground and
killed : one moment later, and the minister too must have
ended his days.
Dr Lawson to Dr Husband.
'Selkirk, Sept. 1798.
'Dear Friend, — It seems you have narrowly escaped
seeing the realms of Proserpine, and the river Cocytus, and
the possessions of the blessed. I heard of it only since the
students came to this place, and was almost displeased with
you that you had not informed me of your escape, that I
might have rejoiced with you, and joined with you, though
at a distance, in praising the God of our life, who has
preserved you to us for some time longer ; but I believe your
thoughts were occupied by subjects of greater importance.
Your feelings for the man who was a ransom, in some sense,
for your life, and your devout exercises to your great Pre-
server, were sufficient to fill your mind. When Horace met
with a like escape, he vowed oblations to Bacchus (if I
remember right). The blind devotions of heathens are a
reproach to many Christians. How strange is it, that we
should, for one day, forget that our lives have been often
exposed to extreme danger by disease or accident, and that
God was our deliverer from so many deaths !
' I believe that, at this time (had you fallen in the day of
danger), you would have been rejoicing in that event which
delivered you from mortality, and sin, and contention ; but
your friends would long have mourned the loss of one whom
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 173
they loved so much, and from whom they expected much
service in the cause of God. That you should abide in the
flesh, was more needful for us, and will be, I hope, more
profitable for you in the day when every man shall receive his
reward according to his labours.
' What difference, through the course of this week, will
there be between your employment and that of our late
respected friend in Falkirk ! A Synod even of Westminster
divine? is not a choir of angels ; and yet, in such a Synod as
our own, we have opportunities of doing service to Christ,
which we will not enjoy in a better world. Our happiness
lies in doing good to men, and in glorifying Christ.
' I am not without apprehensions of the event of this
meeting of Synod. But let us leave it to God to govern the
world, and to Christ to govern the Church as He pleases.
Surely the wrath of man shall praise Him.
' I promised last year to give a day of my supply to each
of the three congregations in the north, when I performed my
last year's mission. I suppose that those whom I entrusted
with the care of executing the business neglected it. I will
beg of you to take care that it may be executed this year.
You can speak of it to Mr Greig or Mr Peddie. I believe
it will be proper to speak of it to Mr Hill, of Kelso, who will
probably take the supply and perform the work.
' You may perhaps find in Mr Peddie's hand a little
publication with my name. I hope you and Mrs Greig will
use the freedom of a friend, by taking some copies for your
children, to whom it may be of some little use. Mrs Fletcher
was the remote cause of the publication. If you could send
her two copies by the hand of her husband, it will save me
the trouble of sending them by another conveyance. Perhaps
Mrs Macfarlane and Mrs Brown may be willing to accept
copies of it. — I am, ever yours, ' G. Lawson.'
The two following letters were written upon the occasion
174 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
of the deaths of Mrs Husband, and of their son, Captain
William Husband, who died when with his regiment at Ceylon.
The third letter is of general importance, and the fourth
refers to the degree of D.D. which had been conferred on his
Dunfermline brother.
Dr Lawson to Dr Husband.
' Selkirk, August 1, 1812.
' My dear Friend, — This evening I received your son's
letter, announcing the calamity which God has been pleased
to appoint for your trial, in the removal from this world of
my highly-valued friend. It is not long since I received a
letter, announcing the departure of my reverend friend, Mr
Johnston, of Ecclefechau, whose name will long be remem-
bered with honour.
' I make no doubt that they have both met together in a
state of happiness, the consideration of which ought more
than to counterbalance our sorrow. We may, and ought to
mourn, when God afflicts us ; but we ought greatly to rejoice
that He has provided us so rich consolations.
' The evangelists make no less honourable mention of the
good services of the pious Galilean women to Jesus, than of
the continuance of the apostles with Him in His temptations.
The mild and unassuming virtues of our late sister, and every
office of love performed to men under the influence of the
rehgious principle, which I am persuaded regulated her con-
duct, will be found recorded in God's book of remembrance,
as well as the official exertions of our venerable fathers now
with Christ. I think it must give you some pleasure to con-
sider, that her constant care and her many offices of love for
promoting your comfort, are now receiving a reward richer
than your gratitude and love could ever render (Eph. vi.).
• ' Often have her ailments excited sorrow in your mind ;
and if anything in your power could have given her perfect
health, you would have been happy. But now, you will view
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 175
things with somewhat diflferent eyes ; for you must be per-
suaded that these troubles which she suffered have contri-
buted to her present felicities, and that there is no comparison
between the pain and anxiety felt by herself, or by you and
her other friends on her account, and those rewards of her
patience which she now enjoys. All God's paths towards us
are mercy and truth ; and these as much others of which we
are most tempted to complain.
' When you kindly proposed, two harvests ago, to make
me a visit, I consoled myself under the disappointment, in
the hope that you would still consider the promise as binding
to performance at a more convenient season. I still indulge
the hope. But I am less sanguine about the time. I know
that, at least, I enjoy your friendship and your prayers.
' I thank your son for the kind manner in which he has
communicated to me the afflicting intelligence. I see he will
observe that important maxim of Solomon, " Thine own and
thy father's friend forsake not." The good impression, which
I hope will be made upon your sons abroad, as well as your
children at home, by the loss of their amiable mother, is one
uf many considerations which will assist your endeavours to
resign yourselves to the will of your heavenly Father.
' My wife, my daughter Nancy, who experienced, and still
gratefully remembers Mrs Husband's hospitality ; and the
other members of my family who are at home, sympathize
with your afflictions, and desire to be remembered by yours.
' The Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, be
with you, and with your children and colleague. — I am, ever
yours, ' G. Lawson.'
Dr Lawson to Dr Husband.
* Selkirk, Sept. 1813.
' My dear Friend, — You will not doubt that I cordially
sympathized with you, when God was pleased to afflict you
with sorrow upon sorrow, by calling out of the world the
176 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSOK
son, nearly at the same time with the mother. You have
been much favoured by Divine Providence ; but you have
also endured heavy afflictions. No doubt, one of the designs
of it is, to give you an opportunity of teaching your hearers
by your practice, what you must have often taught them by
your mouth, — the duty of patience in tribulation. I beheve
few are better fitted than you are for this service to God, and
to your fellow-men. Yet you need grace ; and I doubt not
that it will be bestowed on you.
' It gave me some pleasure, on your son's account, as well
as for higher reasons, that so much of a rehgious spirit ap-
peared in the Governor of Ceylon, and in many under his
command. I hoped that your son would be none of the last
to discover his love to the religion in which you had educated
him, by contributing his endeavours to make it known in the
island.
' You once gave me a promise of seeing me again in the
harvest. Since you was last with me, I have looked forward
with some degree of hope to the completion of it. I was a
little disappointed that I have neither seen you nor heard
from you for a long time past (except by a short and hasty
missive). But I trust as firmly as ever to your friendship,
which, I believe, will be immortal in the highest sense.
' I am sure you will not overlook the rich consolations that
God affords you in His providence, as well as in His word.
How unlike is your condition to that of Job, who often
thought with bitterness of spirit of the time when his children
were yet about him ! He had some words of God for his con-
solation ; and he esteemed them more than his necessary food.
But he had not the last discourses of our Lord to his sorrow-
ful disciples, nor any of our Scriptures. David did not pos-
sess that portion of the Scripture which furnishes us with the
richest cordials ; yet that portion which he had, furnished him
with sweet songs in the dreariest steps of his pilgrimage. — I
am, youi's affectionately, ' G. Lawson.'
THE FEIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 177
Dr Lawson to Dr Husband.
' Selkirk, May 18, 1814.
' My dear Friend, — I ought to have sect you my thanks
before this time for your kind and seasonable letter, which
was of no small use to my wife and daughters, as well as to
me. I have now to thank you, besides, for your kind offer,
without solicitation, to give us your company and assistance
at the dispensation of the Lord's Supper on the second Sab-
bath of June. We m'ay perhaps not enjoy such a degree of
social pleasure at our meeting as we have sometimes felt in
former days. But the joys of the Lord are chiefly to be
desired at our rehgious solemnities. And if we are animated
by David's spirit, we will look forward to them with delight.
These joys comprehend the sweetest social pleasures that were
ever tasted on earth. All the pleasures of Paul in the fel-
lowship of his brethren were joys in the Lord, and I know
not whether any man on earth ever tasted greater pleasure in
converse with his friends,
Mr Leckie, I expect, will be your colleague ; and on Mon-
day I hope to have some of the brethren with us at dinner,
as we have a meeting of Presbytery on Tuesday. It will be
your prayer, as well as mine, that we may all enjoy fellowship
with Him who is by far the best, and, I hope, the most be-
loved of our friends.
Patriotism and philanthropy ought at present to raise our
spirits above our private concerns. What incalculable misery
is prevented, what precious blessings may be expected to the
nations of the world from the revolution in France, if God
is not provoked by the sins of ungrateful men to disappoint
our fairest hopes. Do you not think that Habakkuk's pro-
phecies, ch. ii. 5-13, are verified in the character, behaviour,
and fall of Bonaparte ? May we not hope that the verifica-
tion of verse 14 is at least approaching ?
' It gives me far more pleasure to have the prospect of
M
178 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
seeing you here, than it would have done to have obtained
from the Synod what I wished. I thank God my dulness of
hearing does not entirely unfit me for converse with a single
friend, although I can take scarcely any part in mixed society.
Seeing the face of such a dear friend will in a good measure
compensate the deficiency of my hearing.
' But let us be thankful for the many pleasures we have
enjoyed through our organs of sensation in times past, and
trust God, for the time to come, that He will grant us what
He sees to be good, though not everything that we wish. It
would ill become ministers, or any followers of Christ, to feel
reluctance in saying. Not my will, but Thine be done. — I am,
ever yours, ' G. Lawson.'
Dr Lawson to Dr Husband.
' My dear Friend, — I congratulate you on your associa-
tion with so many of your brethren in the privilege of having
D.D. affixed to your name. Your friends will not value you
the more for it, but they will be very well pleased that the Uni-
versity of Aberdeen has been pleased to confer it on one so
well deserving it. We must not be ambitious of titles ; but
I hope we are teachers of the way of God in truth, and that
our instructions are beneficial to many.
' The title may give us pleasure on another account. The
time has been when the ministers and professors of universities
would have rather contributed their endeavours to procure
the gallows for ministers of a Dissenting body, than conferred
upon them the distinctions which they claimed for themselves
and their brethren. I am afraid our piety is colder than that
of many of our fathers ; but our humanity, I think, is more
abundant.
' I have now parted with my pupils, some of whom, it is
probable, I will never more see in this world. But I have
been long habituated to separations of this kind from young
men to whom I had formed that attachment which it is natural
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 179
to form towards those who are in some sense our children,
especially to such of them as are distinguished for their ami-
able or respectable qualities. How pleasant would the
prospect of our departure from this world be, if our hope
were as lively as that of the first Christians was ! While we
continue in this world, we must be for ever separated from
many that were justly dear to us, and can but seldom see
other friends still in the same world with us. A few years
ago I never parted with my friends in Fife without the hope
of seeing them again within a few mouths. My hope now is
reduced to that of hearing from them, yet I doubt not of
their still retaining for me that warm regard with which they
honoured me from my early years.
' There is one thing I find which cuts off from me the
pleasure of hearing so frequently as I once did from my best
friends in Fife. Your district does not now afford me almost
any pupils. But I hope that the ministry of the Gospel will
still continue among you, and in other places of our land, till
time shall be no more. — I am, yours ever,
' G. Lawson.'
The Rev. James Macfarlane was for nearly forty years
the colleague of Dr Husband in Dunfermline. I have often
heard him say, that during all that time not one jarring word
had ever passed between them. His having married Dr
Husband's daughter, no doubt contributed to this happy,
though rather unusual, state of things. Dr Lawson was ever
a welcome visitant at our house, as I have heard. For many
years he used to come for a few weeks to Dunfermline to see
his friends, but especially to enjoy the benefit of sea-bathing
at Limekilns, in the neighbourhood. My father and grand-
father took great pleasure in accompanying him, on these
occasions, on visits to Lochgelly, Lethangie, Inverkeithing,
and Limekilns, that, with the venerable men, Greig, Brown,
and Haddin, who laboured in the ministry there, he might
180 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
hold sweet intercourse. Mr Macfarlane died in 1823, about
three years after Dr Lawson. The following sketch of his
character is valuable, as one of few rehcs in print of the
venerable David Greig, who preached the funeral sermon : —
' It will perhaps be expected that, on the present occasioa,
I should give you a short sketch of the character of your
lately deceased minister ; and this I can do with the greater
pleasure, as there is scarcely anything in it but what was of
an amiable and commendable nature. He was endowed with
kind and amiable natural dispositions, which, under the influ-
ence of Divine grace, strongly inclined him to benevolence,
and to take pleasure in the happiness of his relatives, friends,
connections, and indeed of all with whom he had intercourse.
He was, as might be expected from his being so constituted,
a kind husband, an affectionate parent, and a steady friend.
His heart was formed for friendship, and few men felt this
amiable disposition in such a degree of warmth as he felt it,
or were so ready to give such proofs of a sincere and disin-
terested attachment. He was a warm and beneficent friend
of the poor, affording them his pecuniary assistance, accord-
ing to his power, and sometimes beyond it, and employing his
influence with others to minister to their necessities. He was
compassionately alive to the case of the afflicted, the widow,
and the fatherless, frequently visiting them in their distress,
and feelingly administering to them the instructions and con-
solations of religion. Probity, integrity, and uprightness,
were often remarked by those who had the happiness of being
acquainted with him, as being prominent features in his
character ; and it might with justice be said of him, that " he
was a doivnright honest man." His personal religion, which
forms the brightest jewel in every human character, was
conspicuous in the various relations of life, and the different
situations in which the providence of God had placed him.
His early days were distinguished by sobriety and decency of
conduct, by seriousness and devotedness to God and religion.
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 181
His natural talents, sanctified by Divine grace, and improved
by a literary education, eminently qualified him for being a
minister of the Gospel ; and this office he discharged in our
Church, and among you, for upwards of thirty-eight years,
with no common degree of application, fidelity, and usefulness.
From the time he commenced his ministry, he appeared to
have adopted the determination of the apostle of the Gentiles,
"to know nothing among his people but Jesus Christ and
Him crucified." The pecuKar doctrines of the Gospel were
his delightful theme, on which he expatiated with a melting
eloquence and a visible pleasure, and satisfaction to himself
and his hearers. His statements of these doctrines were
luminous and interesting, calculated to convey to others the
strong and affecting conceptions of them which he had formed
in his own mind. His manner of delivering his sentiments
from the pulpit was reckoned by the most competent judges
to be among the best of his fellow-ministers, grave, dignified,
calculated to command attention, and to do justice to the ideas
which he brought forward in his discourses. If his hearers
were not edified, it was not because the pure and unadul-
terated truths of the Gospel were not brought before their
minds, and pressed home upon their hearts and consciences,
but because they had contracted a vitiated taste, and their
distempered souls, like the Israelites in the wilderness, loathed
the heavenly manna. The piety and devotional feelings of
your minister, which were conspicuous throughout his life,
shone forth at the close of it with a bright and edifying lustre,
like the sun when he is seen going down with a blaze of light
and glory. His affliction, which was often severe, was borne
with exemplary patience and submission to the will of God,
through faith in God and the hope of a blessed immortality.
Trusting in God as the Father of the fatherless, his mind, for
some weeks before his death, was disencumbered of cares
about the future condition in the world of a numerous young
family, not amply provided for, — cares which, to his delicate
182 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
feelings, must have otherwise been most oppressive and over-
whelming. In the views of the great and all-important
solemnities of death, judgment, and eternity, which he per-
ceived to be at hand, and contemplated in the full vigour of
his mind, he was composed and tranquil, longing to be
released, at the same time waiting with resignation the hour
of his departure. It was evident, and indeed declared by him
in many pleasant expressions, of which I myself and many
others were witnesses, that he had anchored his soul on
Christ and His all-perfect atonement and righteousness, — that
one foundation laid in the Gospel for the faith and hope of
the guilty, and which you have so often heard recommended
to you in the course of his ministry. This faith and this hope,
which he often expressed, were accompanied with the most
humiliating views of his own unworthiness and sinfulness in
the sight of God, — views which are always the concomitants
of the true faith of the Gospel. " Mark the perfect man, and
behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." '
The following letters were written upon the occasion of
Mrs Macfarlane's death; —
Mr Macfarlane to Dr Laivson.
Dunfermline, May 16, 1816.
' My dear Sik, — Perhaps with no less propriety than
Jeremiah, I may say, " I am the man that hath seen affliction
by the rod of His wrath." Within these two or three days
I have been looking around me, and inquiring. Who are my
friends that are most likely to sympathize with me under my
present sorrows ? You presented yourself to my mind among
the first. You have not only a feeling heart, but you have,
besides, experience of the affliction which at this moment
wrings my soul, and almost overwhelms my poor heart. I
think I hear you say, To what is all this the preface? Why,
my dear sir, I have to inform you that my wife, my best, my
dearest earthly treasure, was, in the righteous, holy, and wise
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 183
providence of God, taken away from me on Monday night, at
twenty minutes past ten o'clock. Ou the Tuesday preceding
she was safely delivered of a son. For two days she was, to
our view, doing well ; but on the Friday some dangerous
symptoms appeared. It was judged necessary to send an
express to Edinburgh for medical aid. This was obtained.
But all was ineffectual ; for on the Saturday she became so
ill, that we were all collected about her bed to witness, as
we feared, the awful separation between her soul and her
body. To the wonder, however, of all present, about seven
o'clock she revived considerably, and continued better all that
night and all Sabbath. Our hopes were not a little elated,
for even a small thing elated them. But on Monday morn-
ing a sad, sad reverse took place. From that time she gradu-
ally grew worse and worse, till at the time above mentioned
she, I trust, fell asleep in Jesus. This, my dear sir, is a sore
affliction for me — the sorest beyond comparison that ever
befell me. She was to me everything that a husband could
wish for in a partner of Ufe. She was so harmless, so in-
offensive, so modest, so prudent, and so eminently pious, you
would almost have suspected whether she belonged to the
number of Adam's fallen race. 0 what a treasure have I
lost, — a treasure which, to me, was of more value than all the
world besides ! Surely I must be a great, a grievous sinner,
that required so heavy a stroke to correct me. My rebellious
heart is apt to rise in opposition to the Almighty. Pray for
me ; 0 pray for me, that I may not be left to offend God.
He knows that I desire not to offend Him, and yet I am afraid
that my conduct and my desires are not consistent. My mind
is somehow unsettled. I never felt my own weakness so much
in anything. Everything within and without me is dreary.
She has left me eight children, seven sons and one daughter,
one of the sons only ten days old. Oh ! poor motherless in-
fant. This is a situation pecuHarly affecting. I should not
envy the heart that could not feel an interest in it. I am fully
184 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
persuaded you do. When, then, your heart is at any time
warmed in the enjoyment of fellowship with the God of sal-
vation, 0 do not forget to request something for me — for poor
bereaved, I had almost said tortured me — better than this
world can either give or take away.
' But I must tell you, my dear sir, that she died resting
her hope of salvation on the sure foundation which God hath
laid in Zion. She, indeed, died in triumph. In this I should
rejoice — and, I hope, do rejoice — that she hath gone to the
Father. But my fond heart says this might have been the
case though she had been spared with me a while longer. I
used to console myself with the idea that she should close my
eyes. But this is 'now impossible. Maybe her spirit may
be present, and witness this done by some other. 0 what a
rehef would it be to my mind, were the God of heaven but to
permit her immortal spirit to meet with me for a few moments,
and give me some information respecting the state of things
in the eternal world of which I would wish to be informed. I
think her spirit would not affright me; of one thing I am
certain, it would not injure me. 0 no ; it would labour to
console me, as it had frequently done while it enhvened her
body, amid the Httle adversities that befell us when together.
Methinks I hear you say. What foohsh raving ! Write me
soon, my dear sir, and tell me whether I be really raving.
Criticise me, but 0 do it not severely. — My dear sir, yours,
with esteem and affection, ' James Macfaklane.'
Dr Lawson to Mr Macfarlane}
'Selkirk, May 18, 1816.
'My dear Friend, — What shall I say to ease your afflicted
mind? All your friends sympathize most tenderly with you.
The best of all friends is afflicted in your afflictions, although
I am afraid he is not pleased with the overflowings of your
* This letter has already appeared in the author's work, 'The Night
Lamp.'
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 185
grief. You have not beeu able to observe so well as you
wish, the gracious precept enforced by the gracious doctrine
which you find in 1 Thess. iv. 14-18, and John xiv. 15, 16.
' I am not surprised that you think you could support the
sight and converse of one so deservedly dear to you. But
think again. Would she not intermingle her words of ten-
derness with reproofs too wounding to your spirit ? Might
she not speak to this effect : " Why do you weep so sore for
an event that crowns my happiness? Have you not often
told me that you loved me as you love yourself? and yet
you cannot but know that my gain ten thousand times exceeds
your loss. I loved you dearly, bat I loved Christ better ;
and do you mourn like one that can find no comfort, because
I am now with Him in paradise? The chief attraction of
my love to you was your love to my Lord. But are you not
now showing that you bestowed too large a portion of your
love upon your wife, and need to be put in mind, by Divine
Providence, of the necessity of guarding your heart against
the common evil of giving too large a proportion of your
affections to a creature of the dust ? I have lost my life in
bringing one of your children into the world. But does not
tne gain immensely exceed the loss ? It is a great addition
to my happiness in being with Christ, to have the hope that
the dear creatures, whom I was the means of bringing into
existence, are one day to be with me, to behold the beauty of
my Saviour and theirs. Even that stroke which separated
me from them will contribute to the happy event. They will
not bear the thought of being for ever separated from their
beloved mother. They will love that Saviour who so graci-
ously received her to be with Himself in paradise. 1 doubt
not that the event which you deplore so bitterly will bring
advantages to yourself far overbalancing the pain. It will
excite your ardour in running the race set before you. It is
one of the events that work together for promoting your pro-
gress towards that better country where I now dwell, and
186 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
from wMcli you would not be so unkind as to bring me back,
were it in your power."
' There were many years between the time when Joseph
was lost to his father, and the time when he again set his
eyes on him. Yet the meeting was a good recompense for
his years of sorrow. How much richer will be the recom-
pense of your griefs, when you again meet with your beloved
partner, to dwell with her, not a few years, but for ever !
Perhaps the distressing thought may suggest itself to you,
What if I should never be admitted to the pleasant land into
which nothing that defiles can enter. But the same grace
that was sufficient for our departed friends is sufficient for
us also.
' You will not think that the loss of your earthly treasure
gives you any reason to call in question the loving-kindness
of our Redeemer. We have reason to think that He did not
preserve His own mother from the affliction of widowhood ;
yet she never said, " He saves others from such cruel afflic-
tion ; why was He so unkind to me?"
' One of the best ways of preserving our minds from being
harassed by unquiet thoughts, is to employ them on useful
subjects. These the Scriptures will supply to you in great
plenty. The Christian will not perish in the day of his afflic-
tion ; for the law of God is his delight. I reckon it a pleasure
and advantage frequently to commit small portions of Scrip-
ture, in the original, to my memory. Blessed will we be
amidst all that we suffer in this world, if we can meditate day
and night in the law of the Lord.
' I feel much for my dear friend, Mr Husband ; but I know
that he will seek his consolation from the source where it will
most easily be found. When he compares the dealings of
God towards his own family with his dealings towards those
of some of his brethren, he may be tempted to think with
you, that he is the man who hath seen affliction. But it will
soon occur to him, that others have had as much reason to
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 187
mourn as he, and that none of us have such heavy burdens
to bear, of the kind, as Jacob and David. My best compli-
ments to him and to all your friends. May God enable them
to bear their share in the affliction, as Christians ought to do.
Those things are best for us that will be found best in another
world.
' You will, probably, put your children that are reading, in
mind of some passages of Scripture that are likely, in present
circumstances, to make a happy impression upon them, as
Psalm xxvii. 10 ; 2 Tim. i. 5 ; Prov. iv. 3-9. I believe the
instructions that our departed sister gave, and would have
given, to her children, were such in effect as Solomon received
from his mother and his father.
' May God spare them to you, and grant them all grace
to walk in the steps of their mother and grandmother, that
they may not be for ever separated from them. And may
you for ever enjoy those consolations which the lapse of time
cannot take away. — I am, ever your affectionate friend,
' Geo. Lawson.'
Dr Lawson to Dr Husband.
Selkirk, July 1816.
' My dear Friend, — I need not say how sincerely I con-
dole with you under the severe affliction with which God has
been pleased to visit you. I doubt not but you will often,
through what remains of life, mourn the loss of one so justly
dear to you, and whose amiable virtues endear her memory
to all that knew her. I can the more readily sympathize
with you at present, as I have reason to fear that a similar
calamity is to be apprehended in our own family. My
youngest daughter is at present with her brother in England,
to which the physicians ordered her to be sent for the
recovery of her health ; but she has become so much worse,
that we have very little hope of seeing her again in the land
of the living. I know I will have the benefit of your prayers
188 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
on behalf of my dear child. I humbly hope that if it shall
please God to take her from us, He will receive her to Him-
self; so that, should our earnest supplications for our beloved
child be denied in this world, she may receive, through infinite
mercy, a length of days for ever and ever in the heavenly
world, I can enter into your feelings at the moment of your
bereavement. You will probably be displeased with yourself
that you were not more disposed to be thankful to God for
giving you such a daughter, adorned with so many conciliat-
ing qualities. We never know the value of our blessings till
we lose them, or fear the loss of them. But we may learn
from such feelings to turn our thoughts to the blessings which
we still possess, and consider what we might think of them
also, if we were bereaved of them. If Job blessed God, who
had given, and who had taken away his ten children, what
reason have you and I to bless Him for taking away only a
part of what He gave, and for leaving us others to supply
their place ! I believe we are too ready to think, when any
of our children are taken from us, that we have lost those
who deserved to be the dearest of them ; but if they had been
spared, and others taken from us, the same thought might
have disquieted us. Our surviving children have this motive,
which may be improved by the remembrance of their beloved
sisters ; and I believe that your remaining children, as well as
my own, will do all in their power to alleviate our painful
remembrances. May God spare them to be the comfort of
our declining years, and prepare them for a part in that in-
heritance which is now possessed by such of their relations as
have died in the Lord ! I hope our friend, Mr Macfarlane,
has recovered from his depression of spirits. He is left with
a heavy charge, but this charge ought rather to be accounted
a pleasure than a burden ; so, I am sure, he will think of it,
and bless God that, when his dearest relation is removed
from hira, so many very dear to him are still left, who, I hope,
will be long spared for a blessing and comfort to him.
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORKESPONDENTS. 189
' You have, I suppose, seeu Mr Brown's (of Biggar) ex-
cellent sermon on the death of his amiable consort. I durst
not now trust myself on such an occasion with such a subject ;
but I could venture on it at his time of life. — I am, yours
sincerely, ' George Lawson.'
Dr Husband to Dr Lawson.
Dunfermline, August 21, 1816.
' My dear Friend, — Your last letter led me to anticipate
the afflicting event which I now learn by the public papers
has taken place. I had learnt some time before that it was
likely soon to take place, and desired to take a part in these
painful anticipations which I knew you and Mrs Lawson must
have felt. Indeed, I should be very hard-hearted and very
ungrateful if I did not feel along with you. My own heart
still bleeds under the painful stroke with which we have been
visited, and under which your excellent letters contributed
not a little to our support and consolation.
' The admonitory and consoling address which you put
into the mouth of our dear departed friend, we read with
much interest, and I trust the effects have been beneficial
and will be lasting. May those strong consolations which
you administer to others be your own portion ! We have now
less to bind us to earth, and stronger inducements to raise
our hearts and desires to heaven than before. Is it enthusiasm
when I feel a kind of pleasure in the idea that my beloved
daughter acts the part of a guardian angel, and, while she
beholds the face of her Father in heaven, looks down with
compassion on the friends she has left behind, who were so
dear to her, and to whom she was so deservedly dear. But
it is proper to derive our consolation from that sure word of
prophecy, which leaves us no room to doubt the sympathy of
our merciful High Priest, or His constant love of us in our
temptations.
' There is something very affecting in the thought, that
190 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
those to whom we were fondly attached are gone, and that
we shall no more see them in the land of the living. But,
though they are gone, they have not perished. There is some-
thing pecuharly tender in our Saviour's address when He went
into the house of Jairus, at that time the house of mourning,
" Why do ye make this ado, and weep ? The damsel is not
dead, but sleepeth." May not this be applied to our dear
departed friends ? They are not dead, they are only asleep :
they sleep in Jesus, and the period is not far distant when
they shall awake with songs of everlasting joy on their
heads. Blessed memory, when friends shall meet never to
separate, but to enjoy God and one another through endless
duration.
' Mr Macfarlane enjoys j^retty good health, though afflicted
with dulness of hearing. All the children are well. He went
on Monday last to Dunblane, where he is to remain a week
or two for the benefit of the mineral waters. Mr GilfiUan's
company, too, will be a cordial to his mind. I was much
disappointed yesterday at missing the sight of tvi^o gentlemen
in whom, T believe, you take an interest — Dr Anderson and
Mr Paterson. They called when I happened to be attending
our Bible Society. When I came home I set out in search
of them, but without success. — I remain, my much respected
friend, yours most cordially, ' James Husband.'
William Kidston, D.D., was an especial favourite of the
Selkirk divine. As the son of the minister of Stow, one of
Dr Lawson's nearest neighbours and intimate friends, he was
much beloved. From boyhood he took a warm interest in
his studies, admitted him into his confidence, and favoured
him with his choicest counsels. AVhen Mr Kidston was
licensed, he was the popular preacher of his year, and speedily
received calls to Hawick, Lanark, and Kennoway in Fife.
Competing calls at that time were decided by the Synod, and
accordingly, by its decision, he was appointed to Kennoway.
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 191
This was a disappointment, — he would have preferred either
of the other two, but had to submit to the decision of his
ecclesiastical superiors. Previous to his ordination, he re-
ceived another call from Glasgow, which was set aside by the
Synod, on the ground that the deed as to Kennov/ay must be
first carried into effect. This tended to increase his aversion
to Keunoway ; and, it seems, he had allowed himself to speak
somewhat disrespectfully of the Synod on account of its deci-
sions in his case, besides taking some undue liberties with the
Presbytery of Dunfermline in the arrangements necessary to
his ordination. As helping to inform us of the rather severe
views of our fathers in such cases, we give an extract from a
letter to Dr Lawson by Dr Husband, of Dunfermline.
' 'ilth March 1790. — You are much interested in the wel-
fare of Mr Kidston. I am not much acquainted with the
young man. I see him, however, to be a lad of parts, and
make no doubt, from what you say of him, that, on account
of his other qualifications, he is well worthy of esteem and
regard ; and no person whom you love can be indifferent to
me. I am not one of the most zealous for the interposition
of ecclesiastical authority in the last issue with regard to
recusant probationers. At the same time, I am not able to
approve of Mr Kidston's conduct. The congregation of
Kennoway is a respectable one in number, circumstances, and
character, and the call is unanimous. It appears to me,
therefore, to be his duty to embrace it. His antipathy is
unaccountable, except, perhaps, on the supposition of more
flattering prospects. His father, indeed, in a letter which I
received from him some time ago, insinuates that the mode of
conducting matters in our Presbytery (if 1 understand him
right) is with him an objection to union with us ; for he talks
of the opportunity of reasoning and the power of influencing
determinations being usurped by a few, and says, that no man
is obliged to enter himself a cypher to such a number. At
the same time, he talks of being perhaps obliged to bring out
192 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
these matters more publicly. If Mr Kidston meant to influ-
ence me to use my endeavours for extricating his son from his
present circumstances, I cannot think him the very wisest poli-
tician, for the tendency of his language is quite in the opposite
direction. At the same time, I hope I am able to resist the
temptation he has unwittingly thrown in my way, and that I
shall behave in the affair of his son as if no such thing had hap-
pened. . . . After several Presbyteries, and many arguments,
Mr Kidston delivered the last part of his pubhc trials, together
with his exegesis at Kincardine on the 16th inst. The Pres-
bytery were dealing with him to deliver his private trials, when
he declined, in a representation and petition, for the purpose of
being transmitted to the Synod, which he alleged contained
his reasons why he could not proceed further in the business.
When the paper was read, it was found to reflect in pretty
severe terms on the Synod, the Presbytery, and the congre-
gation of Kennoway. . . . After some conversation, he
petitioned to be allowed to withdraw it. . . . His request
was granted, with a caution from the chair to take heed to
his future conduct. The Presbytery then proposed to take
the rest of his trials, when he refused to proceed further,
alleging as his reason, that be was determined not to submit
to ordination in Kennoway. Upon this the Presbytery re-
ferred it to the Synod, to judge of his conduct. How the
affair may go at the Synod I will not pretend to say ; but I
know that there is a considerable zeal among several of the
members to enforce a late determination respecting proba-
tioners. For my own part, I see difSculties on both sides of
that determination. How the matter may strike me a month
hence I canno.t say. I have much respect for your opinion,
and should we happen in any instance to differ, I have no
doubt of our always loving as brethren and as friends. I
know you would cast me out of your regard if it were not
my motto, " Amicus Plato," etc., " sed magis amica Veritas."
To this letter Dr Lawson sent the following reply : —
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 193
' Selkirk, June 1790.
< My dear Friend, — I am sorry that I will be obliged to
disappoint you of the assistance you expected from me at
your ensuing communion, as it interferes with that of New-
town congregation, where I must be, either in person, or by a
substitute capable of doing my work. This is now the second
time that you and I have been disappointed in this way. But
we have reason to be thankful that nothing worse has hap-
pened between us. Our friendship is the same that it was
twenty- three years ago.
' We have spent twenty-three years in the reciprocation of
the warmest affection. From the calculation of chances for
hfe, it does not appear probable that both of us have as much
time before us, as we have enjoyed the pleasure of knowing
that we were most sincerely beloved by one another. But by
the Scriptures we are authorized humbly to hope that we shall
spend a never-ceasing duration of friendship, unembittered
and unalloyed by distance, or by any of the accidents that in
this world diminish the sweetest pleasures of life. God is no
less gracious than wise in mingling the best of our earthly
enjoyments with a mixture of disagreeable ingredients. If
I could enjoy your company as often as I wish, I would
probably thhik less frequently than I do of another world ;
and yet, as things stand, my thoughts of it are but few and
cold.
' I formed a plan for being in Edinburgh next week, and
seeing you the week after. I anticipate much pleasure in
seeing you. God reahzes or disappoints our prospects, ac-
cording to His own good pleasure. I have seen Mr WiUiam
Kidston, whose aversion to Kennoway is not yet removed,
though I hope he will be obedient to the sentence of Synod,
if his obedience be insisted on by you and the congregation.
I confess that I entertain no sanguine hopes of seeing com-
fortable effects from that settlement, unless his own mind
should receive a more favourable disposition towards it.
N
194 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Without mutual affection, ministers and people cannot be
happy. What is worse, they cannot, I think, be holy in the
exercise of reciprocal duties.
' If all things be not done with charity, they are not done
according to the mind of Christ,
' I should be glad to know with certainty that the people
of Kennoway entertain no ill-will to Mr Kidston. I have not
heard that they do ; but they are children of Adam, and they
are not fully purified from the indignant passions which pro-
duce coldness and aversion towards those who seem to enter-
tain the same dispositions on the other side.
' You will scarcely find any man that would entertain more
respect and esteem for another than I would entertain for
you, although I did not know you to be my friend. But all
this esteem would be insufficient to produce in me those warm
sentiments of friendship for you which possess my soul, if I
had reasou to think that you entertained an aversion to me.
I believe I have a greater degree of pride than most men,
but I am sure that other men have some share of pride ; and,
if they had none at all, I do not see that a sincere friendship
could subsist on one side only. Since I entered upon this
epistle, I have been favoured with a short visit from Mr
Kidston, junior, who designed to write you in order to apolo-
gize for not appearing before your Presbytery next week,
I told him I would, to save him the postage, insert his apology
in this letter. He finds himself under the necessity of assist-
ing next Lord's day at his father's, who is disappointed in
his hope of being served by a neighbouring brother. If it
had been practicable to attend you without disobliging his
father, by denying him that assistance which he needs, he
would have done it.
' He hopes there will be a meeting of Presbytery, at your
communion, when, if God will, he will be present himself I
know your sentiments about his affair are very different
from mine, and I know, too, that in almost everything else
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 195
you are a great deal wiser than I am. But I cannot help
thinking that, in the present business, your good sense will
in some future part of your life oblige you to change your
sentiments.
' However our opinions may differ in regard to this or
anything else, nothing, I hope, will ever change our friendship
for one another, which is the pride and pleasure of my life. —
Yours, etc., ' G. Lawson.'
In another letter from Dr Husband, of date 17th August
1790, we have the finale of this interesting matter: — 'Mr
Kidston's ordination is appointed to take place on Wednes-
day first. I am not yet fully determined whether I shall
attend. Though I am not fully satisfied of the propriety of
the Synod's sentence, after such determined opposition, yet
with Mr Kidston's ready consent I could concur in the
ordination.'
Mr Kidston was, after all, ordained in Kennoway, where
he remained only about a year. A second call came to him
from Glasgow. He left the decision in the hands of the
Synod, and by the Synod he was translated to Glasgow,
where he lived and laboured with great acceptance for up-
wards of sixty years. In adverting to the subject of the
Kennoway incumbency, he thus expresses himself in a letter
to a friend : — ' I was averse to submitting to ordination in
Kennoway, and would have preferred either of the other con-
gregations, Hawick or Lanark, and often spoke unadvisedly
on this subject. During the short time of my connection
with Kennoway, I enjoyed much comfort; my pastoral labours
were kindly received, and seemed to be not unprofitable. My
separation from them occasioned feelings more painful, by
much, than I had anticipated.' The introduction of this
matter into these pages is justifiable, though it were for no
other reason than to present the contrast between Dr Kid-
ston's earlier and more matured convictions. The law in
196 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
such cases as his is altered, and the decision in competing
and translating calls is now left, by the Synod, in the hands
of the parties themselves. It might have been expected that
to this alteration Dr Kidston would have been a consenting
judge, but it was not so ; he voted against the change, and
often afterwards regretted that the Synod had made it. All
his ministerial life, indeed, belied the promise of his outset. No
man ever had a more profound respect for church authorities,
or could pay more conscientious and honourable regard to
the 'laws of the house,' or the counsels and views of his
brethren. In this, as in other respects, he was a model
minister. Dr Lawson witnessed his settlement in Glasgow
with great satisfaction, and as long as he Hved manifested
towards him the most affectionate regard. Not long after
that settlement, we find the Professor thus writing to his
pupil : —
'Selkirk, Sept. 1794.
' Dear William, — I hope you will excuse me when I tell
you that I wish to keep some time longer both your books in
my hands : M'Lauriu's, because I have neglected to read a
considerable part of it ; and the book on the Song, because I
have in great measure forgot it.
' I am glad to hear of the acceptance of your labours in
Glasgow. I hope you will go on from strength to strength,
and that your labours will not be in vain in the Lord. I
trust you have often reflected on the necessity of diligence,
and of an humble dependence on Christ, " Labor improbus
omnia vincit," says Virgil ; but a writer of far higher autho-
rity says, " Meditate on these things ;. give thyself wholly to
them : for in so doing thou shalt both save thyself, and those
that hear thee." — I am, yours affectionately,
' Geo. Lawson.'
When Dr Kidston's health gave way, in the year 1820, he
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 197
reeeired the following precious epistle from his sympathizing
friend : —
Dr Laivson to Dr Kidston.
' Dear Brother, — I am very sorry to hear that you still
continue under the rod of God ; but I rejoice, at the same
time, to hear that, when you are disabled to preach from your
pulpit, you are enabled to preach submission to the will of
God by your patient behaviour. I doubt not that, in another
world, you will look back with joy on all your present suf-
ferings, as I hope you at present look forward with pleasure
' to that state in which we will view many things in a very
different light from what we do at present.
' I believe the Bible is now more pleasant to you than in
former times, when you were accustomed to study it with care,
and expound it to your hearers. You will, at least, find such
pleasure as you could not formerly enjoy, in those many
portions of it which were written for the consolation of the
afflicted. How uncomfortable would your present condition
be, if you had never known of the Psalms, or, at least, if you
had not been instructed in these abundant springs of consola-
tion of which the Psalms give us such affecting views ! You
cannot be unhappy whilst deep is calling unto deep, when
you are taught of God to say, " Yet the Lord will com-
mand His loving-kindness in the day, and in the night His
songs shall be with me, and my prayer to the God of my
life."
' When you think of the uncertainty of the termination of
your trouble, you will not be able, without some anxiety, to
think of these Httle ones that you must leave behind you, if
your sickness should bring you to the house appointed for all
living. Although you have better prospects of a comfortable
provision for them than most of your brethren, you will
probably feel a deep solicitude in the ease of leaving them in
a state of childhood, exposed to all the temptations of the
198 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
world, without the advantages of a lather's superintending
eye. But many of our troubles are superfluous, and those
most of all which respect futurity. We know not what shall
be on the morrow ; but this we know, that many who are
now in health will die this year, and that many who are now
looking out daily for the message of departure, will be pre-
served alive for years to come. Besides, we have a gracious
Father, to whom we can cheerfully commit the beloved fruit
of our bodies. " Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve
them alive." Some critics would deprive us of the comfort
of this pleasant text, by giving a very different, and even
opposite translation ; but if, by an interrogation, we should
turn it into a threatening, we have abundance of other texts
encouraging us to trust in God as the God of our seed. If
God publishes a threatening against the enemies of His
people, may not His people look for the blessing which is the
reverse of it ? Zaccheus, and the woman bound down with
a spirit of infirmity, were graciously regarded by Christ as
children of Abraham. — I remain, yours sincerely,
' George Lawson.'
Dr Lawson, during a great portion of his life, was sur-
rounded by brethren worthy of his friendship. We can do
little more than mention the names of a few of them. The
Rev. Dr Waugh, of Newtown (before he went to London); Mr
Coventry, of Stitchel ; Mr Kidston, of Stow ; Mr Shanks, of
Jedburgh ; Mr Hall, of Kelso ; Mr Henderson, of Hawick ;
Dr Henderson, of Galashiels ; and others, were his most
intimate associates and assistants, and of them all, while he
lived, he spake in the warmest terms. An anecdote is told of
one of these — Mr Shanks — well worthy of a place in this
reminiscence of these days. When disaffection to Government
was abroad, this most eloquent preacher stood forward to
teach the loyalty of the Bible ; and when the Secession was
attacked by its enemies, and accused of being unfriendly to
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 199
the Government of the day, he published a pamphlet, not only
in defence of his Church, but of that Grovernment itself. This
publication was highly useful. It reached a Cabinet Minister,
and the result was a laudatory communication from Downing
Street to Jedburgh, with the oifer of a pension to the author.
Mr Shanks' reply was brief but pithy, and deserves to be
preserved : ' My Lord, I am a Seceder from conviction, a
loyalist from preference, and a patriot from principle. I can
accept of no pension.' But the P.S. to this reply is the best
of it^: ' My neighbour, the Rev. Mr , who is minister of
the parish of -, has a large family, and a small stipend ;
and I shall feel obliged by your giving the pension to him.'
The favour was granted, and the family referred to enjoyed
the pension, at least during their father's lifetime.
Dr Lawson was particularly friendly with Mr Kidston, of
Stow, whose attainments in theology were admitted to be
high. The two were very intimate, and counselled each
other in emergencies. It is told, that a female member of
the Stow congregation made herself very officious in meddling
with its affairs, and especially in interfering with the minister
in his management of church matters. This vexation came
to a head at one time, and Mr Kidston went over to Selkirk
to consult with Dr Lawson as to the best means of putting an
end to it. After hearing the whole story, Dr Lawson asked
the name of this Diotrephesian female. ' Her name is Maggie
Paton,' replied Mr Kidston. ' Very well,' said the Doctor,
• you must just go back to Stow, and bear it as you best can ;
for the fact is, we have got Maggie Patons in all our congre-
gations.' An amusing incident took place, on one occasion,
between these two worthies at a meeting of Presbytery. Mr
Kidston complained to the Presbytery, that his brother at
Selkirk had received into his congregation a family that had
come to reside in the neighbourhood, whose dwelling-house
was nearer to Stow than to Selkirk ; and that this was
contrary not only to brotherly courtesy, but to the usages of
200 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
the Church. On concluding his complaint, Mr Kidston said,
' I believe, notwithstanding of this, that Mr Lawson is a good
man.' The reply of Lawson was brief but characteristic :
' Moderator, if Mr Kidstou believes me to be a good man, he
may say anything else that pleases him.' In the early days
of the Secession, it was quite understood, when families
changed their residences, and came within certain bounds,
that they were to join the church nearest to their places of
abode. It is within the recollection of living persons, that a
sort of ecclesiastical cordon of this kind was drawn between
the Duke Street and Anderston Antiburgher churches in
Glasgow. Was this the originating idea of Dr Chalmers'
parallelogram scheme ? How completely has church extension
laughed out of existence such a 'locksmith!' When Mr
Kidston died, Dr Lawson was asked to preach the funeral
sermon. He did so from these words — ' Moses, My servant,
is dead.' When at the funeral, he asked to see the corpse of
his old friend. A member of the family accompanied him to
the room where the coffin lay. He looked calmly, and but
for a moment, on the face of the dead ; then, wiping off the
falling tear, left the room, saying, ' Come away, James ; I
' will see him again.' What a firm belief do not these simple
but sublime words indicate in the immortality of the soul, and
the resurrection of the body ! What a childlike anticipation
of that future reality, vrhere death-divided friends are to be
for ever re-united ! Dr Lawson transferred his love from
the father to the children, and, while he lived, maintained
the most intimate intercourse with them, — one of his great
favourites, as we have seen, being the late Dr Kidston, of
Glasgow.
Dr Lawson had a very dear friend in Mr Leckie, of Peebles,
— a man of whom it is enough, in claiming for him true excel-
lence, to say that he merited and enjoyed the society and affec-
tion of the Professor. They were near neighbours, and had
sweet fellowship, especially when assisting each other at sacra-
THE FMEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 201
raeut times. He had a long and happy ministry, and finished
his course only a year or two before Dr Lawson. What a
man of God he must have been ! He left a widow and a large
young family totally unprovided for, and yet, when dying, he
had not a care about their future welfare. ' The God,' he
said, ' who has fed the old crow, will never allow the young
ravens to starve.' The compiler's father died in similar
circumstances, and manifested like trust. Old Ebenezer
Brown, of Inverkeithiug, was deeply solemnized one day, wheu
he came up to Dunfermline to bid him farewell, by the answer
he got to the question, ' Are you not very anxious about
these children, whom yon are leaving so destitute in this
world?' 'Not at all, — not in the least,' rephed the dying
saint ; ' I have given them up entirely to my God, and I
know that He will provide for them.' Yes, there was faith,
in these days, in Israel ! and a mighty faith it was that grew
upon, and grappled with, the promises and providences of
God under the roof-tree of the old Secession manse. May
the children walk worthy of their fathers !
But friendship with Lawson was not sectarian. He lived
very pleasantly with all his neighbours, especially with those
of the Established Church. With Mr Campbell, the Esta-
blished minister of Selkirk, he lived upon very kindly terms,
as the following letter of that excellent individual's widow,
who still survives, most pleasingly illustrates. It was written
to her nephew, the Rev. Dr Gillan, of Glasgow (now of Inch-
innan), himself of large and liberal soul, who, in great kind-
ness, sent it to the compiler on hearing that he was preparing
this memoir. Mrs Campbell writes : —
'• I have great pleasure in tracing my remembrance of the
intercourse which subsisted between your beloved uncle and
Dr Lawson. It was of the most friendly character, and lived
without interruption from 1806, when Mr Campbell was or-
dained minister of Selkirk, till the death of his venerable friend,
which took place in 1820. They never exchanged pulpits;
202 THE LIFE OF DR LAAVSO>r.
but when the Established Church was undergoing a repair,
Dr Lawsou kindly gathered together his flock an hour earUer
every Sabbath morning, that Mr Campbell might have the
same place of worship to meet in with his people in the after-
noon. It was at this period that Dr and Mrs Brunton (of
Edinburgh) paid a visit at the manse of Selkirk, when Dr
Brunton preached in the meeting-house. Next day we had
the pleasure of calling and introducing them to the venerable
Professor. Mrs Brunton (authoress of the novels, " Self-
control," and " DiscipHne") was greatly amused and much
gratified by his playful criticisms upon her religious novels,
which, he said, he could not altogether approve of, however
beautifully they were written. Mr Campbell visited Dr
Lawsou on his deathbed : he was immediately admitted to
the sick-room, and earnestly entreated to pray. I shall never
forget the impression made on me, when one of the family
told me that, shortly before her father's death, he had poured
out a most fervent prayer for " Mr Campbell and his youthful
partner." I was deeply touched, and went home and prayed
for myself as I had never prayed before. Thus the petitions
of the dying saint were being already heard. One of the
Misses Lawson continued to aid your uncle in feeding the
lambs of his flock, until her health made it necessary for her
to withdraw from the fatigue of a Sabbath school.'
By Dr Douglas, minister of Galashiels ; Dr Hardie, minister
of Ashkirk, an accomplished scholar and an amiable man ;
Dr Chartres, of Wilton ; and by Dr Russell, of Yarrow, he
was also held in high esteem and affection. They all united
in congratulating him when he received from Aberdeen the
degree of D.D. With Dr Russell, of Yarrow, especially, he
had both pleasant and profitable intercourse. His occasional
visits were welcomed as those of a kindred spirit, to whose
enlightened views on the great doctrines of our common sal-
vation he could always cordially respond. The present much
esteemed minister of Yarrow (son of Dr Russell) bore testi-
THE FRIEND AND HIS CORRESPONDENTS. 203
mony to tliis at the recent celebration of the centenary of the
Selkirk United Presbyterian Church. In addressing the
grandson, who now fills the pulpit, he very beautifully said,
' It is with pleasure and pride that I record the mutual feel-
ings of regard between my father and your grandfather, which
nothing ever occurred to disturb ; an intimacy the more hon-
ourable to both parties, that they lived in times when there
was not so much Christian liberality as now. Some years
ago I was invited to advocate, in this church, the claims of
a benevolent institution. The occasion was interesting, the
audience, as to-night, overflowing. With feelings subdued
and solemn I entered that pulpit, replete with hallowed asso-
ciations and encircled with the halo of ancestral worth. I
could not forget that it was the place long occupied by one
truly a master in Israel and mighty in the Scriptures — who
presided so ably over a school of rising prophets, and whom
princes deUghted to honour — who was not more distinguished
by the additions he has made to the theological literature of
our land, than by a heart of warmest affections and finest
sensibilities.'
Dr Lawson also lived upon friendly terms with the late Rev.
Dr Walter Buchanan, first minister of the Canongate Church,
Edinburgh. They frequently visited and corresponded to-
gether ; and when Dr Lawson's sons, George and Andrew,
were students at the University, they received from Dr
Buchanan much kindness and attention. It was through his
good offices that Dr Lawson was asked to preach the sermon
on behalf of the Edinburgh Missionary Society, which was
afterwards published.
And these have all died in the faith. Dr Lawson and his
friends have long since met in heaven. Not one of them sur-
vives. The compiler had the honour and privilege of knowing
a few of them, and therefore can intelligently affirm, that
the one man around whom such kindred spirits were gathered,
and who could both command and unite their sympathetic
204 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
admiration and love, must, beyond doubt, have been one of
the excellent of the earth. The peer, in his social position,
is not further removed from his vassal — the philosopher or
scholar is not further apart from the ignorant clown — than
was Lawson in every point of view, morally and intellectually,
greatly the superior of the common herd of men. This will
be more satisfactorily established as we proceed with the
memoir.
CHAPTER V.
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS.
George Lawson was an accomplished scliolar. This is the
testimony of all who had the privilege of his private friend-
ship, and among these may be reckoned some of the most
learned men of his times and our own. The late Dr Lee,
Principal of the University of Edinburgh, was educated by
him in theology, and was often heard referring to the scholar-
ship of his tutor as alike extensive and profound ; and it is
in the knowledge of many now hving, that by the late Drs
Dick, Marshall, Balmer, and Brown, he was esteemed to be
the ' Christian Socrates.' These are no mean judges, and
their testimony is sufficient. Still, some may be disposed
to query this Judgment, and request more specific proof.
Taking their ideas of scholarship from the multitude of
Bibhcal hermeneutical works, which are almost all the off-
spring of the present century, they dispute a claim for this
distinction, unless some elegant octavos be produced, spark-
ling on every page with Greek and Hebrew characters, and
gravid with quotations from German or Dutch authorities.
If we are to judge of Lawson's learning from his writings, we
will not find in them anything of this kind to support his title
to such honour. It ought, however, to be remembered, that,
in his days, this kind of revival of letters had not yet com-
menced. Its introduction into our theological teaching
is mainly owing to the classical acquirements and tastes
of Dr Lawson himself ; after him, of his most distinguished
pupil, the late Dr John Brown; and now far advanced
206 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
towards perfection by Dr Eadie. Besides, the circulation of
lexicons and translations of German books bearing on the
sacred science of Biblical literature, had not yet taken place.
Apart from such evidence, we have to discover the scholarship
of Lawson. Nor is this in any way a difficult task : the proofs
abound; so much so, that 'he may run that readeth.' There
are some days during which the revolution of the sun in the
firmament is matter of faith. We have no doubt of it.
Though we do not see the blazing ball of fire, his light is all
about us. For a moment or two, now and then, some frail
cloud disparts, the blue ethereal is seen, and the glory of the
greater light in the midst of it. Of a similar kind is the evi-
dence that now remains of Dr Lawson's wonderful scholarship.
We know it from the chastened light which falls upon our
minds from his writings, and from the occasional blinks that
now and again dazzle our eyes. Had his hfe been written
in the morning tide, ere the clouds of setting memories and
friendships had gathered around him, we might have seen the
ample volume of his acquirements with undiminished eye and
unmi^takeable proofs. Whoever has read with just discrimi-
nation the writings of this remarkable man, must be satisfied
of this. If he be not, either his own scholarship must be very
deficient, or his heart must be as narrow as his head. Sec-
tarianism must be his blinder. Not the processes by which
Dr Lawson arrived at his conclusions, but the conclusions
themselves, overflow his chapters. In conversation with
sympathizing friends, authorities and references, of different
tongues and peoples, came flowing forth Hke a stream. His
learning was known rather by his writings than in his writ-
ings. Had he been as aware of his singular acquirements as
other men, and had he thought that useful purposes might
have been served by the other course, he could with ease have
pursued it. But it must be admitted that, at least in his own
Church, there was no precedent for, nor even liking to, such
a system of preaching from the pulpit or teaching from the
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 207
desk. The demands of each age are met by appropriate sup-
plies ; and it is good for the cause of orthodox truth, that, in a
highly educated and intellectually excited age like the present,
men and minds have been prepared to meet its severest appeals
either to logic, letters, or criticism. Lawson's habits of study,
his books, his literary tastes, his chosen friends, and corre-
spondence with them, and his pastoral and professorial works,
may all be referred to as evidence. Before entering upon
these, it may not be out of place here to notice, that though
in this respect he was distinguished among his brethren, they
also were well-educated men. It is rather singular that the
idea of an educated ministry should ever have been considered
as the peculiar distinction of an Established Church. What-
ever ground there may be for it elsewhere, there is none
whatever among the Secession Churches of Scotland, and
there never was. In Sir Henry Wellwood Moncreiff's ' Life
of Dr Erskine' we have the following testimony to this truth,
and it is all the more valuable as coming from a reverend
baronet of the Kirk : —
* The candidates for orders in the Secession have, at least,
the means of being as well educated as the ministers of the
Establishment. This fact, whatever additional strength it
may give to the Secession, is of no small importance to the
country at large ; for, from the congregations of eight Seced-
ing ministers, deposed by the Assembly in 1740 (adding to
them the Presbytery of Relief, which sprung from the depo-
sition of a single individual many years later), there have
risen up at least, nearly 360 Seceding meetings, which, at a
moderate computation, may, in round numbers, contain a
fourth or fifth part of the population of Scotland. When so
large a proportion of the inhabitants of the kingdom is con-
cerned, it is at least consolatory to believe that they have
access to instructors who are qualified to do them justice.
The doctrines now delivered in the Seceding meetings are, in
no essential article, different from the instruction received in
208 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
the Established churches. Though, by being more numerous,
and always well educated, the Established clergy can cer-
tainly produce a much greater number of considerable men,
it cannot be denied that, among the ministers belonging to
the Secession, there are individuals not inferior to the most
respectable ministers of the Establishment ; and it ought to
be in candour admitted, that their people are, by a great
proportion of them, as well instructed as those who adhere
to the Church."
In reading this candid testimony, while one cannot fail to
be somewhat tickled at the venerable baronet's complacent
Churchmauship, we must value it as proof positive of the
learning of our own fathers in these days. If there was
reason for Sir Henry's consolatory reflections then, how
much more so now, when the 3G0 have been increased to
upwards of 500 United Presbyterian ministers; and when
to them must be added between 700 and 800 of the most
learned and excellent men of the Scottish Establishment,
under whose ' united' and '/ree' pastorates three-fourths of
the whole population of Scotland are placed. There is
certainly more reason than ever to be thankful, that, though
differing, and even separating from one another, all the three
Presbyterian Churches in Scotland — the United Presbyterian,
the Free, and the Established — have continued to strengthen
and adorn the Christian pulpit with a fully educated ministry.
And well it has been for the cause of Christian truth that it
IS so, cast as the ark of God now is upon troubled waters,
and tumbled and tossed about amid mists and meteors that
alike bewilder and bewitch the public mind. True, our
learning is not our refuge nor our strength — God is both ;
nevertheless, it is matter of gratitude that we have both
chart and compass on board, and pilots too, that shall
weather the storm when it bursts.
Candid judges will admit that, on the field of sacred letters,
the United Presbyterian Church has acted a part highly to
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 209
her credit. The literary galaxy of our country boasts many
' burning and shining lights' that were fed and fired at her
altars. The names of the two Erskines, Fisher, Boston,
Brown, Lawson, Frazer, Belfrage, Dick, Ballantyne, Balmer,
Marshall, Dr John Brown, and Dr Husband, among the
dead, with many others among the living, whom it would be
invidious to mention, are enough to make a Scotchman proud
of the sons of her yeomen. It is just, however, to Dr Lawson
to state, that some of the most eminent at least of those who
have fulfilled their course, not only studied under him, but
got their literary stimuli very strongly from his scholarship
and tuition. In another place, we shall see the eminent of
other denominations paying homage to his influence. From
the days, indeed, of his professorship until now, the Church
and the Church's literature have both felt and been benefited
by that influence. Who can doubt it, who has been privi-
leged to mingle with the remanent members of the Selkirk
Hall? Many ' Noctes Selkirkiante' I have enjoyed with
fathers and brethren who had studied under him ; and who,
without an exception, seemed to be in danger of worshipping
his very memory. If not the mantle, the spirit of Lawson
seems to have been poured out upon them all. The most of
those Ettrick men were good and true in their generation,
and in their office ; and will not be easily forgotten by any
who knew them — by none who were favoured with their mini-
stry. Dr Frazer, of Keunoway ; Dr Stewart, of Livei'pool ;
Dr John and Dr Henry Belfrage ; Dr Schaw, of Ayr ; Dr
Hay, of Kinross ; Dr Fletcher, of London ; Dr H. Thomson,
of Penrith ; Dr A. Thomson, of Coldstream ; Drs Eadston
and Beattie, of Glasgow ; Dr Marshall, of Kirkintifloch ; Dr
Baird, of Paisley ; Dr Nicol, of Jedburgh ; Dr Balmer, of
Berwick ; Dr Brown, of Edinburgh ; Dr Jameson, of Scone ;
Dr Newlands, of Perth ; Mr EUes, of Saltcoats ; Mr Smart,
of Paisley ; Mr Clapperton, of Johnstone ; Mr Baflantyne,
of Stonehaven ; Mr Law^ of Kirkcaldy ; Mr Angus, of
210 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Aberdeen, with others still alive, were, or are now, among
the custodiers of a memory they could not let die.. While,
then, properly alive to all the advantages now derived from
minds further on in time, and therefore higher up in the region
of clearer and defter thinking, let us warmly cherish the
conviction that, to the presiding genius of their Professor,
these men were, and are, in many respects, greatly indebted
for the direction, the employment, and the influence of their
studies.
A learned man, now-a-days, is understood to have a
thorough knowledge of the grammar, roots, and idioms of
the dead and living languages, and to be versed in the ab-
struse, the ethical, and the metaphysical sciences. Such a
savant is Lord Brougham ; but where is such another to be
found? Here and there we meet with one who is simply
classical, or simply physical, or simply philosophical in his
claims for learning or scholarship ; but almost nowhere do
you find in the same individual one who may be set down as
first wrangler in them all. Neither, of course, do we claim
any such rare excellence for Dr Lawson. All we affirm with
regard to his scholarship is, that, in point of quality and
amount, it seems to have approached nearer to the Brougham
type than any others of the day in which he lived. This,
unquestionably, is the impression left by his contemporaries,
when they speak or write upon the subject. As evidence
that this is not an exaggerated statement, the reader is re-
quested to consider without prejudice the following most
creditable testimonies : —
' His acquaintance,' says the late Dr Belfrage of Falkirk,
' with the best theological works, ancient and modern, was
extensive and accurate. He greatly relished, and often read
in the original Greek, the works of Chrysostom. The writings
of Owen, and especially his practical works, he highly valued.
The sermons of Massillon and Saurin he read with pleasure,
and in French. The writings of Jonathan Edwards he care-
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 211
fully studied, and Campbell on the Gospels, with other ap-
proved works of sacred criticism : and it was pleasing to mark
with what simplicity and perspicuity he could state the result
of their most elaborate inquiries, making passages obscure
and difficult intelligible to persons of ordinary capacity. He
devoted a portion of his time through the week to the perusal
of works of practical piety, such as Traill, Boston, and Brown,
There is a holy unction and sweetness in them, by which
the devout mind is charmed. It was by such reading that
he learned to apply with fidelity and wisdom the truths of
the Gospel for the advancement of piety in his own soul,
and to qualify himself for speaking to the hearts of others.
He used to speak of prayer as the best guide in the search
after truth, and besought the Father of Lights to make him
to know wisdom in the hidden part. But he did not neglect
classical Uterature, philosophy, and history. " Plutarch's
Lives " was a favourite book of his, and, from the incidents
he details and the maxims of wisdom with which they abound,
he introduced into his discourses many very appropriate and
useful quotations, and from his lips they fell with a simplicity
and gravity widely different from the levity and exaggeration
of many such details. He was familiar with Homer and the
lesser Greek poets, and occasionally quoted them with great
readiness. The sages and the heroes of Greece and Rome he
valued as monitors, to teach us the diligence with which we
should seek for a higher wisdom and strive for a brighter
glory.
' The whole range of history, ancient and modern, was quite
familiar to him. Works of taste and genius he delighted to
peruse, and by them he felt his mind relieved after severe
study ; but never did he devote to them aught of the time
which was claimed by more serious engagements, or contract
by them a disrelish for mental occupation of a graver cast.
So admirable was the intellectual discipline which he main-
tained, that lighter scenes and feelings were not suffered to
212 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
distract bis attention in serious inquiry, but were employed as
stimulants in wisdom's ways.
' It was a circumstance which beautifully characterized his
spirit and manner as a scholar, that, amidst his own acquire-
ments, he maintained uniform modesty, and dehghted to do
justice to the talents and attainments of others. No jealousy
or envy wrought in his breast, and so far from courting op-
portunities for displaying his research, his aim was mildly to
instruct or encourage others to be diligent.
' As a minister of the Gospel, it was his great object to
make his people stand complete in all the will of God ; and
for this purpose he expounded the Scriptures in a manner
clear, lively, and attractive. He could avail himself of the
stores of his mind, with the greatest readiness, to illustrate
and enforce its various lessons ; and places of the Bible, which
are sometimes passed by as too abstruse for the comprehension
of the people, or too barren for utility, he delighted to open
up, and to bring forth the gold treasured in them.'
' It is a vain thing to imagine,' writes the late Eev. Mr
Lothian, of Edinburgh, and one of the most judicious of Dr
Lawson's pupils, ' that any man, who is not qualified to lay
the whole compass of human learning under contribution for
the purpose, can be ready to communicate instruction, as this
great scholar was at all times, and in all departments of reli-
gion, natural and revealed. In geography and chronology, in
biography and history, in antiquities and customs, sacred and
profane, Dr Lawson was profoundly learned. He had studied
with care the philosophy of language and of natural history.
To physical and mathematical science he had in some degree
turned his attention. In metaphysical and moral science he
had no superior, and few equals. With the general principles
of law and equity, which are recognised in the civil codes and
in the political intercourse of all civihsed nations, he was well
acquainted. He understood and loved the constitution of
his country ; in principle and practice, he ever stood aloof
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 213
from political partizans ; he " honoured all men " according
to their worth, " loved the whole Christian brotherhood,
feared God, and honoured the king, as appointed of God
to be a terror to evil doers, and a praise to them that do
well." '
The next testimony is that of a man, above all others,
capable of judging on such a point, and the earliest and most
intimate friend of Dr Lawson — the Rev. David Greig, of
Lochgelly. When Mr Lothian was a student, he was under
Mr Greig's pastoral care ; and on leaving Lochgelly for the
Hall, he made inquiries of his minister regarding the Pro-
fessor at Selkirk, of whose high character and attainments he
at that time knew nothing. ' You are going,' said Mr Greig,
' to be taught by a man every way so learned and excellent,
that probably he has not, in these respects, ten equals or one
superior in Scotland; and what is best of all, he does not
himself know or suppose that such is or can be the case.'
The Rev. John Johnston had gone on a visit to the well-
known Adam Hope, the rector of Annan Academy. Mr
Hope was a capital scholar, and especially a profound mathe-
matician. In his estimation there were not such two men on
the earth as Dr Lawson and Mr Johnston of Ecclefechan, for
scholarship or general Christian worth. When he was waited
upon at this time by the son of his Ecclefechan friend, he was
deeply engaged in reading. He desired Mr Johnston to take
a seat, and excuse him for a few minutes. In a little he clpsed
the book, and, addressing his visitor, said, ' I have just been
reading Dr Lawson's lectures on the book of Esther ; it is a
wonderful production. That man, I believe, knows more of
Divine truth than many saints may, after they have been
twenty years in heaven.'
It is with much satisfaction that we quote a high authority
upon this point. In Dr Cairns' scholarly memoir of Dr
Brown, he thus generously and justly refers to Dr Lawson :
' No adequate record of this remarkable person has been given
214 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
to the world ; but the fragments of biographical information
and the traditions of his pupils, together with his writings,
show him to have been a man almost unique in point of cha-
racter. So wonderful was his memory, that he could nearly
have reproduced the English Bible, on which he habitually
lectured to his congregation with the book shut. He had
also by heart large portions of the Hebrew and Greek
Scriptures, as well as of the classics. He had studied the
Fathers more as a divine of the seventeenth century than of
the eighteenth, and his range of information in modern di-
vinity and church history was equally extensive. His powers
of original thought, though not equal to his learning, were also
great. He was able to reduce the structure of dogmatic
theology to a form less abstruse and technical than usual, and
to open up a vein of moral instruction too little cultivated
before, and which, in his works on Esther, the Proverbs, and
other parts of Scripture, yields results which have not been
often surpassed for sagacity and deep knowledge of human
nature. A sanctity and purity worthy of an ancient prophet
were in hira softened by a most amiable natural temper, and
relieved by a familiarity of manner, descending to negligence,
as well as by a large intermixture of genuine Scottish humour,
which at times recalled to his pupils the irony of Socrates.
A generous sympathy with liberty of inquiry and the cause of
progress in the Church as w^ell as in the world, crowned his
admirable character. Pew theologians of his time, attached
to the orthodox side, were so little fettered by the traditions
of churches in interpreting the Word of God.'
With regard to Dr Brown's own estimate of his great
tutor's learning, Dr Cairns also tells us that ' the terms in
which he continued to speak of Dr Lawson to the last, were
those of almost unbounded love and veneration. He de-
scribes him as a man " in wliom met strong natural talent,
extensive and varied professional learning, originality of view,
soundness of mind, strict integrity, deep devotion, childlike
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 215
simplicity, unaffected humility and kindliness of heart, in rare,
and, so far as my observation has gone, when the degree of
the qualities is taken into account, in singular union." " To
have enjoyed," Dr Brovra says, " the advantage and tuition
of this truly great and good man, I count one of the principal
blessings and honours of my life ; and I have a melancholy
satisfaction in thus recording the indelible impression made
on my mind by so much erudition and wisdom, worth and be-
nevolence." " The world," he loved to say, " will never know
all that was in that man." On the occasion of his last pubhc
appearance, he reverted, with deep feeling, to the days when,
with the numerous band of his fellow-students, " more than
fifty years ago, he used to listen to, and all but worship that
Christian Socrates, Dr George Lawson." And he thus also
records his estimate of his writings : " There is a peculiar
charm in the writings of that sage-like apostolic man, Pro-
fessor Lawson ; v/ritings in which most important, original,
pregnant thoughts are continually occurring amidst those
commonplaces of religion and morals, which must form the
staple of all pulpit instruction." '
Having laid this soHd foundation of pointed and erudite
testimony upon the subject, we feel that, in our future refer-
ences to Dr Lawson's scholarship and learning, we incur no
danger of exaggerating the truth.
A man may be known by his company or by his books.
Either way speaks well of Dr Lawson. His companions
and friends, as we have seen, were few, but choice; they
were the inner circle of his heart and thought. Beyond it,
however, there were many excellent persons who prized his
society. They had to seek for it, not he for them. They
were drawn to him, from appreciation of his qualifications for
imparting knowledge. If the secrets of his library could now
be disclosed, we might be made privy to many a curious fel-
lowship between him and his visitors. Here, in this library,
he was, not Diogenes in his tub, but Moses in his chair, or
216 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Solon at his desk — constantly reading, or thinking, or writing,
or conversing. His most familiar intercourse was with the
books themselves. He lived in and with them, and they lived
in him. Crabbe describes it all when he says, —
' Wisdom loves
This seat serene, and virtue's self approves.
Here come the grieved, a change of thought to find,
The curious here, to feed a craving mind ;
Here the devout their peaceful temple choose.
And here the poet meets his favouring muse.'
Dr Lawson's library consisted of upwards of 2000 volumes,
among which were the best Puritan and American divines,
some of the Greek fathers, such as Athanasius and Chry-
sostom, with a considerable number of Latin, Dutch, French,
and Italian works, all of which he read and quoted easily in
their original languages. The reader may be interested with
the following selection, as a mere sample of the books to be
found in it : —
Augustine's Confessions. Eusebii, Pamphili, Ruffini, Theodoriti,
Abbadie (J.), Les CEuvres de. Evagrii, Socratis, Sozomeni, et Tlieo-
ALapide (Corn.), Comment in Scripturam. dori, Historiaj Ecclesiasticce. Folio.
Aristotelis, Ehetorica et Poetica. Ernesti, Opuscula Tlieologica.
„ Animalium Ilistoria. Epictcti, Encliiridion.
,, Varia Opuscula. Erasmi, Colloquia.
Antonini (Marci Aurelii), Meditationes. Faber's Hois Mosaics.
Amesii, Opera Omnia. Franehe (H. A.), Piwlectiones Hermeneu-
Athanasii, Opera. tic£8.
Buxtorfii, Lexicon Hebraicum. Flecliier (Le Pere), Pifedications.
„ „ Clialdaicum. Fenelon (F. S.), CEuvres Spirituelles.
Bossuet (J. B.), Discours sur mistoire Flavel's Works.
Universelle. Glassii (S), Philologia Sacra.
Barwickii Vita. Grotii (H ), Defensio Fidei Catholicse de
Boston (T.), Tractatus Stigniologicus Satisfactione Christ!
Hebrseo-Biblicus. Grammatica Syriaca.
Calvini, Opera. 7 vols. Gale's Court of the Gentiles.
Calmet, Dissertations sur la Bible. Goodwin's Works. 5 vols.
Chrysostomi Opera. 8 vols. Folio. Gil, on the Creed.
Chappelow oi' Job. 2 vols. Hederici Lexicon.
Cartwrightii (Com: Succincti) Hemraingii, Lectiones in Psalmos.
Chandler on Joel. Justin Martyr (including Athenagoras,
Du Pin's Ecclesiastical Historj-. 7 vols Theophilus,Tatian,and Hermias). Folio.
Diodati's Annotations. Langii (Jos ), Florilegii Magni.
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS.
217
Lowth, de Sacra Poesi Hebrseonim.
„ on the Prophets.
Lexicon Arabico-Latinum.
Leusdenii (J.), Clavis Hebraica Vet. Test.
„ De Dialectis Novi Testament!.
Maximi, Opera.
Marckii, Comment, in Prophetas Minores.
Manton on Jude.
Novum Testamentum Grjecum (Millii,
Bez:e, Knappii, Griesbachii, Valpy).
Noldii (Chr.) Concordantia Particularum
Hebrseo-Chaldaicanim.
Noncut on the Eternal Word.
Owen's WorliS. 14 vols.
Perronii, Vita Apostolorum.
Paterculi Velleii, Historia.
Parei (D. D.) Opera Exegetica. 4 vols.
Pocock's Works. 2 vols. Folio.
Petter, on Jlavk.
Prideaux's Connection.
Picteti (B.) Theologia Christiana.
„ La Morale Chrfetienne.
Pemble's Works.
Rainold's Haggal.
Scapulae, Lexicon Gr£eco-Latinum.
Socrates, Eccles. Hist.
Saey (S. de) Grammaire Arabe.
Sacy (S. de) La Sainte Bible.
Sai-pi (F. P.) Histoire du Concile de Tve«it.
Starckii (J. F.) Comment, in Ezeckielem.
Scliultens (A.) Proverbia Salomonis, cum
Comment.
Stephani (H.) Concord. No-vi Testamenti.
Sauriu (M.) Discom's Historiques et Crit-
iques, sur les Evenemens les plus memo-
rable au Vieux et du Nouveau Testa-
ment. 3 vols, folio.
Stock on Malaclii.
Ti'omii (Abr.) Concordantia Grsec.ie,
Versionis LXX. 2 vols, folio.
Turretini (F.) Opera. 6 vols.
Trapp's Commentary.
Ursini Opera.
Vitringa (C.) Coramentarius in Jesaiam.
„ ,, Observationes Sacrse.
Witsii (H.) Opera. 7 vols.
Wolfli (J. C.) Cura Philologicc'e et Critlcas
in Novum Testamentum. 5 vols.
Wall's Critical Notes.
Wemyss' Biblical Gleanings.
This library was Lawsou's earthly Ecleu, Here he delighted
to read, and meditate, and pray. He knew his books inti-
mately, and loved them only less affectionately than his friends.
It has been mentioned as a remarkable fact, that many per-
sons who make a very respectable figure in society never in
their whole lives read a single book entirely through. Such
was not the case with our scholar. He not only used all his
own books, but eagerly availed himself of every opportunity
to borrow when he could not buy. Indeed, the wonder is,
that with his limited means he could collect such a library as
he had. Where did he get the money ? And where did he
find the books ? They were not found for him by any ' Con-
gregational Minister's Library Scheme,' such as happily now
exists in our Church ; nor were they bequeathed to him by any
predecessor or friend. From his eagerness to get possession
of such old authors as he prized, he must have been a regular
visitor at those old book-stalls and auction-marts which, in
218 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
bis day, were much more common, especially the former, than
they are now in Edinburgh. We have no information upon
the subject, but do no violence to probability when we opine,
that, as the family increased upon her hands, Mrs Lawson
would wax more and more jealous of her husband's visits to
the capital, and perhaps give a gentle hint to him to be mind-
ful of the stipend fast failing away, with some months to pasa»
before the next instalment. The gathering of these 2000
volumes has a history which it would be worth the antiquary's
while to unravel. No doubt his practice of celibacy for a
few years after his ordination enabled him to lay the founda-
tion ; but how the superstructure got up at all, is a mystery
to all who do not beheve in the blessing that seemed to rest
upon the Selkirk pastor's basket and store. We doubt not
Drs Peddle and Hall, and Mr Lothian, of Edinburgh, could
have told quaint enough stories of their Selkirk brother's
bargaining at the book-stalls in Leith Walk, where once
stood and sold old books, men now at the very top of their
profession, and the greatest living patrons of education and
serial literature. A bargain he might sometimes get, but he
no doubt oft duped himself, out of love to the 'lair' and
desire for the book. And when he could not buy, he was
ever ready to borrow. He might agree with the ancient who
thought that he ' learned more from borrowed books than
from his own, because, not having the same opportunity of
revising them, he read them with more care.' But then,
oblivious as he sometimes was, he never forgot to return what
was lent to him. His neighbour. Sir Walter Scott, had no
reference to him when he once said facetiously to a friend,
that ' he did not know what sort of arithmeticians some of his
friends might be, but he was sure they were good hooh-Tceepers.^
When a student, his limited means prevented him from buying
many books, and then, of course, he had to depend upon the
kindness of others. We have read somewhere that young
men should not be discouraged from buying books — that
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 219
much may depend upou it ; that Whiston's accidental pur-
chase of a ' Euclid' at an auction excited him to study mathe-
matics. This may be true when there is both the ability and
the will to purchase ; but the history of many a young man's
education would reveal how much of hterary progress has
depended upon reciprocity in lending and borrowing. How
pleasingly ilhistrative of all this is the following letter,
which we have found among his papers, from the Sheriff of
Selkirkshire : —
' Sir, — I am happy in having it in my power to accommo-
date you with a copy of Sophocles. The second volume of the
Biogrxiphia Britanmca is also sent.
' When I was last in Edinburgh, I bought a copy of
Claudian, an author I had never read. There is one passage,
in looking over it, which struck me as eminently beautiful.
I send you an old torn school copy of my father's, which you
may keep. The passage is marked, page 20, beginning, —
' " Scepe mihi dulcian," etc.,
and ending,
" toUuntur in altura
Ut lapsu graviore ruant."'
This last sentence I have often seen quoted, and imagined it
was from Juvenal, who has something to the same purpose,
but differently expressed. Vide Sat. x. ver. 104. — I am. Sir,
your very humble servant, ' And. Plummer.
' SuNDEELAND Hall, 9th May 1793.'
He was not even averse to let his more favoured students
have the private use of some of his numerous manuscript
volumes. And we have reason to know that these were
very highly prized — so much so, as by some to be copied out
for their own use. The late Dr Brown enjoyed at one time
this privilege. We find him thus expressing his obligations
to his tutor : —
220 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
' Rev. and dear Sir, — Along with this I return yon, with
many thanks, two volumes of MSS. — the one marked 25, and
containing notes on Isaiah, from chap. IV. adfinem ; and the
other marked XIII., containing notes on 1 and 2 Chronicles.
I must crave your indulgence for keeping the notes on the
first four and part of the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the
Romans, for some time longer. I have been already deeply
indebted to you in my editorial capacity, but wish to be not
a little deeper in debt to you in this way. Mr Andrew was
talking of something in the way of a " Comparative View of
the practical tendency and influence of the Calvinistic and
Arrainian Systems," as being among your papers. If you do
not think of publishing them separately, I earnestly wish you
would honour the Repository so far as to make it the vehicle
of your illustrations of this most interesting subject. . . .
I request an interest in your prayers, in the new and some-
Iwhat trying circumstances in which, by the Leith call, I am
brought. I feel strongly indisposed to leave my pi'esent
situation, but would wish to discover the path of duty, and
when discovered, to follow it. Present my respectful good
wishes to Mrs Lawson and the young ladies. In them, Mrs
Nimmo cordially joins with me. — I am, Rev, and dear Sir,
with much respect and affection, your deeply obliged pupil,
' John Brown.
'BiGGAR, \?,th Augt. 1817.'
Any friend or even neighbour had access to his books and
his opinions. Foreigners and Papists even were not ex-
cluded. During the time of the war, some French officers
lay on parole at Melrose. Three of them were inteUigent
and well-informed men, but strong Papists. They had heard
that their language was almost as familiar to Dr Lawson as
his native tongue ; and having obtained an interview, they
received from him such books as they wished and he had.
One afternoon he took them by surprise. They were con-
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 221
versing upon the literature of France. Tlie doctor arose, and
took down from his hbrary some old French authors, asking
them to read certain passages which he pointed out. To
their own chagrin, the officers failed on the trial. The great
difference in spelling and in idiom was such as fairly to
puzzle them, and they at once admitted it. The good man
then, in an easy and fluent way, entertained them by reading
the whole. One of these men, some time after he got better
acquainted with Dr Lawson, conceived the idea of converting
him to the Roman faith ; and they entered calmly, but
seriously, into controversy on the subject. As the officer was
bidding the Doctor a ' bon soir,' he said —
' It is my intention to pray for you to the Virgin Mary at
a certain hour this evening ; and you will please take notice,
at that time, whether you do not feel your mind undergoing
a sensible change.'
' Well, if I am awake then,' the Doctor replied, ' I will.'
Next day the Frenchman called, eager to ascertain the result.
' Were you sensible of any change ? ' he inquired.
' Indeed,' replied Dr Lawson, ' to tell the truth, the only
thing I am sensible of is, that I enjoyed a more than ordinarily
sound night's sleep.'
Poor monsieur was chop-fallen, and resumed the argument,
but to no effect.
' You wish me,' said Dr Lawson, as they parted, ' to pray
to the Virgin Mary ; but this I cannot do, and for these
reasons : Mary is neither omnipresent nor omniscient ; I
cannot, therefore, be sure that she shall hear my prayers.
Besides, I am now an old man, and having never prayed to
her before, I am by no means hopeful of gaining her ear now,
especially when she must be much engaged in listening to her
tried friends in France and Spain. Though, however, I will
not pray to her, I will try to imitate her example when she
said, " My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath
rejoiced in God my Saviour."'
222 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
On the officer's return to Melrose, several letters passed
between him and the Professor, upon the subjects iu dispute.
We insert the following as a specimen. The reader will
readily excuse his bad English and worse grammar. Bouard
might have written in French, but it was something to show
Dr Lawson that he had mastered so far his vernacular : —
' Sir, — I am very much honoured with your kind letters.
If I have not answered to the first, it were for the want of being
able to read it ; but your last I have read, and understand it
pretty well. Yes, sir, I put whole my confidence in God,
in our Lord Jesus Christ ; and more confidence in the prayers
of the holy Virgin Mary, that all generations shall call blessed
(Luke i. 48), than in mine own. I beseech our Lord Jesus
Christ, that He may enlighten me more and more ; that He
guide me in the truth, and gives me all the grace necessary
for the salvation of my soul, and be one of His true disciples ;
but, in the same time, if I have the misfortune to depart from
His holy Roman Catholic Church, which is that holy Cathohc
Church mentioned in the Apostles' Creed, I beseech Him
that He may afflict me, in depriving me of all my members,
leaving me only the breast, to let me know and remember I
have departed from that Church ; I have sinned against the
Holy Ghost, and He may give me a true repentance. Dear
sir, you are yet mistaken on the worship of images — may be
you take the honour we pay them for the worship that we
owe only to God ; that worship is expressly forbidden by
our Pope's catechisms and the Catholic Church, and that
Cathohc Church teaches us that we pray the blessed Virgin
Mary and saints ; they pray for us to have more confidence in
their prayers than in our own. I beseech you to try only
the prayers of the blessed Virgin Mary, and you will see how
more valuable they will be than yours. Direct your prayers
to her in that manner (since you have no faith enough to
believe she can pray for us), " 0 blessed Virgin Mary, pray
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS 223
for me if you are able to do it, that our Lord Jesus Clirist
guide me in His true Church, and give me all the graces
necessary for the salvation of my soul. 0 Lord Jesus Christ,
grant me my petition by the intercession of the Holy Mother,
if she be so much in favour with Thee ; and do forgive me
my ignorance." Dear sir, I beseech you do leave off of
speaking against the Roman Catholic Church, because, as
often as you speak against her, as often you sin. You do
like St Paul before his conversion to our Lord Jesus Christ.
The late event of the downfall of the most powerful monarch
should open your eyes, even to all the world ; and I pray
God that it may, and be all for His glory. Amen.
' Sir, I wish, with my whole heart, you and I be guided
by our Lord Jesus Christ, that He may abide in us for ever
and ever : we hve in Him, and Him in us. These are the
sincere desires and wishes of your most humble servant,
* AUGT. BOUARD,
' A true Koman Catholic.
' Melrose, the 22d of April 1814.
P.S. — You will find at Mr J. Ronaldson, at Darnick,
several books of my religion, if you will read them. I advise
you, above all, to read without partiality, the Explanation of
the Apostles' Creed, and the Explanations of the Sacraments.'
The following is Dr Lawson's most masterly reply to the
several letters of the Papist. Its Biblical knowledge, pellucid
logic, and Christ-like spirit, are ahke incomparable : —
' Selkirk, June 4, 1814.
' Dear Sir, — I received yours, and thank you for the deep
concern you express for ray eternal welfare. God grant
that neither you nor I may mistake the path which leads to
everlasting life. How terrible will it be, if we are found to
have been walking in the broad way that leads to destruction,
whilst we thought that we were daily approaching nearer to
224 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
the blessed objects of our hopes. But whilst I pray to God
to lead me in His paths, I cannot see it my duty to pray to
any of the saints departed, to enlighten my darkness. I find
no examples of any such prayers in any part of the Scripture,
from the beginning to the end of it. You have, indeed, pro-
duced many passages, which show that the saints on earth
and in heaven have a certain kind of fellowship with one
another. This is what no Protestant will deny. Certain it
is, that when we come to the heavenly Zion — the Church of
Christ — and to the Mediator of the new covenant, we come
also to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to the in-
numerable company of angels : we rejoice in their happiness
and glory. We know that angels are ministering spirits for
us. But we know also, that they neither expect, nor will re-
ceive, religious worship from us. If I should pray to Peter,
it is very probable he would know nothing of what I was
doing ; or, if he was near me, he would say, " Stand up, I
myself also am a man. I am still a man in my perfect state.
I am not everywhere present, or omniscient to hear, nor
furnished with all power in heaven and earth to answer
prayer." Should I pray to one of the angels, perhaps that
angel to whom I present my request may be, at the time
when I am praying to him, in France or China, or in his
ordinary place of abode in the highest heavens ; but if he
were present with me he would say, " See thou do it not, for
I am thy fellow-servant, and the fellow-servant of thy brethren
that have the testimony of Jesus." Do you not remember
the caution given you by the Holy Spirit ? " Beware lest any
man spoil you of your reward in a voluntary humility and
worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he
hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." You
put me in mind of many passages of Scripture, in which the
Apostle Paul requests the prayers of his brethren on earth ;
but you produce none in which he seeks the prayers of St
Stephen or St James ; and yet one might have reasonably
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 225
thought that he would often have spoken of his desire of their
prayers, if he had wished to set us an example of soliciting
the prayers of departed saints. He held the place of James
in the college of the apostles ; and his conversion may well
be accounted an answer to Stephen's prayers for his mur-
derers before that holy man was chased from the earth. I
suggested to you a consideration, of which you took no
notice, that we can seek the prayers of saints on earth,
because we know how we may hold communication with
them ; but how can we know that the saints in heaven hear us,
or how can we suppose it probable that they should hear our
prayers from an hundred thousand places at the same time ?
They are perfect, but they are not present in more than one
place at the same time, I desire, again, your prayers by
this letter, if it should reach you. But when you are re-
moved to another place of the world, I will not sit down on
my knees and implore you to pray for me. I confess there
is a great difference between you and the Virgin Mary ; but
the difference does not lie in properties, or in rights that
belong only to God. What I mean by this observation is,
that no good argument can be drawn from our desiring the
prayers of our earthly brethren, to our requesting the good
oflBces of those who are gone to heaven before us. I honour
the departed saints. I know that they would rejoice to see
me among them. But I would not give them the honour that
belongs to my Saviour. They will receive me, I hope, with
a kind welcome to their everlasting habitations ; yet I hope
to reach these habitations only through the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is " the way, and the truth, and the
Hfe :" " No man cometh to the Father but by Him."
' Those passages of Scripture in your letter, which speak
of the prayers of angels, give some appearance of support to
your cause ; but the question is, whether the angel spoken
of in these passages is any one of the created angels, or that
Person who is called the Angel or Messenger of the Cove-
p
226 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
nant (Mai. iii. 1), who certainly is none other than the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the great Messenger (as the word angel
signifies) of the Father to men — the Apostle of God by way
of eminence. " The Angel," says Jacob, " that redeemed me
from all evil, bless the lads." Now, who was the particular
Angel that redeemed Jacob from all evil? None other oi
the angels were addressed by him in prayer but this one ;
and I think we are at no loss to know who He was. He
was the Angel who is spoken of in another passage quoted
by you (Hos. xii.). By His strength he had power with God ;
yea, he had power over the Angel, and prevailed. It would
be a strange anticlimax (to speak in the language of rheto-
ricians), to say. By His strength he had power with God ; yea,
he had power over the Angel, — if this Angel had not Himself
been God. It would have been as absurd as if it had been
said of David, He had power over Gohath ; yea, he could have
killed that giant's babes if he had met with them, — a babe is
not so far inferior in strength to a giant, as angels are to
their Maker. But the prophet himself leaves us little room to
doubt that this Angel was the Lord God of Hosts (ver. 5).
Or if this should be uncertain, the passage of history to which
he refers will, I think, set it beyond all controversy in the
mind of any impartial pei'son. We find it in Gen. xxxii. ; and
we learn, both from the Angel who wrestled with Jacob, and
from Jacob himself, that this Angel was a Divine Person.
The very name which Jacob obtained at that time is a me-
morial of the Godhead of that Angel : " Thy name shall no
more be called Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou
power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And
Jacob called the name of the place Peniel (the face .of God) :
for I have seen God face to face."
' That the Angel who appeared to Moses at the bush was a
Divine Person, we are assured by Himself. He must have
been the Divine Messenger of the Father, or else a spirit of
darkness that would sacrilegiously usurp the honour to him-
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 227
self that belongs to God ; for He said to Moses, " I am the
God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob." This Angel told Moses that He was
come down to redeem Israel from Egypt. But it is very
plain that God Himself was the Redeemer of Israel from
Egypt ; and He often speaks of this redemption as a reason
why they should serve no other god in conjunction with Him.
" There shall be no strange god among you." Why ? "I
am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of
Egypt " (Ps. Ixxxi. 9, 10 ; Ex. xx. 2, 3). Hos. xiii. 4 : " Yet
I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou
shalt know no god but Me ; for there is no saviour besides
Me." If the Angel that spake to Moses at the bush had been
a created angel, who promised to redeem the people, that
deliverance would have been a reason for having other objects
of worship, and trusting to other saviours besides the one
God of their fathers. But you see that it is in many pas-
sages of the Bible given as a convincing argument of the
folly and wickedness of worshipping any other god but the
God of their fathers. Now, the gods whom they worshipped
along with Him were not generally supposed to be equal
with Him. They were as much below Him, in the eyes of
idolaters, as the saints are inferior to the great God in the
eyes of many of your Church, although no doubt there are
many in your Church, and there were many too among the
worshippers of other gods in ancient times, who entertained
less unworthy notions of the great Object to whom alone all
religious worship is due. John prays for grace and peace to
the churches, " from the seven spirits before the throne, and
from Jesus Christ." Now, if created angels had been meant,
I do not think he would have placed them in his prayer
before Jesus Christ. Even if the Virgin Mary were to be
prayed to, I do not think it consistent with the reverence due
to her Son and Lord, to pray for blessings " from Him vv^ho
is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the Virgin
228 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Mary, and from Jesus Christ." I believe that your Church,
as well as ours, think we have a good argument for the doc-
trine of the Holy Trinity from the institution of baptism,
Matt, xxviii. 19, "baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;" but the ground of
the argument would be subverted if seven created angels are
meant in the first mentioned prayer. If we could suppose
that a writer, speaking by the Holy Ghost, could pray for
grace in the same sentence, first, from a Divine Person, and
t1ien from some mere creatures, and then from another Divine
Person, why should it be thought strange if we should be
commanded to be baptized, first, in the name of two Divine
Persons, and then in the name of one of the highest creatures,
or whatever else the Holy Spirit may be made to signify ?
He is at least placed last in the list, which is not the case in
John's prayer. The style of the book is figurative, and the
number seven, denoting the rich variety of the influences
of the Spirit, seems to be taken from the vision recorded,
chap. iv. 5. The Angel spoken of. Rev. viii. 3, 4, is plainly
the Angel of the Covenant. It is only through His merits
and intercession that the prayers of the saints come up with
acceptance before God (John xiv. 13, 14).
'I take the Angel spoken of, Zech. i. 12, to be the same
blessed Angel ; but if he were a created angel, all that you
could legitimately infer from his prayer is, that angels pray
for us, or express their earnest desire to God for our welfare,
but not that we are to pra,y to them ; and although the pro-
phet, when he saw the Angel, had requested His prayers, I
would not have considered that circumstance as a reason for
praying to angels, whose presence I do not perceive by sight
or some other of my senses. I could present my request to
any creature whom I saw, if I were able to converse with him
without terror. But how can I present a request to a
creature whom I see not, and of whom I have no means of
knowing whether he is within hearing of me ?
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 229
' But I have wearied you, although I have passed over many
considerations which I think would confirm the argument. I
earnestly pray God may lead you in the good old way ; that
He may clear your mind and mine from all mistakes in matters
of importance to our souls, and that He may enable you, and
all of us, to walk worthy of the Gospel unto all pleasing.
'God grant peace to France and Spain, and may He
enlighten all the nations with His truth. I hope you will
not forget that it is your duty, as well as mine, first to
" prove all things," and then to " hold fast that which is
good." — I am, Sir, your most sincere well-wisher and humble
servant, ' G. Lawson.'
Dr Lawson used to say that he fully believed these
foreigners to be honest and upright persons, whose profes-
sion, though that of a false faith, was sincere ; that they
wished to know the truth, but that their minds were so be-
clouded with prejudices, that it was no easy matter to cause
the light to penetrate their darkness.
The Professor's reading was of a miscellaneous character.
He perused, if not profane, every kind of book, from the moth-
eaten folio to the tiniest pamphlet, from the agonies of master
spirits to the sports of raw neophytes. Hence the surprise
he often occasioned by giving quotations from authors, of
whose existence, from his grave and simple exterior, it was
conjectured he had never heard. At one time in the Hall he
gave a lecture on ' Books,' taking for his text, ' And the
books,' wherein he taught that all books are worthy of being
read that contain useful knowledge; ' not even,' he remarked,
' excepting those which treat of the art of war : it is writ-
ten in 2 Samuel i. 18, "Also he bade them teach the
children of Judah the use of the bow : behold, it is written
in the book of Jasher."' In general, he was no admirer of
works of fiction. Certainly of the habit of novel-reading he
highly disapproved, and made the very evident distinction
230 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
between the occasional perusal of such a work of the best
class, and the emasculating custom of greedily devouring
every tawdry romance that rises only to disappear. He had
wisdom enough to hail the ' Waverley Novels,' believing that
before them would flee away the trashy stuif by which our
grandmothers had been vitiated. The circumstance of Sir
Walter Scott being one of his nearest neighbours, no doubt
helped to this. It is true he had ' passed away ' ere the
' Great Unknown ' had been unveiled : still, in common with
all men, he had his convictions that his neighbour at Abbots-
ford had more than something to do with these bewitching
tales. This just the more whetted his appetite for each
successive spell of the Northern Wizard. He only declined
■to read these novels after the publication of 'Old Mortality,'
wherein the character and conduct of the Scottish Covenan-
ters are so impiously caricatured. The admirable critique of
the late Dr M'Crie decided him, and multitudes besides, to
give no further countenance to these remarkable fictions.
This resolution has nothing whatever to do with bigotry.
Dr Lawsou's heart was not less enlightened than his judg-
ment ; hence, though fully alive to the beauty and witchery
of the Waverley novels, he at once, on the call of duty, pre-
sented them as a burnt-offering on the altar of a piety as
patriotic as it was Christian. In short, from all we have
seen and heard of the library at Selkirk, we conclude that it
must have been both the abode and resort of wisdom and
devotion. Here he lived and loved, prayed and persevered,
took and gave, wept and laughed, and grew in wisdom and
holiness as he neared the better land. Here he had his-
' sanctum sanctorum,' —
' Whose chamber all was hanged about vi'ith rolls,
Some made in books, some in long parchment scrolls,
That were all moth-eaten and full of canker holes :
Amidst them all he in a chair was set,
Tossing and turning them withouten end.'
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 231
What a pity that some Boswell did not then live to have
taken down from his Hps the innumerable escapes of a learn-
ing as extensive as it was pious, and as sound in judgment as
it was copious of truth. The premeditated and casual utter-
ances of such a man, during fifty years of scholarly and godly
life, might have outshone the rare and meteor-like glimpses
which Boswell has given of the great lexicographer. Truly
did Dr Brown say of him, ' The world will never know all that
was in that man.'
Dr Lawson's love for and study of the Bible merit special
notice. He may have had his equals here, but it is difficult
to conceive of any superior to him. To understand and in-
wardly digest that book, was his unceasing care. He did
what he could, and he did it right nobly. He found that it
* made him wiser than all his teachers,' and educated him for
heaven and eternity. The best book in his library, however,
was the law of God written in his own heart. Every even-
ing, before retiring to rest, he perused a portion of ' the
Word.' He might have contented himself latterly with
simply conning over a chapter in his memory, for it was
almost all there ; but he considered it his duty to show this
mark of respect for God's truth, and also to exemplify the
practice before his family. He assigned, as his reason, his
wish, during sleepless minutes or hours, to have a selected
passage at hand on which to meditate. Meditation, with
him, was a sine qua non, — he neither could nor would do with-
out it ; and to his consistency and intenseness in this, may be
traced a large amount of that scriptural element with which
his conversations, discourses, and writings abound. He was
also, like his father, a very early riser in the morning, and he
strongly recommended the habit to his pupils. 'I have
known,' he said, ' some whose habits were not regular, and
yet they enjoyed comparatively good health, and lived to a
good old age. On inquiry, I found that they were early risers.
But I never knew any to enjov either sound health or live to
232 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
a great age, who lay long in bed in the morning.' On getting
up, he retired to his study, not so much, however, as he told,
to read, as to meditate and pray. He often expressed him-
self in rather strong terms upon this subject, insisting upon
his friends and people and pupils devoting a much larger
portion of time to it than what is commonly given. During
these really holy matins he was understood not to be en-
gaged in any of his severer studies, though it sometimes
did happen that, after his father's example, long before the
break of day, he had performed some substantial piece of
work for the pulpit or the press, — perhaps executed some
Gospel ploughshare wherewith to break up the 'fallow ground.'
It was, however, his wish that both his family and friends
should not give him credit for hard study at these times, — as
he said to one to whom he was mentioning the matter, ' I do
not read; I meditate and pray.' That he lived in habits of
close fellowship with God, cannot be doubted. A man who
was so faithful and conscientious in all things, would not fail
in this one ; so holy a man must have lived near to the source
of all holiness and blessedness. His countenance was the in-
dex of the 'peace of God' that reigned within him ; its ordi-
nary expression told that his 'inward man' knew a great deal
about the intimacies as well as the intricacies of the Divine
mind. Christian imagination, indeed, has no finer subject to
work upon than these midnight studies of ' The Book' by the
confessors and righteous men of former and latter years.
History is not much burdened by telling the story of others
who, in the night watches, gave up their souls to reading, and
research, and thought. All knowledge is, in a sense, sacred,
and there is a degree of majestic importance about the intense
application of a human mind towards its acquisition ; but we
pass into a ' Holy of Holies' when we go into the closet and
watch the lamps that burn around the student of ' the deep
things of God.' There is a power of thought in that-solitary
reading and study of Scripture by enwrapt and seraphic
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 233
minds, that is truly thrilling. In Lawson's case it seems to
mount up to the sublime. He must have had some glorious
spiritual illuminations as he thus passed his hours of sohtarj
devotion. We are told that when the German scholar,
Tischendorf, at last discovered what he had been long in
search of — the MS. copy of the Septuagint, and also a com-
plete copy of the Greek New Testament, which had been hid
for ages in the monastery on Mount Sinai — he carried them
off in ecstasy to his cell, alone gloated over his treasure, and
poured out his heart in passionate gratitude to God. He
could find no sleep to his eyes that night, and sat up tran-
scribing portions of the precious Codex. As profound,
though less excited, were the pourings out of Lawson's mind
over the Hebrew and the Greek of Scripture. Great joy
had the German when he unbound the cotton rag and pos-
sessed himself of the ' Codex Sinaiticm;'' but not more so than
had the Selkirk student, as from year to year he untied the
Scriptures from their printed page, and transcribed them on
his own heart and life.
To our mind, while accepting Dr Lawson's own account of
his early morning work, this prolonged period of what he
calls meditation, must have included a vast amount of what
was ultimately proved to be ' hard study.'
The scholarship of Dr Lawson was in nothing so manifest
as in his thorough acquaintance with the original languages
of Scripture. He could read the Old Testament in Hebrew,
and the New Testament in Greek, quite easily ; and, as often
as it was needful, quoted from them, apparently as much at
home as when he employed the words of the EngUsh transla-
tion. In the Hall, when lecturing to the students or con-
ducting an examination in the Hebrew and Greek versions of
the Bible, he sometimes appeared without any copy of either.
Whatever the passages to be read might be, he went on as
readily as if he were reading from copy. It did not seem to
matter much to him whether he had the book or not ; for
234 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
sometimes, when he had one, it was seen to be lying before
him upside down, and he proceeded in the same way, follow-
ing the verses from memory, in heu of the printed page. So
prodigious, indeed, was his memory, that, after having once
perused a book, he was master of its contents, and in whatever
language that book might be written. It is said that, having
read the sermons of Ralph Erskine, he had them almost entirely
by heart. And it is well known that he had all the epistles
of Paul in the Greek upon his mind, could repeat them as
though he had been a Greek himself, and with as much fluency
as he did the hymns of his childhood. If the old adage be true,
that ' great wits have short memories,' there could be httle
wittiness in him ; for seldom, if ever, is such a memory as he
had to be found among men. He had nearly the whole of
God's Word on his mind. The possibility of this has been
disputed. It is nevertheless quite true. By the mouths of
many competent witnesses it has been affirmed over and
over again. But we have happily his own word for it ;
and, from the knowledge of the man's matchless truthfulness
and unaffected modesty, which by this time the reader has
ascertained, the testimony of his own mouth must be credited.
For this interesting piece of information we are indebted to
the Rev. Dr Simpson, of Sanquhar, who was one of his
students, and who is happily still alive. He writes : —
' His prodigious memory was well known ; few men were
so well endowed in this respect as he was. It was averred,
and with just reason, that he could repeat almost the entire
Bible from beginning to end ; and this not only in the Enghsh
translation, but, in a great measure, also in the Hebrew and
Greek. He never was at fault in giving a quotation, in my
hearing, in the Hall but once ; it was a verse in the first
chapter of the Romans, in Greek. He stopped in the middle of
it, and said, " Have any of you young men a Greek Testament?
I fear I have experienced a lapsus of memory." And no won-
der; for he was at this period on the extreme verge of old age.
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 235
To show, however, that the story about his being able to
repeat the Bible from memory is not merely a popular report,
I may mention the witness which the venerable Dr Kidston of
Glasgow (long his honoured and confidential friend) bore to
the fact, in my hearing, at supper one evening, when I was
assisting Dr Macfarlane, of Glasgow, at the dispensation of
the sacrament. Dr Kidston was a student at the time, and re-
siding in his father's house at Stow. He was anxious to know
if all that was said on this point was true, " Mr Lawson,"
said he, " we have heard that you can repeat from memory
the entire Scriptures, and that if the Bible were lost you
could restore it ; is this true ? " "I pray God," was the reply,
" that such a calamity may never come upon the world ;" and
then, as he oft did, shading his eyes, and passing his hand over
his hair, he added : " but if it did come, I think, with the ex-
ception of two or three chapters in the Old Testament, I might
restore it all. I am not sure that I could give the Proverbs
in their order, but I could repeat them one way or another."
Young Kidston then asked if he would submit to an examin-
ation by him. " I dare say, Wilham, I might." The Bible
was then opened at random, and Mr Kidston proceeded to
interrogate him as to the contents of such and such chapters.
An analysis of the entire chapter was given first, and then he
repeated every verse from beginning to end. Not satisfied with
one trial, Mr Kidston went from place to place throughout
the entire Bilile, and never once found Mr Lawson at fault.'
To this testimony we can add that of Dr Johnston, of
Limekilns, who informed the compiler that he and some other
students were at tea in the Professor's one evening. Mrs
Lawson took pleasure in drawing her husband out, so as to
appear well before the young men ; and on this occasion she
asked him if it was true that he had all the Word of God
upon his memory. He made a similar reply to the same
question by Dr Kidston, admitting that he had, but specifying
his difficulty about the precise order of some of the Proverbs.
236 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
This feat of memory, then, was no vam boast. His
students, and the men of that day who waited on his ministry,
testify that he was so perfectly familiar with the Word of
God, as to be regularly in the habit, both in private and pubUc
life, of quoting from any part of the sacred volume with per-
fect accuracy, specifying also the chapter and verse to which
reference was made. The following are interesting illustra-
tions of this marvellous gift : —
The late Dr Jamieson, of Scone, very soon after his ordina-
tion in 1791, went to Aberdeen to visit Mr Scott (father-in-
law to the late Dr Balmer, of Berwick). Dr Lawson was on a
visit there at the same time. ' I knew,' said Dr Jamieson once
to my father, ' that Dr Lawson had a most intimate acquain-
tance with the Scriptures, and a rare power of exposition. I
therefore availed myself of this opportunity to ask him every
now and then his views of difficult passages of Scripture. I
found him to be very obliging and communicative, and derived
most important knowledge from his sagacious and learned ob-
servations. Two things particularly struck me. In no one in-
stance did he ever open the Bible to look at the passage, and
he always reasoned from the preceding and subsequent con-
text in the same manner as if the Bible had been open before
him.' Again, one of his students had delivered a discourse
before him in the Divinity Hall. In the evening of the same
day he called upon the Professor, who, in a little, adverted
to the circumstance. The text from which the student
had preached was Psalm Ixxvii. 19, ' Thy way is in the sea,
and Thy path in the great waters, and Thy footsteps are
not known.' ' You treated these words,' said the Professor,
' as meaning that the ways of God are mysterious.' The
student assented, remarking that he thought such was the
view generally entertained. ' I do not object,' replied Dr
Lawson ; ' but do you not think that there is an allusion
there to the passing of the children of Israel through the
Red Sea?' The student admitted that probably there
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 237
might be, but that it had not occurred to him. ' Yes, it
must be so,' said the Doctor ; ' for it is immediately added,
" Thou leddest Thy people Uke a flock by the hand of Moses
and Aaron." ' In a valuable communication received from
another of Dr Lawson's distinguished students — the Rev. Dr
Pringle, of Auchterarder — the foUowhig very illustrative
incident is mentioned. One Sabbath evening, Dr Lawson
had determined to do what, as a rule, he never did — preach
an evening sermon. He took for his text, Galatians vi. 11,
' Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with
mine own hands.' After some preliminary observations con-
cerning Paul as a bad penman, and therefore using an
amanuensis, he said that his object in the discourse was to
give an outline or syllabus of the contents of the whole
epistle. He then closed the Bible, and, with perfect confi-
dence in his memory, followed the Apostle from clause to
clause, in a style of exegesis alike compressed, comprehensive,
and lucid. Dr Pringle says, ' I never heard a more masterly,
and, in any respect, a nobler Bibhcal discourse in my hfe.
The discourse was not an hour in length, and yet it embraced
the entire scope of the epistle. I could not help thinking,
how high must be that man's estimate of the Book of books.'
He was conversing on another occasion with Dr Pringle,
and highly commending Professor Brown's system of divinity.
' I advise you,' he said, ' to read Mr Brown's tract on
" Sanctification," and especially to commit to memory all the
passages of Scripture quoted therein. I remember doing
this myself: it was not Mr Brown's book, but one of a
similar kind ; and I derived great advantage from it.' The
work of Mr Brown here referred to, bristles with texts. At
this time, too, he strongly recommended his student to com-
mit a Hebrew psalm occasionally to memory, and thus make
himself familiar with the vocabulary.
The next instance of this pecuhar gift used to be told by
my father. Dr Lawson had been assisting in Dunfermline at
238 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
tlie dispensation of the Lord's Supper. At the close of the
pubUc services on the Monday, the brethren had met before
parting, to spend an hour in devotion and godly conversation.
My father had invited to meet Dr Lawson a most excellent
minister of the Estabhshed Church, with whom he and Dr
Husband were upon the most friendly terms — viz., the late
Rev. Mr Thomson of Carnock, one of the successors of the
godly Gillespie, who founded the Rehef Church, now happily
an integral part of the United Presbyterian Church. About
that time, Dr M'Culloch, of Dairsie, had just published his
Commentary on Isaiah. His evangelical brethren in the
Church were proud of the learning displayed in it, as tending
to the credit of their scholarship. Good Mr Thomson, but
too well pleased to expatiate on the merits of the book before
the Selkirk Professor, quoted Dr M'Culloch's exposition of a
certain passage of the prophet, as affording proof of the
talent and learning of the author. When he finished, which
was generally after the patience of his auditors was gone,
Dr Husband appealed to Dr Lawson to give an opinion.
With a little hesitation, the Doctor said, ' The view which
Mr Thomson has quoted as Dr M'Culloch's is taken from
Vitriuga, but the original text will not bear it out.' Having
repeated the whole passage in the Hebrew, easily and accu-
rately, he entered upon a critical examination of the original
text, showing a complete mastery of the terms, structure, and
pith of the passage. Mr Thomson was surprised : the
brethren were delighted, and all were profited. He himself
was the only unmoved one in the room, regarding the whole
as an ordinary affair, and commanding equal admiration for
his humihty and his erudition.
Dr Pringle tells that on one occasion Dr Lawson was in
Edinburgh, and called upon the late Mr Clapperton, merchant,
with whom he had a business account to settle. Mr Clapper-
ton invited him to dinner, to meet with an intelhgent merchant.
He went, and in the course of the evening the man of letters
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 239
and the man of merchandise got into a most interesting con-
versation on the commercial interchanges of the nations of
Europe. The gentleman was not only delighted, but con-
founded, with the amazing accuracy and extent of the good
man's information. He seemed to know every place and
everything, and was as conversant with the subjects as if he
had made trade his study. The merchant afterwards con-
fessed that he had found Dr Lawson's observations instructive
beyond anything he had ever listened to.
Sir J. Pringle, of Hayniug, had a profound respect for
him, and took great pleasure in having him over at ' the
House.' A number of his noble and poHtical friends, at one
time, came down from London to Hayning. They were
curious to know if there were any such folks as were called
' characters ' in the neighbourhood. Sir James at once
thought of the Selkirk Professor, and told them that he had
for a neighbour, perhaps one of the wisest and best men
alive. It was agreed that he should be invited to dine. He
came : the guests were all on the tiptoe of expectation ; but
were sadly chagrined when they beheld the simple and un-
pretending Seceding minister. Dr Lawson was not aware,
was never aware, that he was anything of consequence to
company, and for a while was treated- with neglect, if not with
disrespect. Sir James, however, chuckled at the thought of
the surprise which he was sure, in the course of the evening,
to give them. The opportunity came : the British Constitu-
tion was discussed ; and by-and-bye the conversation fell into
the merits and demerits of the Spanish Constitution, when
the worthy man poured forth such a mass and variety of in-
formation on the whole subject of Spain and its politics, as to
enchain every one at the table. On parting with them, one
of them shook him heartily by the hand, saying, ' Sir, we
were only anxious to see you at first as " a character," and
now there is not one of us but what is ready almost to
worship you.'
240 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
' Good-bye,' replied the Professor, and rode home.
The late Mr Clapperton, of Johnstone, once tested this
wonderful power of memory in another way. He had been
reading, with great interest, Gibbon's voluminous work on
the Roman Empire ; and soon after finishing it, he paid a
visit to his great theological tutor at Selkirk. Somewhat
self-important, from the feat of having read Gibbon, Mr
Clapperton said to himself, ' For once in my life, I am quali-
fied to hold a conversation with Dr Lawson on history.' He
asked him whether he had read the history of the ' Decline
and Fall.' ' Yes,' said he, ' I have ; but it is some thirty or
forty years since.' This was encouraging to the young
pretender, who immediately told that he had only finished
reading the book the other day, and commenced giving Hr
Lawson an outline of what he remembered to be Gibbon's
sentiments on some particular point. He had not proceeded
far when the Professor thus interrupted him : ' Stop, sir,
that is not the view at all which Gibbon gives.' ' Is it not?'
queried Mr Clapperton, somewhat taken aback. 'No, sir,
it is not ; ' and he at once quoted what Gibbon did say, and
quoted the passage vei^hatim. Mr Clapperton, however,
determined to enjoy himself, thought of another portion ot
the history, and, confident that he had a most accurate recol-
lection of it, he continued the conversation. He had not
advanced very far when Dr Lawson again interrupted him :
' No, no, Mr Clapperton, Gibbon gives a very different view
of that matter ' — and then he quoted the author, as before,
verbatim. ' After these two failures,' as Mr Clapperton used
to tell, ' I looked carefully round me before I made the next
selections ; but they shared the same fate, and so I gave it
up in despair.' Mr Clapperton possibly did himself a little
injustice when telling this incident, as it is well known that
the Selkirk students were not unwilling to say something
rather absurd or foolish, for the purpose of drawing out the
wit or wisdom of their great tutor.
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 241
His wonderful knowledge of Scripture was illustrated once
in a way alike surprising and graphic. As the friendly light-
house in the ocean is guide to the bewildered mariner, so was
he to his surrounding brethren. He was to them alike com-
ment and commentator. In their Biblical difficulties, they
either wrote or rode up to Selkirk, and were never disap-
pointed. On one occasion, Mr Shanks, of Jedburgh, was much
perplexed with a text. He could make nothing of it ; but,
determined not to give way, he ordered his horse, and set off,
late in the evening, to Selkirk — a distance of fifteen miles.
He arrived about one o'clock in the morning. He had to
knock oftener than once before he was heard. The door, at
length, was opened, and the servant asked who he was, and
what brought him at such an hour to the manse. Having
replied to all this, he insisted on seeing Dr Lawson. ' He is
in bed, and sound asleep hours ago,' said the maiden. ' It
matters not,' replied Mr Shanks ; ' I must see him, and you
will hold the reins of my horse till I come down.' He knew
the Doctor's bed-room ; and, having got leave to enter, all in
the dark, he told Dr Lawson his errand. Though somewhat
put about, and in a half-dreamy condition, the Professor
commenced an exegesis upon the text in question, — quoted
the context, referred to the parallel passages in foregoing
and succeeding chapters, and cleared up the whole subject to
his friend's satisfaction. Mr Shanks then thanked Dr Lawson,
bade him good morning, quietly slipped out of the room, re-
mounted his horse, and rode home again to Jedburgh. In
the morning, about five o'clock, Dr Lawson awoke : ' My
dear,' he said to Mrs Lawson, ' I have had a dream, a very
pleasant dream, to-night. I dreamed that Mr Shanks, good
man, came all the way up from Jedburgh to consult me
about a text that troubled him.' ' It was no dream,' said
Mrs Lawson ; ' Mr Shanks was here, in this very room, and
I overheard all you and he had to say.' It was with difficulty
she could get him persuaded to believe that it had been so.
Q
242 THE LIFE OF DR LAAVSON.
On going down stairs, he inquired at the servant if Mr
Shanks had come during the night, and in what room he was
sleeping. The servant assured him that the Jedburgh
minister had really been in the house, but added, ' He is not
in the house now, sir ; he is at Jedburgh long ere this time.'
It thus appears that, though Lawson was not what John
Wesley called himself, 'homo unius libri,' a man of one book,
he was eminently a reader and a master of the best book in the
world. His Bible lore was the secret of his pulpit power.
His classical and philosophical acquirements no doubt adorned
and enriched his discourses, but he never allowed them to
veil the heavenly light, or silence the Divine oracles. They
lay at his hand by tens and hundreds, and he quoted his
authorities as if they were open before him. Few men were
ever so independent of books as he. His memory was a
Mbrary. He seemed to retain the substance of every book he
had read, and in bringing forth his reasons, never seemed to
be exhausted. Many wondered at his facility at producing
sentiments and criticisms from the most recondite authors, on
the spur of the moment, and as if he had just come from
consulting them. Surely he might have appropriated what an-
other great man once affirmed of himself, ' I am all memory.'
And from the very beginning it was so. The conversation
reported between him and the 'young Kidston' at Stow, took
place very shortly after his ordination. From a child he had
known the Holy Scriptures, and when he became a man of
God he was ' thoroughly furnished unto all good works,'
especially unto the good work of a Christian bishop. He
could not, therefore, fail to be both useful and respected in
the pulpit. He was thus no 'stump orator,' but a calm,
earnest, and sincere ambassador from God to man. ' I well
remember his preaching,' writes Dr Simpson, ' and one thing
that struck me was the remarkable simplicity that pervaded
it. There was nothing which the cultivated or even the
fastidious mind would be inclined to repudiate, while _all that
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 243
he said was plain even to the most uninstructed of his
audience. All seemed to understand him; and as he was
never tiresome, the people seldom became inattentive. I do
not forget the gentle way he once took to reprove sleepers in
the church ; he did not administer pointed reproof, but only
ceased speaking for a minute. Immediately all heads were up :
he would then mildly say, "Are ye not a strange people? when
I speak, ye sleep ; and when I cease to speak, ye are all awake.'"
Such a man and such a scholar as this, could not fail to be
duly appreciated by the religious denomination to which he be-
longed, and by the friends and patrons of learning in general.
Accordingly, as we shall .have to narrate in a following
chapter, he was elected to the Chair of Theology, left vacant
by the death of Professor Brown, of Haddington. Some
years after this, his more intimate friends thought of obtain-
ing for him academic honours. In these days, this showed
considerable confidence and pluck. Though educated in the
Scottish Universities, no title whatever, with one exception,
had ever been conferred upon any of the ministers of the
Secession. These good things were carefully preserved fof
the sous of the Kirk. The conferring at this time of the
degree of D.D. upon a Burgher minister by a Scottish uni-
versity, deserves more than a passing notice : its history is
interesting. Would that all since conferred had been as
honourably gotten, and as worthily used ! It was, then, after
he had been thirty-six years in the ministry, and nineteen
in the professorship, that means were set on foot to obtain
for him this honorary academic title. My father, one of his
most enthusiastic friends, originated the movement. He
mentioned it to other friends and admirers of the Professor,
and they agreed to make the application to the Senatus of
the University of Aberdeen. When it became somewhat
certain that the apphcation would be favourably entertained,
it was thought proper to sound Mr Lawson himself upon the
matter. Consequently one of these friends paid him a visit,
•244 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSOX.
told him what had been done, and asked him if he would
accept the honour sought for him by his brethren. lie was
astonished and pained at first, and, for once in his life, felt
himself puzzled and perplexed. A considerable time elapsed
before he could make up his mind as to what he ought to do.
At last he sent the following reply: ' I never aspired to literary
honours ; I do not feel myself to he worthy of them : but
since the partial esteem and love of my brethren have sought
this honour for me, and obtained it from the liberahty of the
men of the North, I will accept of it with gratitude and
pleasure ; and from the great love I have for my brethren,
and the high esteem with which I regard learned men of
liberal spirit, I will do all in my power to be more deserving
of their esteem and love than I have ever been.' Immediately
after this he received a letter from Mr Ross, of Aberdeen, of
which the following is an extract : —
' On the 28th ult., the University of Marischal College
conferred on you the honour of Doctor in Divinity. This
you should have been informed of before now, but I waited
until Dr Brown handed me the diploma, which he did to day.
It shall be forwarded in a few days to Mr Peddle, who will
get it conveyed to you. Rev. Mr Glass, Mr and Mrs Scott
(parents of the author of the " Visits to Paris"), Mr R.
Maclaurin, and myself, desire to congratulate you on this
occasion. Mr Henderson, Lauder, will give you some ac-
count of the manner of obtaining the degree ; meantime, I
would beg leave to mention, that to the Rev. Dr Douglass,
Galashiels ; Dr Hardy, Ashkirk ; and Mr Robert Clark,
student, your friends here feel themselves much obliged for their
friendly assistance. On Wednesday I shall send you an Aber-
deen newspaper, where you will see the degree mentioned.'
In two or three days after this, he received the following
congratulatory letter from one who not only did not envy
him this academic distinction, though from his own attain-
ments he was himself well deserving of the like, but had, along
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 245
with his colleague, done everything in his power to help it
forward : —
Dr Husband to Dr Laivson.
'Dunfermline, M Dec. 1806.
' My dear Friend, — Suffer me to congratulate you on the
honour that has been conferred upon you. The Marischal
College of Aberdeen is entitled to credit for its liberality. It
is the first instance, I presume, in which the honour of D.D.
has been conferred on a Dissenter, on the sole ground of his
having learning, genius, and piety. Dr Young's degree
stood on a different footing. It was the reward of his ser-
vices as a political writer, at a time when the minds of the
multitude were bewildered and agitated by theories which they
did not understand. I understand that Principal Brown, my
old class-fellow at school and college, was your warm friend,
from the first moment the proposal was made to him.
' If any person is to be blamed for obtruding an honour
upon you which you did not covet, it is my colleague. Mr
Macfarlane was the primum mobile in the business, and has all
along conducted the necessary correspondence with friends in
Aberdeen, and others, from whom the necessary information
was to be obtained. Our old friend, Sandie Scot, with Mr
Ross, a merchant in Aberdeen, and Mr Glass, managed the
business with the Professors. If your friends have erred, I
am sure you will impute it to the high respect they have for
your character. The College did not proceed rashly. It
was after they had made the proper inquiries, and had
perused your publications, that they came to the resolution
of conferring the honour.
' The diploma is to be sent to North Queensferry, by the
mail coach on Friday morning, where a person will be hi
waiting to bring it to Dunfermline. It will be sent to Selkirk
by the way that you shall direct.
' About two mouths ago, Mr and Mrs Macfarlane lost an
246 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
amiable child, — a daughter, about three years old. They
deeply felt the affliction, but, I trust, have been enabled to
sustain it as becomes those who believe that our heavenly
Father takes from us our earthly comforts, that He may give
us better in their stead.
' What an awful storm has burst on the Continent ! Is not
our own hemisphere become dark and gloomy beyond all pre-
cedent in our history ? Happy the man who has for his Friend,
Him who rides on the whii-lwind, and directs the storm.
' I beg my best compliments to Mrs Lawson, and to my
young brother George, when you see him. I am his debtor
for services rendered doubly acceptable by the ease and
readiness with which they were performed. I promise myself
the pleasure of hearing from you when convenient, and remain,
my dear Doctor, yours most truly, ' James Husbajshd.'
The Dr Young referred to in this letter, was the Anti-
burgher minister at Hawick. After the breaking out of the
French Revolution, he published a political pamphlet, en-
titled, ' Essays on Government, Revolutions, etc.,' which
smacked strongly of Toryism. The Lord Chancellor of the
day pronounced it to be the best he had seen. Soon thereafter
he received D.D. from King's College, Aberdeen. He died in
1806, in the 29th year of his ministry. Besides the pamphlet
referred to, he was the author of ' Sermons on Various Sub-
jects' (3 vols.), and of 'A History of the French War' (2 vols.).
The congratulations on his D.D. would have been incom-
plete without one from his old tried friend at Lochgelly, and
here it is : —
Rev. D. Ch'eig to Dr Lawson.
' Glasgow, Stii January 1807.
' My dear Friend, — I have been purposing for some time
to let you know that my friendship for you continues un-
abated, and that your image is often present to my mind.
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 247
No good reason can be assigned by me for being so long in
acknowledging your letter, containing the warm expressions
of your friendship for me and my family. I am at present in
Glasgow, where I intend to remain till next week. You are
often mentioned by your numerous friends here, who all
rejoice in the literary honour which was lately conferred upon
you. I hope you will believe me when I say, that none of
your friends enjoys more satisfaction in that mark of distinc-
tion than myself. May you long live to enjoy it, and render
your numerous friends happy by your friendship and edifying
talents. I dare say you were not a Httle surprised when you
first received the inteUigence of the honour done you, and
felt no small degree of happiness on perceiving how warmly
your friends had interested themselves on your behalf. I
much wish to see you, that I may talk over the matter with
you, and hear from your lips the emotions which you felt on
the occasion ; but I must forego that satisfaction for some
time, as I much doubt if I shall see you before the meeting
of Synod, I left Mrs Greig and the family well ; and we
rejoiced together when we read in the newspaper that you
were made D.D. I lately received a letter from Robert, and
find that he was well at the date of it. Several people here
have occasion to be in that country, and see him ; and it is a
great satisfaction to rae and Mrs Greig to learn, that he
behaves himself with sobriety, and is attentive to business.
I need not tell you that the happiness or misery of parents in
this world, depends not a little on the good or ill behaviour
of their children. It is our comfort, that the hearts of our
children are in the hand of the Lord, and that His covenant
contains promises of grace in their behalf, which we are
authorized to believe and to plead. You will, perhaps, have
heard that a number of Ralph Wardlaw's people have turned
Baptists, and have left him, among whom is a daughter of
Mr Ewing and her husband. Ralph is about to commence
author, by publishing Lectures on the 4th chapter to the
248 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Romans, in which he intends to establish the doctrine of
infant baptism. — I am, dear friend, yours most kindly,
' David Greig.'
On the receipt of Dr Husband's letter, he sent this reply :
Dr Latvson to Dr Htisband.
' Selkirk, December 1806.
' Mr DEAR Friend, — I certainly feel a lively gratitude for
the kindness of Mr Macfarlane, and my other friends, who
have put themselves to so much trouble to procure an addi-
tion to my respectability in the world; and I am better
pleased with the success of their endeavours, than I would
have been, if Napoleon had thought fit to bestow upon me
one of those kingdoms or principahties which he has con-
quered, or is about to conquer.
' How amazing is the success of that great man ! (for a
great man he certainly is) : what shall be the end of these
wonders? God only knows — and that is sufficient. He
knows how to execute His own purposes, which are always
worthy of His invariable righteousness, and consistent with
the mercy promised to Zion.
' Your loss of a child is an affliction common to mankind ;
but I hope that it is sweetened by consolations peculiar to
them that love God, both to yourself and to your partner in
sorrow. The comforting power of the Gospel is one part of
that evidence of its Divine original, which is understood only
by them that believe,
' You will let Mr and Mrs Macfarlane know that I sin-
cerely sympathize with them. Their affliction might have
been attended with circumstances much more trying to their
fortitude ; but they certainly need that comfort which God
only can give, and which He richly communicates in His own
time and way to all who set a due value on those sources of
consolation which are opened to us in the Gospel, Blessed
THE SCHOLAE AND HIS BOOKS. 249
be the speaker of those gracious words, " Suffer little children
to come uuto Me, for of such is the kingdom of God."
' May you never want the joys of friendship, to which you
are so well entitled, nor those richer joys which we can ex-
pect only from the exceeding rich mercy of our God. — I am,
yours affectionately, ' G. Lawson.'
Dr Lawson recognised the honour done to him, by sending
copies of his ' Lectures on Joseph ' to the University. In
acknowledging these, Mr Ross writes : —
' The difficulties in the way of obtaining D.D. were by no
means few, or easy to be got over ; but the very friendly
and polite conduct of Drs Brown, Hamilton, and Professor
Beattie, made them more easy than they would otherwise
have been. The two latter gentlemen are very partial to Mr
Glass. I was not in the least acquainted with Dr Brown,
but got a friend of mine, a clergyman in the neighbourhood,
to speak to him. The Doctor has much of the gentleman
about him, and, I hope, of the Christian too. I heard
him on Sabbath evening preach a most admirable discourse,
for the Female Society, from Acts ix. 36. It was strictly
orthodox.
All the friends of Dr Lawson felt as if a personal compli-
ment had been paid to them by the degree from Aberdeen ;
such a thing had been hitherto deemed almost impossible.
To some High Tory Churchmen it was most offensive ; they
looked upon the University as having dishonoured itself, and
lowered the value of their academic distinctions. All who
knew Dr Lawson, however, thought differently ; and, by-and-
bye, when he came to be better known over the Church, the
verdict was almost unanimous on the side of Marischal Col-
lege. A proposal, in some way to recognise Principal
Brown's conduct in the matter, was readily taken up. The
general feeUng in reference to the whole business of this first
Burgher diploma will be best understood, from the following
250 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSOX.
letter, addressed by my father, at the time, to Dr Adam
Thomson, of Coldstream : —
Rev. J. Macfarlane to Dr Thomson.
'Dunfermline, \Zth Oct. 1807.
' Dear Sir, — Some of Dr Lawson's friends have resolved
to make a present of a piece of plate to Dr Brown, of Aber-
deen, for the very handsome part he acted in procuring the
diploma for our much respected Selkirk friend. Had he
been so disposed, he might have demanded (as fees connected
with the granting the D.D.) L.18 or L.20 sterling; but he
generously refused it when offered. Besides, I have been
informed that he has suffered many gibes from the Estab-
lished clergy of the north, for conferring such an honour
upon a Dissenter. These gibes, I have been told, he has
uniformly repelled, by declaring that no part of his conduct
in hfe gave him more pleasure, on reflection, than his obtain-
ing, for the worthy object in question, the honour of D.D.
' Now, my dear sir, I hope the plan which Dr Lawson's
friends have in contemplation, not to suffer such generous and
liberal conduct on the part of Dr Brown to go unrewarded,
will meet with your cordial approbation. To accompUsh it,
we will require, it is calculated, about L.40 sterling. The only
difficulty in the way is just the raising of this sum. I presume
that you, as a zealous friend of Dr Lawson will try to raise
among your acquaintances, and particularly among your co-
presbyters, a few pounds — say L.IO or L.12. Whatever you
do, I hope you will do it immediately, as it is intended to settle
the business about the end of this year. By transmitting what
you collect to Mr Peddie, Edinburgh, it will be applied to
the above purpose. I am happy to add, from information
received from some better acquainted with you than I am,
that you will bless me for engaging you in this business of
friendship and generosity. — Believe me to be, dear Sir, yours,
with regard. ' James Macfarlane.'
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 251
From the well-known attachment of Dr Thomson to his
Professor, there can be no doubt of liis having given his
cordial co-operation in this praiseworthy design to recognise
the services of the Aberdeen Principal. This, at all events,
is evident. The parties who took the active hand in it were
men of highly honourable minds, and proved themselves to be
worthy of the success which met their joint appUcation for
the degree. There was evidently no jealousy felt, — no mean
grudging of such an honour to one to whom honour was due ;
yea, rather, they seemed all to feel as if the honour was shared
in (as it really was) by themselves, and that therefore they were
the obligated parties. With the sum raised, two very hand-
some silver cups were purchased, and in due time presented
to Dr Brown. He was much gratified with this unexpected
mark of the gratitude of his Seceding friends ; and it produced
such a favourable impression, not only on himself, but on
many of his academical associates, as to render the repetition
of the same graceful conduct on his part through after years,
neither so difficult to him, nor so obnoxious to others. Shortly
after the presentation, he addressed the following letter to Dr
Peddle, of Edinburgh, who had taken, along with the others,
an active part in procuring the necessary subscriptions : —
Principal Brown to Dr Peddie.
' Aberdeen, Feb. 10, 1809.
' Reverend Sir, — Yours and Mr Lothian's letter, of the
18th of last January, and the two elegant and valuable cups
which accompanied it, were delivered to me by the Rev. Mr
Glass, of this place.
' I beg, sir, that you and Mr Lothian will accept and con-
vey to the other friends of Dr Lawson, who concurred with
you in honouring me with this mark of your approbation,
ray sincere and humble thanks. I am sensibly affected by
this expression of the good opinion of so many respectable
persons, though I am conscious that ray conduct, with regard
252 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
to Dr Lawson's diploma, possesses not the merit which they
are pleased to ascribe to it. Whatever differences of opinion
may exist among Christians, they may all unite in that mutual
charity and love which delight to acknowledge, and, when
opportunities occur, to know and distinguish the virtues and
talents which they respectively possess. To cultivate such a
disposition is, I think, in every man's power who feels the in-
fluence and energy of the Gospel.
' With lively gratitude, I accept the cups as a testimony of
such respectable approbation. They will serve to remind
me more and more of that genuine moderation and Christian
temper which ought to animate all who name the name of
Jesus in sincerity. — I have the honour to be, Rev. Sir, your
obedient and obliged humble servant, ' W. D. Brown.'
Some few years after this, we find Dr Lawson in literary
and friendly correspondence with Dr Kidd, Professor of
Oriental Languages in Marischal College. The letters of
Dr Kidd speak for themselves : —
Professor Kidd to Dr Laivson.
'Makischal College, Aberdeen, 28ih July 1815
' Reverend Sir, — In return for your ' History of Joseph,'
accept of my essay on the glorious and ever blessed Trinity.
' The work you may probably have heard of, though not
seen. Your station and profession infer that you are a com-
petent judge of the subject ; and as I have attempted to treat
it in a way different from the usual course, I think myself
safe in submitting to your judicious and fatherly inspection
the performance itself. It will give me great satisfaction to
receive your opinion of the work when you have perused it.
If favourable, you may be sure it will add to my exertions ;
if not, I shall gladly receive information and correction. You
will therefore please to express your judgment when you have
made up your mind. The importance of the subject demands
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 253
attention from you, and a desire to be instructed and assisted
from me. I count it my duty to ask information, and to
submit to correction. And thus submitting the work to
your judgment and decision, I find myself at liberty.
' With best wishes for your person, and earnest prayers for
all the blessings comprehended in the name of the Father,
and gf the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, to rest for ever upon
yourself and family, your pupils, and your flock. — I am. Rev.
Sir, your most humble servant, ' James Kidd,'
Professor Kidd to Dr Lawson.
' Aberdeen, 6th August 1816.
' Reverend Sir, — Having an opportunity by the young
man who carried my parcel last year, I write inquiring for
your health, and how all things prosper with you, your family,
and flock.
'I had the pleasure of seeing. young Mr Lawson, your son,
last winter. It gives me a secret pleasure and satisfaction to
see such a promising instrument brought into the Church, I
trust, by her great King and Head. We had some conversa-
tion about you and your opinion of my essay. He said, as
you wrote, that you had not time when it arrived to give it a
careful perusal. I hope, since its arrival, you have found
time to turn your attention to the way in which I have treated
the subject, and that you are free from the absurd prejudice
that, because we cannot in all respects comprehend the sub-
ject, therefore we should not venture to apply reasoning to
it. Nothing can be more preposterous. It might as well be
said that, because we cannot comprehend any one of the
Divine perfections, therefore we should not venture to apply
reasoning to it. There is not the smallest difference between
the two cases, only we are accustomed to the one and not to
the other. If we may discover the being of God by reason-
ing from the effect to the cause, we may, with the very same
propriety, discover the adorable persons in the ever blessed
254 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSO^\
Trinity. For, after we have found out the being of God by
reasoning, we have only to go one step further, and inquire. Is
tliis God, whom we have discovered by the light of nature, a
moral Being 1 And if so, that moment ray train of reasoning
presents itself to lead us to the adorable Trinity. I find all
the Independents, both in England and Scotland, against my
essay. And why ? Because every man of them denies the
eternity of our Lord's Sonship. Even Mr Wardlaw, who
has opposed the Sociuians so much, gives up the one half of
the argument by denying the eternity of our Lord's Sonship.
If our Lord's eternal Sonship be given up, the doctrine of the
Trinity can never be defended. All the Anabaptists join the
Independents in this. All the Welsh Episcopalians do the
same. And, alas! how many others. It is even doubtful
whether all Seceders be effectually informed upon this im-
portant doctrine. I send you half a dozen of copies of
critiques written upon my essay by Dr Gregory of Woolwich,
intended for insertion in the Eclectic Review, which the con-
ductors of that work refused to insert, because either my
essay or their denial of our Lord's eternal Sonship must fall.
There was also a review of it in the Methodist Magazine for
January last, and in the Church of England Magazine May
last, both favourable.
' Now, reverend sir, I entreat you, for the truth's sake,
point out to me what you may think exceptionable, and do
help me to define the truth. I have no object or end but
this. I have incurred the expense of L.300 sterling on the
publication, solely for the truth's sake. Do help me.
'Long may you hve to support and help to spread the
truth as it is in Jesus. — I am, Rev. Sir, your most obedient
humble servant, ' James Kidd.'
The following are the books which Dr Lawson in his life-
time published, and which met with very general acceptation
even in these non-reading days : —
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 255
I. Considerations of the Overture lying before the Associate Synod,
on the Power of the Civil Magistrate in matters of Religion. 1797.
II. A Sermon, entitled, 'The Joy of Parents in Wise Children.
1798.
III. Discourses on the Book of Esther, with a few Sermons appended.
1804.
IV. Lectures on the Book of Kuth, with a few Discourses on the
Sovereignty and Efficacy of Gi'ace. 1805.
V. Lectures on the History of Joseph. 2 vols. 1807.
VI. A Sermon, preached before the Edinburgh Missionary Society.
1808.
VII. Sermons on the Duty of Parents to their Children, etc. 1809.
VIII. Sermons to the Aged, etc. 1810.
About a year after his death, was published in two volumes
his 'Exposition of the Book of Proverbs,' 1821 ; and about
twelve years after that, were published his ' Discourses on the
History of David,' etc., 1833, to which a short memoir of his
life is appended by the late Dr H. Belfrage, of Falkirk.
In addition to all this, it remains to be noted that this
indefatigable scholar left behind him about eighty consider-
able volumes in manuscript. Among these" are to be found
disquisitions on ' Justification,' ' Sanetification,' ' The Privi-
leges of Believers,' ' Paith,' etc., etc. ; also expositions of
Chronicles, the Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel, some of the minor
Prophets, the Gospels of Luke and John, the Epistles to the
Romans, Galatians, and Ephesiaus, etc., etc. He submitted
the exposition of the Romans to the judgment of his friends,
Dr Husband and Mr Greig. In the letters of Mr Greig to
the Selkirk manse, there are frequent allusions to, and ex-
pressions of regret for the non-appearance of, the ' Roman
Lectures.' Some of his favourite students managed to get
the loan of several of these manuscripts. We have seen and
used his notes on the Epistle to the Ephesians, which, for
admirable practical and discriminating wisdom, have scarcely
their equals, certainly not their superiors. If these notes were
amplified, as Lawson could and did, and were then bound up
256 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
with Dr Eadie's masterpiece on the same epistle, they would
constitute one of the most learned and useful of comments.
Dr Lawson's works met with a highly favourable reception
from the public. The scholars of other churches hailed them
as valuable contributions to religious literature. Only a
scrap or two remain of the letters of congratulation which he
received. When his ' Discourses to the Aged ' came out, the
well-known Dr Chartres, of Wilton, sent him this brief note: —
Dr Chai'tres to Dr Lawson.
Wilton Manse, Dec. 18, 1812,
' Dear Sir, — I and my readers have been edified with your
" Sermons to the Aged," which are the more useful for their
being adapted to the poor, both in the style of composition
and in the price. I likewise print some things for the poor,
and send a specimen, and " Thoughts on Education," by a
niece of mine, on which I will be glad to have your remarks.
May the Divine blessing attend our endeavours to be useful,
and may our end be peace. — Your aged brother,
' Samuel Chartres.'
In the memoir referred to, Dr Belfrage very justly charac-
terizes Dr Chartres as ' a man of taste and genius, whose mind
was enriched by assiduous culture, whose character and
manners were marked by a beautiful mildness and liberality,
and whose life was devoted to the promoting of useful insti-
tutions and good habits within the sphere of his usefulness.
Though some of his sermons are liable to serious objections in
some of their statements of doctrine, they are rich in the counsels
of moral wisdom, and are adapted with admirable fidelity and
skill to the various classes and circumstances of society.'
Dr Hunter, Professor of Divinity in the University of
Edinburgh, heard Dr Lawson preach the missionary sermon
referred to, and afterwards made this most correct criticism :
' Dr Lawson says great things, but he says them hke a child.'
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 257
The serial literature of that day was not what it presently
is. It might have been in some cases more select, but neither
so varied nor multitudinous. As for that branch of de-
nominational literature, it was then much about what it is
now, and, we think, may ever be. Few great minds work in
small circles ; nay, few great thoughts, or principles, or
reasonings, can be got together within such narrow limits.
They refuse, not compression, but cellular imprisonment,
where, in bonds and on bread and water, they must dree out
their length and strength. Dr Lawson, however, was a kindly
contributor to the magazines of his own Church ; and his
articles in them are exceptions, so far as they go, to what
has been here advanced to the discredit of journalism. When
it was decided to commence the Christian Repository, Dr
Brown, of Biggar, its first editor, requested Dr Lawson to
honour its pages with an occasional contribution, to which
this reply was sent — (the ' book ' referred to at the beginning
is Dr Brown's first publication, ' Strictures on Mr Yates'
Vindication of Unitarianism') : —
Dr Lawson to Dr Brown.
' Selkirk, Oct. 1815.
' Dear John, — I remember to have heard your grand-
father tell an anecdote of a minister, when he came up to the
tent, after hearing a discourse from one of his brethren on
the corruption of the human heart, and who made this obser-
vation on it : " My brethren, it must be confessed that we are
very bad, but I hope not so bad as oar brother would have
us to be." I, too, confess that I was too long in answering
your letter, but not quite so long, nor so inattentive to the
contents of it, as you thought. I had heard that you were to
be at Hawick communion, and hoped, if my information was
good, to talk with you about your intended book at greater
length than I could write. I think it will be of great use,
and can see no reason for departing from the method you
R
258 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
had laid out. I did not think the objection you hinted at a
vahd one. What I would have talked about, was some useful
things to which it was possible your plan might not direct
your attention, although they might have been introduced
without departing from it. But I believe, to avoid swelling
the work beyond your intention, you will find it necessary to
omit many things that must occur to yourself. I do not
remember any book already in existence that comes so near
to your plan, as some sermons of Dr Guyse, which you may
probably have seen, on the " Utility of Scripture." But there
are so many on the subject of the other book, that I should
think it very diificult for you to give it much of the charm of
novelty ; yet I confess there is more of novelty and variety in
Mr Belfrage's devotional pieces on the subject than I could
have expected.
'I am in some doubt whether the intended magazine will
obtain such a circulation as some of the brethren expect.
Similar to many respectable pubUcations of the same kind,
I find, too, that there are several persons whose ardour
for such publications abates in them so far, that they discon-
tinue their demand for them. If the work, however, is begun,
I will certainly comply with your request, if you shall think
my contributions worthy of insertion. But I find it easier to
make a sermon with a text at the beginning of it, than a
short discourse fitted for a magazine. I have, however, a
sermon lying by me, which may perhaps furnish a paper or
two, and which I will send to you by your brother in Edin-
burgh. You will observe it is the last, and not the first, that
I mean for insertion. Tlie first is a discourse on the time
when it was written. The second is a discourse on the use of
the Book of the Revelation to common people, who have but
little knowledge of the meaning of the prophecies. It will
not, I suppose, interfere with the more extended work that
you propose. If it did, I should not choose to publish, lest
some should pay so little regard to my seniority, as to make
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 259
unfavourable comparisons. If you make the insertion, it will
put you to the trouble of exchanging the introduction for
some few sentences preparatory to the essay. I observe that
the conclusion, too, has been compressed through the want of
room.
' I will, D. v., at my leisure, and at the leisure of the tran-
scriber, prepare two or three more papers, and I suppose the
proper way of transmitting them will be by your brother in
Edinburgh.
' I am not without some apprehension that your health may
suffer by too close application to studies. The former book
must certainly have been the fruit of intense thought. You
would find it a more easy, and not an unprofitable exercise, to
perform a work which I remember to have once recom-
mended to you — ^I mean, a second part to Rasselas.' — I am,
yours affectionately, ' G. Lawson.'
Among other articles of distinguished excellence, Dr
Lawson sent to the Repository a series on ' Predestination,'
in which the objections to this doctrine are repelled in a most
satisfactory manner, and with uncommon perspicuity for so
dark a subject. This was followed by another series, extend-
ing to six articles, on what he calls the ' Popery of Protest-
ants,' in which he shows how much of the superstition, false
doctrine, and evil spirit of the Church of Rome, are to be
found among those who boast of their opposition to the man
of sin. It must interest the reader to know that these
papers were the very latest productions of his pen. The two
first were published almost immediately before his death, and
the remaining four shortly after it. Nothing could be more
appropriate than these as his last counsels to the Church, to
which he had been so long an ornament and a blessing.
None of his contemporaries were more worthy to lift the
■ trumpet of the prophet, and exhort Protestants of all denomi-
nations to cast out the leaven of the errors of Popery which
260 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
might be working in them. His age, learning, wisdom,
experience, piety, and position, gave him the right to sound
that trumpet as he did ; and it would be well if some one on
whom his mantle may now rest, were to issue equally clear
and certain sounds in the ears of the churches of the nine-
teenth century. We have already noticed Dr Brown's desire
to include him among his contributors. We subjoin a brief
note which refers to the subject : —
Dr Brown to Dr Lawson.
'BiGGAR, 31s« Oct. 1815.
' Rev. and very dear Sir, — I anticipate your thanks for
introducing to you the benevolent Mr Joseph Lancaster, who
is travelling through Scotland to diffuse the knowledge of his
system of education. I have no doubt of your doing him
any good office in your power, and furnishing him with your
meeting-house, if he wishes it, for delivering a lecture on
education. I return you many thanks for your valuable
communication for the Repository, and look for a speedy
repetition of the favour. ... I have been laid aside from
public duty for two Sabbaths by sore throat ; but, by the
goodness of God, I am in a state of convalescence. . . .
When I write you on general subjects, I shall allow you to
pay the postage ; but when magazine concerns occupy the
epistle, the publisher requires me to pay all expenses. . . .
— Your ever obliged pupil, ' John Brown.'
When Dr Brown pubhshed his strictures on 'Yates'
Yindication of Unitarianism,' he dedicated it to Dr Lawson,
and sent a copy of the work to him. Here is the Doctor's
reply :—
Dr Laivson to Dr Brown.
'Selkirk, Sept. 2, 1815.
' Dear Sir, — I hope ingratitude to man is not one of the
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 261
evils most incident to me ; and yet I am afraid I have given
you occasion to thinli that it is, by not sooner acknowledging
your valuable and much esteemed favour. I hoped, before
this time, to have an opportunity of sending you a letter (post
free), or of seeing your face, for I was told that you were to
be at Hawick communion. It was a very unexpected honour
that was done me by you and your friend, to set my name
before your book, and, I am afraid, would have been too
strong a temptation to pride, were it not counterbalanced by
too many causes I have to be humble. I find that I am
esteemed more than I deserve, by some whose esteem I have
every reason to value, and whose regard is a considerable
ingredient in my happiness. But I would be too blind to my
own defects, if I were not ashamed that I do not better merit
their regard.
' I need scarcely tell you that I was well satisfied with
your book. I had not seen, nor do I wish to see, the book
which you confute. I feel myself entirely satisfied that you
are too wise and too honest to deal unfairly either with your
own enemies, or with the enemies of the truth. There is,
indeed, no need of dealing unfairly with any of the enemies of
the truth, and as little with the Anti-Trinitarians as any other.
I prophesy that, so long as Bibles are so commonly read
among us, they will not gain many proselytes in our land.
' I think that there is no subject which you would handle
with more reasonable ground of hope to be useful, than the
one you propose. I was very well pleased with the view
which you gave me of your intended method. I do not
recollect that there was anything in it that seemed to me to
need correction. Some things occurred which I thought
highly proper to be inculcated, which did not, perhaps, neces-
sarily come into view, according to the analysis, but might
fitly find a place. It will certainly occur to you, as an obser-
vation fit to be illustrated at some length, that although we
can easily see how useful many things in the Scriptures are,
262 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSOX.
yet many things may be very useful and necessary, of which
we cannot know the utility, and that many things might be
in former times, and may be in future times, much more
useful than at present. That must be an admirable Book, in
which are laid up all the treasures of wisdom, which have
been, or will at any time be, necessary for any of the children
of God. — Yours affectionately, ' G. Lawson.'
The sermon which Dr Brown preached before the Edin-
burgh Missionary Society was afterwards published. Here
is Dr Lawsou's opinion of it : —
Dr Lawson to Dr Brown.
' Selkirk, June, 24, 1816.
' Dear Sir, — I have received and read your excellent
sermon. I hope it has already drawn, and will yet draw,
money from pious hearers and readers, which will turn out to
the benefit of many precious souls, and to your own benefit
and that of the Church. It is but Httle that most of us can
give with our own hand, but to Him that soweth righteous-
ness shall be a sure reward.
' I am almost ashamed to meet with such testimonies of
very warm attachment from you, as well as some other of my
former pupils. It puts me in mind of your worthy grand-
father, and makes me to feel how far I am his inferior in
those qualities which conciliate esteem. But may I not hope,
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be saved even
as he?
' Your sermon has as much originahty as was proper for
the subject, and will be read with much pleasure by those who
seek gratification to their curiosity, as well as by those who
seek profit to their souls. I see you place the introduction
of the Gospel into Britain later than many others have placed
it. When you speak of its coming into France in the fifth
century, you mean that it was then received by the French.
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 263
* T am happy to find that you bear the very heavy affliction
laid upon you, in the way that you exhort others to bear the
like affliction. You must, however, have deeply felt the differ-
ence between the knowledge and the practice of the duty of
patient submission to the will of God. Yet it is always useful
to retain the impression of duty, even when we find it impos-
sible to satisfy ourselves with the performance of it. What are
we, that we should set our wisdom or our will in opposition
to the wisdom and will of the Most High ? Are we dissem-
bling when we acknowledge ourselves to be but dust and
ashes, and obnoxious as sinners to the Divine justice ? Did
Christ die for us when we were enemies ; and can we think
that He deals hardly with us, when He carries to perfection
the salvation of our friends, whom He purchased with His
blood, though He does it by means painful to our feelings ? —
I remain, your affectionate friend, * G. Lawson.'
The following are the titles of the articles contributed by
him to the Repositonj, in the years 1816-17-18 : — ' The Book
of Revelation ',' ' Reflections on the Battle of Waterloo ;'
' Reflections on 2 Samuel xi. ;' ' David's Sin with Bathsheba ;'
' Objections against the Doctrine of Election Answered.'
These disquisitions exhibit precisely the same mental and
rhetorical features to be seen in his other works — the same
massive thinking, acute observation, and practical aim.
The article on election extends to four papers, which afford
a very good specimen of his style of teaching as a Professor.
The objections are fairly stated, and are met in a spirit
equally masterly and candid. To some of the objections to
the doctrine, this is a most satisfactory reply, and can
scarcely fail of convincing the waverers. His reflections on
the battle of Waterloo are worthy of his name. They ex-
hibit, in a most impressive manner, a wonderful knowledge
of Scripture, and a piety ardent and sincere. The whole of
the sacred oracles are laid under contribution, to illustrate
264 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
the course and the character of Napoleon. His illustrations
from Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, prove the Bible to be
a book for all ages ; and that the principles which have been
in operation from the beginning, operate now, and still pro-
duce the same effects. His exposition of David's great sin is
a specimen of a model lecture. The sin is exposed, the
sinner condemned, though kindly, the penitent judged to be
righteous, and the pardon presented in such a form as to in-
crease our hatred of the sin, and our pity for the transgressor.
The knowledge displayed of human nature is deep, compre-
hensive, and varied; the knowledge of God, impressive and
subhme. We lay down the article, persuaded that the Bible
is a holier, nobler, and more delightful book, from having
passed under the view of George Lawson's wonderful mind.
The following posthumous articles from Dr Lawson's
manuscripts have appeared in the pages of the United Secession
Magazine : — ' A Sermon on 1 Tim. v. 23 ;' ' Drink no Longer
Water,' etc. ; ' Remarks on Job xxvi. 5, 6 ;' ' Remarks on
Job xix. 21-27 ;' ' Extracts from his MS. Letters ;' ' Reflec-
tions on Sore Eyes ;' ' Letter to Mrs Plummer ;' ' Discourse
on Samuel xiii. 37.' To these, multitudes of other selections
from his MSS. might be added, in no degree inferior to any-
thing he himself published.
We cannot conclude this brief glance at the publications
of Dr Lawson more appropriately, than by quotations from
his most discriminating judges. Dr Belfrage thus estimates
them : — ' With regard to the writings of Dr Lawson, it is not
necessary to say much, as the favourable reception they have
met with from the public attests how their merit has been
appreciated. The chief of these are lectures on the Books of
Esther and Ruth ; on the History of Joseph ; and on the
Proverbs of Solomon, No persons qualified to judge can
read these volumes without being struck with the ingenuity
and fertility of the exposition which he gives ; the deep in-
sight into the human heart and character they discover ;
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 265
the engaging simplicity of the style, and their practical cast.
There is not the least affectation of critical skill, by which
many far inferior to him in scholarship have sought to as-
tonish the vulgar ; nor does he give any countenance to the
practice of converting every incident into a typical exhibition
of evangelical truth. Dr Lawson eagerly embraces every fit
opportunity of adverting to the doctrines of grace, and to
the excellences of the Saviour ; and his acquaintance with
history, ancient and modern, has enabled him to enliven these
lectures with happy illustrations from incidents or characters.
His ' Sermons to the Aged ' are remarkably appropriate, and
written in a plain, faithful, and earnest strain.'
Of the volume of sermons, published in 1810, by Dr
Lawson, Mr Lothian thus writes : — ' The same master-mind,
the same fervent affection, the same manly and natural
eloquence, which pervade all his former publications, are still
found in the precious eontents of this volume. The laborious
polishing of ordinary thoughts this great man never at-
tempted. His object ever was, to bring truth and duty
directly and irresistibly home on the mind and heart. His
style is always plain, but never vulgar ; often tender, but never
puUng ; sometimes sublime, but ever simple and perspicuous.
If ever the reputation of his writings shall correspond with
their intrinsic value, it will be high. They are well fitted
to instruct, not the Christian people only, but the ministers
of religion too. The lectures, in particular, on Joseph,
Esther, and Ruth, exhibit admirable specimens of the most
useful mode of expounding, from the pulpit, the historical
parts of the Holy Scriptures.'
But the most discriminating estimate of the Lawson books
we have read, is to be found in an able review of his ' Expo-
sition of the Book of Proverbs,' supposed to have beeu
written by Dr John Brown. The following extracts will be
read with interest : —
' We knew well the amiable and the venerable author of
266 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
these volumes ; we had full opportunity to appreciate his
worth ; we have never seen his equal in various respects, and
cannot reasonably expect to see it now.
' All that could be said by those who knew well the repu-
tation which, as a scholar and a man of original thinking, it
was in his power to acquire, could not induce him to engage
in any work of a learned description ; and with regard to
fine writing, it was as little his aim. In all the books that
he published, the instruction of ordinary readers was mani-
festly his object.
' There was a modesty, a guileless simplicity, an abhorrence
of ostentation, a sincerity, an explicitness, an unbending
integrity, united to the utmost gentleness and forbearance,
which characterized all his deportment, and communicated
their influence to all the effusions of his pen —
' " Cui pudor, et justitite soror
Incorrupta fides, nudaque Veritas,
Quando ullum invenient parem?"
' Few men have been better qualified for such a task (the
exposition of the Proverbs). He had a remarkable talent for
generahzing moral instruction — it was, indeed, one of his
great peculiarities as a teacher. He could take a maxim or
precept of a general nature, and show its bearing on par-
ticular circumstances, notwithstanding the specialties which
might seem to take them out of the rule. On the other
hand, he could catch the principle implied in a particular
precept, or direction, or reproof, and give it a general appli-
cation, with the greatest faciUty. The simplest statement of
fact, too, furnished him some practical lesson. It was this
talent especially which gave him his acknowledged pre-emi
nence as an expounder of Scripture. This is displayed in
every page of his lectures on the Books of Esther and Ruth ;
and it has rendered subjects apparently barren, full of in-
struction. With him every subject became instructive. It
was, perhaps, on those that seemed the driest, that he ap-
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 207
peared, in eomparisou of other men, to the greatest advantage :
" before him there might seem to be a desolate wilderness ;
behind him it was as the garden of the Lord."
' We have noticed Dr Lawson's unwillingness to nndertake
any work of a learned or critical description. This proceeded,
without doubt, from that diffidence which persons of the
highest talents frequently feel ; yet it is not possible that he
could be ignorant altogether of his great superiority to many
who have made a considerable figure in the literary world.
Such, however, was either the low opinion which he had of him-
self, or the high one which he formed of the requisites necessary
to such a work, that the fact is as we have stated it ; and the
same cause seems to have operated in what he did write. He
very seldom makes a ci'itical remark ; and when he does, it is
in the fewest possible words : he throws it out and passes on
as if he were afraid of being observed. Akin to this was his
great reluctance to offer amendments on our authorized
translation. He was not insensible that in many places it is
susceptible of great improvement ; but, besides his dishke to
the practice of retailing scraps of criticism from the pulpit,
he was extremely averse to anything which might shake the
confidence of mere English readers in our excellent version,
and consequently mar their edification. In expounding the
Book of Proverbs, many opportunities might be found to
offer remarks on the translation ; yet he has made very few —
he has seldom said the translation is wrong. In one or two
instances he has mentioned a different reading. As an illus-
tration, we may take his whole comment on the 10th verse of
chapter x. He also directly corrects the translation of the
24th verse of chapter xix. ; but it is in a foot-note, where he
says, " The word hosom ought to have been dish" This short
criticism is very characteristic of the author.
' Dr Lawson often brings a very happy illustration from
an historical incident or classical allusion. Nothing, however,
seems more remote from his intention, than to display his
2G8 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
reading or his scholarship. Nothiug is done for effect, not
one useless word is employed, and no reference is ever made
to the source whence the incident is derived ; so that very-
few readers can have any idea of the classical learning which
furnished such allusions. For example : " Plato wrote on the
door of his academy, ' Let no man unskilled in geometry come
hither;' Solomon writes the very reverse on the door of his
school, 'Let the simple man who is easily deceived come
hither, and he shall learn that subtilty which is necessary to
preserve him from the snare of the destroyer.' "
' The only other peculiarity in Dr Lawson's manner of
writing', which we shall now notice, is the extreme beauty of
his illustrations. This appears in all his writings, but it is
remarkably apparent in these volumes ; his style is almost as
brief and sententious as that of the Proverbs which he ex-
pounds. No better proof of this need be given, than that the
whole Book of Proverbs, embracing such an immense extent
and variety of matter, is explained in two duodecimo volumes,
containing 940 pages ; yet we will venture to affirm that
nothing is left unexplained. Not one preacher hi fifty (a
thousand ?) could have given as intelligible an exposition in
three times the space. . . . There are authors who amplify
so much, and keep the same idea so long in sight, that one
may dose over a page occasionally, and lose nothing. But
that will not do here : the mind must be always awake, and
always in full activity. Not one word is employed by the
author more than is barely sufficient to make his meaning
understood. He presents the idea almost naked, never with
the smallest portion of useless drapery, and leaves it to others
to adorn it at their leisure.'
To the above critique on Dr Lawson's ' Exposition of the
Proverbs,' it may be proper to add, that tributes, of another
kind, to the excellence of his works have not been wanting.
Without mentioning the name, we may call attention to the
fact, that a living and distinguished American commentator
THE SCHOLAR AND HIS BOOKS. 269
has, in his exposition of the Book of Genesis, made a most
unwarrantable use of Dv Lawson's ' Lectures on Joseph.'
From the 37th chapter to the end of Genesis, a large por-
tion is plagiarized from the Scotch expositor — we shonld
say, to the extent of two-thirds of the whole. The parts
extracted are given word for word, with no other change
than what was necessary to connect the sentences displaced
from their original connection. Dr Lawson's lectures are
pubhshed in two volumes, and matter to the extent of one of
these has been thus appropriated. The American work,
wanting the Scotch additions, would be the play of ' Hamlet'
with the character of Hamlet left oat. This plagiarism
becomes the more wicked from the fact, that while about 120
authorities are named in the preface, to whom the author has
been but partially indebted, the work by Lawson is never
alluded to. The pilfering, indeed, is on too large a scale to
run the risk of any such allusion. A more flagrant act of
the kind cannot well be found in the range of theological
literature. This author himself, perhaps, furnishes a parallel,
and that in this same exposition. His barefaced and unac-
knowledged extracts from Andrew Fuller on Genesis, are
nearly equal to those from Lawson. Fuller's name, however,
is mentioned among the 120 authorities named in the preface.
The temptation must have been powerful that could prevail
on such a scholar to perpetrate such a wrong : the property
stolen must have been considered exceedingly valuable, to
warrant such a risk.
But there has been a similar robbery committed lately by
one of our best Encjlish divines, in a recent pubUcation on the
Book of Proverbs. Page upon page is taken from Lawson,
with only the most meagre and paltry acknowledgment. Like
the theft-acquired children of the gypsies, the passages may
be transmogrified, but their true parentage is very easily
discovered.
CHAPTER VI.
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES.
la our approach to the Divinity Hall at Selkirk, we pass
along somewhat holier ground than any we have hitherto
occupied. Interesting as may be the other passages in this
memoir, they scarcely satisfy the expectations, or realize in
full the ideas generally entertained of a Professor whose very
name, through his admiring students, has become amongst us
an ' household word,' and whose reputation for learning and
wisdom is still dearly preserved as a precious and holy
legacy from the past. The stories and associations of that
Hall have never been written, except in their grateful and
savoury colloquies. Their eloquent memories were so many
distinct histories of their tutor, and of his intercourse with
them. At first, these were, and for many years continued to
be, scattered broadcast over Scotland. Wherever a Selkirk
student was settled, there was to be found a living monument
of Lawson ; and every one within sight or hearing became
forthwith well acquainted, if not enraptured, with the grand
old sage on the Ettrick. These Selkirk students are fast
dying away, and the surviving few are more and more careful
to preserve the trust devolved upon them. The present me-
moir may be regarded as an effort, only not too late, to
gather up the precious relics before they have been irre-
coverably drawn and lost over the rapids of time. Selkirk,
indeed, and the bauks of Yarrow and Ettrick, have become
to us classic spots, as much so as are the Isis and the Cam to
Anglican scholars. ' Selkirk (as one of them writes to the
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 271
compiler) was eminently adapted for study and sacred lore,
removed alike from the levity and luxury of a capital, and
from the noise and bustle of a commercial city. The town is
dear to the hearts and memories of Burgher students. The
first and the last glimpse of its spire, while yet seen from
afar, have successively awakened emotions of joy and sorrow.
There many of them lived their happiest days ; nor is there
one of them into whose soul the very name of Selkirk does
not convey peculiar feelings, — the remembrance of joys once,
nay, often present, bat now gone for ever.' ^ It was a treat
of no ordinary kind to listen to Dr Lawson's students when
they sharpened up each other's wits on their Hall life, — a sub-
ject which never failed to come up when they met together
on sacramental or Synodical occasions. Listening to the
charming recollections of such men on such a theme, was our
frequent privilege ; and hence that pecuhar feeling, which we
scarce wish dispelled, that we also had been of their number,
and had seen and known Lawson. If there be in the present
portrait aught of life and expression, to this it must be
ascribed. To the uninitiated it might sometimes appear as
if ' Selkirk men ' made too much of their favourite topic ; but
no one, in any degree aware of the worth and winning quali-
ties of their venerable Professor, will accuse them of exagge-
ration. Every excellence that he had as a Christian minister
and friend, circled around and enriched his prelections from
the chair of theology. Such a combination could not fail to
captivate young and generous hearts, and sufficiently accounts
for their admiration and love. In depicting Hall-life under
his professorship, we feel as if he himself were multiplied an
hundred-fold, and that in every one of his students we had
before us a reproduction (^ himself — that from him, as a sort
of negative photograph, were taken so many pleasing counter-
parts. In promenading any of the great Continental galleries —
at the Louvre, for instance, or Dresden, or Munich, or Berhn —
' Rev. James M'Whirter
272 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
you see, or think you see, many beautiful ' duplicates,' or, at
all events, you are gratified with the identities of style in the
performances of different artists. In hke manner, we have
been interested to detect, in the tastes and styles of our
ministers who studied at Selkirk, such traits, and features,
and manners as were deeply and unmistakeably Lawsonian.
The very tones of bis voice, and gestures and attitudes, have
been retained, though, like the shades, they be now hastening
away into that land of forgetfulness, the tombs of the pro-
phets. The great moral influences, however, of this Christian
Solomon still retain their hold of many, and will yet flow
softly downwards when all of us have fallen on sleep. Mere
touches made by a glowing wonderment pass away, while the
die which stamps upon the soul a right holy image, remains
to renew and make its impressions everlasting. Hero-
worshippers are flitting apparitions, — the followers of the
righteous are as angels, ever ministering to the heirs of salva-
tion.
The Rev. John Brown, of Haddington, died in the summer
of 1787. He had occupied the chair of Divinity in connec-
tion with the Burgher Synod, ever since the death of Pro-
fessor Swanston in 1767. For twenty years onr Church had
been watered, enriched, and blessed with the prayers and
labours of this most remarkable man. The piety, learning,
and soundness in the faith, for which the Haddington students
were justly esteemed, greatly contributed to the influence and
usefulness of the young Secession. We are their debtors to
this day. A giant himself. Brown gave birth to giants. In
recording his death, Dr M'Kerrow thus chastely testifies con-
cerning him : ' The character which he left behind him for
piety, diligence, and theological .knowledge, and fidelity in
his Master's service, was highly honourable. The literary
advantages which he enjoyed in early life were scanty, but
there have been few individuals who, with such limited means
of improvement, have risen to higher eminence in the Church,
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 273
both as a tlieologiau and au author. The fame which he has
acquired by his useful practical writings, and especially by
his self-interpreting Bible, has been most extensive, and bids
fair to be lasting. He is an encouraging example of what
may be effected by dint of industry and perseverance in the
acquisition of knowledge. The Synod, on receiving intelli-
gence of his death, paid a just tribute to his memory by
making honourable mention of him in their record as a person
' whose eminent piety, fervent zeal, extensive charity, and
unwearied diligence in promoting the interests of religion,
will be long remembered by this court, especially by those
members of it who had the happiness of studying Divinity
under his inspection.' They also agreed to insert in their
minutes the following postscript, which was appended to a
letter written by Mr Brown a short while before his death,
and which was addressed to the members of Synod : — ' As
many of you have been my students, and most of you my
younger in years, permit me to beseech you all to do all in
your power to transmit Christ's truths as faithfully and dili-
gently to posterity as possible. His truths and cause shall
shine on earth, and especially in heaven, for ever, be they now
as low as they will in Britain.'
We have seen that Professor Brown had a sort of pre-
sentiment that young Lawson would be his successor in the
Theological Chair ; and he was right. As the Hfe of Brown
drew to a close, the eyes of the Church were already fixed
upon the scholar and divine at Selkirk, who was at once
chosen at the very first meeting of Synod thereafter ; and, as
Dr M'Kerrow remarks, ' never did a Professor better justify,
by his future conduct, the choice that was made.' Though
this election was unanimous and very cordial, there was then,
as there shall ever be on such occasions, a little diversity of
opinion, especially among some of the brethren in the west of
Scotland, who, from distance, had not had the same oppor-
tunities of judging of his fitness which the brethren in the east
s
274 THE LIFE OF DPw LAWSON.
and south had enjoyed. The Presbytery of Glasgow was
understood to be more favourably disposed to the election
either of Mr Belfrage, of Falkirk, or Mr GilfiUan, of
Dunblane, — both men of profound theological lore, and well
qualified to become teachers of the future ministers of the
Church. It so happened that this Presbytery was appointed
to supply Professor Lawson's pulpit for the first three
Sabbaths after commencing his new duties, and a probationer
of rather unpopular parts was sent, at their instance, to
Selkirk. After the first Sabbath, the congregation were
rather displeased with the supply, and some of them ventured
to complain to Dr Lawsou. To pacify them, he took part
in the services of the following Sabbath. When alluding
to this in after hfe to Dr Kidston, he said, ' I thought it
better to prevent complaining than to give occasion for
complaint ; but I did not approve of those who murmured,
for although Mr R is not a first-rate preacher, I never
heard him preach a sermon — and I have heard him frequently
— but he told me more of my duty than I had practised all
my life ; and whatever reason I might have to complain of
myself, I had no reason to complain of him.' In writing to
a friend upon this matter, Dr Kidston, in the best spirit, says,
' I may state that the choice of the Synod as to Mr Brown's
successor, was really a compliment to my discerning. Before
there was any appearance of another Professor being needed,
I had, on several occasions, mentioned Mr Lawsou as the
probable choice of the Synod ; and so little was he known to
one, who afterwards proved quite of my mind, that he kindly
requested me not to state my opinion on this subject, as it
would bring my own understanding into suspicion. When
Mr Lawson was chosen, I did enjoy a kind of triumph, of
which my friend, by-and-bye, was a partaker.' It is due to
Dr Lawson to state, that he himself was quite taken by
surprise. He not only had no idea that such an honour was
intended for him, but he was much disconcerted. When the
TPIE HALL AND ITS MEMOEIES. 275
election was reported to him, and often afterwards, he
expressed his regret that the choice of the Synod had not
fallen upon his early and ever esteemed tutor, Mr Johnstone,
of Ecclefechan. ' The Synod,' he remarked, ' has done wrong
ill not appointing Mr Johnstone to the theological professor-
ship.'
In writing to compliment his early friend on the high
honour which had been conferred upon him, Mr Greig, of
Lochgelly, thus remarks : ' I can honestly assure you, that
I reckon it one of the great pleasures of my life, that I have
been favoured with your friendship, and that you are still
pleased to rank me among your friends. Would to God I
had more of His image, and were more worthy of your
acquaintance ! The moments I have spent in your company
I still reflect upon with satisfaction, and think them among
the best employed of my life. If I have not profited by your
company, I am conscious it hath been mine own fault.. The
death of Mr Brown is certainly a very great loss to the
Church. I never knew a man who seemed to have the
interests of rehgion so much at heart, or whose zeal and
industry to propagate them was more primitive and apos-
tolic. But it was not meet that he should always live here,
but depart, and enjoy the reward of his labours. He hath
left a savour of religion behind him, and I doubt not that
the fruits of his labours will continue in the Church till the
end of time. The trust now devolved upon you will naturally
lead you to reflect on many things in his conduct as worthy
of your imitation in the discharge of it. Nor ought you to
be discouraged, in performing that service to Christ and His
Church, by reflecting on your inferior endowments. The
Head of the Church hath received gifts to answer every
exigence of His members ; and may the Spirit of the Lord
God rest upon you, as the spirit of wisdom and understand-
ing, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge,
and of the fear of the Lord ! '
276 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Immediately after the appointment of Mr Lawson to the
Chair, a discussion arose in the Synod as to the propriety of
having a salaried Professor, without a pastoral charge, and
to be located in Edinburgh. The scheme, however, found
but little favour, and was at once abandoned as, in the then
circumstances of the Church, impracticable. After the first
year, during which he lectured gratis, the Synod allowed the
Professor L.30 per annum, to defray expenses connected
with the duties of the Chair. Some years afterwards, on the
motion of Dr Husband, this moderate stipend was increased
to L.50, and there it stuck. In the last year of his professor-
ship, the Synod made him a present of L.IOO. The idea of
salaried Professors, without pastorates, is now afloat, and not a
little can be advanced in its favour. That the present system
has wrought well must be admitted. How otherwise can we
account, not only for the high state of efficiency for which the
Christian ministry among us is conspicuous, but for the great
literary attainments of the men who have filled, and who now
fill, our Theological Chairs ? Neither are second in any sense
to any ministry, or to any professoriate in the kingdom.
While this is true, it may, notwithstanding, be a question
whether or not the time has come when a change might be
made to the advantage of all interests. If a Professor can
devote the whole of his time to his own improvement, and to
the training of his students, we may infer that the Church
cannot fail to be a fortunate beneficiary by the change. The
marvel is, that, with heavy pastoral charges, our Professors
have been able to discharge their duties so very creditably.
But is it fair and just to these brethren, — to the students and
to the Church at large, — that such exactions should be made
of them ? We trow not. In this age, sacred learning has
been set on the race-course along with everything else that
relates to education, science, and philosophy ; and our Church
is sure to be left behind, if she be not so lightly equipped, in
this respect, as to run with the fleetest. She is especially
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 277
called upon to lay aside every weight from the shoulders of
her scholars and guides, and to give them all facilities to keep
up with, if not to outran, her competitors. We cannot see
how this is much longer to be managed under the present
system. Now and then a Christian Hercules, like our Pro-
fessor of Biblical Literature, may arise, and perform, with
equal fidelity, the duties of the pulpit and the chair ; but to
take this for granted is presumptuous and unsafe : and to
draw even upon such an one for the full ' tale of brick,' is
questionable policy, if it be not a cruel oppression. No man,
however athletic in body, or accomplished and ardent in
scholarship, can long maintain himself in full vigour, who
attempts, and succeeds in his attempts, to uphold a masterly
discharge of the pastoral as well as the professorial duties.
He may go on for a time ; but he may break down at mid-
day,— a victim to short-sighted penuriousness, and an
irretrievable loss to the Christian commonwealth. We trust
the time is at hand when a change, in this respect, shall be
made in our theological institutions. If the Church's treasury
cannot afford salaried professorships, she can, by-and-bye,
reduce their number, so as to admit of the reform that is
desirable. But is there anything to hinder the employment
of our present staff upon such conditions ? Not only is the
United Presbyterian Church becoming more and more
wealthy, but, what is far better, the tide of Christian liber-
ality is on rapid flow within her see ; and it is neither perilous
nor presumptuous to predict that the day is at hand when,
for her own sake, — above all, for the sake of her Divine Lord,
— she will devise and execute more Uberal things for the
maintenance and progress of sacred learning among her
pastors and teachers.
The translation of the Divinity Hall to Selkirk was, as to
locahty, no very great change. Like Haddington, the town
of Selkirk was small, and the neighbourhood somewhat pas-
toral and agricultural. There was neither the dust and din
278 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
of commerce, nor the excitements and temptations of the city,
to divert from or disturb in study. In both, the students
enjoyed the benefits of literary quietude and rural healthiness;
while, from the absence of those attractions peculiar to the
city, they were thrown more frequently upon each other's
society, and thus laid the foundations of personal friendships
which lasted while they lived. Our Church owes not a little
of her happiness and influence to this binding together of her
pastors. By this union in such close and endearing ties, the
churches under their care have become partakers of kindred
love, and live together as one in the Association. And who
can tell how much of our ecclesiastical prosperity may be
traced to pastoral unity ? If the removal of the Hall to the
city from the country were to prove an injury to the culti-
vation of love and friendship among the students, we should
plead for the founding of a theological college far out of the
reach of ' palaces and towers ; ' for, after all, it is not learn-
ing alone, however mighty and extensive it may become in a
Church, that commands the blessing out of Zion. God Him-
self rules over His creatures by His love, rather than by
His wisdom and His power ; and, if we were put to it, as to
whether we should have our pastors baptized with the spirit
of love or crammed with the elements of learning, we should
not hesitate to decide. Still, as the ' canny ' Scotchman said,
when King James ofTered him the choice of the vacant Bishop-
rics of Bath and Wells, ' baith is best : ' ' amho ' is here not
only good Latin, but the best policy.
The new Professor entered upon his duties with a profound
sense of responsibility from his acceptance of office. Descend-
ing to him laden with venerable associations, he felt it to be
something like presumption to become the successor of such
men as Ebenezer Erskine, Fisher, Swanston, and Brown. And
there was no affectation in his demurring for a time to yield
his consent ; for, all through life, his rare and peculiar qualifi-
cations for the offices he held in the Church, were seen and
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 279
admitted by every one except by himself. Seldom does it
occur that talents like his are accompanied with such meek-
ness and self-obUvion, constituting a mental as well as moral
charm, which made him a power and an authority in every
circle. Once, however, in office, he set his face hke a flint to
its duties, and never flagged in their discharge for the long
period of thirty-three years. Before proceeding to the review
of his professorial labours, it may be proper at once to state
that these were never allowed to interfere with his faithful-
ness as a pastor. His congregation knew no difference in
this respect, except that during the sessions of the Hall the
pulpit was supplied by the Synod's deputies. To this arrange-
ment there could not be any wise objection. The congrega-
tion, indeed, highly appreciated the honour which had been
put upon themselves by the elevation of their revered minister
to such a high and honourable ofBce. And while no man,
however eloquent, who officiated during the Hall for Dr
Lawson in the pulpit, was regarded by them as either his
equal or superior, they were both pleased and edified by the
variety of ministerial gifts and graces to which they were every
autumn so considerately treated. The Hall work at Selkirk
has been thus described by Mr Lothian : —
' The plan of Dr Lawson's theological course was simple
and judicious. The students were required by the Associate
Synod, after a liberal course of Uterary and philosophical
studies at the University, to attend the theological instruc-
tions of their Professor for five sessions, and, besides, to give
in discourses every year to the Presbyteries in whose bounds
they resided. It was the wish of Dr Lawson that every student
should have an opportunity of hearing his whole course of
lectures on theoretical and practical Divinity. For this pur-
pose, though each session continued only nine weeks, he
regularly went over his full course on the system in five
sessions. Were these lectures on theology to be given to
the public, it is presumed it would be at once perceived and
280 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
acknowledged that they are in a very high degree scriptural,
and evangelical, and profound, and luminous, and instructive,
aud practical. The students were regularly examined on the
subject of the lectures which they had heard, — a practice
admirably calculated to secure their attention, and to pro-
mote their improvement,
' The Doctor was accustomed, also, every session, to make
his pupils read with him, and critically analyse, a part of the
Holy Scriptures in the original Hebrew and Greek. Per-
tinent questions were proposed by him on such occasions,
leading at once to the formation of the sound critic, and the
edifying practical expositor of the Divine Word. The con-
tinued study of the original languages of the Holy Scriptures,
and of their criticism, and of the practical use of the sacred
volume, were thus strongly recommended. A laudable ambi-
tion to excel in these important exercises was excited and
kept alive, and in many cases led to very laudable results.
' During the course of his first session of attendance, every
student was required to prepare and deliver a homily on a
subject assigned him by the Professor ; and to prepare gene-
rally two, and sometimes three discourses, each of the other
four sessions. All the subjects were assigned by the Pro-
fessor at the close of one session, on which discourses were
required to be ready for being delivered the session following.
Of these discourses some were lectures, others sermons, some
critical, and others practical, and one or more of them popu-
lar, to be delivered not only before the Professor and the
students, but before all the people who chose to attend.
' Before delivering his own remarks on these discourses, the
Professor gave every student who chose, an opportunity of
offering his criticisms on what he had heard. Veneration for
the enlightened and liberal tutor was found sufficient, in
almost every instance, to prevent hasty and uncandid
remarks.
' Few availed themselves prematurely of the privilege ; but
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 281
almost all were zealous in preparing themselves for doing it
wisely. It was generally by those who had attended three
or four sessions that observations on the discourses were
made. Always kept under proper regulation by the superin-
tendence of the Professor, this exercise became a source of
much improvement among the young men.
' No time or pains, which might promise to be useful, were
spared by the venerable guide of their studies. On Mondays,
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, he convened his pupils
twice a-day, and once on Wednesdays and Saturdays ; so
that his ordinary sederunts with them every week were ten,
or ninetij in the course of each session. For the most part,
these sederunts were long ; not a scanty hour, but whatever
portion of time was requisite for the important object in
view, was cheerfully bestowed. On those days on which the
Professor met only in the forenoon with his students, they
either met in the afternoon by themselves, to deliver, hear,
and criticise essays on important subjects, for their mutual
improvement ; or, in the evening, along with all the Christian
people who chose to attend. These public meetings were
held six times in each session : at every such meeting, three
of the students, in rotation, or by appointment, gave out,
each, a psalm or hymn, and prayed ; and two others delivered
short prepared and practical discourses, or addresses. Often
the whole, and always a part, of the exercises at these
meetings, was connected with the great and most interesting
subject of evangelizing the world, by the dissemination of the
Divine Word among all nations, in their vernacular languages,
and by the labours of Christian missionaries. A^ l*3"o ^^ ^^^
bodily strength enabled him, the Professor attended these
meetings, to render them as useful as possible by his presence.
He always spoke last himself on these occasions, and con-
claded with prayer. These meetings were well attended,
and highly useful, it is believed, both to the students and
people. They tended to cherish devotion and a missionary
282 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
spirit in all, and to form the young men for addressing a
public audience with ease and readiness.
' Every meeting of the Hall was begun and closed with
prayer. With great fervour of devotion, the Professor
himself opened the first, and closed the last sederunt of each
week ; and the students, by rotation, opened and closed the
other meetings with prayer.
' From this short account, it appears that the meetings,
ordinary and extraordinary, of the Professor with his students
each session, were 96. The average time devoted to each
meeting was probably more, but certainly not less, than an
hour and a half, or 144 hours each of the five sessions of
attendance. This, it will be observed, is considerably more
than the average time devoted to the public instruction of
their pupils, by the Theological Professors in the different
Universities. If we take the average of their sessions at 24
weeks, and their weekly meetings at five, each of an hour's
length, the time employed by them in public instruction
each session, will be 120 hours. This, it is known, is more
time than is really so employed ; and yet it comes con-
siderably short of the time devoted by Dr Lawson to the
instruction of bis pupils, in his session of only nine weeks'
continuance. If the session was short, it had the advan-
tage of being ivhoUy devoted to theological studies. The
bell never, as at the Universities, broke off any important
business unfinished. The students were never called oflF as
tutors, or in any other character, to attend elsewhere to other
business, and forget the sacred investigations in which they
had been engaged. Teaching schools, or acting as tutors
to young gentlemen, is the common necessary, and in many
respects highly useful employment, for the greatest part of
the year, of the great majority of theological students, both
in the Established Church and among Dissenters. This
makes it a matter of great importance, and almost of in-
dispensable necessity, that the sessions of the Divinity Hall,
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 283
in such a body as ours, be short ; and that they be held daring
the harvest vacation of schools and other seminaries of
learning.
' Such is a general outline of Dr Lawson's mode of con-
ducting the studies of the young men put under his care.
There were occasional variations, according to times and
circumstances, and to serve important purposes. To this
plan, however, so comprehensive, so judiciously adapted to
circumstances, and so well calculated, through the Divine
blessing, to form his pupils for being able, pious, and useful
ministers of Christ, Dr Lawson adhered, in its substance, for
the thirty-three years of his professorship. In pursuing it,
the whole circle of human learning was ever at his command.
The powers of original and transcendent genius were ever
manifest. The most profound discussion became always
simple and plain under his management.'
Special notice is taken, in the above excerpt, of Dr Lawson's
critical studies, with his students, of the original languages of
Scripture. We have already seen his profound acquaintance
with these languages, and his habits of perusing the works of
the early Christian fathers. As an additional proof that the
traditions of his pupils on this subject are not exaggerated, it
may be here mentioned that, when on one occasion he was
lecturing on the Trinity, he wound up his review of the
Scripture passages in favour of the doctrine by this state-
ment : ' You will observe, gentlemen, that I have not quoted
the famous passage in the First Epistle of John, " For there
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost : and these three are one." My reason
is this : I doubt whether this was in the original epistle.
I have read through the works of Athanasius, in the original
Greek, and I do not find that he quotes it. Now, I think
that, had it been in the copy of the Scriptures current in his
time, he would have mentioned it The Trinity is the great
doctrine discussed in his writings, wherein he strenuously
284 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
nmintaias the orthodox view, in opposition to the Arian. He
is the great champion of Trinitarianism among the fathers ;
and a text so decided and forcible he would not have
omitted.' In a letter, written in old age, to Dr Brown, he
says : ' When I was young, I remember to have been well
pleased with a discourse of Athanasius on the Psalms. The
book is not now in my possession. He makes the difference
between the Psalms and other books of Scripture, like the
difference between telling one how a thing is to be done, and
doing it before his eyes that he may do it after him.' We
have thus his own testimony as to his famiharity with the
writings of the Greek fathers, all the more weighty that it
came out incidentally in the course of a discussion before his
class. He was one of those scholars whose custom it was to
go up to first sources for their knowledge. His was no
second-hand erudition. He read the classics themselves, not
translations ; he knew authors by their books, not from
quotations ; his calm, inquiring mind was braced up for inves-
tigation on the mountain-tops of truth, or was refreshed by
bathing in some of her deep, deep wells. But I count myself
happy to have obtained from Dr Simpson the following
beautiful and graphic view of his venerable tutor, which is,
in fact, the counterpart of all the impressions received and
cherished by the Selkirk students, and may therefore super-
sede any attempt otherwise to depict or commend him : —
' I do not know if ever there was a man in this world whom
I esteemed so much as Dr Lawson. We were accustomed to
compare him to the patriarch Abraham, on account of his
amazing simphcity of character and devotedness to God.
The first time I ever saw him was upon a sacramental occa-
sion, on Tweed Green, at Peebles. He had come to assist
the saintly Mr Leckie, of whom we may justly say that he
had few compeers in his day for genuine Christian worth.
In Mr Leckie's time the summer sacraments were deemed
great solemnities. Vast crowds foregathered around the
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 285
teut, which was pitched on the velvet green by the side of the
silvery Tweed, to hear the " glad tidings of great joy."
While the holy and symbolic work was going on within the
church, this tent was supplied by relays of ministers, who
took their turn in preaching. I well remember, when a
boy, of being present on one of these occasions, and sitting
among the humming crowd on a bright summer Sabbath,
before the services had commenced, and gazing on the
glorious sky that over-canopied the basin in which stands
the sweet little town of Peebles, and surveying the bright-
edged clouds that floated along the tops of the grand old
hills that stood as guardians around the congregated flock
that had met, like the worthies of old in the lovely moor-
lands, to worship God, and listen to the message of His
grace. Speedily our musings were interrupted by a some-
what sprightly and good-looking young man, who entered the
tent and commenced the services. After the usual devotions,
he read out as his text, " I will give him the morning star."
This was John Brown, then of Biggar ! When he concluded,
he left the tent, and in a few minutes, while the vast multi-
tude were singing, he was succeeded by a man of uncom-
monly venerable aspect. His text was, " I am that I am," —
words which he pronounced with great solemnity, and then
proceeded to their illustration. I listened as he advanced
into his subject, but with very little understanding of what
he said. I thought at the time that this was a well-meaning
man, but somewhat poor at the preaching. So much for my
judgment and good sense in so thinking of the great and
good Dr Lawson, of Selkirk, for it was he who addressed the
multitude ; and my little line not being sufficient to fathom his
depth, I sagely concluded as aforesaid. Little did I imagine
that this same preacher was, in a few years thereafter, to be-
come my teacher in divinity, and to be, in my estimation, a
man who had not his equal in all the earth.
' I also well remember the first time I was introduced to
286 THE LIFE OF CR LAWSON
him. It was when I went to attend his lectures at Selkirk.
I was prepared to see a man of a remarkably imposing aspect,
and I was not disappointed. I felt so overawed in his pre-
sence that I conld scarcely speak, and thought I was in the
company of one who was almost more than human ; but very
soon his kindly manner and conversation removed everything
like embarrassment.
' It was as students of theology that we had principally to
do with him — as pupils in the school of so distinguished a
master, and a master to whom our hearts clung with an in-
conceivable attachment, and to whom we looked up with un-
faltering confidence. His prelections in the Hall were of the
most instructive kind, showing great depth and penetration,
and thorough acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures, and with
the entire system of theology. He was a master in the school
of Calvin, whose dogmas on certain points some were inclined
to think he carried too far ; but, however this might be, his
lectures afforded the richest illustrations of Divine truth that
perhaps ever issued from a professorial chair. It wonld be
saying too much, positively to aflBrm that his students derived
eminent advantage from his discussions on recondite theologi-
cal topics ; any defect here, if defect there was, was owing to
the pupils themselves, not to him. If a degree of careless-
ness and drowsiness was occasionally apparent in the lecture-
room, that might be attributed to the narrow space into which
the students were crowded, — generally a room in his own
house, when he was unable to meet his class in the church.
' In his examination of the students, his powers of exposi-
tion became strikingly apparent. He knew the entire range
of Biblical criticism, and could furnish, from the stores of his
vast memory, the various views and opinions of divines, both
of our own and of other countries, ancient and modern alike.
One thing which greatly endeared him to us was the gentle
yet faithful way in which he dealt with our discourses. He
carefully avoided everything which might wound a young
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 287
man's feelings, his object being to encourage, not to dis-
hearten. Harshness was alien to his nature; and while some
critics are disposed to show their superiority or their acumen
in always finding fault, and in saying severe things ; as
opportunities offered, he was ever ready to point out the
excellences, and, if possible, to make them counterbalance
the defects.
' It was the custom in Dr Lawson's time to invite the
students in turn to give their remarks on discourses delivered
in the Hall ; and those who had more face than others, or who
thought themselves competent, generally availed themselves
of the opportunity, and some of them were even thankful for
it. The custom, however, was bad, as many a modest lad
found to his cost, and is now wisely discontinued. On these
occasions, however, our venerable tutor uniformly discouraged
anything like severity or injustice of remark. The following
is a specimen : — A student, now a minister of distinction in
our Church, had delivered a very excellent discourse, which
was hstened to with great attention, and which was favour-
ably received by the critics in general ; but a youth of some
pretensions, when his name was called, sprang to his feet, and
commenced his remarks by saying, " This, sir, is a good dis-
course, but it unfortunately happens that the division of the
text is exactly coincident with, and precisely the same as,
that given in a printed sermon by a celebrated preacher of
the present day" — Here the good Doctor interrupted him
by smartly saying, " Yes, Mr , but if that celebrated
preacher went right in his division, was it therefore necessary
that our friend here should go wrong in his ? " This was a
dead-shot, and the critic slunk back to his seat. No ungene-
rous insinuations could be permitted.
' Another student, when delivering his discourse, had used
the phrase, " voluntary will," which, in the criticisms of a
fellow-student, was pronounced a redundancy. Dr Lawson
immediately replied, " I like very well to hear you correct
288 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
inappropriate human phraseology, but I do not hke you to
meddle with the words of God ; and these words are His, as
you will find in Leviticus i. 3, where it is written, ' He shall
offer it of His own voluntary will.' Nor is this a superfluity
put in by the translators, for the words in the Hebrew run
thus" — He ended by quoting the original, and pointing
out the precise meaning of the words in question.
' He encouraged us to come to him with all our difficulties.
Professor Proudfoot (now of Canada) was once very much
perplexed with some knotty point. He applied to the Pro-
fessor, who solved it at once in a few sentences, and in the
easiest manner. He seemed to have his mind fully made up
on every abstruse point, so that he was at no loss to give a
solution which at least satisfied himself. Withal, he never
seemed to be aware that he was doing anything out of the
common.
' We are not exactly aware of the extent of his scholarship
as it respects the modern Continental languages ; but it is
obvious that, owing to the power of his memory, the acqui-
sition of tongues must have been a very easy matter to him.
In proof of this, he was, one day in the Hall, reading a long
extract from a French author, in confirmation of some points
in his lecture ; and he read with so much fluency, that we
never suspected it was anything else than an Enghsh trans-
lation he was using ; but as he retired from the class-room,
and left the book on the table, we found that it was the
French edition, and that he had given an easy and distinct
translation from his eye running along the pages.
' He was accustomed, when lecturing, first of all to find out
the passages he was quoting from Scripture ; and having read
the first verse, he shut the book, and continued to repeat verse
after verse from memory. One day he intimated his intention
to give the exegesis of a very long chapter. Out of blameable
curiosity, one of the students determined to test his accuracy,
and kept his Bible open, watching him narrowly as he quoted
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 289
the verses seriatim. The exegesis commenced ; as usual, after
the first verse was read, the Bible was shut, and without a
single error the entire chapter was explained. This student
took tea with the Doctor on the Wednesday evening there-
after, and told him what he had done. He was not offended,
but remarked, with his usual modesty, " Yes, the hght on the
white paper is now too sore upon my eyes, and I feel reheved
by shutting the book."
' He was much troubled with duhiess of hearing. He had
sometimes to use an instrument while listening to the dis-
courses. This infirmity occasionally led to some amusing
mistakes, especially when a section of students was placed on
the examination form. He was one day examining critically
on the verses of a Hebrew Psalm, and asked, " What is the
antecedent to Asher here?" The ready response was given
by one of the students, " The devil, sir." " Yes," he rephed,
" the poor and afflicted man whom the Lord loveth." He
had taken for granted that the answer was correctly given.
' We do not remember of ever having seen anything like a
shade of serious displeasure resting on his benignant coun-
tenance, except once. A student had been gently reproved
by him for having taken advantage of his position a little
behind the Professor's chair. He read, instead of deliverhig
from memory, part of his discourse. This was contrary to
the rules of the Hall. He was therefore admonished to pro-
ceed without glancing at his manuscript. As he was going
on, however, the Doctor, who probably suspected something,
suddenly pushed back his chair till he came fully in view of
the lad, whom he detected at his notes again. He considered
this as an act of dishonesty, as an insult alike to himself and
the class ; and the castigation, which was fully merited, was
in proportion severe. Mr Lothian has stated, in his brief but
truthful sketch, that " his singular learning and holy zeal, his
great diligence and ever manifest benevolence, produced and
maintained among the great body of his pupils, filial and
T
290 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
habitual reverence and love. To shun what they knew would
be offensive, and to do what they believed would be agreeable
to him, was, of course, their study and their happiness. If
an unfortunate individual, through ignorance and levity, de-
livered at any time what seemed erroneous in matter or
uuedifying in style or manner, or, if in anything his personal
conduct was unbecoming or improper, the Professor's neces-
sary though reluctant reproof was sure to be administered.
Where an imperious sense of duty required severity, even he
could be as severe as just, and benevolent, and wise. It may
not be improper to allude here to an instance : One of the
students, a youth of acknowledged talents, but at that time
deficient in gravity of deportment, gave way to ojnn levity at
one of the public meetings with the people. At the close of
next meeting with the students, the Professor said, evidently
with much feeling, " I am much grieved that one of my stu-
dents gave way lately, not only among his fellow-students,
but in the midst of the Christian people, to levity of conduct
altogether unbecoming a Christian on any occasion, and still
more unbecoming a candidate for the holy ministry in a reli-
^jows^meeting of the Christian people. Let that individual,
whom I will not now name, be careful to break off this ini-
quity by repentance, and let others take warning." The
young man repeated the offence, and on noticing this Dr
Lawson said, with great emotion, " It pains me to the heart,
to be now obhged to say, that if such conduct be continued,
it will be manifest that this unhappy youth neither fears God
nor regards man." This individual, whatever might be the
inducement, soon after left the body. But it is pleasing to
add, that he is now a respectable minister in the Established
Church, and that the error of his unguarded youth, so sharply
reproved by his faithful tutor, has been long ago completely
renounced. It is proper, however, to state, that this person
did afterwards actually apologize to the Professor ; at all
events, he came for the purpose of doing so. Dr Lawson
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 291
having: been informed that the levity manifested was occa-
sioned by a circumstance which in so far made it excusable,
stopped him as he began the apology, expressed the con-
fidence which he had as to his demeanour in future, and con-
versed with him on other subjects in the most friendly manner.
The only other instance of this class that may be noticed, was
his mild but pungent reproof to two students who were
whispering to each other during his lecture : " If your con-
versation is considered by you as more important than what
I am stating, and you cannot defer it, you may proceed ; but
if not, you will wait till I am done."
' Dr Lawson was informed of certain innovations in con-
ventional speech which were then beginning to be introduced.
One afternoon, while lecturing, he observed that his class had
become rather restless and inattentive. Thinking that he had
exceeded in length, he lifted his eyes from his manuscript and
asked the hour. A student who sat near him replied, " A
quarter from four, sir." " What does he say?" queried the
Professor again. " A quarter from four, sir." " Ay," was his
rejoinder, " but whether does that mean a quarter before four
or a quarter after it ; if it is from four, on v/hich side is it?"
' He was entertaining a party of students one evening, in
his hospitable mansion; and, among other sage and memorable
observations, we remember the following : — " We sometimes
get credit for what we do not deserve. I was once at
Peebles, assisting my excellent friend, Mr Leckie, at a sum-
mer communion ; and just as I entered the tent to preach to
the people spread out before me on the pleasant green, by
the side of Tweed, a somewhat violent thunderstorm burst
over the locality. I had come to Peebles with a particular
discourse on God's thundering in the heavens, and quite
intended to deUver it in the tent. The thunderstorm and the
text seemed a wonderful coincidence; and the people con-
cluded that I had actually chosen the one to suit the other,
and had studied the sermon while the congregation were
292 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
singing the psalm ; but little did they know that I had the
whole cut and dry before I left Selkirk. Hence, we some-
times get credit for what we do not deserve ; and, on the
other hand, we are sometimes blamed when we are innocent."
' He was very kind in allowing the students the free use of
his own valuable library. The Hall library was by no means
extensive, though it contained a fair collection of good books ;
and this boon to the students was greatly prized and taken
advantage of, especially as the Professor's stock included a
number of rare and valuable works. The edification of his
pupils was his great aim, and he grudged no sacrifice to
promote it. Never was a father happier in the midst of his
family than he was in the midst of his students. He seemed
to experience a purely patiiarchal delight when he convened
them around him on the floor of the Hall. It was observed
by his family, that when the session of the Hall drew near,
he manifested a more than ordinary cheerfulness, and that he
displayed a corresponding depression when the session closed.
He was dearly loved by his pupils, and he loved them equally
dearly. His hilarity usually appeared to the best advantage
when he gathered a batch of them around him in his parlour
to tea. His object was then to excite a spirit of cheerfulness
and mirth in the little company, and to beget their confidence
by his frank and courteous manner. Nor was he behind in
retailing anecdotes calculated to stimulate a hearty laugh
among the youths about his fireside. He used to say to us,
that "cheerfulness tended greatly to longevity;" adding —
" When I was a youth, I was much given to laughter. There
were even some parts of the Bible that I could not read
without laughing, such as that passage in the Prophet, which
speaks of the ladies' ' crisping pins and nose jewels ;' and also
that of the prophets of Baal, where Elijah says, ' Cry aloud,
for he is a god : either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he
is on a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be
awaked.""
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 293
To this interesting sketch of Dr Simpson's may be added
the congenial testimony of the late Dr Henry Belfrage, one
of Dr Lawson's most distinguished students : —
'His manner was marked by mild solemnity, and his
prayers and counsels by the unction of a heart full of the
Holy Ghost. His demeanour to the students exhibited the
happy medium betwixt the indulgence which youth is so apt
to abuse, and the reserve it feels so galling. In him there
was nothing of that inquisitorial jealousy which has led some
to pry into every indiscretion ; or of that sluggishness which
never follows the young beyond the precincts of the seminary.
He approved himself at once as their guardian and their
father. He invited them to his house on suitable occasions,
made them welcome to such books in his library as they
wished to consult. When any of them required his counsel, it
was given in a manner the most friendly ; and when any of
them were sick, he watched over them with the solicitude of
a parent. When we think of the many young men who
have been trained by him, and who are labouring in various
places in Britain, in Ireland, and in America, we feel it im-
possible to estimate the results of his instructions, admonitions,
and prayers.
' As a proof of his great prudence, it may be mentioned
that on one occasion a present was sent to the Hall library
of some books, among which were six copies of Paine's
" Rights of Man." This was done at a period when the
nation was agitated by political speculation, and such a gift
to such a seminary was fitted to poison the ardent minds of
youth. When he heard of this, he stated to the students
that he could not permit such books to have a place in their
library, or to be circulated amongst them. Though attached
to liberal principles, he was unwilling that they should engage
as disputants or partizans in the political contests of the day.
It was in meekness, truth, and righteousness that he wished
them to go forth as does the Captain of Salvation. The
294 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
selection of books by the students, for the library, was sub-
mitted to him for his approval ; and his opinion was given so
wisely and mildly, that, when unfavourable to any book, it was
never resisted. As a proof of his amiable modesty, it may
be mentioned, that, when any ministers venerable for age
and wisdom visited the Hall, lie urged them, ere they left, to
give some counsels to his pupils ; and I have seen this done
at his entreaty with much judgment, delicacy, and kindness.
' The substance of his opinions (as a Professor of Divinity)
will be found in the Christian Repository for March and April
1821, under the title of "Faults into which ministers may
fall as to the matter and the manner of their preaching."
Though he discharged his duties in this character to the high
satisfaction of the generality of his brethren, there were some
who, irritated at the part he had taken in the controversy
respecting toleration, wrote him a letter, in which it was
insinuated that he did not attend with the necessai"y strictness
to the religious principles of his students. He sent no reply
to it ; but in conversing with a friend afterwards, he said, " I
feel peculiarly hurt at seeing appended to it the name of one
who should have known me better. His simplicity has been
imposed upon by specious pretences. Another letter of that
kind will make me resign my office."
' He often urged on his students to treasure the Word of
God in their memories ; and it deserves to be mentioned, that
while himself a student he had committed to memory so
accurately the numerous texts of Scripture at the close of the
various paragraphs of Mr Brown's " System of Divinity," that
this excellent man used to say, that he never found a student
like Lawson, who could repeat them so exactly, and that he
never run him out but once.
' The following are some of his counsels to the students : —
" Pay respect and deference to old ministers. Attached as
I am to Presbyterian parity, yet such modesty and deference
are amiable in youth, and to them age has a claim." " A
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 295
good voice will go far with some to gain popularity ; but rest
assured it will take something else to maintain it." " When
young men can bear to be mimicked, mimicry may be useful
to correct improprieties. I once heard an imitation of my
own manner ; and had I been earlier aware of its defects, I
might have been able to correct them."
' He felt a very deep interest in the settlement, the lot, and
the labours of his students when they were ordained to the
ministry. As an instance of this, it may be mentioned that,
one morning, when about to partake of some refreshment
with a friend, he requested him to ask a blessing, and to
supplicate, while thus engaged, God's blessing on the ordi-
nation of one of his students, which was to take place that
day. " I have endeavoured," he added, " to remember it
before the Lord in private ; and if my prayers are granted,
God will bless him and make him a blessing."
' To his students, when fixed in scenes of pastoral duty, he
was always ready to give his best advice ; and their appli-
cations for his counsel were received with pleasure, and
answered promptly and kindly. To those of them who did
not obtain any fixed charge he was anxious to do justice ;
and, when opportunity was afforded, to excite them to labour
to show themselves approved of God, and to maintain that
meekness of wisdom, that patience of hope, those kindly feel-
ings to their more successful brethren, and that diligence in
study and in doing good, so difficult to be kept alive amidst
the bitterness of disappointment and strong temptations to
envy.'
The following Hall reminiscences have been gleaned from
surviving students, and are submitted in the hope of still more
deeply interesting the reader : —
He opened his lecture one day in the Hall with the follow-
ing beautiful and impressive sentences : —
' Agesilaus, being asked what those things were in which
children ought to be educated, answered, " Those things
296 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
which they ought to practise when they are men." The wise
maxim was well observed in Sparta. The Lacedemonian
lawgiver intended to make his countrymen a nation of
soldiers ; and by the institutions of Sparta, no day was
suffered to pass in which the rising hopes of the country
were not taught some lesson, or employed in some exercise,
that might fit them to excel in arms.
' The Apostle Paul calls upon jChristians to consider what
the racers of the Olympic games did, and what they restrained
themselves from doing and enjoying, that they might obtain
a corruptible crown. Shall Christians, then, think it a hard
matter, in the prospect of an incorruptible crown, to show
forth all diligence in duty, and to abstain from every forbid-
den gratification, when the racers of Greece would submit to
so many privations, and endure so many toils for a crown of
laurels which was so soon to fade away ?
' Students of divinity are not only Christians, and expec-
tants of an immortal crown, but they hope, through the
Divine mercy, to be the happy instruments of turning some
of their fellow-men to righteousness, that they may shine for
ever as the brightness of the firmament. With what un-
wearied diligence, then, should they use all the proper means
for obtaining that wisdom and knowledge which will not only
lead to their own unspeakable benefit, but fit them for
furthering the best present interests, and the eternal salva-
tion of they know not how many of their fellow-men.
' The Spirit of God is the author of every qualification
necessary for the ministers of the Gospel. He bestowed
extraordinary gifts upon the first preachers of the Divine
doctrines ; and the world was amazed at the powers conferred
on men who had spent the former parts of their lives in con-
stant labours for their subsistence. The present state of the
Church does not render such gifts necessary. But it ought
not to be forgotten that the gifts of knowledge, wisdom, and
whatever else is necessary " to make the man of God perfect,
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 297
thoroughly furnished for every good work," must come from
the Divine Spirit. These gifts, however, are to be expected
or improved in the use of means. None of us are born with
utterance or linowledge. The measure of intellectual abihty
bestowed on different men is very different, but none are
beyond the need of improvement ; and none ought to expect
such inspirations of knowledge as were afforded to the holy
men of ancient times. For the very reason that God is the
Father of Lights, and the bestower of every good and per-
fect gift, we ought to be dihgent in using the means by which
He is wont to confer the blessing. " If thou search for
wisdom as silver and hid treasures, then shalt thou under-
stand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God."
' These talents are not the only or the chief requisites in a
faithful minister of the Gospel ; and it would be exceedingly
sinful in the rulers of the Church to admit persons to the
ministry who do not in their conduct exhibit good evidence
of their piety : and it would be very sinful in candidates to
assume the form of godliness without the power of it. Piety
is hkewise necessary to give ministers a reasonable prospect of
success in the work of the Lord, and to fit them for teaching
their hearers by example. It is therefore of high importance
for students of divinity, in the^rs^ place, that they should be
true Christians, and walk as becometh Christians ; secondly,
that they should store up in their minds that knowledge
which they are, if God will, one day to communicate to
others ; and thirdly, that they should endeavour to acquire a
talent for communicating that knowledge to other men, I
will give you a few advices on each of these heads.'
He once paused in his lecture in the Hall, and said, ' I wish
to propose to you a riddle, and it is this : There is a natural
production which is neither animal, vegetable, nor mineral.
It has neither length, breadth, nor thickness, and yet is often
found to be from two to six feet long. It is frequently
alluded to in the Old Testament, and strongly recommended
298 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
in the New. Can any of you tell me what that is?' The
students were taken by surprise, as such an apostrophe was
by no means common with the Professor. Having waited for
a few moments, and no answer being forthcoming, he turned
round to one of his elders, who had come to hear that day's
lecture, and asked him if he could tell. ' Yes,' repUed the
worthy man, though taken a little aback, ' I think it is
"Love."' The Doctor was gratified, and the students were
somewhat abashed.
The late Rev. Patrick Comrie, of Pennicuick, was, at the
Hall, and indeed through life, prone to attic witticisms,
which were sometimes transmigrated into rather keen satire.
One of the students had delivered a somewhat inflated
discourse, in which the following piece of bombast was
uttered : ' Sin has broken the back of angels, and cracked
the globe to its centre.' The Professor, as usual, before
giving his own criticism, asked the students for their remarks.
There was, however, no response to the appeal. Dr Lawson
had brought that forenoon one of his brethren to the Hall,
who was very anxious to hear Mr Comrie's now rather
notorious criticisms. Wishing to gratify his reverend visitor,
the Professor repeated his request ; but still all were silent.
At length he turned to Mr Comrie, and requested him to
give his mind. He declined at first ; but, on being again
solicited, he rose in his seat, and simply said, ' Well, sir, I
have only to notice one eloquent passage in this discourse.
It seemed like a quotation. I know not where he got it ; but
my remark on that passage is, that it is the first time I ever
heard that angels were broken-backed, and that I shudder to
contemplate the " crack " of this globe. If that be true, it is
high time we were looking out for another planet.' ' Oh, Mr
Comrie, Mr Comrie!' was all the reply of the not displeased
Professor.
When his son George went to be inducted into the church
at Bolton, he gave him a letter to the Rev. George Sandy
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 299
(then of Leeds, now of Gorebridge), who was to take a chief
part in the interesting service. Mr Sandy had been ordained
in Leeds only a few months before. The following extract
from that letter bespeaks the interest of the Professor in his
quondam pupil : — ' Having an opportunity by my son, I
hereby express my great satisfaction with your settlement in
a place where you will have much opportunity of doing much
good to precious souls. You were dilatory in entering on
the public service of Christ ; but I hope you now find Him a
good Master. Doubtless you will meet with discourage-
ments ; but I suppose you have heard of the saying of the
famous Bernard Gilpin, that " he would not go to a place
where the devil would not oppose him." I do not at present
subjoin any counsels to you respecting the manner in which
you should discharge your duty. If you want information
on this subject, let the Apostle Paul be your counsellor.
What he wrote to Timothy and to Titus, he has written to
us."
The Professor rehshed a joke. Dr Dick used to tell, that
he entered his library one morning, and found him with a
broken pipe in his hand. ' It is a common remark,' he said,
smihng, ' that calamities seldom come single ; and I have had
a proof of that this morning. Some time ago I broke a pipe,
and now, you see, I have broken another.'
In his lectures in the Hall, he illustrated the relative duties
chiefly from the Book of Proverbs ; and, referring to the 22d
verse of the 18th chapter — ' Whoso findeth a wife, fiudeth a
good thing ' — he observed, ' Surely Solomon here means a
good wife, for many a man takes a viper into his bosom.'
One of the students happened to mention, in conversation
with the Professor, that he had been present in a Roman
Catholic chapel, when the priest, among other things, ob-
served, ' Protestants blame us for worshipping angels ; but
John prays (Rev. i. 4, 5) for grace and peace to the seven
churches of Asia, from the seven spirits or angels which are
300 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
before the throne, even before he prays for them from Jesus
Christ Himself ; ' when Dr Lawson repUed, ' I should con-
sider that a very good reason for beheving that created spu-its
cannot be meant in that text.'
One day, when it was the late Dr John Brown's turn to
pray in the Hall, he had used the words — ' that through
death He might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is, the devil.' As they were walking home, Dr Lawson
reproved him, saying, ' John, my man, you need not have
said, " that is, the devil." You might have been sure God
knew whom you meant.'
The Doctor was pecuUarly attentive to his students in
affliction. One of them — Mr Moodie, from Greenock, a very
amiable and excellent youth — was attacked with what turned
out a fatal disease. Dr Lawson wrote him a letter, which
he prized above gold. He kept it constantly beside him,
and died with it under his pillow. Another student of great
promise — Mr Marr, brother of the late Mr Marr, of Lothian
Road Church, Edinburgh — was present one evening at a tea-
party, in the house of the late Dr Anderson, where he was
suddenly seized, and lost the power of the lower extremities.
He left Selkirk the following day, and Dr Lawson provided
him with a letter of introduction to the late eminent Dr
Gregory, of Edinburgh University. It was soon decided to
be an incurable case, when he received from his tutor a letter
of Christian sympathy, which was a source of great comfort
to him on his death-bed.
The Professor was extremely susceptible of cold. On
calling for him, he was usually found sitting near to the fire,
with a book in his hand, and a pipe in his mouth. ' Will
you join me in a smoke V was his usual salutation. As the
weather was rather cold during some of the sessions of the
Hall, he was obliged to meet the students, not in the church
as usual, but in an upper room in the manse. The room was
not large enough ; and some of the students had to sit in the
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 301
lobby, where they could hear, though they did not see him.
Some of them occasionally found their way into his library,
which was adjacent, where they took a peep into the books.
At one time there happened to be a book-stall in Selkirk,
and one of the students discovered a few of Dr Lawson's
books — his name being erazed from them. It turned out
that they had been pilfered by one of the students, of the
name of Sutherland. He was confronted with the Professor,
who, after the theft was proven, proposed that the young
man should pray for repentance and pardon. ' Pray your-
self,' said the thief; and, accordingly, the Doctor offered up
an earnest and affectionate prayer for him. The student was
allowed to go free. He left Selkirk, and has never been
heard of since.
The subject of one of the students' discussions happened
to be Heb. xi. 31. In speaking of the faith of Rahab, he
stated, that whatever might be the fate of the heathen,
wherever Divine revelation was enjoyed, faith was indispens-
able to salvation. Upon this, the Professor remarked, that
the student might have expressed himself more strongly as
to the hopeless state of the heathen ; and added, ' But it is
an awful subject ; and, perhaps, the young man did right in
leaving the point undetermined.'
He, one day, entered the Hall with Paine's ' Rights of
Man' in his hand, and said, ' Here is a book which belongs
to the Students' Library. I took it out when it was pro-
hibited by Government ; but I think it may now be restored,
without any offence being taken.'
He usually prayed in the standing posture, and always
briefly. He stood, covered with his plaid, always worn ; and,
with a hand in each vest pocket, solemnly poured out his soul
before God.
In his lectures, he often quoted merely the chapter and the
verse, without repeating the words. ' I do not quote the
words,' he would say, ' trusting that you remember them.'
302 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
It happened that, hi a few instances, students left his
tuition, and connected themselves with other religious parties.
In none of these cases, however, did he discover any irritation,
or the shghtest sohcitude either about the good report or the
bad report which they carried away. His wish was, that the
Lord might lead them in His truth, and teach them. The
counsel he suggested from it to others was, ' Prove all things ;
hold fast that which is good :' and the influence which he
wished it to have upon himself and others, was alluded to in
the words of the Apostle Paul, ' Nevertheless, whereto we
have already attained, let us walk by the same rule ; let us
mind the same thing.'
In Selkirk, there was an excellent lady of the name of
Mrs Johnstone — the students used to call her ' Mother John-
stone.' She sent one day for Mr Adam (late of Peebles),
and said, ' Mr Adam, I am to have at tea to-night, the Doctor
and Mrs Lawson, and Mr Greig of Lochgelly, and young
Alexander Waugh ; will you come too V He replied, ' With
the greatest pleasure, though unworthy of such an honour.'
He went ; and a more instructive and interesting evening he
never spent. At one period the conversation turned upon
this question : ' Have soldiers a right to judge of the ex-
pediency of a war ? ' The Doctor and Mr Greig were pitted
against each other in the debate — both venerable for age,
eminent in piety, skilled in Bible truth, in Divine and human
literature, and versant with men and manners. In their
arguments they both manifested great pleasantry, and issued
fine morsels of rare wit. Both of them seemed to wax young
again, and were actually suiting the action to the word.
Mr Waugh (son of Dr Waugh, and afterwards of Mile End
Chapel, London) sat in silent but interested amazement ;
while the two old ladies, Mrs Lawson and Mother John-
stone, occasionally put in a word, to try, if possible, to ter-
minate the dispute. It was evident that, had their vote
been taken, they would have sided with the Professor. In
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 303
winding up, he said, 'I think decidedly, that soldiers may-
inform themselves as to the object of any war in which they
engage. There are, however, so many diplomatic circum-
stances involved in wars, as to unfit them for arriving at a
proper decision ; they are, therefore, bound to act upon the
belief that, for king and country, their superiors are right.'
To which Mr Greig replied : ' In that case, soldiers are mere
machines, and cannot be held as in any sense or degree
responsible.' During the Uttle debate, the Doctor's eye
sparkled, and on his aged face sat a kind of heroic smile.
Mr Greig, too, seemed greatly pleased, and even willing to be
on the losing side. Perhaps, in the humihty of his heart — for
he was a most worthy man — he wished, for the sake of the
young men who were present, that the Professor should
stand highest in their estimation.
Every session Mr Adam went up to the Hall he called on
the Professor, who, on one occasion, thus addressed him :
' Come away, Mr Adam, yours is an ancient name, and re-
minds me of a story about an Enghshman and an old Scotch
minister. The minister was a plain, blunt man, and saw that
the other was not particularly well informed on religious sub-
jects : " Can you tell me," said he, " who was the first man ?"
" Really," replied the Englishman," " I cannot, but will be
obliged to you if you will inform me." " It was Adam" said
the minister ; and asked if he could tell the name of the
first woman. " Certainly," was the reply, " it would be Mrs
Adam." ' This shows that the Doctor, with all his gravity
and deep thinking, could be jocose, and, on befitting occa-
sions, quite famihar with his students.
' Perhaps Dr Lawson's mind did occasionally, and unknown
to himself, go off at a tangent, though he was not the absent
man he is sometimes represented to have been. Having given
several successive lectures on " Pride" he called upon so many
of the students to take their places on a specified seat for
examination. I do not remember what suggested it to me,
304 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
but, by way of experiment to see what he would do or say, it
occurred to me to advert to one aspect of the subject to
which he had made no reference. When it came to IMr
Adam's turn, the question he put was, " Can you, Mr Adam,
give me any other aspect of pride ? " " Yes, sir," rephed he,
" the Papal hierarchy." He awoke, as it were, out of a
dream, acquiesced emphatically in the reply, to the amaze-
ment, if not amusement of the class, and went on in a more
than usually animated manner to illustrate the topic.
' During one session of the Hall, the students had held a
special meeting for the purpose of considering how they might
best improve the solemn event of any of their number dying
during the recess. A resolution was agreed to, that the
student best acquainted with the deceased brother should be
appointed to improve the event by some memorial. Before
going into the measure, however, it was thought to be right
to consult the Professor. A deputation for this purpose
waited upon him, consisting of the late Rev. John M'Gil-
christ, of Edinburgh ; the late Rev. Dr Brown, of Greenock ;
and the Rev. T. Adam, of Peebles. When the object of
their call had been stated, the Professor said —
' " I am just afraid that one student, in drawing up a me-
moir of a deceased fellow-student, will be apt to exceed in
eulogistic references."
' " But, Doctor," interposed Mrs Lawson, who was present,
" you know that all the students have good characters."
' " Ay," said he, " they all fetch up very good testimonials
with them."
' This proved an extinguisher to the whole affair.
' On a certain Sabbath, while the Hall was sitting, a very
eccentric preacher, though a good man, occupied the Doctor's
pulpit. The oddities of the minister were too much for some
of the students, who gave way to laughter. On the day
following he called upon Dr Lawson, complained of such con-
duct in young candidates for the ministry, and hoped he
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 305
would administer a sharp reproof from the chair. But no.
The worthy man, with a peculiar smile, replied, "I am sure
that, if the students laughed, they had something to laugh at."
There had been some rather ludicrous stammermg and repe-
tition of a Scripture passage, so that the Doctor felt some
sympathy for his pupils.'
The Professor, it is well known, was not over particular
about his dress. His common attire was a blue coat, cordu-
roy knee-breeches, and black stockings, with a checked plaid
thrown round his shoulders in cold weather. Sir Walter
Scott's ' Cargill ' is also represented as careless in the cloth-
ing of the outer man ; but though indifferent to the neatness,
he was not so to the ' cleanliness ' of his person and raiment.
This holds true of Dr Lawson. His inadvertence, however,
in this respect, was sometimes rather teazing to his friends.
He came into Edinburgh to attend the Synod, upon one occa-
sion, and was met on the street by Dr Husband. The latter,
being particular as to dress, was vexed to see his friend
wearing a ' shocking bad hat,' and used the liberty to call
the Professor's attention to it. Dr Husband exercised well-
known influence over Dr Lawson, who at all times paid great
respect to his opinions and judgment. ' What is wrong with
the hat?' asked Dr Lawson. Dr Husband told him that
it was old and shabby, and unlike him, and discoursed bi'iefly
upon the Christian duty of men in his station setting an
example of external decency in such things. The affair
ended by the two going at once into a hat shop, when the
old gave way to a new chapecm.
He wore a yellow wig. When ' powdering ' the wig be-
came fashionable, Mrs Lawson thought that his should be
conformed, and, without telling him of it— for he never would
have given his consent — she did powder it one Sabbath morn-
ing before he left for the pulpit. He put it on without
noticing the improvement. The day was very warm, and in
the midst of his sermon he was disturbed by the perspiration
u
306 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSOK
drops on his face, rendered more than usually disagreeable
by their mixture with the powder. After several applications
of his handkerchief to his brow, nose, and eyes, he at length
took off the wig, and seeing it all over with what he thought
was dust, he deliberately knocked it on the sides of the pulpit,
and shook out the powder thereof ; and having again put it
on, resumed his discourse.
He appeared in the Hall one day with his wig somewhat
touzy and to the side. A student whispered to his neighbour,
* See, his wig is no redd the day.' The Doctor heard, but
took no notice of it at the time. But when it came to the
turn of this student to deliver a discourse, he was welcomed
to the pulpit with these words from the Professor, ' Come
away, Mr , and we'll now see wha's wig is best redd the
day.' The student was taken by surprise, but proceeded, and
got the approbation of his placid tutor. He could be severe
when it was necessary, but in general he was exceedingly
tolerant.
He was in the habit of reading Hebrew every Friday
with the students. On one Friday he found the Hall almost
deserted ; and on inquiry, he was told that nearly all the
students had set off for a walk up the Ettrick. He made
no reply, but simply caused the roll to be called, and then
went home. Next Friday there was not a student absent
who could be present. Such was the effect of his quiet
mode of rebuking them. His gentleness became his authority.
If he could, he always did account favourably for any mistake
in a student's performance. Tender to their infirmities, he
sought to advance, never to repel and reject them. Thus,
when upon a visit to Edinburgh, he heard that the Presbytery
was sitting. On discharging his own business, he went to
the Presbytery House. He found that one of his students
was there, and on trials for hcense. This student was not a
bright light, and, in addition, had some natural defect which
Dr Peddie thought might interfere with his usefulness. He
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 307
was just concluding when the Professor entered and took his
seat. ' I have just one remark more,' he said, ' and shall
then give way to Dr Lawson, whose opinion, we know, is
worth having : everything that was offered to God, under
the law, was to be without spot and without blemish.'
' What Dr Peddie has said,' replied the Professor, ' is quite
true, that everything offered unto God, under the law, was to
be without spot and without blemish ; but he ought to have
gone further, and added, that there has been a change of the
law and also of the priesthood.'
' It is amazing,' writes one of his students, ' with what
reverential interest those who studied under him look back
upon that period of their existence. I was preaching the
other Sabbath in Perth. Dr Newlands heard of it, and sent
for me. He was dying. The note was written by his wife,
and signed by himself, but evidently in a very tremulous
hand. When I called, he was too weak to be able to rise,
and suffering great pain ; yet even in these circumstances all
his conversation was about the great and good Dr Lawson.
" Do you remember," he asked, " what he said to me when
you and I absented ourselves from the Hall without leave for
two days, during which I got myself hurt by a fall at New-
town ?" Of course I did. " Ay," he added, " when I went to
apologize, the good man said to me, ' If you had not got
yourself hurt, perhaps I might have expressed myself other-
wise, but I think you have got punishment enough.' Every
morning after that, he calmly, and without assigning a reason
for it, ' called the roll,' while you and I deeply felt what that
reason was. A look from that man was enough at any time
to arrest frivolity." '
This beautiful and ardent love wherewith all his students
loved him, is one of the most interesting features in his pro-
fessorial life. How is it to be accounted for ? It is seldom
that we find such greatness encompassed and adorned with
such feminine tenderness. The secret lay in the transparent
308 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
unselGshness of all he said or did. He was so wrapped up in
his subject, or in his work, as to be evidently self- oblivious.
He lost sight of self entirely, and became absorbed in the
excellence of his theme, and in a passionate desire to make it
effective.
Dr Simpson has noticed a very remarkable trait in his
tutor's character — his unconsciousness of his own superiority.
While all around him wondered at the fertility of his mind
and the profundity of his wisdom, he not only seemed to be,
but was really, not only quite innocent of any vain estimate
of his powers, but of any idea that he was different from
other folks. At first view this is almost incredible. A man
so accomplished, we are wont to assume, could not fail to be
conscious of his acquirements, though not conceited of them.
It appears, however, that he was an exception. So, at all
events, all who knew him intimately testify. And, after all,
it is to be accounted for. He got his learning without effort.
He was master of his position by natural and easy ascents.
Hence he looked upon his possessions with no self-complacent
eye. The overweening estimate some have of their own
talents or successes, "arises, in a great measure, from the hard
labour and formidable difficulties they have had to encounter
on the road. On reaching at length the summit, they are to
be excused if they survey their elevation with pride. But
George Lawson seemed to go up, or down, and over the
ground, as with seven-leagued boots : his capacious memory
and his sagacious judgment kept his mind always high, so
that his steps were from the top of one alp to another, with-
out the fatigue and waste of rugged ascents and descents.
He never felt that he had accomplished a feat, whatever might
be the impression his feats did produce upon others. His
own thinking was all about the subject itself, while their
thinking was intensified upon the speaker.
In the memoir of Dr Brown there is a reference to an event
in his Hall life, exceedingly creditable both to himself and the
THE HALL AND ITS MEMORIES. 3013
Professor. The student bad just delivered a discourse from
these words, ' This is life eternal, that they might know Thee
the only true God.' A passion for literature was then
displaying itself, and young Brown had come so far under
its influence as to admit more of the metaphysical than the
evangeUcal into his sermon, than at that time, at least, was
considered consistent with faithfulness. After several of
the students had animadverted somewhat bitterly upon it,
the Rev. Mr Greig, of Lochgelly, who was on a visit to
the Professor, took the preacher very severely to task, and
pronounced a decided verdict against his performance. Dr
Lawson said very little, but in general coincided with Mr
Greig's criticism. He sent, however, on the evening of the
same day, for his young pupil, amiably desirous to soothe his
feelings under the circumstances. ' Come away, John,' he
said, as the lad entered the library, ' and tell me how you feel
after this forenoon's work. I hope you are not offended with
Mr Greig ; you know what a good and wise man he is.' ' I
have such a regard for Mr Greig,' said John, ' that I believe
I have deserved all I got.' ' Yes,' rejoined Dr Lawson, ' I
fear you have ; and if I had gone into criticism I might have
been even more severe than he was ; but, John, we have both
good reason to look well to our work, for if you come short
in anything, every one will say, how much better you would
have turned out had you studied under your grandfather.'
The student avowed that his faults could never be ascribed
to his teacher ; and having promised to be more careful in
future, the affair ended.^ The friendship and confidence of
his Professor, Dr Brown afterwards largely shared in. He
was dehghted, and even elevated, with the growing and rising
worth of this honoured grandson of the Haddington divine.
And very markedly so, when, on the death of Mrs Brown, such
a mellowed and holy change came over his entire hfe, personal,
pastoral, and hterary. He often spoke of it, and never without
' Vide Dr Cairns' Life, pp. 46, 47.
310 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
expressing his confidence that in future years this ' corn of
wheat ' should bring forth rich and abundant fruit. A very
good anecdote, in its way, is told in his memoir. 'He was
once called to preach at Selkirk during the sitting of the
Hall, some six or seven years after his settlement in Biggar.
The assembled students expected, from his text — "I could
wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren,
my kinsmen according to the flesh" — that he would enter
deeply into the conflicting views taken of the difficult passage,
and elaborately decide between them. He surprised and
perhaps disappointed his audience, by a rapid statement of
his results, and a lengthened practical improvement of the
subject. He gained, however, from Dr Lawson the pithy
encomium, " Mr John, you have, I am glad to see, a way of
getting at the kernel, without breaking your teeth upon the
shell." '
CHAPTER VII.
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS.
The Selkirk students are remarkable for being all of one and
the same mind about their Professor. Whatever else they
might dispute about, and whatever others might think, Dr
Lawson, in their estimation, had no sujierior, not even an equal.
With every allowance for partiality, few seem to call their
judgment in question. The best proof that they were quite
sincere in all this, is to be seen in the affectionate earnestness
with which they have drunk into his spirit and tried to follow in
his footsteps. Many interesting and graphic accounts of his
life and learning have they given us ; but, after all, they admit
that it is impossible to do anything like justice to the theme.
' His appearance was pecuHarly striking,' one of them writes,^
' you might imagine yourself in company with one of the
ancient sages or patriarchs, — his dress so plain, without being
in the least vulgar ; his voice so hollow, yet positively melo-
dious ; his language scholarly ; his sentiments full of grace,
wisdom, and truth. He seemed to intermeddle with all know-
ledge, assisted by a memory proverbially great, and an intellect
at once prompt, clear, and accurate. Withal, he was the hum-
blest of men.' Such is the strain in which his pupils write
or speak of him. We are about to show that persons in other
and higher stations were similarly impressed ; and that the
man who secured the love of the lowly, could also command
the respect of the highest in the land. It had pleased the
Almighty Disposer of events to disappoint the nation's hopes
* The Eev. James M'Whirter,
312 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSOIn.
in the death of the Princess Charlotte and her infant. Tvo
alleviate, if not to banish, the sorrows of the royal widower,
Prince Leopold had been recommended to travel. He came
to Scotland, and visited Sir Walter Scott at Abbotsford. It
was upon this occasion that the celebrated interview took
place between the Prince (now the King: of Belgium) and the
Sage of Ettrick. This is emphatically a Hall story, and
must be told.
When it was rumoured that the Prince was likely to pass
through Selkirk, the excitement was great, and great were
the preparations for giving to him a right royal reception.
The magistrates and the neighbouring gentry resolved to go
forth and present to him an address of condolence. The
Divinity Hall was in session at the time, and an invitation
was sent to the Professor and his students to join the pro-
cession. The invitation came upon the Doctor somewhat
unexpectedly, so that it was with some difficulty that he got
himself appropriately rigged out. He afterwards confessed,
that if he had got longer warning he might have been better
attired. To confront royalty was to him an absolutely new
and unthought of casualty. The jday came, and the proces-
sion moved past the Prince, with Dr Lawson and his students
in the midst. The Prince noticed them, and said to Sir
Walter Scott, ' What long black line of young men is that ?
have they put on mourning in compliment to my loss V Sir
Walter informed him who they were, and called his especial
attention to the tall, thin, and now stooping figure of the
Professor at their head, teUing him how great, and good, and
learned a man he was. The Prince, on entering the Council
Chambers, requested that Dr Lawson should be presented to
him. Nothing disconcerted, the venerable Professor walked
up to the Prince, who, after the ceremony of introduction was
over, expressed his gratification at seeing him ; whereupon
the Doctor, in the simplest but most affecting manner, offered
his condolence, and concluded with the following graceful
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 313
compliment, — a compliment of which it has been well said,
that, ' compared with the idle and fulsome flatteries so com-
mon in the presence of the great, it is most dignified and
becoming, indicating not the spirit or the policy of the syco-
phant, but the holy kindness and the due respect of a man of
God:'—
' I am happy to have had an interview with your Royal
Highness, not only on your own account and your connection
with the Princess Charlotte, but especially because of your
alliance with the Electoral House of Saxony, and your
descent from ancestors who made so many invaluable sacrifices
in defence and propagation of the Protestant faith. To them,
Luther, in the hour of his need, was much beholden for pro-
tection and assistance.' The Prince was greatly pleased, and,
turning round to Sir Walter, said, ' Since I came to Scotland
I have received many compliments on account of the Princess,
but this is the first I have received on my own account and
that of my ancestors.'
Writing afterwards to a friend, who had expressed a wish
to hear his own account of what transpired during this inter-
view, Dr Lawson says : —
' I entertain a high respect for Prince Leopold, as the
descendant of princes to whom the Protestant part of the
world is so much indebted. He appears to possess a degree
of condescension and affability not very common in his high
rank. Besides what you read in the papers, he asked me
my age ; and when I told him what it was, he complimented
me on the health which I seemed to enjoy. Part of my
answer was, that one may enjoy as much comfort in old age
as in youth, if he is a fearer of God. But my dulness of
hearing unfitted me for much conversation with him. We
esteemed ourselves honoured when we were admitted to the
converse of earthly princes, who are creatures of the dust like
ourselves. Why have we not a profounder sense of our
obligations to the everlasting God, who allows us to come to
314 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Him, even to His mercy-seat ? 0 that we could approach
to Him, at all times, with the reverence and the confidence
which are due to His greatness and His mercy ! '
But the entire of this interesting incident is so simply and
truthfully told in the following letter from an eye-witness of
the whole scene, that we give way to it, differing though it
does slightly from the version which we have received as
authentic : —
' Selkirk, 25<A Sept. 1819.
' Dear Sir, — .... Prince Leopold arrived here
yesterday, on his way home, and was escorted into the town
by the Magistrates, the Town Council, students, and trades.
The students had previously been invited by the Magistrates
to grace the procession, and they did so in a very excellent
manner indeed. The company met his Highness at the
Bridge ; and the populace, with the Prince's permission,
loosed the horses from the carriage, and drew him into the
town. We walked in the following order : — First, the town
officers, in livery, with band of music. Next, the tradesmen
of the town, all ranged under their respective banners,
among which was the famous standard won by the Sutors of
Selkirk, at the battle of Flodden Field, in 1513, which par-
ticularly took the Prince's attention. After the tradesmen
marched the students, two and two, according to their order
on the roll. Last of all came the Magistrates, with the
Merchant Company and Council. His Highness was accom-
panied by Sir R. Gardner, and was followed by Walter Scott,
Esq., the poet, and Sheriff of the county. The procession
formed a sort of circle in the market-place, and the Prince,
as he passed round, bowed respectfully to each. After being
publicly presented with the freedom of the burgh, at the
cross, and with the usual forms, he was conducted to the
Council Chambers, amid the cheers and acclamations of the
multitude.
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 315
' But, what is best of all, our revered Professor had come
out, and had mingled with the crowd, to get a quiet look of
the Prince. This being intimated to one of the Magistrates,
he was instantly sent for ; and, after a little treating, he was
introduced to his Royal Highness. After mutual salutations,
the Prince asked him how old he was. The Doctor replied,
" I am more than threescore years and ten ;" whereupon the
Prince said, that " he looked rather fresh for his age." The
Doctor said, that " he enjoyed tolerably good health, but was
weighed down under infirmities." The Prince then asked if
" he was the head of the Church in this part of the country."
Doctor Lawson replied, " I am the mhiister of the Associate
Burgher Congregation in this town, and I am also a Professor
in a theological seminary." It was then remarked by some
one, that the young gentlemen, with whose appearance the
Prince had expressed himself so highly pleased, were the
Doctor's pupils ; and then Mr Scott gave him some hints as
to the character, etc., of their tutor.
' The Prince then immediately addressed the Doctor thus :
" Such a man as you need not be afraid of the infirmities of
age, nor of any earthly calamity. God is your friend and
protector." To which our venerable Professor thus replied :
" Please your Royal Highness, I have long had a wish to see
you, on your own account, and still more so on account of
your illustrious ancestors, Frederic and John, who so warmly
defended the Reformation, and suffered so much in protecting
Luther. On this account, I have a greater regard for your
family than for any other of the Princes of Germany." To
which the Prince rejoined : " Reverend Doctor, I sincerely
thank you for the high compliment you have just now paid
me. Such a compliment I have never received before. I am
proud to think it is a just one. My ancestors were all
zealous Protestants, and I can assure you, so am I, Doctor."
' They then shook hands most cordially, and seemed equally
well pleased with the interview ; upon which Walter Scott
316 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
said to one of the company near him, " You see Dr Lawson
has done better than us all, and got beyond us all in favour."
The Prince then set off on his journey. A very handsome
letter was afterwards sent by the Magistrates to the Hall,
expressing their high appreciation and sincere thanks to us
for the manner in which we had conducted ourselves ; and
then a deputation was sent from us to wait upon the Magis-
trates to express to them our sense of gratitude, and to confer
with them on the propriety of inserting in the pubhc prints
an account of the procession, and of Dr Lawson's interview
with the Prince. The members of this deputation from the
Hall were all presented with the freeJoui of the royal burgh,
and received burgess tickets in the usual forms. The Magis-
trates did this in order to express the high regard which they
entertained for our Professor and the theological seminary
over which he presides.'
Some time after Dr Lawson died, a copy of the funeral ser-
mon was sent to the King of the Belgians, which his Majesty
acknowledged in the most kindly terms, and affixed to his
letter the seal-royal of the kingdom. This interesting docu-
ment cannot now be found. In the good providence of God,
this King still lives, — the uncle of our own sovereign. He is
placed on the throne of a Roman Catholic country, and his
Protestantism has been subjected to a severe trial. There is
every reason to beUeve, however, that he has continued true
to the prestige of his ancestry. In the whole of his most
interesting interview with Professor Lawson, there is a dash
of the patriarchal, — reminding us of a similar scene in that
ancient sacred drama, where, within the palace of the
Pharaohs, the aged Jacob tells his age to the monarch ; only
in this, the modern one, we have royalty to us more interest-
ingly represented, and patriarchy not less devout, but more
radiant with the light of the cross and the wisdom of the
learned.
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 317
It was seldom that the sober routine of the Hall was dis-
turbed by such incidents as the foregoing. As a general
rule, the Professor was allowed to go through the sessions
with his students, without any other excitement than what
was occasioned by the visits now and then of his minis-
terial friends. It was otherwise, however, in the session of
1801. The well-known Dr Mason, of New York, arrived
at Selkirk, and obtained the Professor's permission to ad-
dress the students, and otherwise use his influence to pre-
vail upon them to emigrate to North America. The late
Dr Thomson, of Coldstream, gives an account of this visit,
in a letter which he wrote immediately after the session
to his brother, the Rev. Peter Thomson, of Whitby. An
extract will be read with interest, not only from its re-
ferences to Dr Mason's visit, but as revealing somewhat of
the Hall-life at Selkirk : — ' Towards the end of the session (he
writes), a Mr Mason came to Selkirk, with a view to engage
some of the students to go as preachers to America. He
himself is minister of the Associate Congregation of New
York. He preached once at Selkirk ; and even in a single
discourse, discovered such fervency of zeal, such soundness
of understanding, and such eloquence of language, as are
seldom united in any preacher. No less than about sixteen
congregations, he informed us, were ready for ministers — all
of them superior to the generality in this country. Even in
a temporal point of view, if such a view is to be taken into
consideration, they are far preferable. Mr Mason's stipend
— and he wants an assistant — is said to be L.400. He was
exceedingly sohcitous to engage some of the students to
accompany him, or at least to follow him over the Atlantic.
He wrote a very pressing letter to the Professor, which was
read to us the last time he was in the Hall ; but he thought
it prudent to withdraw during the reading of it. He pre-
viously, however, after paying some compliments to the
Professor and the students, observed, that he was much
318 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
mistaken if he should find none among us who would comply
with his invitation ; and, continued he, " if I get none, I can
only say, that it will leave a pang in my bosom that will thrill
every nerve in my frame, and vibrate to the very heart of the
churches I represent." He leaves this country soon, accom-
panied by Mr James Paterson, the only one, it seems, upon
whom he could prevail. The Synod, it is expected, will, at
their next meeting, do something in this business. None are
wanted, but such as have attended four sessions at the Hall.
I spoke of going both to Mr Mason and the Professor. I,
however, mentioned an objection which, I am afraid, is an
insurmountable one, — the circumstance of my being lame, and
therefore unfit for the necessary fatigue. Mr Mason thought
this of no great moment ; and the Professor, having told me
that " he did not know me to be lame," observed that I had
time enough to think about it. It has since been said, and
was even told in the Presbytery, that Mr Mason wanted me
for his helper. This I believe to be a vague report. It owes
its rise, I suppose, to the following circumstance, which had
been mentioned by some of the students. The critics had
been so much impressed by a sense of Mr Mason's superior
genius, that they seemed resolved to be mute during his stay.
The first who delivered in his hearing, were Messrs Wilson
and Paterson. Previous to the criticisms on them, two
private discourses were delivered ; but neither " the honour
of the Hall" (a phrase then in the mouth of every one) nor
the Professor's anxiety could extort any remark. After a
few observations, therefore, from himself, the private dis-
courses were dismissed, and Messrs Wilson's and Paterson's
taken into consideration. Again, we were all called upon,
and again we all refused to rise. Some of the students then
called out to me ; and the Professor repeated his request that
I should make a few observations. The superior abilities of
the two preachers, the excellence of their discourses, the
small number and trifling nature of my remarks, and the pre-
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 319
sence of Mr Mason, determined me, when I went into the Hall,
to sit still, I was now, however, under a sort of necessity to
say what I could, not so much for the value of my remarks
themselves, as from the manner in which they were extorted.
At once by the students and the Professor, and from other
httle accidents, which it is needless to mention, I had gained
a httle credit, it is likely, in the eyes of the American ; and
I have some chance of his patronage, if I should at any future
period think of going near his residence.'
Dr Mason's letter to the Professor was afterwards laid
before the committee of Synod, who had been appointed to
meet and ' converse with him, and transact with him as they
shall see cause.' The following was their findhig : — ' The com-
mittee, after deliberating upon the subject, were unanimously
of opinion, that the object is of such magnitude for the
interests of the Gospel, that they ought to co-operate with
Mr Mason by all the means in their power. They agreed,
therefore, to order this minute of their proceedings to be
printed, and to send copies of it to every Presbytery ; 2dly,
to every minister of the Synod ; 3dly, to every probationer ;
and, 4thly, to all the students of divinity of the third, fourth,
and fifth year's standing : at the same time recommending
it to them to take the subject into their serious considera-
tion ; and requesting such of them as, after dehberation, may
be inclined to obey the call of Providence, by gohig to preach
the Gospel in the United States of North America, under the
inspection of the Associate Reformed Synod, to correspond
on the subject, either with the president or clerk of the com-
mittee.' This minute was signed by ' James Hall, preses ;
and James Peddle, clerk.' Though, in after years, not a few
of the ministers and probationers of the Secession Churches
in Scotland emigrated to the States of America, and to
Canada, and to Nova Scotia, the present appeal was not
very successful. The late Dr Hay, at one time, contemplated
a favourable response to Mr Mason's appeal; but the call to
c20 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
Kinross determined him to abide at home. It is pleasing to
reflect, that since, hundreds of Scotchmen have crossed the
Atlantic, and are now to be found, in all parts of America,
foremost among the Christian teachers of that vast and
interesting continent.
Dr Lawsou had the honour of being theological tutor to
some of the most distinguished scholars and divines of the last
half century. Not to mention any of the living, we may
refer to a few of his deceased students, between whom and
himself there existed an attachment and esteem alike honour-
able to both parties. The Selkirk ministers are fast passing
away, and soon not one of them shall remain. It will be
long, however, before the memories of some of them fade
from amongst us. Notice has been already taken of Dr
Kidston and Dr Brown. In his correspondence with the
former, there were the most evident marks of unusual friend-
ship. Never could a Professor be more genuinely loved than
he was by his Glasgow pupil. His name was often upon Dr
Kidston's lips, and many were the beautiful and characteris-
tic anecdotes which, especially in his old age, he delighted to
rehearse regarding him. Their intercourse, however, seemed
to have been chiefly that of a father with a son. As a son
Dr Kidston ever looked up to him, eagerly sought after and
acted upon his counsels, and ever regarded his name and
memory with singular reverence. To have denied him the
satisfaction, we may say the luxury, of thinking and con-
versing about Dr Lawson, would have been to deprive him
of one of his greatest earthly enjoyments. On the other
hand, Dr Brown's intercourse with the Professor was con-
siderably marked by those traits which distinguish the corre-
spondence of scholars or enthusiasts in letters and philosophy.
Their epistolary feUowship was confined to the latter years
of Dr Lawson, and was not so ample as it must have been
had they been longer spared together. As it is, it is much
to be regretted that stray letters only remain. A few of
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 321
these have been already given, and to them we add the
following, in the first of which the Edinburgh divine (then at
Biggar) reveals to the son the reverence he had for the
father ; in the second, the father announces a daughter's
death ; and in the third we have Dr Brown's sympathy with
the father in that bereavement : —
Dr Brown to Mr Lawson, Junr.
'Biggar, 2\st Sept. 1812.
' Mt dear Sir, — Along with this you will receive your
brother's copy of Mr Paterson's sonnets, which I have but
too long kept from him. The true cause of the delay was
my disinchnation to a task he had assigned me, that of add-
ing to the beautiful verses of my friend a few of my own
rhymes. It seemed to me something hke the Asiatic cruelty
of binding a dead carcass to a living body. It was his will,
however, and I believe my promise; so at last it is done.
When you write Mr George, offer him my best regards, along
with those of Mrs Brown, and our united wishes for every
blessing to Mrs Lawson and her young family. Remember
me most kindly and respectfully to my venerated preceptor,
your father, to your mother, and all the family. Accept, my
dear sir, of my best wishes for yourself. May a Divine
blessing rest on your studies, and may you, in due time,
equal and even excel your brother, and even your father, as
an able, useful, honourable minister. — I am, my dear Sir,
yours truly, ' John Bkowist.'
Dr Lawson to Dr Brown.
'Selkirk, \Zth August 1816.
' Dear Sir, — I thank you for your sermon, which seems
to have been sent by Providence to prepare us for a very
painful dispensation which God has seen needful to inflict
upon us — the loss of a daughter very dear to us. In her
natural disposition she very much resembles what I have
322 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON,
heard of your beloved consort, and I make no doubt that she
resembled her too in qualities of more importance. But she
had not time and calls of Providence to give the same abun-
dant proofs of the grace given to her. None, however, who
had much knowledge of her, are disposed to be uneasy in
their thoughts of the period put to her space of preparation.
' Your loss is very great, and I am happy that you have
been able to bear it in a manner so much becoming a Chris-
tian and a minister of Christ, and to make so good use of it
for the advantage of others. I am persuaded that, in the day
when the mystery of Providence with respect to you is
finished, your loss will be found to have been far more than
compensated to yourself, beside the pleasure which it will
give you to iind the happy influence it has directly or indi-
rectly had upon those who will be to you a joy and crown.
' Nor am I without hope that both I and my family, and
many others, will derive considerable advantage from the
event, which I cannot but deplore at present. If I am not
flattered by some of my friends, the departure of my beloved
daughter from this world is very deeply felt by all who knew
her. Her memory is blessed, and the remembrance of her
virtues will not be useless.
' There is joy in grief. The stroke that has bereaved me
of a large portion of my earthly treasure, has, I hope, con-
summated the felicity of my beloved child.
' It was a wonderful instance of fortitude and patient sub-
mission to the will of God in David, that he recovered the
trauquiUity of his soul, and could write new songs of praise
to God, after the loss of Amnon and Absalom. You and I
have reason to bless God that we have so much reason to
look back with pleasure on the lives of those whose deaths
we deplore. I thank God that 1 once had those children
who are now gone before me to a place from whence they
will not return. I rejoice in the happiness enjoyed by such
of them as lived long enough to use their reasoning faculty.
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 323
It gives me pleasure to think of the virtues which they
discovered, and the pleasure they wished to give, and not
without success, to their parents, and to others around them.
They were innocent and happy when they were with me ; and
now, I trust, they are far happier than ever, and that if I am
not a cast-away (which God forbid), after teaching them the
way of life, I have yet boundless stores of happiness reserved
for me in their society.
' I have reason to think, from your letter and sermon, that
ray feelings are not unlike your own. May the Lord spare
to us those relations that are left, and dispose them always
so to behave as to leave no ground for dismal apprehensions
concerning them, if they should be taken from us ; and may
He preserve us from any omission or commission which may
give us just pain when we are bereaved of them whom we
love. I believe that self-reflection for omissions in such cases
are very difficultly prevented, and sometimes they may be
very troublesome when there is not much ground for them.
I think I have observed, as one great instance of Divine good-
ness, that Providence has frequently by other means supplied
our lack of service, when we have not done every-thing that
we might have done for those to whom we can now perform
no more offices of kindness. — Yours sincerely, ' G. Lawson.'
Dr Brown to Dr Lawson.
'BiGGAE, \9ih August 1816.
' My deak Sir, — Your highly valued letter, containing
the mournful intelligence of your daughter's departure into
the world of spirits, reached me this afternoon. It found me
not altogether unprepared for the tidings it brought, as I
had learned from my brother, Dr Nimmo, who had seen Miss
Jean on her way to Liverpool, that there was but little prob-
ability of her recovery. I would be guilty of a violation of the
law both of justice and of love of no ordinary magnitude, did
I not cordially sympathize with you in this affliction. I have
324 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
no doubt that He who has imposed the heavy load will enable
you cheerfully to bear it ; and will, by a process to us very
imperfectly known in the present state, render this apparent
evil abundantly productive of real permanent good. To
be in any measure His instrument in suggesting to your mind
tranquillizing or consoling thoughts, is an honour to which
I dare scarcely aspire ; but should He who often employs very
feeble means to gain His ends, bless anything I have written
for this purpose, I shall, I hope, be sincerely grateful. I owe
you much ; and it would be a gratifying thought, that I had
been of some use to one who has been of so much use to me.
' The young man who dehvers this note is a Mr William
Johnstone, a brother of Mr Ebenezer Johnstone. He is a
member of my congregation, and is a good scholar, and, I
hope, truly pious. He has been examined by our Presbytery,
and recommended by them to your care. As Mr Harper
has not forwarded him a certificate of his recommendation, I
thought it necessary to state this fact. Probably the certifi-
cate will be sent up by some of the other students from our
Presbytery. It may also be proper to notice that the Pres-
bytery assigned to him Matthew i. 21 as a subject for a
homily, I hope to have the satisfaction of seeing you in the
course of little more than a fortnight. Mrs Nimmo, who is
an unspeakable advantage and comfort to me, unites with
me in every kind wish for you, Mrs Lawson, and the family.
By the mercy of a good Providence, my dear infants are well.
I need not, I believe, solicit for them and myself an interest
in your prayers. — I am, Rev. and dear Sir, with much esteem
and affection, your deeply obhged pupil, ' John Browtj.'
This sympathy was reciprocated ; for when the manse at
Biggar was suddenly bereft of its hght and ornament, in the
death of Mrs Brown, the old man at Selkirk was afflicted in
his pupil's affliction, and poured out as sweet ' oil of joy ' as
ever soothed a heavy spirit.
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 325
Dr Brown to Dr Laivson.
' My dear Sir, — It is probable that, ere this time, public
rumour will have informed you of the severe affliction which
an all-wise Providence has thought fit to lay on me, in the
loss of my highly valuable and highly valued wife. I write
you not to solicit your sympathy and prayers, for I am per-
suaded myself these would be yielded without solicitation, but
to request you to drop me a few lines at your leisure, which
by the blessing of God may be useful in supporting and com-
forting my bereaved mother-in-law and myself. I earnestly
wish not to complain, for I know I have no ground of com-
plaint. I would fain be thankful, for I have unnumbered,
innumerable causes of gratitude. The cup I have had to
drink is a very bitter one, but infinite wisdom, and, I trust, also
infinite kindness, mingled the ingredients. There has been a
large infusion of mercy, and I hope the medicine will prove
efficacious. I have great cause to be grateful that I ever had
such a wife ; and though she is no more mine as she once was,
I have not lost my interest in her. She is gone, I trust, to her
first and better Husband. In faith, humility, and patience,
may I be enabled to follow her.
' I some time ago requested my friend, Mr D. Brown, to
forward you a copy of my discourse. I am deeply indebted
to you for your steady support of the Repository. I look
forward with very agreeable feelings to an interview of a
good few days with you ; but I must not be sanguine — we
know not what a day may bring forth. "With kind compli-
ments to Mrs Lawson and the rest of your family, — I am,
yours very truly, ' John Brown.'
Dr Lawson to Dr Brown.
'Selkirk, bth June 1815.
' Dear Friend, — I have been so long in returning you my
thanks for the late valuable present you sent me, that it
326 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
would now be very unseasonable to say more of it, as I know
your thoughts are almost engrossed by other subjects. I
know by my own experience in a like situation, how difficult
it must be for you to recover that composure of mind which
is necessary to the performance of your various duties, as
well as to the prevention of those miseries which result from
unbridled grief.
' " Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus tam cari capitis ? "
' This was perhaps a saying fitter for a heathen than for a
Christian, unless the words be understood with much restric-
tion. Horace knew not what was become of his departed
friends. But, I suppose, you have httle doubt that our
departed friend is now with Christ, and that she is ten
thousand times happier than she would ever be with you.
Did you love her as well as you loved yourself, you will not
then give scope to over much sorrow that she has attained
the happiness of an angel, at the expense of your own chief
earthly comfort.
' I believe you have sometimes thought of your venerable
grandfather, and of many other departed friends, with
mingled sentiments of pleasure and pain. Whilst you
mourned that your eyes of flesh would no more behold
them, you rejoiced that you had such satisfying ground to
believe that they were happy beyond your conception ; and
now adored that boundless grace through which you humbly
hoped that you would one day be admitted to them in their
felicity. You will now find it more difficult than ever to
correct the exorbitaucies of passion by the consolatory
thoughts which the Gospel suggests. You mourn more
bitterly than when you wept for your mother. Yet it will
be a rehef to your mind, to consider that the very things
which aggravate your sorrow are causes likewise of joy and
thankfulness. You mourn the loss of a companion whom
you had so much occasion to love with the warmest affection ;
but you have so much the more reason to think that she was
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 327
prepared for a better world. It was not her beauty, but her
piety, that chiefly drew your regard. You gave thanks to
God that you had so strong reasons to love her, not only
in the flesh, but in the Lord ; and still you do not retract
your thanksgiving for the grace bestowed on her, although
at the remembrance of it your soul is poured out within you.
' The sweetness of her temper was another cause of your
warm attachment. But the remembrance of this may like-
wise soothe your grief. It recommended her good example,
and makes the remembrance of her at once pleasant and
mournful to all her friends.
' It is a favourable providence to you, that her mother is
still left alive. I condole with her, as well as with you; but let
her remember what other mothers have suffered ; what even
the mother of our Lord suffered ; and what causes of joy she
has beyond many others who have suffered as she has done.
' My wife and daughters cordially sympathize with you.
But the compassions of the Father of mercies, and of the
High Priest of our profession, will suggest thoughts incom-
parably more consoling than the attentions of your best
friends on earth. God grant that you and I may, by Divine
mercy, be admitted at our latter end into that blessed society,
into which I am persuaded His abundant grace has already
admitted some of our dearest friends. They were sinners
like us, and were called to trust in that Saviour who loved
them, and washed them from their sins in His own blood. — I
am, yours affectionately.
' I had read of the melancholy occurrence in the papers this
morning, and resolved immediately to write to you by the
first post. Your letter came when I was about to wrap up
for the post.
' We have all our share of griefs assigned to us. I request
your prayers for a young member of my family — a pleasant
child, who has been several weeks in a weakly condition,
328 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
although we are not without good hopes of her recovery. I
hope for your prayers on her behalf and mine.
' We need our corrections. The time is coming (or rather
now is, if we know our heart), when we will see that we
needed very powerful but painful means to keep alive the
impression that God alone must be our portion. What are
the brittle cisterns to the fountain of hving waters !
' G. Lawson.'
Dr Brown to Dr Lawson.
' My dear Sir, — Many thanks to you for your kind sym-
pathy, and friendly expression of it. It was " a word in
season to those who were weary." A realizing persuasion
of the truths to which you turn our attention, would make
all afflictions comparatively easy. I hope a good Providence
is restoring your daughter to health, and that it will appear
in due time that it has been good for her to have borne the
yoke in her youth. I request your acceptance of the dis-
course which accompanies this, as a sincere expression of my
affectionate respect for you — " Parvum munus quidem sed
magnum testatur amicus." — I am, my dear Sir, yours very
truly, ' John Brown.
'BiGGAK, June 14, 1816.'
Dr Brown took a very zealous part in the effort to obtain
a memoir of Dr Lawson. It is now greatly to be regretted
that he himself could not be prevailed upon to write it. Had
he yielded to the solicitations of his brethren, the world
would, in all probability, have been put in possession of that
proof of Dr Lawson's extensive learning and high religious
worth, which can now be only dimly reflected in the fugitive
memorials gathered up into this volume. Dr Lawson did not
live to witness the rise of this distinguished pupil to the chief
seats of learning and piety; but there is reason to beUeve
that the shadows of the coming divine, and of his useful
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 329
life were cast before the mind's eye of the discerning Pro-
fessor.
The Kev. John Ballantine, of Stonehaven, in Kincardine-
shire, is second to none of the Selkirk students, hving or
dead. He is justly revered as the philosopher of our Church.
His tastes lay in metaphysics, and he handled them as a
master. On the lone shores of the German Ocean his calm
and thoughtful life passed quietly away, but not until he had
published those works which do not suffer by comparison
with the best of the Scotch school of philosophy. His
' Examination of the Human Mind ' is clearly entitled to this
distinction, and will transmit his name to posterity so long
as scholarly accompHshments and the science of reasoning are
maintained upon the high places of enlightened eras. His
much esteemed Professor had gone to heaven before this pre-
eminence was reached, but not before Dr Lawson had marked
in the student the promise of its coming. Mr Ballantine had
for his nearest neighbour a man of kindred sympathies, and
with whom for many years he held intercourse alike friendly
and intellectual — the late Rev. Henry Angus, of Aberdeen,
who was in many respects one of the most marked men that
emanated from Selkirk Hall. In their mutual reverence for
their great tutor, they were never without a theme. Many a
time was the stahvart and handsome figure of the Aberdeen
minister seen upon the road of fifteen miles, that leads by
that cold and rocky shore to Stonehaven ; visits which were
joyously repaid by the thinker and speculator there, who found,
besides, in the classic halls of the colleges of Aberdeen, not a
little to stimulate his congenial soul. The mind of Henry
Angus was cast in a mould just less nervous than it was
profound and self-reliant. Circumstances only were wanting
to bring him out as an original thinker and a most eloquent
preacher. He had the two things which were never
found apart in a truly great and generous nature — head
330 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
and heart. His reverence for his Professor was almost a
passion.
Dr Marshall, of Kirkintilloch, was one of the most widely
known of the Selkirk men of ' power.' His Professor stood
very high, indeed, in his estimation, and, in some respects,
few had drunk deeper into the spirit of Lavvson. He was an
ardent student, and preserved his literary tastes to the end of
his long and useful life. As a scholar, he had no superior ;
and as a controversialist, no equal in our Church. His works
upon civil establishments of religion are masterpieces, and
have dealt a blow at Erastianism, under which it staggers
at this moment. It is now generally admitted on all hands,
that he was the Father of what is called ' The Voluntary
Church Controversy.' That doctrinal misunderstanding of
his with his friends Drs Brown and Balmer was a sad affair,
and would have ended perhaps more satisfactorily had there
been less of temper and more of charity in it. It is much to
be regretted that he felt it to be his duty to disconnect him-
self from his brethren ; but though he left them here, he has
rejoined them in heaven. His manly, consistent, and success-
ful efforts to preserve religious liberty, and to hold within
proper bounds an enlightened movement to emancipate evan-
gelical truth from dogmatic fetters, entitle him to the" admira-
tion and gratitude of all the generous and the just. It was
a sufficient tribute to the learning and wisdom of Marshall,
that, when Dr Lawson died, he was proposed in the Synod
by Dr Dick to fill the vacant chair.
Dr Balmer, of Berwick, was another of tne Selkirk stu-
dents who achieved greatness. Like his friend, Dr Brown,
he looked upon their venerable tutor as ' a prince in Israel ;'
and, like all the rest of the Selkirk men, his mind, when in the
repose of social and friendly fellowship, discovered its Law-
souian prejudices and attachments. It is well known that
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 331
the conscientious and honourable mind of Dr Balmer was
troubled, at the period of his license, upon some points in
the Church's Formula. This reached the ears of the Pro-
fessor, and drew from him the following judicious and loving
letter : —
Dr Lawson to Mr Balmer.
' Selkirk, December 1809.
' Dear Sir, — I am sorry to hear that you are still averse to
enter on trials, especially as the inference drawn by some from
your conduct is, that you propose to leave us altogether, and
to seek license to preach amongst another body of men. I
certainly will not pretend a right to dictate to any young
man's conscience. If I thought -you were persuaded that it
is your duty to associate yourself with any other body of
Christians, my only advice to you would be, " Prove all things,
and hold fast that which is good." If there is any hesitation
in your mind on the subject, I think you might probably
receive satisfaction by reading, if you have not already read
and considered, Mr Wilson's " Defence of the Reformation
Principles of the Church of Scotland," which I could send to
you from the librarj^, if you wish for it. A copy of the book,
in addition to a former copy, was given by Mr Paterson, and
I think it well deserves the study of young men. I deferred
going to the study of divinity for one session, that I might
compare it with books written on the other side. I am sure,
at least, you will endeavour to act upon principle, and that
you will not alter your religious profession from motives
extraneous to religion. We are not Christians if our fear
towards God is regulated by anything else but the authority
of Christ. It has been alleged that you entertain a low
opinion of some of our ministers, or of those that may one
day become ministers in our body. I admit that some
amongst us are not above, if not below, mediocrity ; but I
am persuaded that you will not judge of the merits of a par-
332 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
ticular mode of religious profession by the talents of every
minister who holds it. You will not even think that their
respectability and usefulness are to be measured by their
talents. There are some, perhaps, amongst us of the lower
order of talent, who are, on the whole, more worthy of esteem,
and more useful ministers to their people, than others whose
intellectual accomplishments are much superior. We have
much need of preachers, and I should be glad to have you
in the number, if your conscience make no objections. If
it does, I will be the last man to urge you to enter upon
trials. I hope you have the call of God ; and the more
self-denial you exercise in His service, you will find the more
comfort in it. — Yours affectionately, ' George Lawson.'
To this kind and judicious epistle the student sent the
following reply : —
Mr Balmer to Dr Lawson.
' Edinburgh, \Qth January 1810.
' Rev. Sir, — The multiplicity of my avocations prevented
me from acknowledging, last week, the reception of your very
kind epistle. I must begin this letter by thanking you for
the interest which you take in my future conduct, for the
useful advices with which you have favoured me, and for the
favourable opinion which you are pleased to express respect-
ing my character.
' There is no person whose good opinion I would be more
anxious to possess than your own ; and, therefore, I regret
exceedingly that I cannot at this time see it ray duty to
comply with your wishes by entering on trials for Hcense.
Were you acquainted, however, with the motives by which I
am actuated, I feel convinced that you yourself would not
disapprove of my conduct. To give a full or explicit state-
ment of these motives would, in a letter of this kind, be alto-
gether impracticable. I shall content myself with saying in
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 333
general, that my repngnance to enter on trials originates
chiefly in conscientious scruples respecting the Formula. In
the religious creed of the Burghers, there is not perhaps a
single article which I positively disbelieve. There are several,
however, of which I am sceptical, because I am unacquainted
with the evidence on which they rest. There are also many
expressions of which I decidedly disapprove ; and, finally,
there are many doctrines and dogmas in it, which I think ought
never to have been introduced into a system of religious behef.
' Such, sir, are the circumstances in which I am placed ; and
in such circumstances I humbly hope that my resolution of
not being licensed at this time will not meet with your dis-
approbation. If the step I now take should appear to you
blameable or imprudent, I am sure, at least, that it has not
been the result of incousideration. From the very commence-
ment of my theological studies, the idea of becoming a
preacher has always appeared to me a frightful one, and the
further I advanced the more frightful it became. Of late I
have thought frequently and seriously on the subject, and the
more I reflect on it the more I am convinced of the propriety
of the determination which I have adopted.
' With regard to the reports which have been circulated
respecting my leaving the Burghers, I hope you will be satis-
fied when I declare to you sincerely and exphcitly, that at
present I entertain no fixed design of apostatizing to the
Established Church. I am uncertain whether I may ever
become a preacher ; but I hope that I shall never relinquish
the religious connection in which I have been educated, unless
I should afterwards embrace opinions which incapacitate me
for becoming one of its members. — I am. Rev. Sir, yours
sincerely, ' R. Balmer.'
' P.S. — I have not studied very carefully Wilson's " De-
fence," and would like to re-peruse it, if it could be con-
veniently sent. Direct to me at Mrs Macdonald's, Mr
334 THE LIFE OF DR LAAVSON.
Peddie's Entry, or to the care of Mr Peddie, Bristo Street.
The book sent with this I beg you will accept as a small
token of gratitude and affection.'
Dr Henderson, of Galashiels, yielded to none of his com-
peers in an enthusiastic appreciation of their tutor ; he was
second to none of them in fine natural talents, purified and
strengthened by a piety and humility of character strikingly
resembling that of Dr Lawson. He was his nearest neigh-
bour, and enjoyed good opportunities of knowing his worth.
One of the last public meetings which he attended was the
celebration of the centenary of Dr Lawson's church at Selkirk.
On that evening, as if led to seize the last opportunity of
paying to him a tribute of respect, he, with great solemnity
of manner, testified to the wonderful accomplishments of his
beloved friend. ' I studied,' he said, ' under Dr Lawson at
the Theological Hall here ; and for ten years after I was
ordained at Galashiels, I had him as my nearest neighbour,
and ever found him ready to aiford me wise counsel. If ever
there was a man to be venerated and loved, that man was
Dr Lawson. To his profound learning he added one of the
warmest of hearts. He had a way of making known to his
students what Dr Dick calls " the profundities of theology,"
so as to convince the judgment and impress the memory. As
a preacher, there was nothing rhetorical in his manner — there
was nothing flowery in his style, but his sermons were full of
strong .sound sense ; and sometimes he presented the most
important truths in such a plain form, and in such few and
simple observations, that many wondered how the same
thoughts had not occurred to themselves.' Dr Henderson
took part in encouraging the compiler to undertake this
memoir. It was, indeed, the subject of his last conversation
upon earth. The esteemed grandson and present successor
of Dr Lawson in Selkirk, had just left him after obtaining his
promise to afford the compiler all the aid in his power, when
\
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 335
he retired to rest, and almost immediately returned to heaven.
The Rev. Dr Nicol, of Jedburgh, who would have been
equally ready to contribute his reminiscences, and whose con-
tributions would have beeu very valuable, died unexpectedly
about the same time. In Dr Henderson's admirable memoir
of Dr Balmer, there is a simj^le but touching reference to the
Hall at Selkirk : — ' They who have attended the Hall at
Selkirk, generally, we beheve, look back on the time spent
there as among the happiest of their days. Think of a
number of young men, released from the irksome labours of
teaching, coming together in a small country town, where
they were necessarily thrown on each other's society during
the six or eight weeks of the session. They had to listen to
the prelections of a man who possessed, above most others,
the faculty of making plain the deep things of revealed truth ;
and who was not the less venerated and loved by his pupils,
for the unafiected simplicity, and even occasional negligence
in manner, which were associated in him with profound learn-
ing, warm affections, and fervent piety. They had their own
societies for various objects connected with their studies, the
management of the library, and several others ; and in these
sometimes the warm debate would arise, yet leaving no gall
behind ; — and their walks together through some of the most
beautiful pastoral scenery on the banks of the Ettrick, the
Yarrow, and the Tweed, during which, amid graver discus-
sions, the jest and the repartee would be at times playfully
breaking forth, the humorous story be told, or even the sports
of boyhood be for the moment resumed. It may be there
was more of social enjoyment than of severe study, but it was
a time of mutual excitement : stores were treasured up for
future digestion ; the faculties which would have rusted in
solitude were brightened up in the friendly collision of mind
with mind ; and intimacies were formed which ripened into
friendships that blessed after years.'
It is only justice to the memory of this able and most
336 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
estimable man, to append to this mere reference the very
discriminating and beautiful account of him which Dr John
Brown (junior) gives in this letter to Dr Cairns : —
' He was, in the true sense, what Chalmers used to call a
man of wecht. His mind acted by its sheer absolute power ;
it seldom made an effort ; it was the hydraulic pressure,
harmless, manageable, but irresistible, — not the perilous
compression of steam. Therefore it was that he was un-
troubled and calm, though rich ; clear, though deep ; though
gentle, never dull ; "strong, without rage; without o'erflowing,
full." . . . We question if as many carefully thought and
worded, and rapidly, and by no means laboriously written
sermons, were composed anywhere else in Britain during
his fifty years : every Sabbath, two new ones ; the composi-
tion faultless, such as Cicero or Addison would have made
them had they been United Presbyterian ministers, only there
was always in them more soul than body, — more of the spirit
than of the letter. . . . The original power and size of
Dr Henderson's mind, his roominess for all thoughts, and his
still reserve, his lenitude, made, as we have said, his expres-
sions clear and quiet, to a degree that a coarse and careless
man, spoiled by the violence and noise of other pulpit men,
might think insipid. But let him go over the words slowly,
and he would not say this again ; and let him see and hear
the solemnizing, commanding power of that large, square,
leonine countenance — the broad, massive frame, as of a com-
pressed Hercules — and the living, pure, melodious voice,
powerful, but not by reason of loudness, dropping out from
his compressed hps the words of truth, — and he would not
say this again. . . . The thoughts of such men, so rare,
so apt to be unvisited and unvalued, often bring into my
mind a spring of pure water I once saw near the top of
Cairngorm, — always the same, — cool in summer, — keeping
its few plants alive and happy with its warm breath in
winter, — floods and droughts never making its pulse change ;
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 337
and all this because it came from the interior heights, and
was distilled by nature's own cunning, and had taken its
time — was, indeed, a well of living water. And with Dr
Henderson this of the mountain holds curiously : he was
retired, but not concealed ; and he was of the primary
formation — he had no organic remains of other men in him.
He liked and fed on all manner of literature ; knew poetry
well : but it was all outside of him ; his thoughts were
essentially his own. ... He was pecuKarly a preacher
for preachers, as Spenser is a poet for poets. They felt he
was a master.'
Dr Thomson, of Coldstream, was also, in every sense of
the word, a Lawsonian. His self-denying labours in the
cause of a free and a cheap Bible are never to be forgotten.
He lived under a most unusually solemn impression of the
awfulness and the value of God's Word ; and to a similar trait
in Dr Lawson's character, may be traced that passion for
the emancipation and circulation of the Scriptures under
which the Coldstream philanthropist lived, sacrificed, and
died. 'Dr Thomson (to quote from an interesting sketch
which has just been given of him) was nearly the sole survivor
of a veteran band that had stood forward conspicuously and
together in all those movements for the spread of the Gospel,
and in all those contendings for civil and religious liberty,
which have distinguished the last two generations. That
band numbered such men as Drs Peddle, Balmer, Heugh,
Young, Wardlaw, Stark (of Dennyloanhead), Henderson,
■ and John Brown ; and beside and abreast of these heroes, Dr
Thomson had ever laboured and fought : for though he had
a rural and obscure station compared with that which the
most of them had been destined to occupy, yet his super-
abundant vigilance, promptitude, and zeal overcame all dis-
advantages, and enabled him to emerge from his Border
watch-tower, and, fully accoutred, make his appearance upon
y
338 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
the scene of action, quite as early as any of his brethren.
Distant from the centres of agitation and the sources of
impulse, he was yet among the first to reach the battle-field,
and occupy either the vantage ground or the posts of
danger. His faculties and energies for the discussion of
public questions completely escaped the rust which is
generally believed to come upon them in a country pastorate.
In the very heart of rural stagnation, his life was an unrest-
ing wave ; and, unaffected by the inertia all around, he kept
himself in perpetual motion. . . . The Divinity Hall in the
Secession Church had only one Professor — the Rev. Dr
Lawson ; and he monopolized such an amount of confidence,
affection, admiration, and reverence, as might have been
divided among a largely equipped college or faculty, though
he was the most modest of men. Adam Thomson loved,
honoured, and all but worshipped this most accomplished,
fascinating, yet utterly unsophisticated teacher, whom his
pupils, in naming " the Christian Socrates," think they praise
but faintly. The small town where the class met — Selkirk,
with its beautiful pastoral vicinity — conspired, with the Pro-
fessor, to give to Hall life a tender romance, which was after-
wards, throughout manhood and old age, fondly cherished,
and never permitted to pass away from the associations.' ^
This small niche is justly assigned to the man who wrested
the Bible from the jaw of monopoly, who was the author of
several valuable works, who was thought worthy to preach
the funeral sermon of Dr Lawson, and whose sermon, when
published, was honoured with a highly favourable review
from the pen of the well-known Dr David Welsh, Professor
of Church History in the Edinburgh University.
Dr Fletcher, of London, on several accounts, merits
notice as one of Dr Lawson's students. No man could more
highly esteem the Professor than he did, and very few of the
' United Presbyterian Magazine for April 1861.
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 339
Selkirk men have obtained such celebrity. He was the most
popular preacher of his day, and obtained several calls to
churches then vacant. His fame as the ' prince of preachers '
to children is world-wide; and the sale of above 60,000
copies of his ' Family Devotions ' proves his acceptability
as an author. He died the pastor of the most spacious
chapel in the city of London, having sustained his Avouderful
popularity to the end of a long and useful life. The com-
piler has heard him dwell with unusual complacency on his
intercourse in early life with Dr Lawson and his friends ; nor
did he shy the subject, though it might, at a time, tell
rather against himself. He was wont to repeat the Pro-
fessor's rather severe criticisms upon his Hall performances ;
and we have frequently laughed with him over a story he
used to tell in connection with his call to be colleague and
successor to Mr Kidston of Stow. At that time, ' Alexander
Fletcher' was in everybody's mouth, as the most eloquent
of all the young men then on probation in the Burgher
Church. He was what is called 'ragingly popular' about
Stow ; and peradventure, unknown to himself, the good old
pastor there might be somev/hat jealous of him. At all
events, on a certain day previous to the ' call,' the young
man had preached to the delight and even wonderment of a
great gathering of people. On coming into the manse there-
after, Mr Kidston thanked him for his discourse, and then
added, with great suavity, ' Well, Sandie, I must admit
you're very sound ; but 0, man, you're no deep.' It was at
this time, too, that a member of the Stow congregation
met Dr Lawson, and was loud in the praises of Mr Fletcher
as their expected junior pastor, finishing up an extravagant
eulogium with these words, ' And to tell the truth. Doctor,
such a preacher is Alexander Fletcher, that I may say we
never heard the Gospel before.' ' You must not say that,'
replied Dr Lawson, ' you have had the Gospel preached to
you in all its richness during all Mr Kidston's ministry ; but
340 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
you may say, if you like, that you have never heard the
Gospel so preached.' In telling the critique of Mr Kidston
on his own preaching, Dr Fletcher used to remark that his
experience warranted him in saying that ' deep preaching
was just another name for dark preaching.' For the first two
years of his ministry, Dr Fletcher was the colleague of his
father, in Bridge of Teith, Perthshire. The good old man, it
seems, was rather jealous of his son's great popularity — par-
ticularly of the swelling encomiums that were often passed in
his hearing, on the excellence of his son's discourses. Temper,
too, was not sweetened by the crowds that assembled when
it was the son that was to preach, the old man having
generally no more than the ordinary audience. Young
Alexander came to feel this state of his father's mind to be
rather painful, and the following happy expedient to cure it
was resorted to. He asked the loan of one of his father's
manuscript sermons, and, having committed it to memory,
he deUvered it on the following Sabbath with more than his
usual fervour. The people, on retiring, were louder than
ever in praise of tlie juvenile orator ; and one worthy re-
marked, ' The old man never preached a sermon in his Hfe
equal to that.' On entering the manse, Alexander found his
father alone, and having adverted to the matter, asked him,
' Father, is that satisfactory?' ' 0 ay,' said he, 'quite satis-
factory.' ' Yes,' rejoined the sou, ' and you see, after all, how
little worth the popular prejudices are.' The old man was
completely cured of all jealousy in future.
Several of the Selkirk students became famous as good
scholars and successful pastors : few, if any of them, turned
out either wits or poets. In the hard and methodical work
of an earnest pastorate, the odds are against success in
the fine arts. To a conscientious minister of the Gospel, the
finest of all arts must ever be the art of preaching well ; the
sublimest of all poetry must ever be the song of redeeming
love ; and the most attic of all wit must ever be the wisdom
THE PROFESSOR AKD HIS STUDENTS. 341
of winning souls. Tried by such standards, the students of
Dr Lawson deservedly occupy a high place among their
compeers. We have heard of only one of them who made
pretensions to genuine witticisms — the late Rev. Walter
Dunlop, of Dumfries, of whom many really good anecdotes
are aUve to this day. He was a man of sohd rather than of
bright talents, of ' pawky ' rather than of simple mindedness,
but still with a considerable dash of genuine humour in his
temperament, and occasionally giving vent to a bit of sly wit
which smacked of the satirical.
The Rev. James Law, of Kirkcaldy, was, perhaps, in
respect of wit and satire, the most marked man among the
Selkirk students. In piety and talent he was not inferior
to any of them. He was ordained as colleague to the far-
famed Mr Shirra, on whose eccentricities he delighted to
expatiate. Of remarkable kindliness of disposition, he was at
the same time an acute and dexterous dialectician. When
interested in an argument, or once fairly set in motion upon its
merits, his resources as to logic, and sometimes as to sophisms,
were absolutely inexhaustible. We never saw him floored,
and we have often seen him fighting duels with the best of
polemics. Above all, his temper was under self-control to an
extent that has not often been equalled ; it seldom yielded to
provocation, continuing as calm and gentle in the thick of the
fray, as when he coolly wiped the edge of the weapon where-
with the first thrust was taken. His powers of debate, con-
sequently, were first-rate. When he employed them in the
pulpit, his sermons rose to greatness alike in thought and
eloquence ; and, had he quahfied himself for parliamentary
Hfe, he would have adorned even the floor of St Stephens.
To other qualities he added that of sterhng uprightness of
character and genuine friendhness of heart. It is singular
that, with his pecuhar proneness to argument upon almost
every subject, he never made one of his friends his enemy.
3-12 THE LIFE OF BR LAWSON.
He lived to a good old age, having witnessed the celebration
of his jubilee, and then fell asleep in the arms of ' the Lord his
Shepherd.'
An anecdote, illustrative of true humour, is told of one of
the Selkirk men, and may here be set down. Mr
was a well-known wag, though an excellent man and dihgent
pastor. There was a sort of infidel and scoffing character iu
the town where he lived, commonly called 'Jock Hammon.'
Jock had a nickname for Mr , which, though profane,
had reference to the well-known evangelical character of his
ministry. ' There's " the grace o' God" ' he would say, as he
saw the good man passing by, and he usually talked of him
under that designation. It so happened that Mr
had on one occasion consented to take the chair at some
public meeting. The hour of meeting was past, the place
of meeting was filled, but no Mr appeared. Symp-
toms of impatience were manifested, when a voice was heard
from one corner of the hall, ' My friends, there will be " no
grace o' God " here the nicht.' Just at this moment the door
opened, and Mr appeared, casting, as he entered, a
rather knowing look upon ' Jock Hammon' as he ejaculated
these words. On taking the chair, Mr apologized
for his being so late. ' I had,' he said, ' to go into the
country to preside in the examination of Mr 's school,
and really the young folks conducted themselves so well that
I could scarce get away from them. If you please, I will just
give you a specimen of the examination. I called up an
intelligent-looking girl, and asked her if she had ever heard
of any one who had erected a gallows for another, and who
had been hanged on it himself. " Yes," replied the girl, " it
was Haman." With that, up started another little girl, and
she said, " Eh, minister, that's no true ! Hammon's no hanged
yet ; for I saw him at the public-house door this forenoon,
and he was swearing like a trooper " ' (upon this there was
considerable tittering among the audience, and eyes were
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 343
directed to the corner where Jock was sitting). ' You are
both quite right, my little dears,' said Mr , with a
sort of ' glaikit ' look towards the first girl : ' Your Haman
was really hanged, as he deserved to be ; and (turning towards
the other) your Hammon, my lambie, is no banged yet, by
" the grace o' God." ' The effect of this upon the hearers
was electric, and, amid roars of laughter, Jock rushed out of
the meeting, and, for a time at least, he ceased to make the
Secession minister the object of his scurrilous jokes.
But we must complete these souvenirs with brief references
to one or two of the most distinguished Selkirk men, who,
though they left the Secession for other denominations, never
ceased to cherish for their Professor equal love and respect.
Ralph Wardlaw, D.D., the accomplished scholar, divine,
and philosopher, though he saw it to be his duty to join
the Independent body, left a good part of his warm heart
where his wise head got its clear and massive theology —
in the old mother church. Often in private, and on many
public occasions too, we have heard him refer, with grateful
emotion, to the happy and precious days he had spent in the
Secession Hall, and to the eminent attainment and graces
of his only theological tutor. It was with some degree of
pardonable pride that he boasted of ' the Secession blood
in his veins.' He was a lineal and near descendant from
Ebenezer Erskine. Born and brought up within the pale
of the Secession, of which his great ancestor was the
founder, he never ceased to hold her, her ministers, and her
people, in the fondest esteem ; and carried his veneration for
his Professor to the grave. When he published his cele-
brated work on the Socinian controversy, he sent the book
to Dr Lawson, with the following note : —
' My dear Sir, — In the signature of this note you will
recognise the name of an old pupil, who, although led by
344 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
convictions of duty to leave the religious connection to which
he once belonged, still retains an undiminished attachment to
his former friends ; and to no one of them more sincerely and
fervently, than to the beloved and respected tutor under
whom he spent so happily his allotted time as a student —
time to which, in looking back, he feels only one regret, that
the valuable opportunities of instruction which it afforded
were not better improved.
' I hope, my dear sir, that the volume which accompanies
this, and of which I beg your acceptance, as a small token of
affectionate remembrance, will not be found utterly unworthy
of your approbation. When you have looked through it, it
will give me very great pleasure to be favoured with your/ree
remarks on any points in which you may think it faulty.
' The subject is one — or rather, I should say, the subjects
arc (for, although inseparably connected, they are various) of
immense importance ; and the preface will sufficiently explain
to you the circumstances which led to the pubhcation.
' I have to request, also, that you will place the other copy
in the Students' Library.
' Wishhig you every personal, domestic, and official bless-
ing, in which good wishes Mrs Wardlaw, although absent,
I know would very sincerely join, — I am ever, my dear Sir,
yours very sincerely, ' Raxfh Wardlaw.
' Glasgow, June 7, 1814.'
John Lee, D.D., the late venerable Principal of the
University of Edinburgh, was a native of Stow, and was
brought up in the Secession Church, under Mr Kidston.
Before joining the Church of Scotland, he, hke Dr Wardlaw,
had completed his education within the pale of the Secession.
His appreciation of Dr Lawson was alike just and grateful.
He resembled, in many things, his theological Professor.
In personal appearance there was a general hkeness ; but
this was more remarkable in their singular powers of exposi-
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 345
tioD, in their ardent pursuit of sacred learning, and their
general scholarly habits and attainments. Though he rose
to the highest places in his Church, and became an authority,
both in the Assembly and in the Senatus Academicus, upon
all Church and College matters, he seemed to take a pride
in referring to his Secession origin, and especially to his
Selkirk training. The reader will peruse with satisfaction
the following most interesting letter of Principal Lee to the
compiler, acknowledging the receipt of the sermons that had
been preached on the occasion of the death of Dr Kidston.
It is inserted here, under the impression that Dr Lee, had he
lived, would have been gratified by his finding a place in
these reminiscences of men and matters, in which he ever felt
both a pleasing and a pious interest : —
To the Rev. Dr John Macfarlane.
' College, Edinburgh, &th Dec. 1852.
' My dear Sir, — If it had not been at the very end of last
week that I was favoured with a copy of your sermon, and
Mr Ker's, on a late sad and solemn event, I would have
taken occasion, by return of post, to acknowledge what I
feel to be a most gratifying mark of genuine good will.
Not knowing their address, I use the freedom to ask you to
communicate to the surviving family of my late friend, the
assurance of my heartfelt sympathy on the loss of a parent
so worthy of their reverence and love. To you also, and
Mr Ker, I beg to express my obligation for the Christian
feeling and just discernment with which the character of the
late Dr Kidston has been portrayed. I must confess that
my perusal of the " Discourses " has hitherto been hurried
and interrupted, in consequence of pressing engagements at
a period of infirm and precarious health. If it were not very
painful to me at present to use a pen, I would be tempted
to indulge for a while in recalling some of my reminiscences
of Dr Kidston, of whom, though he appears to have been
346 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
born not quite twelve years before me, my oldest recollection
is that of hearing him preach, and being impressed with the
conviction that preaching was a much prettier and more
pleasing thing than I had ever thought it before. The
Rev. William Kidston, senior, was a very sound divine, and
both fervent and faithful in declaring the counsel of God.
Both my grandfather and father were members of his session,
and from the years of infancy I had accompanied my parents
to church ; but it is no derogation from the excellences of
the father to say, that the accents of the son fell more softly
on my ear ; and he appeared to me to find out more accept-
able words. I remember fragments of sentences in discourses
which must have been delivered when I was not twelve years
old. I remember several of his texts, some of them a little
later, perhaps, than 1792 ; but I think about the earliest
which struck me was 2 Cor. ix. 15. Several of the others
related to the history of the sufferings of the Redeemer. All
the occasions on which I heard him were at tlie time of the
communion. I remember two discourses on 1 Chron. xii.
32, preached, I believe, at the interval of twelve months. I
cannot be sure that I ever heard him but once after I was
seventeen years old; for, after I went to College in 1794,
when I had completed my fourteenth year, I was very seldom
in that part of the country, except for a short time in the
summer months, till the autumn of 1797 ; after which, I may
say, I was never more than a few days occasionally there, I
have a most lively remembrance of his elegant appearance
and his graceful manner, as well as what I considered as an
easy classical style, which was recommended by fluent, rapid,
and animated utterance. His figure was slender and exceed-
ingly neat ; and there was a simple becomingness in his dress,
totally devoid of any appearance of affectation. At the time
of my original recollection of him, ministers and preachers
almost universally wore hair-powder. I think he never did ;
but his hair, for a few years, was long and flowing, longer, I
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 347
think, than we see it in the most youthful pictures of Milton,
but producing the same impression on the whole. Now and
then he admitted into a sermon a single Hne, or perhaps two
lines, from Milton or from Addison. I rem.ember, in his
table addresses, hearing oftener than once this line intro-
duced (from the Messiah), " And Heaven's eternal day be
thine." But I never suspected him of anything like studied
parade, or an elaborate display of artificial oratory. There
was a winning gentleness in his aspect and intonations, which
harmonized well with the scriptural purity of the sentiments
which flowed from his tongue : and though I certainly thought
him a choice model, I do not suppose that his manner was
formed upon any other. Now, perhaps, I should be ashamed
of troubling you with reciting a few particulars, which are,
on the whole, so trivial, as being not more than impressions
formed in the period of childhood ; but, as they have clung
tenaciously to my memory, my heart refuses to let them go. I
am not sure that I ever had the pleasure of exchanging words
with him till the summer of 1801, at which time I received
the degree of M.D. in this University ; but I am pretty sure
that I never enjoyed the gratification of hearing him preach
subsequently to that period, which I now greatly regret. I
have felt very sensibly the cordiality and kindness with which
he has, from time to time, looked in upon me when he was
occasionally in this city ; and it has only been in consequence
of my almost unceasing professional labours, that I have been
prevented from cultivating the friendship of one whom I
valued and respected so highly.
i pray that all who were dear to him may inherit, in rich
abundance, the blessings which are multiplied to the genera-
tion of the upright. — I am. Rev. and dear Sir, yours very
faithfully, ' John Lee.'
To these notices of Dr Lawson's more distmguished pupils
may be added a passing reference to another whose name is
348 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
yet fragrant in the memories of not a few, though he never
received a call to any church ; and yet he reached a
position in public estimation which some better known men
might have envied. Mr David Mudie studied at Selkirk, He
was licensed by the Presbytery of Dunfermline, and for the
long period of more than half a century he served the Church
as a probationer ; nowhere popular, but everywhere highly
esteemed and beloved. He was a good scholar, composed
tasteful and evangelical discourses, and continued to the end
of his course his habits of study and careful preparation,
despite of the disadvantages inseparable from a peripatetic
life. He was of singularly sweet and meek temperament,
though withal conscious of self-respect and of qualifications
which, had it been the will of God, might have made him a
most useful pastor. During all the fifty years of his public
life he was a strict abstainer from intoxicating drinks ; he
never in one instance fell into any indecorum or impropriety
of any kind, and in every situation maintained unbroken the
manner of a gentleman, and unsuUied the character of a
Christian preacher and of a devout man. He was behind
none of the Selkirk men in his appreciation and admiration
of the Professor, and, though in general not talkative, he
became eloquent when the conversation turned upon the Hall
and its memories. He died in a good old age, and his name
will ever be associated with the only probationary life in the
history of our Church that witnessed its jubilee.
On various occasions Dr Lawson received expressions of
the love and respect of his pupils, which still remain as memo-
rials of the worth of their Professor, and of their own sound
appreciation of the benefits they derived from his teaching.
The striking painting by Pairman, which now adorns the
Hall of the United Presbyterian Church in Edinburgh, and
from which the portrait in this volume is taken, was pre-
sented to him by them. They consulted him in the matter.
He quietly took the pipe, in which he was indulging at the
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 349
time, from his mouth, and said, ' I am certainly very much
obliged to the young gentlemen who wish to put this honour
upon me ; but I doubt it will be in accordance with the
opinion of the good woman, whose husband, while reading at
family worship the tenth chapter of Nehemiah, and when the
evening was getting somewhat dark, proposed that a candle
should be lighted ; " Na, na," said she, " I think the cost
would o'er-gang the profit." ' His natural dislike of ostenta-
tion made the consent to ' sit,' and the ' sittings ' themselves,
disagreeable ; but he generally overcame any difficulties to
gratify others, especially those he esteemed. The portrait is
understood to be a fair likeness. The Rev. Mr Jack, of
Dunbar, had the honour of originating this mark of respect
to the Professor. At another time, his students presented
him with a massive silver claret jug, bearing the following
inscription : —
' TO THE REV. PROFESSOR LAVTSON, D.D.,
FROM THE STUDENTS UNDER HIS INSPECTION,
IN THE YEAR 1800.'
Dr Thomson gives the following simple but pleasing
account of this presentation, in the letter to his brother from
which we have already quoted : —
' I had heard that the Professor was labouring under a
severe cold, and was sorry, on my arrival, to find that there
was too good a foundation for the report. He was often
obliged to leave off speaking for some time by the violence
of an oppressive cough. It is with the most painful sensations,
I must add, that this aflfliction still continues, and that his
best and most intelligent friends dread the consequences. Let
us hope and pray that, if it be the will of our Father in
heaven, their fears may be removed by his complete recovery.
' The silver cup, which, in the preceding session, we had
ordered to be prepared for him, we agreed to present so soon
as a competent number of students had come up. It was
350 THE LIFE OF DK LAWSON.
received in a manner which astonished some, and pleased all.
That he might not be taken at any disadvantage, Mr Campbell
and Mr Robson were desired to tell him what we intended to
do at the afternoon meeting of the Hall. After the lecture,
our president, Mr Blackadder, rose and told the Professor
that he was appointed, in name of the students, to deliver to
him the cup which he held in his hand, as a testimony of their
esteem and affection. The venerable man blushed, and
returned thanks in a few modest and appropriate sentences.
As nearly as I could recollect them (for I wrote them down
immediately after our dismission), they were as follows : — " I
am certainly much obliged to the students of last year for the
trouble and expense to which they have put themselves. I
have always met with more respect from the students than I
thought I deserved ; but I was glad of it on their own
account, and for the credit of the body to which we belong.
The greatest honour, however, that the students can confer
upon me, is to behave themselves suitably to their character
as students of divinity with us, as they have hitherto done, in
most instances at least. I accept of the present, and with all
gratitude, though it is more than I could have expected."
The number of students was smaller than it had been for
many years : it did not exceed two or three and thirty. On
this account, and as the Professor could not endure the cold
in the meeting-house (the chapel), we met, except when
discourses were to be delivered, in one of his own largest
upper rooms. This afforded another opportunity to our
teacher to show how much he was gratified by our present :
for, one day after the lecture, he ordered the cup to be set
on the table, and along with it, two bottles of wine, and some
sugar. He then told us that, as we had done him the honour
of presenting him with a silver cup, he thought he could not
do less than give us all a glass of wine ; or, if we preferred
it, we might have it with water and sugar, out of the cup.
The latter way was preferred by all of us. Having, in the
THE PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS. 351
course of the conversation, again expressed his gratitude, he
said, " I hope you will not be offended if, at any future
period, I shall find it necessary to prevent any similar expres-
sions of kindness, for (with a smile upon his face) it was a
saying in my young days, that divinity was free all the world
over, and I, for one, should not hke to be paid for it.'"
It may be thought that the gift, in this case, was somewhat
incongruous. But, in these days, such a household article
was regarded in the light of an ornament ; and, though Dr
Lawson was all his days a most abstemious man, he did not
the less esteem the motives of his pupils. The jug itself was
innocent of wine from the day referred to.
The ardent love that subsisted between the Doctor and his
class was especially and often affectingly manifested at the
close of the sessions. His partings with them were very tender
and affecting. He seldom gave what was called a regular
' valedictory.' He generally delivered only a few practical
counsels ; and when they had sung an hymn, they went forth
their several ways into the world, and into the churches. It
is told that, on one of these occasions, he apologized for the
want of an adequate ' valedictory,' but hoped the students
would be satisfied with a few passages out of his venerable
predecessor's addresses. He took up the book, and began to
read. So affecting, however, were the ideas, that he could
not proceed. The tears flowed down his cheeks. The
students caught the infection, and the Hall, for the nonce,
became a Bochim. Professor Brown, of Haddington, was
quite a master in this class of exhortations, and his students
never lost the solemn impressions which they produced. The
best specimen of his style, in this respect, is the one given in
the Memoir of Dr Waugh (pp, 49, 50, 51), which was drawn
up, and forwarded to the compilers of that dehghtful
biography, by the late much esteemed Rev. David Carruthers,
of South Queensferry.
At another time, he gave out to be sung the 102d Psalm
\
352 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
(Scotch version), from the 13th verse. He had read the long
metre version ; but before the singing began, he said, ' The
meaning of the passage is not contained there ; let us, there-
fore, use the other version.' At this service, also, he was
wont to thank the students for their kind and respectful
manner towards himself. ' I know well,' he once remarked,
' that in doing so you have only done your duty, in conse-
quence of the position I occupy ; nevertheless, I feel I owe
you gratitude. This morning I was reading the history of
the prophet Samuel, and of the manner in which he was
treated in old age, and I could not help thinking how very
differently I was treated, and how far more unworthy I am
of it.' At these partings many of the students were in tears,
as they bade 'farewell' to the venerable sage, and as he
blessed them in his turn. Three of the students had gone to
his house to bid him adieu ; and as he shook them by the
hand, he said, ' You do not return to your place as Joshua
sent away the children of Reuben and the children of Gad —
with much riches of silver and gold ; bat I hope you go
away with your minds stored with Divine truth, and your
hearts with holy affections — a treasure far better.' Then,
turning to one of the three who was in delicate health, he
added, with a faltering voice, ' You are not so well in body
as your friends would wish you ; but you are in the hands of
a good God, who knows what is to be the issue of our afflic-
tions, and the best issue. Farewell!' He had no melan- ,
choly in his constitution, but he was very sensitive to the
impressions which are made by the action either of friendly
or religious sentiments. For instance, as he himself invariably
opened the Hall on Monday, and closed it on Saturday, with
prayer, the students noticed that, in the Saturday prayer, the
hallowed influence of the approaching Sabbath was already
strong upon him ; while in the Monday one, it was evident that
his mind was, as it were, coming out of some peculiarly holy
frame, and preparing itself for only less sacred employment.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES.
Dr Lawson had occupied the chair of Divinity for nearly tea
years, and was pursuing his pastoral and literary labours
with much comfort and success, when he was called upon, for
the first and only time in his life, to enter the arena of con-
troversy. We have no intention to narrate the details of the
matter ; but the influential position which he occupied in it,
justifies a sketch of the ' Old Light Controversy,' as it has
been called, — a controversy which universally agitated the
Church, and for a time threatened very serious injury, both
from the ahenation and separation of brethren. Greatly
owing, however, to the wisdom and moderation of such
leaders as Dr Lawsou, the tumult gradually subsided, and
the dreaded evils were averted. So soon as the fiery spirits
had withdrawn from her pale, the Secession returned to her
rest, and to more than her former prosperity. For once, and
only once in his life, did the peaceful student on the Ettrick
act as the Nestor of his party.
The matter involved in this controversy was the vexed
question of the power of the civil magistrate in rehgion, to-
gether with the obligation of the National Covenant and the
Solemn League and Covenant. The standards of the Church
were then what they are now, the Westminster Confession of
Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, wherein, with-
out doubt, are taught that the magistrate has ecclesiastical
power in the Church ; that he can call and dismiss her
assemblies ; that he can enforce her laws and ordinances, and
z
354 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
inflict pains and penalties upon the refractory and non-con-
forming. Preachers, when licensed, and ministers, when
ordained, were required to declare their belief in such doc-
trines, and to teach them according to the best of their ability.
This declaration was given in answer to a series of questions
called ' The Forynula;' which questions were proposed twice
over to all candidates for the holy ministry — at the time of
license, and again at their ordination. At the period of the
Secession, and for many years after it, these standards were
subscribed without any demurring, just as in the Established
Church of Scotland; but about the year 1795, and indeed
for several years preceding, not a few enlightened and con-
scientious men, having examined the matter seriously and
prayerfully, did not hesitate to make known their reluctance
to yield unqualified subscription to this formula. In some
instances, probationers before taking license, and ministers
before ordination, positively dechned to do so, unless they
had liberty to object to those clauses that taught, or were
supposed to teach, compulsory and intolerant principles in
religion. In every instance in which this liberty was claimed,
it was ceded ; and in all parts of the country the Presbyteries
were, upon these terms, licensing and ordaining to the work
of the ministry the young men whose consciences in this
matter were thus relieved.
The feeling in favour of toleration, or rather against com-
pulsion in matters of faith, soon spread abroad over the
Church, and at length found its way into the deliberations of
the Supreme Court. At the meeting of the Associate Synod
held at Edinburgh in May 1795, a petition was laid upon the
table, praying for such a change in the standards as would
correspond with the views now so generally entertained.
The petitioner was the Rev. John Frazer, of Auchtermuchty.
A series of very keen discussions in this and following Synods
was the result. By one party the change petitioned for was
insisted upon as wise, righteous, and indispensable; by the
THE POLEMIC A^D HIS ASSOCIATES. 355
other party all or any change was strenuously resisted. The
former obtained the 'nom de guerre' of the *New Light,'
and were by far the most numerous and influential men in the
Church. The latter were designated the ' Old Light,' and
were the firm and fierce defenders of things as they were ;
the old leaven, in short, that still worketh in all the opposi-
tion to progress and toleration aUke in State and Church.
' The wisdom of our ancestors ' was inscribed on their ban-
ners. After nearly a four years' war, it was moved and
carried in the Synod of 1799, that there should be prefixed to
the Formula a declaration disowning all compulsory measures
in religion ; and, while acknowledging the obligation of the
Covenants, giving every one the fullest liberty to put his own
construction upon the nature of such obligation. This
declaration was prefixed to the Formula, and received the
title of the Preamble, thus qualifying all the questions that
followed, and determining their import. A small minority of
ministers and elders contented themselves with entering upon
the minutes a simple dissent from this resolution ; but im-
mediately thereafter, they withdrew entirely from their
brethren and formed themselves into a separate body, ycleped
' The Original Associate Synod,' alias ' The Old Light
Burghers.'
Now, the part taken by the Professor in this controversy
was from the first decided. Convinced that the disallowance
of the magistrate's power, and the obligation of the Cove-
nants, was demanded aUke by Scripture and reason, he
calmly but manfully entered the arena of debate, and did not
retire from it till he had, if not confounded, at least dis-
persed the opposition. Upon the subject under dispute, his
clear and penetrating judgment never hesitated ; and what he
conscientiously believed he boldly avowed. Indeed, he was
far ahead of many of the brethren with whom he acted, and
advocated a more thorough and complete change. The
Formula then was the somewhat modified or provisional
356 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
measure which passed; for there were in the Synod three
parties : the obstructives, who were opposed to any change ;
the middle-men, who were friendly to the measure of compro-
mise which was ultimately adopted ; and the advanced section,
who were for such an entire and unmistakeable change, as to
preclude the necessity for all future discussion and legisla-
tion upon the disputed points. To this third party I)r
Lawson belonged, and he was joined in a dissent from the
deed by seventeen ministers, whose names deserve to be held,
and are held, in much esteem among us — Dr Hall, Dr Peddie,
Dr Dick, Dr Jack, Dr Kidston, Dr Schaw, Mr Leckie, Mr
Eussell, Mr Haddin, Mr Dewar, Mr R. Hall, Mr Leitch,
Mr Gilchrist, Mr Dick, Mr Cameron, Mr Yule, and Mr
Lata — the enhghtened and far-seeing pioneers of that rising
and growing cause of our time, the spirituality and indepen-
dence of the Church of Christ. It cannot fail to draw to
itself the solemn attention of the Churches' leaders in these
times, that the very principle which was the subject of con-
troversy at that period within the pale of the Church, has
now been transferred from the arena of simple and abstract
debate, to fight its way miUtantly in the courts of Caesar
himself — not dialectically between party and party in the
Church judicatories, but practically in the outworks of secu-
lar contention — Auchterarder and Cardross being the Redan
and Malakoff" of the deeply interesting contest. Of the result
there can be no doubt. It is simply a question of time. A
few years hence the high and mighty position taken by Dr
Lawson and his friends, will be maintained by all the friends
of Him whose kingdom is not of this world. It may be
claimed as one of the finest compliments to the United Pres-
byterian Church, that she has seldom lacked men to fore-
warn and prepare the world for the adoption of such mea-
sures as have greatly helped to bring glory to God in the
highest, peace on earth, and good will to men.
In the course of this controversy on the magistrate's power
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 357
in the Church, the Professor published a pamphlet, ia which
he strongly advocates the views of toleration and progress.
His little work was entitled, ' Considerations on the Overture
lying before the Associate Synod, respecting some alterations
in the Formula concerning the power of the Civil Magistrate
in matters of Religion ; and the Obligation of our Covenants,
National and Solemn League, on Posterity.' In eighty-three
large duodecimo pages, closely printed, he discusses the
whole question in dispute, with a dignity and confidence only
equalled by its metaphysical and logical power. It is, in-
deed, a masterly production, and entitles him to be classed
among the princes of theological polemics. There is not a
cloud upon the view he takes from first to last ; and, now
that the din and dust of the contention have departed, we
can conceive of nothing so imposing as the position he occu-
pied throughout. He occupies it still, and posterity will ever
be ready, with new laurel wreaths, to adorn this ' in memoria.'
While tenaciously grasping indestructible principles, it teaches
forbearance in all minor and non-essential matters. A style
slightly colloquial, but without enfeebling familiarity, a rich
vein of common sense levelling the abstruse to the humblest
mind, a felicity and purity of illustration which profits even
more than it pleases, and a beauteous spirit of charity bap-
tizing every sentence, and breathing in every sentiment, give
a character to the whole scarcely less unique than elevated
and imperial. Compulsion and intolerance, defeated and dis-
crowned, are made to hide their diminished heads, while
ancestral bonds are seen to denude themselves of superannua-
tion. His motto, from Vitringa, strikes the key-note to the
whole, and deserves as much as ever to be studied in our
day :—
' Majoribus nostris eam debemus reverentiam, ut quae tra-
dita ab ipsis posteritate sint, ante non rejeciantur, quam dil-
ligenter et accurate expensa sint. Quo tamen officio si quis
probe defunctus ex certissimis nihil-ominus argumentis calligat
358 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
eos errasse, turn existimamus, villissimi ac ignobilis animi esse,
vel in iisdem cum ipsis pertinacitur perseverare, vel eos quavis
modo velle palliare.'
Dr Lawson was well aware that his pamphlet would greatly
irritate his opponents, and perhaps lead to schism in the
body; but he acted under the direction of an enlightened
conscience, and in obedience to principles which he held to be
more important than ecclesiastical unity. He had perceived
and acted upon Whately's proposition, before the Archbishop
was out of the nursery, viz., that ' to give up everything that
is worth contending about, in order to prevent hurtful con-
tentions, is, for the sake of extirpating noxious weeds, to
condemn the field to perpetual sterility.'
Dr William Peddie, in the memoir of his father, speaks of
this ' brochure ' as a work which exhibits ' perhaps more fully
than any of the author's other writings, that depth and
simplicity of thought, and that apostolic meekness of wisdom,
for which the venerable Professor was so highly esteemed.'
Dr Adam Thomson says, ' His first publication, if it did not
give a new impulse to the public mind, contributed, at any
rate, in no small degree to encourage that liberal turn of
thinking now so common among the members of that ecclesi-
astical court of which he was long so distinguished an
ornament.' Dr Brown pronounces these 'Considerations' to be
' a monument of his godly sincerity and meekness of wisdom ;
a valuable document as to one of the most important crises
in the ecclesiastical history of this country.' He adds, ' The
flood of maUgnant calumny and scurrility which was poured
on Dr Lawson at this time would be incredible, did not literse
scriptae manent.' Dr Balmer was often heard to speak loudly
in its praise, as ' an eminently powerful and useful publication,
transcending perhaps all he ever wrote.' Dr M'Kerrow, in
his lucid history of the whole affair, states, ' If he had Uved
during the reign of Charles II., of heresy-suppressing memory,
a pamphlet containing such sentiments on the power of the
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 359
magistrate would have been burned by the hands of the
common hangman ; and the author, in all probability, for his
temerity in publishing it. would have been gibbeted at the
Grassmarket.' Dr Cairns says, ' It pleads the cause of
mutual forbearance on the points at issue, which still form the
grounds of division among Scottish Presbyterians, with a
power of argument and a sweetness of charity that almost en-
title it to rank beside Robert Hall's " Terms of Communion." '
This pamphlet had especially a most salutary and soothing
effect in Stirlingshire and the adjacent counties, where some
of the bitterest ' Old Light ' men Uved, Among the congre-
gations in these shires the controversy raged keenly, and some
of them were torn asunder in the most alarming manner.
Men, women, and children rushed into the fray, and threatened
an extensive secession. Dr Lawson, however, now not only
cast oil upon the waters, but turned the tide completely in
favour of toleration. Extracts from the ' Considerations,'
racy and pithy, might have been given, but space forbids.
The work remains among our archives, to be brought forward
as power in reserve for the coming struggle. In the mean-
time, let it be labelled as the only stone from the brook which
was ever slung by Dr Lawson, and which slew the Gohath of
the day.
While this controversy lasted, pamphlets appeared on
both sides, lustily advocating the different views. Among
the earUest and most telling of these, was the Synod sermon
of Dr Dick. He was then at Slateford, and only of a few
years' standing in the ministry. The report of the committee
appointed to consider Mr Frazer's overture was laid upon
the table of the Synod which met in September 1795, and of
which Synod Dr Dick was moderator. At the following
meeting, in April 1796, he preached the sermon referred to,
from the text, ' Hold fast the form of sound words,' and after-
wards published it. He therein discusses the subject of
Confessions of Faith, proves them to be necessary, and ex-
360 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
plains the duty of Christians with respect to them. He
strongly urges forbearance in the matters then agitating the
Church ; and, in an appendix, he states that if ^forbearance '
cannot be exercised on these, there could be no field for its
exercise but one so contracted as to make the exercise of it
comparatively useless. This sermon produced great com-
motion among the advocates for things as they were. They
were much irritated that one so young should presume to
demand such forbearance, and particularly that this should
have the weight and authority of the moderator of the Synod.
But before a man of judgment and prudence could take this
course, he must have been sure of the sympathy and appro-
bation of his brethren ; and Dr Dick was not mistaken. No
doubt his views were attacked in bitter and unchristian
replies : they Avere made the subject of complaint to the
Synod itself; and when the Old Light party withdrew, it was
formally stated by them that Dr Dick's sermon was one of
their reasons for taking the step.
In connection with this fight of pamphlets, must be men-
tioned one by Dr Porteous, minister of the Established
Church in Glasgow, and entitled, ' The New Light examined,
or observations on the proceedings of the Associate Synod
against their own Standards.' In this contemptible piece of
slander the Synod was held up to scorn, and even charged
with heresy and sedition ; but this, like every other calumny,
soon met its Nemesis. Dr Peddle, of Edinburgh, at once
stood forth to chastise this accuser of the brethren ; and
right heartily and justly did he lay the rod on the fool's
back. His famous satire — for such the reply may be called —
and there is nothing in Juvenal himself that excels it — was
entitled, ' A Defence of the Associate Synod against the
charge of Sedition, addressed to Wm. Porteous, D.D. This
reply contains a formal refutation of the charge of pohtical
disaffection. It assumes the charge to be unworthy of serious
notice, and proceeds most successfully to demolish the argu-
THE POLEMIC AND HIS-ASSOCIATES. 361
ments by which it is supported ; these being proved to be a
series of mistakes, falsehoods, conceits, and conjectures.
Burning, shrivelling, annihilating sarcasm was heaped upon
and buried this little bottle-imp, which, with its clerical eon-
juror, was never in this strife seen or heard of again. Con-
cerning this reply of Dr Peddie, it was testified that it was
much admired at the time for its delicate yet keen satire,
and the clearness, strength, and elegance of its reasoning.
The late distinguished Dugald Stewart recommended it to
his students as one of the most masterly pieces of classical
sarcasm in our language ; and Dr M'Kerrow most truth-
fully says, that, ' for dignified reproof, for caustic severity,
for pointed and lucid statement, and for a thorough exposure
of blundering and sophistical reasoning, it stands almost
unrivalled in the annals of controversial warfare. The casti-
gatioa was administered by the hand of a master, and must
have been felt by the subject of it as dreadfully severe : but
it was not more severe than merited.' ' It can scarcely be
conceived,' says a venerable father in the Synod, ' what au
effect it produced in the discomfiture of our enemies and in
raising the spirit of our friends. It was boxed, with the other
papers, in the process which arose out of the Old Light
separation, and was frequently referred to by the lawyers in
their pleadings, as well as by the judges. As for the poor
man who had provoked such punishment, he immediately
sunk into contempt under a weight of ridicule and scorn, and
was forgotten and neglected.'
Dr Alexander, referring to it in his ' Life of Dr Wardlaw,'
says, * It drove him (Dr Porteous), with the scorched and
blasted laurels of his shortUved popularity, into an obscurity
from which he was wise enough never again to venture forth.'
Dr Wardlaw, too, at that time a student at Selkirk, wrote the
satirical poem, ' Porteousiana,' which, though never printed,
had a large circulation among his friends. There is much
keen and pure satire in it, and it lets out not a little of that
362 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
high-souled love of liberty for which, in after years, the author
became so distinguished. Having entered on his theme, he
says,—
' Athough the Rev. Mr Peddie
Has answered you so well already,
And given you such a hearty scrub,
I can't refrain a passing rub.'
Having assumed that the favourite demon of Porteous was
' Mahce,' he says, —
' The two their heads together laid,
And schemed their cursed plot ;
The demon Malice dictated,
And Dr Porteous wrote.'
Thus, at a time when principles we hold to be dearer than
life were trembling in the balance, there were found to defend
them men not wanting in any requisite to a fearless and
irresistible contest for the truth. We may have good hope
for the future, when these principles shall be again, and likely
for the last time, put upon their trial. Lawson, Dick, and
Peddie shall have their successors in the field. On not a few
have their mantles fallen. But, even though a pseudo policy
were for a season to confine the champions within the citadel
of compromise, and were to dispose them to the use of ex-
pedient shibboleths, there is ample material reserved in these
old stores, from out of which intolerance has already been met
and mastered. In these times, when so many old writings
are again printed and introduced to the public, a reprint of
the three treatises at which we have been looking would be
better than a mere speculation in trade. It might serve to
brighten up the public mind on by far the most important
question of the day.
The course of controversy, like other courses, runs not
always smooth. Hence, Dr Lawson and his coadjutors soon
met the reward of unflinching faithfulness : they became the
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 363
best abused men in their Synod ; and no means was left un-
tried by the leaders of the ' Old Light,' to heap accusation
and reproach upon them. What between the ' Effectual
Remedies,' prescribed by Mr Taylor, of Levenside, after-
wards of Perth, and the ' Smooth Stones from the Brook,'
slung by Mr WiUis, of Greenock, afterwards of Stirhng, the
three heroes of the ' New Light ' were sadly set upon. The
Professor, from his official position, and the strength of it, drew
upon himself the essence of intolerant wrath. His pamphlet
received a similar honour to that given to Dr Dick's, and was
made the subject of formal testimony-bearing on the part of
the separating brethren. His orthodoxy, his loyalty, and his
fitness for his office, were all vehemently and almost savagely
assailed. And what was it that extorted such bitterness
from his opponents ? What was the heresy ? Where was
the treason ? Simply in this, that he had maintained and
defended the following thesis, and the paragraph is worthy to
be written in letters of gold : — ' It was never the sentiment
of men approved in Christ, that any religious doctrine should
be an article of communion among Christians. It was not
the sentiment of Polycarp, or of Ireneeus his friend, or of
Luther or Calvin, the great reformers of the Church. It was
not the sentiment of the great men of God who flourished in
Scotland in her best times. It was not the sentiment of our
fathers in the Secession. To those, if there be any, who will
hold no Christian or ministerial communion but with men of
the same judgment on every point with themselves, we may
say as Constantine did to a Novatian Bishop at the Council
of Nice, " Make a ladder, and climb up to heaven by your-
selves."'^ He met, however, all attacks with dignified silence,
leaving his own and his brethren's publications to do their
work quietly and efficiently ; aud they did it. The Church
was not rent in pieces, after all : only a few fiery and factious
spirits were ejected, and the Secession rested.
' Considerations, etc., p. 9. Second Edition.
364 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
The Professor was urged to reply to his opponents, whom
Dr Wardlaw, in his satire, represents as
' Poor senseless fillies,
From Lawson gone to Willie Willis ;'
but he refused to do so. He knew the true philosophy of
mere party spirit, and kept silence, believing, with the Uberal
Prelate of Dublin, that ' many a one is so far gone in party
as to be proof-proof, and cares no more for facts than the
leviathan does for spears.' Nothing could provoke him to
render railing for railing. ' I have more than once heard,'
he writes to one of his friends, ' that things are said in my
name very remote from the truth ; but I paid no regard to
them, because I was persuaded they would make no impres-
sion, or very shortlived, on any person whose good opinion I
wished to cultivate. I had read a story when I was a boy,
in an old author, called Yalerius Maximus, which I have
never forgot, and which I consider as a rule for my conduct.
Plato, hearing that one of his friends had aspersed his cha-
racter, replied, " I will endeavour to live so as that nobody will
believe him." There is no part of my character about which
I am less solicitous than my reputation for integrity. I am
pretty certain, from my own consciousness, joined with the
testimony of my father concerning my years of childhood,
that, since I could use my tongue, I have never polluted it
with a wilful lie.' His reply to Mr Walker, of Mauchhne, who
had been one of his students, is very characteristic : ' All we,'
said Mr Walker, ' who have studied at Selkirk, are deter-
mined to abide by you, and defend you as best we can.'
' Well, then,' repUed the Professor, ' the best defence you can
make is to preach well.' It was the truth, and not himself,
that he cared for. Knowing his firm purpose not to reply
to the scurrilous personal abuse to which he was for a time
subjected, his brethren, at a meeting of Synod, were rather
taken by surprise, when, in alluding to a certain pamphlet, he
said, ' I mean to answer it.' ' What, Doctor !' one said, ' will
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 365
you reply to a production so false, and so full of spite?'
' Yes, I shall,' said he ; 'I preached a sermon last Sabbath on
lying, and I intend to publish it.' When the controversy
was at its height, he went to assist at the communion in
Glasgow. He was to officiate on the Friday evening ; and
the weather being very tempestuous, the audience was small.
A friend came into the vestry after the service, who was
afraid lest Dr Lawson should attribute the smallness of the
audience to an indication of displeasure in the public, and
assured him it was entirely owing to the weather. The good
man, first of all, repeated a stanza in Latin, in which there
was a double allusion to the storm and to the prejudice, and
then added, ' It is but a little cloud, and will soon blow past.'
' Why,' it was asked again, ' do you not repel these foul and
slanderous attacks ?' ' Why,' said he, quoting the language of
the heathen philosopher, ' why should I kick an ass because
an ass has kicked me ? ' When it was hinted that the epithet
he had used might be appropriated by his most virulent
assailant, he said, ' I will be sorry indeed if he do so ; and if
he should think that I applied it to him, I shall never use
the language again.'
The following documents, worthy of preservation, will be
read with interest, as manifesting the precious sympathy of
his brethren with him under the calumnious treatment to
which he had been exposed for his noble stand in defence of
religious toleration : —
' Dttoblane, March 28, 1799.
' Very dear Sir, — Being assembled at Dunblane on a
friendly visit, it has occurred to us to write you a few lines,
and to assure you of what you will readily believe, our
high esteem and warm regard. You have been dear to us
all ever since we had the pleasure of your acquaintance ;
but our esteem and affection have been increased of late
by the appearances which you have been called to make
366 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
in the defence of truth, in which abihty, candour, and meek-
ness are so conspicuous. Our indignant feehngs, we acknow-
ledge, are roused by the uncandid and malignant abuse with
which you are loaded in certain infamous publications. But
you know that you are reproached for the name of Christ,
and you cannot be unhappy. The great Head Himself feels
the persecution you suffer. May He grant repentance to
the acknowledgment of the truth, to those men who are its
authors.
' Our best wishes, dear sir, always attend you. May your
labours in the cause of Christ and mankind be marked with
signal triumph over the opposing legions of hell and earth !
You have the approbation of those whom you love and esteem ;
you have an approving mind ; and we have no doubt of your
being supported by the well-grounded hope of the approba-
tion of Him to whose service and honour you have devoted
your Ufe and talents.
' Accept, dear Sir, this spontaneous expression of esteem
and regard from your very affectionate friends and brethren,
' Michael Gilfillan, Dunblane.
David Greig, Lochgelly.
James Husband, Dunfermline.
William Haddin, Limekilns.
James Macfarlane, DunfermUne.
John Smart, Stirling.
Henry Belfrage, Falkirk.
Jajies Hay, Kinross.'
' P.S. — We have not yet had the pleasure of seemg Mr
Fletcher, but are just setting out to visit him.'
' Rosebank, hy Stirling, March 28, 1799. — My dear Brother,
— Bodily indisposition precluded me from the pleasure of
accompanying my brethren in their friendly excursion this
day to Dunblane, but I now most cordially concur with them
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 367
in the above ; and afti, with real regard and esteem, most
affectionately yours, ' ' Rob. Campbell, Jr.'
' AucHTERMUCHTT, llth June 1799.
' Rev. dear Sir, — We have observed with grief the
reproach which of late you have suffered on account of your
principles and conduct. We consider you as suffering for
righteousness' sake, in which you are conformed to some of
the most excellent characters. When we reflect upon the
place which you hold in our esteem and affection, and the
station you occupy in the Church of God, we think it our
duty to express our high approbation of your opinions and
conduct, the sorrow which we feel on account of the un-
warrantable manner in which you have been attacked, and
our earnest desire that you may have comfort from God, and
be long preserved for a blessing to your family and to the
Church. ' Jedh. Airman, Perth.
David Hepburn, Newburgh.
John Jajheson, Scone.
James Dick.
John Rae.
George Wigton.
John Stewart, Liverpool.'
The Rev. George Lawson, Selkirk.
The conduct of his students at this time is also worthy of
notice. Disgusted as well as offended with the attacks made
upon their Professor, they unanimously sent up to the Synod
a most interesting and valuable representation, — a represen-
tation full of promise to the future interests of the Church,
and a promise which was most honourably fulfilled in after
years, when these students, as ministers of the Gospel, were
called upon to act out the principles of religious liberty in
their own vocation, and to defend them when exposed to
misrepresentation or to peril.
368 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Fortunately for the interest of this memoir, a few of Dr
Lawson's letters have been found, written about the time of
these discussions and dissensions to his friend Dr Kidston, of
Glasgow. They have been reserved till now, as, from the
slight sketch of matters here given, the allusions in them will
be the easier understood. With these are intermingled a few
others from Dr Husband, with whom, upon the subject of the
' overture,' the Professor was in frequent correspondence.
Dr Husband, indeed, all through the controversy, was the
most eloquent and powerful pleader at the bar of the Synod
in favour of the principles of religious toleration. He did not,
however, advocate the extreme views of the more ' advanced
men,' but stuck to the resolution that was ultimately carried.
Dr Laivson to Dr Kidston.
' Selkirk, April 1, 1796.
' Deae William, — I received yours this week, but have
been little at home since I received it till this day. That part
of it which relates to the frequent dispensation of the Lord's
Supper I will pass over till I see you, with my thanks for the
book you sent me.
' I should certainly have shown all due respect to the de-
sire of the Presbytery respecting Mr Currie's examination,
but I have reason to believe that he is not at present in this
country. A few weeks ago I was in his father's house, which
is six miles from Selkii'k ; and he told me that he was then
residing either at Lanark, or perhaps, rather, at Glasgow.
He is a weaver (of what kind I have forgot). Mr M'MiJlan,
merchant, or Walter Gowanloek, from our place, will be able,
I suppose, to direct you where to find him. I know that he
bore testimony in a civil court to the guilt of the woman in
question ; but I am not sure whether I could have prevailed
on his father to have permitted him to do it again, before us,
at this distance of time, without seeing his former deposition.
I am sorry for Mr Wyllie's affliction. He was a young
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 369
man for whom I entertained, and still entertain, a high esteem.
I hope he will not be left to revolt from the doctrine of the
Gospel. God preserve us from mistaking our path in these
days of clouds and thick darkness.
' I am sorry to hear of the contentions we are likely to
have at the next meeting of Synod. I wish our zealous
brethren would maturely consider the consequences of their
opposition to the overture, if it should be attended with suc-
cess. I think it would be easy to prove that none ought to
oppose it, who are not well convinced from the Word of God
that their brethren of opposite sentiments deserve not only to
be deposed and excommunicated, but even hanged. It is
clear that, according to the national covenant, every man is
to be esteemed a rebel against the king who does not profess
his satisfaction with the doctrine of our old Confession of
Faith ; and this Confession, more clearly than the West-
minster one, asserts the compulsory power of the magistrate
in matters of religion.
' I am writing my thoughts on the overture ; and I believe
some brother better qualified than I might do service to our
body by a publication on the subject. But it would be
" periculosEe plenum opus alcEe." — I am, yours aifectionately,
' G. Lawson.'
Dr Lawson to Dr Kidston.
' Selkirk, March 1797.
' Dear William, — I am glad to hear that your opinion
coincides with mine about Mr Willis. I was this week at
Kelso, in company with Messrs Hall, Greig, Elder, and
Young. We were all vexed at hearing, by a letter from the
north, that the Presbytery designed to libel Mr Willis, and
agreed in opinion, that it would probably seyve his views if
he were forcibly driven out from us. They all desired me
to let you know their sentiments.
' After all, I know not what consequences might attend a
2 A
370 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
meeting between Mr Willis and me in the west. Perhaps
altercations might take place that might lay me under the
necessity of libelling him. For this and other reasons, I
would gladly be excused from coming to you at this time ;
and I promise, if you can provide an assistant at present, that
I will be ready afterwards to assist you, if the Lord will.
' I wish, if possible, to have every reproach cast upon me
to die a natural death. The famous Dr Boerhaave was of the
same mind. He never troubled himself to confute calumnies :
for, he said, they are sparks which, if you blow them up, will
kindle into a flame ; if you let them alone, they will expire.
' I should be glad to see you at Glasgow some time in the
course of the year. But whether I see you or not, I will
always rejoice to hear of your welfare, and happiness, and
success in the work of the Lord. I am happy to hear that
the two brethren, of whom you spoke, take no part with
Mr Willis. It was what I expected from their good sense.
It seems strange, that a performance designed to maintain
Presbyterian principles should be such a flagrant violation of
them ; and that a man so exceedingly zealous for the covenants
of our fathers, should be so little conscientious in observing
his own personal engagements as to libel me before the world,
without using the constitutional means for so long a space to
bring me to repentance, or to procure my expulsion from the
body, when he alleges that I ought to be excommunicated.
' I know not yet what effect his performance may have in
this place, where I have just now heard of its making its
appearance ; but I know that my name and my usefulness are
in the hand of a gracious God. — I am, yours affectionately,
' G. Lawson.'
Dr Husband to Dr Lawson,
' Perth, Augusts, 1796.
' My dear Friend, — Your very agreeable favour was put
into my hand, during the first psalm before the sermon, on
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 371
the third Sabbath of July. I was obliged to put it instantly
into my pocket, and to turn away my attention from one of
ray best earthly friends, to Him who endured such contradic-
tion of sinners against Himself. I took the first oppor-
tunity of perusing it. The very sensible pleasure it gave
rae had a mixture of regret, occasioned by the absence
of the writer, with whom, on that occasion, we used to en-
joy so sweet counsel. I did not fail to mention you to all
the friends who were present, who felt in the same manner
as myself. Our assistants were, Messrs Thine, Waters,
Greig, Baird, and H. Belfrage. Mr Wardlaw, too, with his
son, added to our agreeable society. And all of them joined
in expressing sincere wishes for your welfare, as well as regret
for your absence. If the Lord spare and prosper us till next
year, I hope Mr Lawson will do me a greater favour than
write me a letter in the month of July.
' I have heard nothing since I was at the sacrament at
Edinburgh, about the manuscript relating to the overture.
I understood that Mr Peddle was to get it prepared for the
press. By the partial perusal which I gave it, I should think
it exceedingly fitted to answer the end intended. Something,
I am convinced, ought to be done for enlightening the pubhc
mind. Some of our brethren on the opposite side are, I
understand, as violent in their public declamations as they
were in the year 1747. What may be the result I do
not know. One thing is certain, that no dread of conse-
quences should make us dishonest men. And though to
forbear one another in love should be scouted ever so
violently, it is a part of the testimony of Jesus, which, I
hope, will never be abandoned. My own opinions on the
subject are the productions of so commonplace a genius,
that I cannot see them to be worthy of the public eye.
Something, however, must be done, and I have sometimes
thought of enlightening at least our own congregation on
the subject ; but I hope to have something better than any-
372 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
thing of my own to put into their hands. Mr Dick's sermon
is excellent in its way ; but we need something that will
enter more particularly into the subject ; and I am persuaded
what you have written is fitted to have much weight with
the public mind. — Yours, most cordially,
' James Husband.'
Dr Husband to Dr Laioson.
' DuNFKRMLiNE, \Zth March 1797.
' My dear Friend, — . . . . The part of the pamphlet
which I did not see in manuscript, pleases me as much as that
which I saw ; and I make no doubt but something further
from your pen will be of use. I can see no objection against
your executing your purpose. The people need enligJdening
very much. Mr Peddie writes me, that you are making
converts on their side of the Avater. With us you are, at
least, confirming people in their attachment to truth and
moderation ; and I make no doubt but you will be the means
of preventing many who have not yet pledged themselves
from pursuing violent measures. Some of our people have
gone so far, that I question if the reasoning of an angel
would bring them round. Yet, even of our violent people,
some have become more calm ; and I have even reason to
think that there are some conversions.
' We have met with a good deal of trouble. A paper of a
very mischievous nature was a good while in circulation
before I knew of it. The subscribers condemned Mr
Macfarlane and me as having renounced our ordination vows,
because we do not mention the Covenants at baptism, and
pledged themselves to abide by a minority in the Synod,
should the majority go against their views. I was obhged
to address the people on the subject, which, I believe, has had
a good effect. The papers are no more heard of. Some
have withdrawn their names, others confess they were wrong,
though a number, I believe, are still obstinate. The zeal of a
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 373
number of people respectable for character and good sense is
raised ; and one very comfortable circumstance in our situation
is, that I believe a great number of our session are in our own
way. In short, the matter, though bad, perhaps does not look
so ill as it once did ; and I am not without my hopes that a
great majority of our congregation will go the right way.
' I am not without my apprehension that the overture, in
its present form, either will not pass, or if it do, that it will
produce an extensive breach. Though, to me, still the best
measure hitherto proposed, it is, of all others, to many the
most obnoxious. Multitudes are pledged against it, and
multitudes do not understand it. The spirit of it ought, I
think, never to be departed from ; but a number of its friends
are of opinion that something may be obtained under a
different and less obnoxious form. There are liberal prin-
ciples in our testimony which it is proposed to bring forward,
and set the Formula in the light of them. A meeting is pro-
posed to take place at Queensferry, with a view to digest the
measure. A number, I am told, are to attend. I am not
yet invited, but I expect an invitation. 0 that you were
there. Write me if you could think of coming.
' I am much honoured by your expressions of regard.
Amidst my afflictions it is a consolation that I have friends
who are inferior to none in every kind of worth. But may I
look higher than the best of earthly consolations, and be
enabled to pursue the path of duty through good report and
bad report.
' I hope to see your supplement in a short time. — I am,
my dear friend, yours always, ' James HusBAm).'
Dr Husband to Dr Laivson.
' Dunfermline, January 2, 1799.
' My dear ^RIE^^D, — I have often of late reproached my-
self with ingratitude in not replying to your kind letter, in
which you take such friendly notice of my providential escape
374 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
when in imminent danger. To the God of my life I desire to
ascribe the praise, and am sensible that I ought to feel the
obligation to devote my life wholly to His service.
' I paid all the attention in my power to the particulars
mentioned in your letter. Copies of your sermon I presented
in your name to the friends you mention. I also mentioned
to Messrs Greig, Peddle, and R. Hall your grant of supply
to the congregations in the north, which I hope has been
attended to.
' Your sermon I read with pleasure and unqualified appro-
bation. How did it surprise me to see it attacked with such
asperity as heterodox and Arminian ; but on second tlioughts
it did not appear so surprising that it should be treated in
such a manner by persons whose principles seem to be those
of Fatalisin. I understand you have written a reply, which I
hope to see in the next number of the Magazine.
' There is a good deal of asperity in the criticism. But it
is mildness, and gentleness, and fair representation when
compared with " A Smooth Stone from the Brook." I dare
not give myself scope in writing as I feel, at the thoughts of
such low and unmannerly abuse. How unworthy of one
under the name of a Christian minister ! Such despicable
Billingsgate should, I think, defeat its own end. That cause
is much to be suspected that needs to be defended by such
weapons. Do you think it worthy of reply ? I am sure you
are incapable of answering it in its own style, and mere abuse
cannot be reasoned with.
' There is just now before me a story of Melancthon : per-
haps you have met with it ; but lest you should not, I shall
transcribe it, because it seems to be important. That great
and amiable man being the subject of much virulent abuse
for his part in the Reformation, was strongly urged to publish
a vindication of his conduct. " I will answer you," said he,
" as my little daughter did me. She had one day been sent
on an errand, and stayed much longer than she ought to
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 375
have done. I met her on the street, and said to her, ' Now,
child, what will you say to your mother when she chides you
for staying so long V 'I will say nothing,' replied the poor
child."
' The above story I have extracted from " Dr Aitken's
Letters to his Son," in which there is an admirable one ou
reply in controversy. I shall transcribe two or three
sentences. " A writer pubhshes his sentiments on a contro-
verted point in politics or theology, and supports them by
the best arguments in his power. A hot-headed champion
rises on the opposite side, who in print styles his notions
impious or seditious, his arguments trivial and absurd, in-
sults his person, vilifies his sense and learning, and im-
putes to him the worst motives. What matter is there in all
this for an answer ? The writer does not mean to disavow
his opinions because an opponent thinks ill of them. His
arguments are not refuted by the abuse of one who, perhaps,
from incapacity or ignorance, is utterly unable to comprehend
them."
' I hope you do not think me intrusive with my opinion. I
do not mean to say that nothing more should be published
on the subject in dispute. Perhaps your essay on " After
Vows making Enquiry " would now be seasonable. You left
it with me, but I certainly gave it to Mr Greig, to whom I
shall mention it the first time I see him. I must have another
reading of it.
' You are meeting with the same treatment as almost every
man has met with who had the honesty and courage to attack
prejudice and bigotry. But you have powerful support.
You have the approbation of those whose approbation you
covet, of your own mind, and, above all, of Him to whom
you have devoted your talents and your life, and you know
that your labour will not be in vain in the Lord.
' Farewell. — My dear Sir, yours most cordially.
' James Husband.
376 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Dr Lawson to Dr Kidston.
' Selkirk, May 1799.
' Dear William, — Yesterday I received your letter, and
am duly sensible of the regard you express for me when you
so earnestly desire my assistance at your communion. But
I hope, upon consideration, you will agree with me that it
would not be expedient for me to appear in Glasgow, where
such endeavours are used to destroy my usefulness. Let the
noise that has been raised sink into silence, and then, if the
Lord will, I shall make another journey to you with pleasure.
I certainly would think my journey well bestowed for your
sake, as well as for your father's, since it would give you
pleasure.
' I have no intention at present to libel my neighbour, who
has used such freedoms with my character. I know and am
persuaded that the Lord will send from heaven and deUver
me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up.
' I suspect that Mr Willis has an intention of leaving us,
and that it would gratify him to be libelled. He surely can-
not intend to live in communion with me, and several others
of the brethren, without seeing a change in our conduct,
which he cannot expect. If he keeps communion with us
without a very great change either in himself or in us, his
practice must most evidently give the lie to his writings.
' When I saw his first number, I considered with myself,
that Mr Willis had one design and the devil another, and
that God had a design differei^t from both. Let us endea-
vour, if possible, to disappoint the devil, and to endure
chastisement and trial from God as becometh Christians.
' I do not think it difficult to bear reproach as a stoic, but
to bear it as becometh saints, we need the grace of the Spirit
of love and prayer. How can we find in our hearts to pray
for pardon, if we do not forgive ?
' David and Paul are excellent teachers of charity towards
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 377
those that wrong us, and why should we not at least endea-
vour, through Divine mercy, to exercise charity to our
enemies ? Let them curse when the Lord hath bidden them.
It may be the Lord will requite us good for their cursing.
' It will oblige me much if you will give a good advice or
admonition to Sandy, as he may happen to need it, or to ask
him what he has been learning from the Bible or other books.
' I am sorry for the distress of your brother. It is to be
hoped that it will do him good in his latter end. We need
all the troubles that we endure, and they will all of them be
useful to us through prayer, and through the supply of the
Spirit of Jesus Christ.
' I would have been glad to hear what impression the
pamphlets are making in your neighbourhood, and whether
any of the brethren are likely to take part with Mr Willis.
Mr Anderson will be in Glasgow within two weeks. By him
I hope to hear from you. May God restore your brother's
health, and may He grant peace to His Church. — I am, yours,
with cordial affection, ' G. Lawson.'
' I will be glad to hear that the zeal of my quondam pupils
for my reputation has not transported them beyond the
bounds of moderation. I should be glad, likewise, to hear
how our young students in Glasgow proceed with their
studies. Mr Brown was not in good health when he left us.
You will be able to inform me if he is quite recovered. I
don't know if you have been informed concerning the health
of Mr Beatton, a friend of Mr Shaw. My sincere wishes for
the health and prosperity of my Glasgow friends will not be
doubted.
Dr Lawson to Dr Kidston.
' Selkirk, August 1799.
' Dear William, — Your father is now well, as far as I
am informed.
378 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
' I wrote a letter to you two weeks ago, but missed the
opportunity of sending it. I should have been glad to see
my book on the Proverbs, because it contains all that I re-
member to have said to the students about politics.
' If you have it by you, and would turn to the chapter about
Kings, you might be able to tell your friends what these
seditious principles are which I have taken pains to inculcate.
If it could be safely sent, I should be glad to see it.
'I have no present intention of answering Mr Taylor's
book ; but I have begun to write some observations on the
charges which he lays against me. If I can find leisure to
finish them, I propose to have them in Edinburgh nest week
to meet emergencies.
' I shall be happy to resign my post when the good of the
Church may be promoted by it. At present I think it more
advisable to hold it, if the Synod permits me, and to bear the
odium that seems to attend it till it can be transferred to
another in a state less liable to that incumbrance. But I will
not vote for Mr Taylor as my successor till he renounces
his opinion of the servility that ought to be annexed to it.
' I have not time at present to trouble you with a long
letter. God grant peace to His Church, and wisdom to our
Supreme Court. — I am, yours affectionately,
' G. Lawson.'
Dr Hushcmd to Dr Lcavson.
' DuNFEEMLiNE, Avc/ust 22, 1799.
' Mr DEAR Friend, — You will receive this by Mr Smith,
a well-behaved modest young man, and I beUeve exercised to
godliness.
' I am happy to be informed by Mr Greig that you intend
being at the Synod. Your presence may be necessary on
various accounts. United counsel is necessary at the crisis.
It may be necessary for the Synod, and you in particular,
explicitly to contradict some insidious charges brought by
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 379
Taylor in bis pamphlet, particularly as to a charge of in-
troduciug innovations without end, than which there cannot
be a more barefaced calumny. The men are left totally to
disregard truth, and decency, and candour in their publica-
tions. I trust the Synod will firmly maintain its ground, and
repel the calumnies with a becoming indignation. There
seems to be but one mind among the friends of forbearance to
let the preamble stand untouched at this meeting of Synod.
' An approving mind, the approbation of those whom you
esteem, and, above all, the approbation of the great Lord
Himself, are your support under unrighteous abuse. — My
dear Sir, yours, etc., ' James Husband.'
Dr Lawson to Dr Kidston.
'Selkirk, 5f;9<. 1799.
' Dear William, — I congratulate you on the restoration
of your father's health. I hope you will yet have the plea-
sure for many years of a father on earth. But we must
derive our chief pleasures from our heavenly Father. There
is none, even on earth, to be desired besides Him.
' It is not my design to write answers to any of the books
that have been written against me. Mr T is perhaps
worthy of a little more respect than some others of them.
But I find it almost impossible to give him credit for his own
beUef of some of the things that he writes. I have it at pre-
sent in contemplation to publish a few sermons, that those
who wish to know may have an opportunity of knowing what
my sentiments are about the Old Testament, and about some
other points of religion. I wish I had beside me the written
sermon that I saw at Glasgow. Perhaps it might make its
appearance with some others.
' It will be my prayer that God may give you peace at the
meeting of Synod, and preserve you all from intemperate heat
and language. My absence may, I think, prevent the saying
of some things that ought not to be said. I should be glad
380 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
to hear from Edinburgh how Mrs Scott, at Aberdeen, now is.
Perhaps Mr Mather may be in this country without deputa-
tion. Speak to him, and to Mr Elder, or engage him to
preach at Stow. — I am, yours affectionately,
' G. Lawson.'
The allusions in the following letter of the late Bailie
Wardlaw, of Glasgow (father of Dr Ralph Wardlaw), to the
unhinging spirit of these times, justify its insertion here,
independent of its interesting references to one of Dr Lawson's
most eminent students : —
Bailie Wardlaw to Dr Laivson.
'Glasgow, Dec. 18, 1799.
' My dear Sir, — When I look back to the date of your
late lettei', I am almost ashamed now to acknowledge receipt
of it. The truth is, I thought, by visiting you at the Synod,
to have saved myself the labour, and you the expense, of a
letter. In this, however, I was disappointed ; for you were
not where I certainly thought you ought to have been, to
strengthen the hands of your brethren in their conflict with
bigotry and folly. The explosion has now taken place, and
seems to produce, at least in some places, more serious effects
than were apprehended, though I hope it is not so with respect
to yourself, of which I shall be glad to hear at your leisure,
as well as of the health of your family, since the time of your
late heavy affliction, in w^hich we most tenderly sympathize
with you. I hope you have now, by the blessing of God,
attained in some degree that calm and pleasing serenity of
mind, which the Gospel alone can produce, and of which no
event of life ought ever to deprive us. I well know, however,
that this, to a fond afflicted parent, is a very hard lesson.
May God " work in you and in me, to will and to do, and
also to hear, all His good pleasure !"
' In allusion to the present state of matters in our society.
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 381
you are pleased to express a friendly concern respecting the
state of my own mind, and the views and intentions of my
son Ralph. With regard to him, you will, I trust, agree
with me in allowing him full and entire liberty to judge and
act for himself. I know in general that he is somewhat at
a stand, and seems disposed to weigh things maturely before
he forms any final attachment. And this, I think, is just as
it ought to be. His situation is materially different from
yours and mine, especially in one important respect, wherein
I am indeed neither on a level with yourself nor with him,
occupying as I do only the station of a private Christian.
To us who have been long in connection with a religious
society, it may appear our duty to bear with many things
which it may be equally the duty of a new interest to endea-
vour to avoid.
' The footing you stand on with respect to the Formula,
is, in my opinion, far from being a cleanly one ; and it ap-
pears to me that a minister, who would wish to follow the
convictions of his own mind, will now find himself more em-
barrassed than ever, because the malcontents, however un-
reasonable, see a wide door opened to receive them by the
Old Associate Presbytery. The more frequent dispensation
of the Lord's Supper is now, therefore, obviously at a greater
distance than ever, as well as the introduction of evangelical
New Testament hymns into our public psalmody, — two
things, so necessary and desirable in the eye of reason and
Scripture, that it is no wonder if any thinking liberal-minded
Christian should hesitate to join a society where these, with
other objects of reformation, must apparently be for ever
relinquished. From these few hints, my dear sir, you may
partly discern the present state of my own mind ; and that of
my son Ralph's, I have reason to believe, is not much
different.
' What may be his final determination it is impossible for
me at present to say. But I think, from his natural calmness
382 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
of temper, as well as other considerations, it is not likely he
will take any sudden or decisive step. Friends here are all
well, and join in best wishes to you and your family. — I am,
your affectionate friend and humble servant,
' AVm. Wakdlaw.'
Only once, during the ' Old Light Controversy,' did he
experience some annoyance in his session. His views upon
the magistrate's power ch'ca sacra, as expressed in his pam-
phlet, brought upon him the vilest abuse. It might have been
expected, that, under such scurrilous attacks, he would have
been secure of the sympathy of his session and people ; and,
for the most part, they were with him. A few, however, were
against him, especially in his views of the obligations of the
national covenants on posterity. Some members of his session,
in particular, were rather bitterly opposed to him. They
drew up a ' representation and petition,' to the effect that the
Synod should sanction no change whatever in any of the
questions of the Formula. This paper was laid upon the
session's table, and read. The moderator then, calmly but
firmly, told them that if they carried the matter to the Pres-
bytery for transmission to the Synod, he would at once demit
his charge and emigrate to America. This ended the matter
at once. He afterwards told Mr Sandy, of Gorebridge (who
had this story from the Professor himself), that the non-trans-
mission of said paper displeased some of the private members
of the church ; and that one of them, after the Synod had
decided the whole case, came to him, and, in rather high
temper, found fault with him for the part he had acted in the
controversy ; he even went the length of indorsing one of the
slanders of the Old Light men, that Dr Lawson denied the
authority of the Old Testament. ' I told him,' added the
Doctor, ' that I did not deny the authority of any part of the
Old Testament, and referred, as a proof, to the circumstance
that I was at that very time lecturing upon a portion of it ;
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 383
and, moreover, that if I had beeu ordained minister of the
congregation on Old Testament principles, as he understood
them, I should possess a right to come down upon him and the
other members for the tenth of all their possessions.' Where-
upon the vexatious intruder took his leave.
He was never what is called ' a church-court man.' The
meetings of his Presbytery he regularly attended, and there
his counsels were much appreciated. It was very seldom,
however, that he made his appearance at the Synod. He
urged his deafness and somewhat sensitive bodily constitution
as his apology. At the same time, he maintained his interest
in everything that affected the interest of the Redeemer's
Church. The only instance, of a minor kind, of his taking
part in Synodical business, was when his son George, then
minister at Galashiels, received tv/o calls — the one from
Dumfries, and the other from Bolton in Lancashire. At that
time all such calls were referred to, and decided by, the
Synod. He was averse to his son's translation, and became
the advocate of the Galashiels congregation. As the Hall
was in session when the matter came up for judgment, he sent
a letter and representation to the moderator, in which he
powerfully pled the cause of the Galashiels people- The
Synod, however, decided that his son be removed to Bolton.
With these exceptions, the calm tenor of Dr Lawson's
pastoral and literary life was seldom, if ever, broken m upon
by the strivings of the potsherds of the earth. Not that he
was an uninterested spectator of what was transpiring in the
world, but that he had no mind to mix himself up with the
politics of the day, still less with the minor polemics of the
neighbourhood. On one occasion, however, he did become
the subject of a vile calumny, that drew from him the follow-
ing letter to Mrs Plummer, the lady of the Sheriff of the
county — a letter worthy of the Christian and the patriot.
His son, the Rev. George Lawson, has given an account of
the affair, from which we learn, that the gentleman with
384 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
whom the conversation (alluded to in the letter) took place,
afterwards became one of his father's highest admirers and
warmest friends ; and that till his own death, at a recent
period, he showed the greatest respect and friendship for all
the Lawson family : also, that when his brother Andrew
died, he said that he was the best man he had ever known,
except his father. The same person told Mr George, that
he considered Dr Lawson's decease as partaking more of a
translation than of death. The allusion to Lord Howe's
victory (June 1, 1794) shows the time to which this letter
refers — for the letter itself has no date. Mr Lawson informs
us that he is not aware that his father ever re-wrote a letter
or a discourse ; but that his handwriting was so pecuUar,
that when he addressed persons not familiar with it, some
member of the family often transcribed the letter in a more
legible hand. Thus, some of the originals are still preserved.
Mr Lawson says, ' Mrs Plummer's message to my father was,
I believe, a friendly hint, that he would need to be very cautious
in his conversation on political topics, lest he should bring
himself into trouble. It was founded on some report which
had been made to the Sheriff, concerning the conversation
referred to. Mr Plummer was the immediate predecessor of
Sir Walter Scott in the Shrievalty of Selkirkshire.' The
allusion, towards the close of the letter, to his ' truthfulness' is
remarkable, not only for its own sake, but as illustrative of a
very decided feature in his character — intense sensitiveness
upon the subject of his personal integrity. He could at any
time bear accusations against his opinions or his convictions,
and care not to reply a word ; but even an insinuation against
his principles or character as a Christian man, he could not
away with : he met such with instant and emphatic self-defence.
Dr Lawson to Mrs Plumm,er.
' Madam, — I am sorry to hear that a gentleman, with
whom I travelled a mile or two a few weeks ago, told you
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 38o
some things concerning my conversation with him that had
a tendency to lessen me in your opinion. I am persuaded I
said nothing to him that would have displeased you, if you
had been present with us. If I differed from your sentiments,
I believe you would have thought the differences such as
every man will cheerfully bear in another, whom he does not
wish to treat as a slave. And if I did wrong in speaking
things disagreeable to my companion, he ought to have the
blame, as he used means to fish out my opinions on subjects
on which I was not disposed to discourse. I told him, I
think, more than once, that I had for some time resolved to
abstain as much as possible from speaking on political subjects.
' I believe I yet retain in my memory the greatest part of
the ideas interchanged in that conversation. It would be
tedious to you, as well as to myself, to give you a full account
of it. But, if I mistake not, that which passed concerning
the Reformers in Selkirk, was most likely to give him
umbrage. He told me that some of them had changed their
sentiments, and gave me the proof of it, that on the King's
birth-day they had declared they wished to, use no other
method but that of petitioning to obtain a reform in the
representation. You will not be surprised that I was nettled
with this observation, when I had the fullest assurance which
one man can have of another's mind, that such of them as I
am acquainted with never dreamed of any other means of
obtaining their wishes. I answered him to this purpose, and
told him at the same time that I favoured their views, and
that my ideas were not changed in the least degree, although
I thought meetings for that purpose would at this time be
very unseasonable. Something was said of the French which
I disapproved ; and I believe yourself would havetdone so.
I certainly have no temptation or wish to be their advocate ;
but I believe they are not worse than the devil, and yet the
prince of angels durst not bring a railing accusation against
him.
2 B
386 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
' The arms lately found about Edinburgh and other places
were another subject of conversation ; and I was urged to
give my opinion about that affair, although I believe little
was then known about it. All that I could say was, that if
they were made for the purpose then spoken of, the persons
deserved to be hanged. I could not give an unqualified
opinion on a subject concerning which I had very little
information, and part of that little information almost in-
credible.
' I myself had introduced the subject of Lord Herries*
engagement, that I might be informed by my companion
whether any news had come to Selkirk concerning the event
of it. I was on my way from Kelso, where it was only
known that the fleets had come to an action. At Jedburgh,
on my return, I had only heard that only one or two ships on
each side were engaged.
' But I beg pardon for this tedious recital, and omit other
things that passed. I am fully persuaded that you will not
easily believe me to be so very wicked and weak, as wilfully
and knowingly to contradict in private companies what I say
in public before many hundreds of people. A man who was
to say and unsay the same things in private companies, must
in a few montlis make himself very contemptible ; but a
minister who contradicts in private company what he said
in the pubhc assembly, must make himself despicable and
detestable in six weeks. What is said in public sermons or
prayers, is in effect said in every company where the speaker
will ordinarily be. His words, if they were not heard, were
probably heard of by all his companions ; and they are under-
stood to have been spoken in the name of the Most High
God, or« to have been addressed to Him in these solemn
services where the minister was engaged. He who can have
the audacity to approach the throne of God, and pray for
the king and the peace of the country, while he endeavours
at other times to disturb the government, vvill be considered
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 387
by the most ignorant person in the company as a man in
whom there is no faith, and of whom no hold can be taken
but by binding or hanging him.
' I am oWiged to your candour for suggesting to me the
propriety of addressing you in my own vindication ; and I have
never hitherto put myself to any trouble to undeceive those
who have been tempted to question my behaviour, although
I have more than once heard of things said in my name that
were very remote from truth ; but I paid no regard to them,
because I was persuaded that they would make no impression,
or a very shortlived one, upon any person whose good
opinion I wished to cultivate. I had read a story, when I was
a boy, in an old author, called Yalerius Maximus, which I
have never forgot, and which I considered a rule for my
conduct. Plato, hearing that one of his friends aspersed his
character, replied, " I will endeavour to live so as that
nobody shall believe him."
' There is no part of my character about which I am less
solicitous than my reputation for integrity. I am pretty
certain, from my own consciousness, joined with the testi-
mony of my father concerning my childhood, that since I
could use my tongue I have never polluted it with a wilful
lie.
' I know Mr Plummer will not allow me to be stabbed in
the dark; and I trust in God, who preserveth the faithful,
and plenteously rewardeth the proud doers. I believe that
He will suffer no evil to befall me, without turning it to my
advantage, — Your humble servant, ' George Lawson.
' P.S. — I was at no loss to know the conversation alluded
to in your message.'
It was some time in 1803 that England was almost driven
from her propriety by the terror of an invasion from France.
The first Napoleon, whom Dr Lawson was wont to call ' tlie
388 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
present ruler of France,' had just raised an immense army,
which he boastingly ycleped ' the army of England.' He
encamped his hosts at Boulogne, and a large 'flotilla' was
prepared to carry them over the Channel to 'perfidious
Albion's ' rock-bound shores. Dr Lawson was too ardent a
lover of his country to be unobservant of such signs of the
times. He noticed them at this period in his pulpit services.
He preached a sermon to the point from Daniel xi. 32, ' The
people that do know their God shall be strong, and do
exploits,' in which he cheered the hearts of the people, and
propounded the highest style of patriotism. This sermon
was afterwards pubUshed, under the title of ' The Influence
of Religion on Military Courage.' The Hall was in session
at the time, and the students caught fire from the old man's
eloquence, and met to consider what steps they should take
to prove that, though seceders from an Established Church,
they were ready to fight for their king and country. They
were the more set upon this, that disaffection to govern-
ment was known to be prevalent in certain districts, that
Dissenters were regarded by some alarmists as disloyal, and
even suspected of sympathy with Buonaparte. Dr Lawson
and his students, therefore, now stood up as the friends of
loyalty, order, and peace. The volunteer movement was then,
as it is now, in great vogue, and nothing would satisfy the
students but to join in it : not content with the ' pulpit
drum-ecclesiastic,' they must add the carnal weapons where-
with to smite the carnal foe. Accordingly, at their first
meeting, it was unanimously and enthusiastically resolved that
they should acquaint Lord Napier, the Lord-Lieutenant of
Selkirkshire, with their wishes. At a subsequent meeting,
an address to his Lordship was read and approved of, in
which address they petitioned him to ' send them arms, and
a drill-sergeant' to teach them the military art, so that they
might be prepared to join the diflTerent volunteer corps that
had been formed in the places to which, on their leaving the
THE POLEMIC AIJD HIS ASSOCIATES. 389
Hall, they should return. Previous, however, to their posting
their address, they thought it becoming to lay it and the
proposal connected with it before the Professor. He ap-
proved of the step, but thought it unlikely that Lord Napier
would comply with their request. In due time the reply of
his Lordship came, in which he thanked them for their
loyalty ; for the present declined their proffer of help, and
stated that he had no arms at his disposal. He, at the same
time, wrote the following letter to Dr Lawson : —
'Wilton Lodge, nth August 1803.
' Rev. Sir, — At a meeting of the Lieutenancy at Selkirk,
yesterday, a report was made to me of the very loyal and
zealous exhortation and advice which you had deHvered to
your congregation on the present very momentous situation
of public affairs. As his Majesty's Lieutenant of the county,
I feel it to be my duty to return you my best thanks for this
well-timed exertion, and to assure you that the Lieutenancy
were unanimous in expressing the high sense they entertained
of the propriety of your conduct.
' In a separate cover I enclose to you two copies of a
printed paper, one of which I should wish to have affixed on
the door of your meeting-house, and would request you to
communicate the contents of it to your hearers, either by
reading the other from your pulpit, or by making it known
in such a way as may be agreeable to you. — I have the
honour to be. Rev. Sir, your most obedient humble servant,
' Napier.'
To this letter the Professor sent the following reply : —
' Mr Lord, — I was highly flattered by the letter with
which your Lordship honoured me, expressing the Lieuten-
ancy's approbation of my poor endeavours to serve my king
and couatry. I will certainly endeavour to spread the ad-
390 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
dress which you was pleased to commit to me. I can assure
your Lordship, that whatever distinctions may be found
among either denominations of Seceders, they will all be
found loyal subjects. Drunkards may have their reasons for
calling themselves Christians, and profane swearers for rank-
ing themselves with gentlemen, but no man who does not wish
to be a faithful subject can have any temptation to associate
himself with either of the societies of Seceders, It is well
known, that, upon any discovery of his principles, he would be
turned out of either of them with disgrace. I am far from
saying that they will be found more loyal than other subjects.
Every honest man in the island will contribute his support to
the govei'ument that protects him. I pray God that the
nobility and gentry may be as unanimous in support of our
holy religion, as I am persuaded ministers of every deno-
mination will be in the support of the State. I should then
entertain httle fears of any invader, in the assurance that
God Himself would be our salvation in the time of trouble. —
I am my Lord, your Lordship's and Gentlemen of the Lien-
tenancy's humble servant, ' George Lawson.'
From the rise of the Secession Church, pitiful efforts have
been made every now and then to identify her cause with
disloyalty ; but these have ever issued in the disgrace of the
calumniators. Nothing could have so surely disproved the
slander as the Hfe of such a man as Dr Lawson. A purer
patriot never Uved ; and he was the type of his Church. The
Rev. John Johnstone tells a beautiful story of his own and
his father's friend, illustrative of this. He had gone one
session to the Hall a week or two before it commenced, and
it happened to be the sacramental season in Selkirk. In
these days two sermons were preached on the Monday after
a communion. Before dismissing the congregation at the
conclusion of this service, the venerable man, leaning on his
staff, arose from his seat and ascended the pulpit, and gave
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 391
very judicious and manly address to those in the audience
lio had enlisted as volunteers, when the country was panic-
iricken by the expected invasion of Napoleon I. An un-
usual number of these patriots belonged to his congregation,
and were present to hear this address. Before concluding,
he raised his bending figure, and, firmly grasping his staff, he
said, ' I am not able, friends, to go out and fight with you,
but I will pray for you if you are called upon to engage the
enemies of our country.'
About this time, to indicate their high esteem for him as
an enlightened patriot as well as a most estimable citizen and
Christian minister, the magistrates of Selkirk presented him
with the freedom of the burgh. He was much gratified
with the ' burgess ticket,' chiefly because it indicated very
emphatically that the calumnies that had been cast on him
out of the controversy on the ' burgess oath,' had in no way
injured him with his fellow-citizens.
The only other comparatively trifling controversies (if they
may be so called) in which we find him engaged, had refer-
ence, the one to a proposed addition to the psalmody, of
which he was an advocate, and the other to a difference with
the editor of the Quarterly Magazine. His sermon on ' the
joy of parents in wise children ' had been represented in that
periodical as teaching undisguised Arminianism, by ascribing
an undue influence to parental culture in particular, and to
the means of salvation in general. His reply was very able,
and expressed in the clearest manner the misconceptions of
his opponent, and the gracious character of the connection
which God has established betwixt the means and the end.
The controversy was soon terminated. It had been prompted
by the spirit of sectarian jealousy and censoriousuess, or by
the hope of adding to the celebrity and circulation of the
magazine.
The only manuscript, in the spirit of a pohtical tractate,
which Dr Lawson left behind him, consists simply of a few
392 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
cautions bearing on the conduct of certain political partizans
who flourished in the stormy days of Muir and Palmer. They
are valuable, as showing the calm and scriptural view which
lie took of the rights of the people, the duties of citizenship,
and the nature of true Christian patriotism. The following
extract will be read with much interest : —
' That patriotism is a virtue powerfully recommended in
Scripture, cannot be doubted. It was gloriously exemplified
in the character of many of the holy men of God who lived
in ancient times : Esther xiv. 3 ; Nehemiah, Ezra, David
(Psalm cxxii.), Jeremiah (Lamentations). It is prescribed,
Psalm vi. It is highly praised, Eccles. ix. 15, 16. If
patriotism be a virtue, it must be regulated by Scripture ; for
the Bible is a complete rule of virtuous and holy practice, by
which we are fully furnished for every good work.
' We may rest assured that the Scripture contains proper
rules for the direction of our sentiments and practice in the
present divided state of the nation, and that if we are at any
loss to know the mind of God concerning our duty to our
country, the fault must be in our own ignorance and inatten-
tion, particularly to our own interests and connections, or to
the neglect of prayer. David was often placed in very per-
plexing circumstances. His Bible was a great deal less than
ours, and yet he always found sufficient direction in it con-
cerning that conduct which it was his duty and interest to
maintain (Psalm cxix. 24). If he found himself at a loss to
understand the prescription of Scripture in any particular
case, he applied himself to God by humble and earnest prayer
for direction in the way of truth. God heard his prayer, and
He will hear the prayers of all who acknowledge Him in all
their ways (Psalm xxv. 4, 5, 8, 9, 13 ; Prov. iii. 6, vi.).
' It is our chief end to glorify God. This end ought to be
kept in view on every occasion. We ought to eat and drink,
and do everything, to the glory of God. Thus shall we be
raised far above those mean and selfish dispositions which
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 393
split nations into parties, and kindle the flames of dissension
and war.
' Piety is the basis of patriotism, and of every virtue. We
are to glorify God by doing as little evil and as much good
as possible in the world ; by acting agreeably to the rules of
His holy Word, whether they further our private interests or
not ; by sacrificing every selfish consideration to the interests
of our nation and of the Church of Christ ; by walking in
love ; by living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present
evil world ; by setting God's judgments before us, and endea-
vouring to perform those duties which they prescribe, with-
out regarding what the consequences may be to ourselves.
' I shall endeavour to apply a few of the plain and unques-
tionable rules of the Bible to the present questions that
agitate the minds of the people of this kingdom.
'Rule 1. We ought to cultivate friendship with our
neighbours who differ from us in political
views.
' How good and how pleasant a thing it is for brethren to
dwell together in unity ! It is like precious ointment on the
head that went down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard ;
that went down to the skirt of his garment.
' We are all brethren, and ought to love as brethren, and
to bear with one another's infirmities. Our brethren may err
when they differ from us. But we also may err. Do we
presume to claim infallibiUty ? Are not those most ready to
be mistaken who place the greatest confidence in their own
judgment, and are most forward to despise or censure those
who cannot see with their own eyes ?
' True, you may say, I do not expect that every man will
agree with me in all the sentiments I adopt. But some
things appear to me so abundantly evident, that I cannot but
wonder how any considerate man should be of a different
mind ; and I cannot help thinking that the men who profess
a diQ'erent opinion are uncandid and disingenuous. " Self-
394 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
interest is probably warping their judgment, or, what is still
worse, their weak principles of conduct dispose them to pro-
fess opinions opposite to their own judgment.
' But who gave you a right to judge your neighbours ? or
what title have you to assume the province of the great
Judge who searcheth the hearts and trieth the reins of the
children of men ? Consider the effect that diflFerent educa-
tions, and different turns of mind, and different sets of
acquaintance, and different capacities and degrees of atten-
tion, and better or worse means of information, have in diver-
sifying men's judgment on the same subject. Beware lest
you forfeit the reputation for candour which you deny to
others.
' The town-clerk of a certain city in England, reproach-
ing with insincerity a godly minister, arraigned before the
court of justice, the good man answered, "How do you
know that I do not speak as I think ? Are you the searcher
of hearts, or are you only the town-clerk ?"
' Perhaps you are an enemy to all those meetings which
have assembled to deliberate on an application to Parliament
for a redress of public grievances. Enjoy your own opinion.
Act in pursuance with it. But violate not the charity you
owe to your neighbours who differ from you. Accuse them
not of seditious principles without proof. You cannot deny
that it is the right of subjects to present petitions to any
branch of our Legislature, and that petitions for a reform of
Parliament have actually been presented without incurring
any censure. Why, then, should you charge men with one of
the worst of crimes for doing what they have an unquestion-
able right to do ?
' Or, perhaps, you are a friend to the reform of Parha-
raent, and charge those men with slavish principles, unworthy
of a Briton, who refuse to join with you. What right have
you to do this ? Perhaps these men are actuated by princi-
ples as pure and honourable as your own. You love peace,
THE POLEMIC AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 395
and they are lovers of liberty. You blame those men who
say that you are enemies to peace. And do not you deserve
blame when you reproach your neighbours as enemies to
liberty? The difference between you is, that they dare not
risk the peace of the country for the enlargement of its
hberty ; and you imagine that our peace cannot be secured
without a greater degree of liberty than the country at pre-
sent enjoys. You would not wish any man to arraign your
views; but remember that your neighbours have the same
right with yourselves to a candid construction of their views,
and that charity thinketh no evil. It beareth all things, be-
lieveth all things, hopeth all things. Others are bound to
practise this charity towards you. Are you not equally
bound to practise this charity towards them ? Was the law
of love made only to protect you from suspicions, calumnies,
and outrages ? Was it not likewise made to regulate your
heart and conduct? Was it not designed to furnish the
same protection to other men as to yourselves ? If, without
sufficient evidence, you charge your neighbour either with
sedition or with mean and interested principles of conduct,
are you not chargeable with rashness, presumption, and even
with falsehood ? Go and learn to repeat the 120th Psalm.
Tremble at these words, " What shall be given thee ? or what
shall be done unto thee, false tongue? Burning coals of
juniper ; sharp arrows of the mighty." Humble thyself,
repent, and leani to practise that charity without which no
man shall be permitted to enter the regions of love.
' Rule 2. We must be subject to the higher powers ; for
there is no power but of God, and the powers
that be are ordained of Him.
(Illustrations over two pages and a-half.)
' Rule 3. We ought to maintain all civil privileges to the
utmost of our power.'
(Illustrations more than three pages.)
' Rule 4. We ought not to be forward in signing tests of
396 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
loyalty, especially when the laws of the laud
do not require it.'
(Illustrations four pages and a half.)
' Rule 5. We ought to concur in every regular and
seasonable attempt to improve the advantages,
and to obtain redress of the grievances of our
country.'
(This is the chief point dwelt upon, the arguments and
illustrations extending over eighteen pages.)
CHAPTER IX.
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS.
Few sages shine at the fireside. In the home-circle they are
not exactly at home. In the museum, or library, or lecture-
room, they ' sparkle and exhale,' but are dim with the mist
of thoughts, when withdrawn from the shocks of the outer
world, or rendered silent amid unprovoking tameness. It was
otherwise with Dr Lawson. He was himself the popular man
in his own manse. Beloved and venerated as a father, he was
not less esteemed as a companion and friend. However prone
to profound study, it seemed to have been very easy for him
at once to pass into the freedoms of social enjoyment, and to
make his children especially the happy partakers of his play-
ful and flexible temperament. The fulness and variety of
his information partly account for this. He was never at a
loss for an illustration or an anecdote : hence, the young hung
upon his hps, as he taught them to know wisdom, and, from
almost every field, gathered for them the leaves of the tree of
knowledge, the fruits of the suimy climes and the polar snows.
He was never repulsive. He was uniformly attractive. The
door of his study was never bolted. Entrance was easy, and
references to his will and judgment were pleasantly received
and considered. His family were as much at home with the
'lion in his den,' as when they surrounded with him the
parlour table, and wondered whether the flowings from beneath
that yellow wig would ever cease. The fascination was un-
diminished by frequency or familiarity of intercourse. On
each return, their fond and famous father could delight them
398 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
with rarer and better new things than ever Athenian listened
to. Home was made, in this way, the most attractive spot
on earth to them, and to their father they beUeved there
could be no rival. The profound respect which they felt, and
the holy love they cherished for him, are thus explained. In
reading some of the letters addressed to him by his sons, we
are struck with the unaffected reverence that mingles with
fihal affection, and imparts an air to their intercourse ahke
courteous and amiable. They seem almost to bow before him
as the patriarch of virtue, and of praise the ' chief musician ; '
and these sous were themselves men of learning and vigour,
none of them prone to hero-worship, though great enough to
pay tribute to whom tribute is due. He never hid himself at
home ; but, though uncurtained, his privacy was never dese-
crated by vulgar stare, or annoyed by impertinent intrusions.
They respected him when, over his folios, he sought for wis-
dom, or transferred his thoughts to the sermon-book. They
knew when to use him for their own progress or idlesse, and
when, also, to leave him alone ; so much so, indeed, that he
was sometimes in the habit of studying beside the children,
who would vie with each other who should be first to bring
to him from the library any book he wished for. Throughout
the whole of this great man's way of life, simplicity attends
him, and always with her corresponding gifts of success and
esteem. Certain familiarities may, but such dignified simpli-
cities as his never, breed contempt. The beautiful language
employed to describe a similar feature in the character of Dr
Dick may be here quoted, as strikingly true of Dr Lawson :
' There was a simplicity in his manner of thinking, on all
subjects, that was very apparent to every one. There was a
simplicity and an innocence in his manners in private, of which
a stranger, or one who had been seldom in his company,
could form no proper conception, but which appeared all
the more captivating and dehghtful the longer and more
intimately he was known. His pleasures were all simple
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 399
pleasures. They were such as an unsophisticated mind, that
loved truth and nature, could relish, and were often drawn
from sources which many might think trivial or inadequate to
produce these effects : a fine sunset, a lovely landscape, or
even a beautiful flower, were to him objects of interest. His
love for the works of nature was most remarkable ; it was
such as we only expect in the young and ardent poet : nor
was he ever more elevated and pleased than when he had it
in his power to gratify this propensity at leisure
Simple beauty in sentiment and expression was the quality he
seemed most highly to relish in Hterary productions, — a taste
which originated in the same mental structure, and which was
shown in the character of his own writings, as well as in his
opinions of books, and in the pleasure he took in the great
models of classic antiquity.' ^
To his household, Dr Lawson was both an authority and
a pattern. He ' commanded ' all under his roof. But it was
the law of love, not of terror, that he administered. Such
men as he was, are more in danger of ruhng than of reigning
over their families ; and it is rare to find them what are
called ' family men.' He never pled his literary tastes or
official duties as an excuse for neglecting them. He really
felt it to be his main concern to see to their useful and moral
education, and never consented to any proxy in discharging
it. He superintended their lessons, and marked their progress.
He studied to encourage them in diligence, by promising to
read aloud to them at night from some interesting book,
which he often did, accompanying the reading with such
instructing remarks as were suggested by the subject. In
this way he read through the whole of Shakespeare to his
family, taking care to leave out objectionable passages. He
took a pecuhar delight in this, and sometimes kept at it so
long, and repeated it so often, that his physician recommended
its discontinuance. He, however, persevered. The ' Ihad '
' Dr William Peddie's Memoir of Dr Dick.
400 TI-IE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
was a great favourite with him, as also ' Anacreon.' He had
committed large portions of them to memory in the original
Greek ; and he used to make the children stare as he
repeated these, on the winter nights, for their amusement.
When the reading had become irksome, he laid the book
down, and encouraged conversation on its topics. He had
the most of the speaking, however, to himself; and, being of a
most communicative turn, oft the wonder grew where he had
got and how he could remember it all. A certain learned
lady boasted that she could ' discourse on all things, from
predestination down to sewing silk.' She had her counter-
part in Dr Lawson. His powers of conversation, also, as
has been noticed, seem to have been great, and peculiarly
rich. John Foster, it is said, could not woi^k a conversation.
He seemed to be thinking aloud when he talked. Dr Law-
son, however, had a knack at this species of fireside litera-
ture, and it was the right or happy kind of knack. A mere
haranguer, or talker, has been likened to a ' walking pillory,
which crucifies more ears than a dozen standing ones, whose
tongue is always in motion, thougli very seldom to the pur-
pose ; like a barber's scissors, which are kept snipping as
well when they do not cut as when they do.' ^ But it was
not so with this most delightful and amusing, as well as
instructive companion. His conversation was colloquy, in
the best sense of the word, not lecturing or discussing, and
invariably drew out the jocose or the grave from those with
whom it was carried on ; never compelhng silence by its
dogmatism, nor inducing to it by its too fascinating or
engrossing influence. The fertility of his mind, the cheerful-
ness of his temper, and his social tastes, gave such quickening
and impulse to his prodigious memory, as to make these
evenings in the manse for ever to be remembered by all who
had the happiness to be present.
He was a strict disciplinarian, but seldom had to 'quarrel'
> Butler.
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 401
his children. This proves that the ' rod ' was seen and
feared ; also, that they had respect unto it. The surviving
members can only remember one instance when it had to be
administered ; and that w'as in the case of his well-known son
and successor, George, who had absented himself, one night,
from family worship, — a breach of family order which he
could not, and never did, tolerate. There were two things
which he made emphatically imperative within his house :
that the truth should be always spoken, and all affectation
avoided. The love of truth, as we have seen, was an imperial
power in himself :
' He would not flatter Neptune for his trident,
Or Jove for his power to thunder.'
The scene between him and the Lady Traquair was ever
turning up substantially throughout his life ; and, to the end
of it, he could repeat his sublime confession to the Sheriff's
wife, that. ' ever since he could use his tongue, he had never
polluted it with a wilful He.' The airs of impudence, too, he
looked upon as the ' credentials of impotence,' and denounced
all affectation as ' the vain and ridiculous attempt of poverty
to appear rich.' The flippant were put to silence, and the
presumptuous could not stand in his presence. He regarded,
indeed, all sorts of finery as signs of httleness, and, perhaps,
allowed this to influence him more than it ought. His own style
of dressing was certainly not foppish. Had he been a little
more attentive to his wardrobe, he would not have been so
much put about as he was, when Sir Walter Scott requested
him to appear before Leopold. Meek and lowly, like his
Master, he inculcated humility on all that were around him.
He had faith in the maxim, that every man has just so much
vanity as he lacks understanding ; and, accordingly, he cul-
tivated modesty in everything, in his own case, to such an
extent, as to be really the only individual who did not know
his own greatness. He would have been quite ready, at any
time, and in perfect sincerity, to have endorsed, in reference
2 C
402 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
to his own excellences, the reply of Sir Matthew Hale to
Cromwell, who, because the judge would not pack a jury,
declared to him that he ' was not fit to be a judge.' ' It is
very true,' said Hale, and disconcerted the Lord Protector.
He likewise taught his family to be charitable and kind,
and exemplified both before their eyes. His stipend was
never large, but every time he got it a portion was laid aside
for the poor, especially for the widows of ministers. When
the family increased, and when provisions waxed dearer, Mrs
Lawson would sometimes remind him that we are commanded
to provide for our own first. ' Yqs, yes,' he would reply, ' it
is all true ; but I must lay so much aside for others, that a
blessing may come upon what remains.' He experienced it
to be ' more blessed to give than to receive.'
He was very conscientious, indeed, in the discharge of all
family duties. Family worship has been referred to. His
well-known regularity in this respect had its own influence
on the good people of Selkirk. The late Dr Beattie, of
Glasgow, when warming upon the subject of the Hall life,
used to tell, with characteristic satisfaction, that he and
other students often walked up and down the principal street
of the town, listening to the evening hymn rising from almof;t
every dwelling. Such was the case then in most parts of
Scotland ; but alas, ' tempora mutantiir et nos mutarum in illis.'
Since then, evil days have, in this respect, come upon us. and
the morning and the evening sacrifice have been transferred
from the altar of the household to the shrine of mammon :
hence it is that godliness is displaced by gold, and the true
glory of a people is obscured by its glittering sheen.
Frugality in the domestic economy was indeed a necessity
in the manse ; but it was a virtue also. Whatever his circum-
stances, Dr Lawson would have lived abstemiously. He
abhorred gluttony, wine-bibbing, and every species of extrava-
gance in dress, or furniture, or general habits. He studied
simphcity here as elsewhere, having the additional motive of
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 403
setting a fair example to his children as well as to his people.
He never forgot that he was a minister of the Son of man,
who had not where to lay His head ; and that his family, as
well as his flock, studied him out of the pulpit to know what
he meant when in it. In all these matters he allowed himself
to be very much under the influence of a sense which he
greatly admired and cultivated — common sense. He and Jay,
of Bath, were in this like-minded. Jay once exclaimed, ' O
when will the grace of God enthrone common sense in the
minds of religious professors?' He was, however, quite a
social man for all that, and liked a little good company
greatly, partaking moderately with them of such of the good
things of this hfe as came in his way. It is true he had not
the temptations of Carlyle (the grand demigod of Sir Walter
Scott), whose 'warm suppers and excellent claret' are so
racily recorded in his autobiography ; neither could he have
been a match for Dr Magnum Bonum (Dr Webster), ' the
five-bottle man.* Carlyle tells us that, in his days, ' a love of
claret, to any degree, was not reckoned a sin.' It might be so
among the jolly fellows with whom he corapanied ; but this
was regarded by Dr Lawson and his friends as a crying
iniquity, and had something to do in making them still more
decided Seceders. It is happy for the Church of Christ that
such a state of things has almost passed away, and that the
men of the world have no longer the example of the clergy to
palliate excess of any kind. At the same time, even that
clever, but woefully misled writer, Buckle, might have lived
long enough in this manse before discovering a particle of
that ' sour and fanatical spirit ' which he affirms to pervade
Scotland ; and Dr Lawson and his family were, in this respect,
but types of the yeomanry and peasantry of the land. It
were a pity if the most religious country in the world were
the most ascetical and unsocial. But it is quite the reverse.
Dr Thomson has well said of Dr Lawson (in his funeral ser-
mon) : ' If any should infer that his mind was at all darkened
404 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
with the gloom of melancholy, or that his seriousness and
sincerity towards God led to anything like peevishness or
moroseness towards men, their conclusion would be the very
reverse of the truth. In him, on the contrary, piety assumed
the most amiable and inviting aspect. Serious, yet cheerful,
he enlivened every company where he was. However others
might be ready to be overawed at the greatness of his mind
and the fervour of his piety, yet the childlike simplicity of his
manners, the frankness and sometimes the facetiousness of his
conversation, together with the perpetual smile which, when
with his friends, dwelt on his countenance, contributed to
make him a fascinating companion, and caused him fully to
exemphfy in his practice a principle firmly established in his
mind — that personal piety and social pleasantness, as they are
quite compatible, should be always united.'
The Sabbath evenings, as passed in the household of Law-
son, would have been a subject for ' Wilkie ' or ' Hogarth.'
Having discharged the public duties of the sacred day, and
after the frugal evening meal was over, Dr Lawson sat down
amid this affectionate and admiring circle, and, Luther-Hke,
drew them into devotion. He had held family worship with
them already at morn and afternoon. It was his custom to
perform this delightful duty three times on the Sabbath.
The third time, however, was somewhat prolonged and
diversified. In addition to the usual services, he read aloud
out of some good book, catechized on the sermons, and, being
very fond of music, sung hymns. As the children clustered
around him, he repeated to them, in the most winning and
familiar manner, the stories of Joseph, and Samuel, and
David, and Jonah; sometimes, diverging from Scripture, he
would entertain them with passages from the 'Pilgrim's
Progress,' and their appropriate explanations. But he was
especially partial to the more sublime and practical portions
of the Bible, and would for a long time keep the children
hanging upon his lips, through the spirit and pathos with
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 405
which he recited the songs of Moses, Deborah, and Barak.
His examinations were for the most part drawn from Fisher's
Catechism ; and such was the estimate formed of the great
utility of this department of his Sabbath evening employment,
that some of the neighbours solicited and obtained leave to
come into the manse while the examinations were going on.
The Sabbath day of course, but the Sabbath evening too, he
thus counted ' a delight, the holy of the Lord and honour-
able.' He used to say, ' I would like to see the Jewish
custom universal, of beginning the duties peculiar to the
Sabbath at six o'clock on the Saturday evening;' and in his
own house he devoted that evening to books or conversation
of a serious cast, John Angell James seems to have been
similarly impressed : ' The Lord's day he kept with the
greatest strictness ; and he seemed to consider Saturday even-
ing, if not as a part of it, yet as not to be spent otherwise
than as a preparation for it. He was displeased at merri-
ment on that evening, and he never made even a rehgious en-
joyment for it, but spent it in private devotion,' ^ ' So diffe-
rent was his (Lawson's) conduct,' says Dr Belfrage, ' from the
common practice of indulging longer in sleep on the Sabbath
morning than on others, that he rose earlier, and made his
family do so. His domestic instructions and prayers were
never hurried over, but discharged as a duty felt to be pleas-
ing as well as solemn. Of Fisher's Catechism he had a high
opinion, made his young people read portions of it again and
again with great care, and meditate on them : he then
examined them as to their conceptions of its meaning, and the
impressions it should produce. There was an element in his
family instruction which showed his admirable skill, and
rendered it most delightful to the young. With his questions
and counsels he mingled appropriate anecdotes, exhibiting the
pleasures of religion, God's care of His saints, the beauty of
early piety, the happiness of the family whose God is the
' T. S. James, Esq. See ' James' Life,' p. 581,
406 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Lord, how the fear of God operates as a preservation from
sin, what God has done in honour of His own day, and what
consolation and hopes the promises of the Gospel have yielded
in sickness and death.'
Happy, however, and may we not add, holy, as this family
was in the world, they had tribulation : of the many afflic-
tions of the righteous, they had their share. Reflecting on a
character like Dr Lawson's, we are tempted to wonder what
conld be the reasons why God ' contended with him.' In
judging here, however, we must not forget, that for great
public, as well as for personal and family purposes, God
sends the griefs of life to His servants. They are specially
qualified for their dehcate and difficult duties, by being taken
through the ordeal of suffering. Sir James Stephen puts
this affectionately, when referring to the death of that accom-
pHshed scholar, Alfred Yaughan. In writing to the bereaved
father, he says that : ' so frequent disappointment, by a
premature death, of such hopes as these, which seems to
be a kind of habit in the providential government of the
world, is, doubtless, prompted by reasons as just and pro-
found as to us they are obscure. It remains for us all
to adore them in silent acquiescence. For those to whom
these serious dispensations bring some of the keenest of
human sorrows, is reserved a far more arduous duty — the
duty of meek resignation, which, I think, is imposed more
often on the ministers of the Gospel than on other men, that
they may learn by their own bitter experience a lesson which
it so often falls to their lot to teach.' ^
The family of Dr Lawson consisted of three sons and five
daughters, of whom, still resident in their father's house at
Selkirk, two daughters only survive. Two of the daughters
and one of the sons predeceased him. The first death among
the ' lambs of his flock ' was that of Charlotte, a child, for
whom he had evidently cherished unusual love. From the
' Letter to Dr Vaughan. See Memoir, p. 113.
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 407
' Reflections ' on her illness and death, which followed, it is
evident that she had been a most amiable child. One that
knew the family well, and who had frequent opportunities of
witnessing their domestic life, thus speaks of them at this
period : —
' A considerable time before Charlotte Lawson was seized
with her fatal illness, I called on the Doctor. When ushered
into the parlour, I was alike surprised and pleased to find the
venerable man having Charlotte on his knee, and singing an
ode with a firm and distinct voice : and it was difficult to
say which was most delighted, the smiling child or the joyous
father. During her illness I frequently called to inquire for
her, and sometimes saw him. His face was the very picture
of deep and anxious solicitude, mingled with resignation.
Several of his people who called, he earnestly asked to pray
for the child. Those who knew her intimately, as well as
those of the family constantly beside her, he particularly re-
quested to put the question to her, " Do you love Jesus ? "
And had she only been able to say, " Fes," we cannot well
conceive what thrilling delight it would have given to his
anxious and pious heart. He tells us (in his " Reflections ")
that it did give him great delight, when told by her elder
sister, that, during the night, Charlotte had simply named
the name of Jesus. She tried to obtain more words from
her, but did not succeed."
When this lovely child died, the bereaved father thus wrote
to Dr Husband : —
'Selkirk, July 15, 1799.
' My dear Friend, — I indulged for some time past the
pleasing hope of giving and receiving pleasure by visiting you
in Fife. Gladly would I do so now by letter, since I have
been debarred from your presence by the providence of God.
I will make you sorry by what I have to say ; but the sorrows
of friendship are not without their mixture of pleasure.
408 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
' I went to Peebles two weeks before Lochgelly communion,
with a design not to retvirn, altliough I left my favourite
child not quite well. I had the doctor's advice, who was of
opinion that I needed not give myself any uneasy apprehen-
sion. I found myself, however, not quite satisfied to be so
long absent, and returned. I found my daughter so much
worse, that I scarcely ever found it possible to exchange
words with her ; nor could I ever, from the time when I began
to apprehend danger, exchange a single sentence with her
about her salvation. You will easily judge of my deep dis-
tress when I saw her in that state for ten days. The doctors
all the time pronounced it unlikely, and for a great part of it,
almost impossible, that she could recover.
' Charlotte was a great favourite with us all ; her under-
standing and memory were beyond her years ; she showed
a great degree of anxiety for religious knowledge, and I had
every reason to believe that there was some good thing in her
heart towards the Lord God of Israel. I had no apprehen-
sions that she was so near her latter end, so that in her last
sickness I might have no opportunities of speaking to her.
I had never put such questions to her as might have given me
the satisfaction of judging how far the good things I observed
and knew to be in her, might be ascribed to her natural dis-
position ; though her love to her Bible, and to hymn-books,
and to many other pious books suitable for children, gave me
great reason to hope that she possessed the distinguishing
qualities of a child of God, as far as could be reasonably
expected from one of her tender years. When 1 found that
she was dying, and could never be sure that she could hear
or understand anything I said, I had my only refuge in the
Hearer of prayer. I reflected bitterly on myself that I had
not done more for her soul ; and what could I now do for my
poor Charlotte ? Yet I was persuaded that God would still
do for her what might be wanting to prepare her for a better
state of being. Many were the petitions that I offered up,
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 409
and many were the passages of Scripture from which I
endeavoured to extract corafoi't. It gave me much relief to
consider that Jesus, in the days of His flesh, never refused to
comply with the solicitations of parents on behalf of their
distressed children. I endeavoured to comfort myself with
the persuasion that He would hear my prayers on behalf of
my dear Charlotte, when I begged for her a share in that
eternal life which He came to purchase for the lost.
' I think I have good reason to judge well of her. I am
sure I could not have prayed more earnestly for my own
salvation than I did for hers. I now wish to indulge the
pleasing thought that she is with Christ, and that, if she
bestows a thought on me, she pities the condition to which
she must know I have been reduced by losing her.
' I find that general consolation is very insufficient for
relieving the mind under many particular circumstances of
distress : consolations, for instance, under the loss of relations,
do not at all apply to my present state of mind. I can lose
my relations with the fortitude that becomes a man and a
Christian ; but our loss is nothhig : the question is, What has
become of the dead themselves ?
' I would, indeed, rather have lost anything I possess or
hope to possess, friends excepted, than my Charlotte ; and
yet, from the beginning of her distress to this moment, the
mere loss of her has appeared to me lighter than nothing :
because her eternal happiness was in question, and that she
should be cut off for ever from the means of grace and oppor-
tunities for spiritual improvement, was the subject of my
grief. — Your very affectionate friend,
' Gkorge Lawson.'
On the Sabbath after Charlotte's funeral he preached from
the text, ' I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.'
A friend who heard him says : ' It was a truly eloquent,
deeply affecting, and impressive sermon. Some may smile at
410 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
the epithet eloquent, as applied to any sermon preached by
Dr Lawson ; but those who do so must seldom, if ever, have
heard him preach ; for, so far as I am capable of judging, I
have heard more eloquence in several of his sermons than I
ever did in any one sermon of any other person. This was the
case in the funeral sermon, and still more so in one that he
preached some time after on these words, " For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved." At
this distance of time I distinctly remember some of the
admirably touching things he said. He very frequently shed
tears ; but when he attempted to repeat these words, " They
— the blessings — shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the
crown of the head of him that was separated from his brethren,"
his utterance completely failed him for a while, and tears
flowed in abundance. His crowded audience was deeply
affected.'
He received at this time the following letter of consolation
from his friend Mr Greig : —
Rev. David Greig to Dr Lawson..
' LocHGELLT, 22d Avgust 1799.
' My dear Friend, — I sincerely condole with you and Mrs
Lawson on the death of your amiable young daughter. I
find that this event has been very distressing to you ; but 1
hope the Lord has blessed it to you and your family, and
enabled you to acquiesce in His holy, wise, and kind disposal.
From what you say concerning your departed Charlotte, I
think you have all the grounds you could reasonably expect
to think that she has entered into the joy of her Ijord, and
that .your grief may well give place to joy and thankfulness.
Be grateful to the Giver of every good and perfect gift, that
He gave you so lovely a child, and that she gave you so many
comfortable evidences that she loved her Creator and Re-
deemer. I know that the anxieties of parents, who know the
importance of religion and eternity, are ready to make them
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 411
wish for evidences of the religion of their children more direct
and decisive than any can reasonably expect. This, perhaps,
in many cases, is their infirmity, and furnishes Satan an handle
by which he agitates and disquiets their minds. I hope you
will endeavour to guard against indulging unreasonable wishes
and groundless suspicions. Sure I am, that were you called to
give religious counsel to parents under the loss of such a child
as God hath taken from you and Mrs Lawson, you would
see reason to bid them be of good cheer, for their daughter
was far happier now than ever she was under their charge.
And why should you not admit the consolation which you
would administer to others ? It was the infirmity of Rachel,
that she refused to be comforted. I hope you are enjoying
the consolations which the Scriptures furnish for the afflicted,
and that God by His dispensations is qualifying you for still
greater usefulness in His Church. You hint that, in the
time of your affliction, you had committed some thoughts to
writing which you would perhaps communicate to me. I am
desirous of perusing them, and if you could send them to me
at the time when the Synod meets, I shall be happy. Per-
haps you may see it your duty to attend the Synod. It will
give pleasure to all your friends to see you on that occasion,
and to none more than me. — I am, yours in aflTection,
' David Greig.'
It was while suffering underneath this severe rod of his
heavenly Father that he composed the only piece in the shape
of a diary he ever wrote. This precious production was
found among his papers many years after his death, and was
published as a tractate, under the title of ' Reflections on the
Illness and Death of a Beloved Daughter.' Dr Brown pro-
nounced this work to be a ' precious gem, the most touching
picture of sanctified natural affection he had ever seen ;' and
indulged the hope, if they should be published, of ' seeing the
name of Lawson enrolled alons; with Howe, and Grosvenor,
412 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
and Cecil, and Watt, and Boston, among those who comfort
the mourners.'
The tears shed for Charlotte were just wiped away when
death again entered the fold. On this occasion the stroke
fell upon John, the twin-brother of Andrew (afterwards of
Ecclefechan). He was a youth of bright promise, had passed
through the university curriculum with much credit, and was
prosecuting his studies in divinity, with a view to the holy
ministry, when it pleased God to call him up. His father
was specially attached to him, and would cheerfully have kept
him at home till his education was finished, but for John's
own wish to be engaged as a tutor. He had gone to Penrith
to assist Dr Henry Thomson in the academy over which he
then presided. The following extracts from the only two
letters from his parents that survive will show their feelings
towards him : —
' Selkirk, January 4, 1813.
' Dear John, — All of us, whom you left here, are in good
health. We hope that you also are enjoying that blessing,
and that you feel the obhgations you are under to the God
of our lives for bringing us all safe to the beginning of a
new year. Whether it is to be the last year of our life we
know not ; but we know, if we are Christians indeed, that the
last will be the best of our years : an hour in heaven is better
than a thousand years twice told on earth. The death of your
friend and fellow-student, Mr Waugh,^ will, I hope, remind
you of the importance of learning what you learn in religion
for yourself in the first place. We hope that you still enjoy life
with that relish, without which we cannot be duly thankful to
Him who holds our souls in life, and that you are endeavour-
ing every day to sow that seed which will spring up in joy to
you during all future years. We all join in affectionate
wishes for your happiness both in this world and the next.
1 Minister of Miles Lane, now Albion Chapel, London.
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 413
May God ever bless you with His best blessing, — Your aifec-
tionate father, ' G. Lawson.'
' Selkirk, May 24, 1813.
' My dear John, — Your last arrived iu due time, and gave
us all a great deal of satisfaction, particularly as it announced
your escape from the militia. I think the policy was good.
It was, however, a favourable providence that you were not
called upon at all. When I spoke of a place near home, I
only meant to express my hope that such a thing might
occur, for, in fact, I know of no such thing. ... I am
sorry to hear that your picture is so ill executed. Pray,
could the limner not retouch it with advantage ? I hope to
have the pleasure of seehig it beside Andrew's by-and-bye.
I had a letter from him the other day. He is well, but has
no particular news. The newspapers mention, lately, the
death of Mr Lawrence Glass, minister of Aberdeen. He was
a pupil of your father's, fifteen or sixteen years ago. What
great reason for thankfulness have we, that God has spared
us all so long, and in some measure of comfortable circum-
stances ! May we be enabled to live to His praise, who hath
done so great things for us ! I observe, dear John, that your
confinement is really more than can be agreeable. I hope,
when Dr Thomson talks to you on that subject, that you will
give him the reason, truly and fully, why you cannot stay
vv'ith him. Surely he cannot take it amiss, when your health
is hurt by confinement. Indeed, I always wished you to
inform him of that before this time. — I ever am, my dear
John, your loving mother, ' Margaket Lawson.'
Though very happy and very useful in Penrith, the insidi-
ous disease which a mother's eye had discerned, made such
progress as to necessitate his return to Selkirk, just about
the time of the meeting of the Hall. He, however, was not
able to perform his duties as a theological student at this
414 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
session. As autunui leaves were falling, he drooped in
strength ; and in the last week of December 1813, he fell
asleep in Jesus. His death, though looked for, came some-
what suddenly. He was so well on the night before his
death, as to be able to raise the tune at domestic worship.
At an early hoar on the following morning, the family were
called up to witness his last struggle, and to hear his last
testimony to the preciousness of Jesus, and the hopes of the
Gospel. In this conclusion of life, peace and joy character-
ized the believing of the youthful sufferer. It was customary
at that time, to send for the undertaker, at whatever hour of
the day or night death took place, who brought along with
him what was called the ' dead-board,' upon which the corpse
was stretched out. The son of the worthy man who per-
formed this duty at this time, has informed the compiler, that
when his father arrived at the manse, he found the family in
great distress, — weeping and lamenting over the dead, — Dr
Lawson sitting in the midst of them, calm, but overwhelmed.
After a short space, he arose and said, ' Oh, Mrs Lawson, will
you consider what you are about ? Remember who has done
this. Be composed ; be resigned ; and rise, and accompany
me down stairs, that we may all join in worshipping our Grod.'
And so they all went down with him to the parlour. He
then read out for praise, these solemn verses of the 29th
Paraphrase : —
' Amidst the mighty, where is He
Who saith, and it is done ?
Each varying scene of changeful life
Is fi-om the Lord alone.
' Why should a living man complain
Beneath the chast'ning rod ?
Our sins afflict us ; and the cross
Must bring us back to God.'
Before he raised the tune, he paused for a moment, looking
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 415
round upon the weeping circle, and then, with faltering
accents, said, ' We have lost our singer this morning ; but I
know that he has begun a song which shall never end,' and
then proceeded with the worship : completing a scene as holy
and sublime as can well be imagined. It was also customary
at that period, and in that quarter, when the day of funeral
came, for the chief mourners to come out and stand at the
door, in front of the house, to receive the company as they
assembled. Dr Lawson, however, was not there ; and, as
the hour was past, the undertaker (one of his elders) entered
the manse to inquire the reason. No one could inform him.
Upon which, he opened the door of the library, and found the
afflicted father on his knees in prayer.
A few days after this, a letter came to ' Jokn,' from one of
his pupils at Penrith — son of Herbert Buchanan, Esq. of
Arden — making anxious inquiries as to his health. The
letter was opened and read by the father, who Avrote an
answer to it, as if from John himself in heaven, — ' an answer
which breathes not the language of terror and despair, like
the spirit that assumed the figure, the voice, and the mouth
of the departed prophet, but that of holy love and hope, like
the words of Moses and Elias, when they appeared in glory
on the Mount, and spake of the decease which Jesus should
accompUsh at Jerusalem:'^ —
' Dear Sir, — Your hope that I am in a better state of
health than formerly, is now more than reahzed. God has,
in His infinite mercy, been pleased to receive me into those
happy abodes where there is no more sorrow, nor death, nor
sin. I now hear and see things which it is impossible to
utter ; and would not give one hour of the felicity which I
now enjoy, for a lifetime, or for a thousand years, of the
greatest felicity which I enjoyed on earth.
' I still love you and the other friends whom I left on earth,
' Dr H. Belfrage.
416 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
but my affection for them is very dififerent from what it was :
I value them not for the love which they bear to me, or the
amiable qualities which are most generally esteemed by men,
unless they love ray Lord and Saviour, through whose blood
I have found admission to heaven. The happiness that I
wash for you, is not advancement in the world, or a rich
enjoyment of its pleasures ; but the hght of God's counte-
nance, the grace of His Spirit, and a share, when a few years
have passed, of those things which eye has not seen nor ear
heard, and which it has not entered into the heart of man to
conceive.
' It is not permitted to us who dwell on high to appear to
our former friends, and to inform them of our present feel-
ings ; and, ardently as I desire to have you a participant of
my felicity, I do not wish to approach you in a visible form,
to tell you of the riches of the glory of that inheritance which
I possess. Abraham tells me, that the writings of the pro-
phets and apostles are better fitted to awaken sinners to
a sense of everlasting things, and to excite good men to
holiness, than apparitions and admonitions of their departed
friends would be ; and what he says is felt to be true by all
of us. I do not now read the Bible. I thank God I often
read it from beginning to end, when it was necessary for me
to learn from it the knowledge of my beloved Saviour ; and
yet, if I could now feel uneasiness, I would regret that I
made it so little the subject of my meditation. You would
be glad to know whether, though unseen, I may not be often
present with you, rejoicing in your prosperity, and still more
in every good work performed by you, in every expression of
love to my God, and care for the welfare of your own soul.
But I am permitted to tell you no more on this subject than
God has thought meet to tell you in His Word, that there is
joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth ; that angels are
present in Christian assemblies, observing with pleasure or
indignation the good or bad behaviour of the worshippers ;
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 417
and that we welcome with great joy our friends from earth,
when they are received into our everlasting habitations.
' Farewell, my dear friend, farewell, but not for ever.
What are all the days you have before you on earth, but a
moment ! I hope that the grace which hath brought me so
early in my existence to heaven, will bring you all to the
same happy place, after sparing you some time longer in the
lower world to serve your generation, by His will, and to do
more than I had an opportunity to do, for exciting your neigh-
bour to choose the path of life. Much good may be done by
the attractive example, by the prayers, and (at proper times)
by the religious converse of Christians engaged in this world.
' Farewell again, till we meet never to be separated. — I am,
your friend, more sincerely than ever, ' John Lawson.'
The feeUngs of Dr Lawson at this time will best appear in
the following exquisitely beautiful letters, addressed to friends :
Dr Lawson to Herbert Buchanan, Esq.
' Selkirk, Jan. 2, 1814.
' Sir, — This comes from the afflicted father of John Law-
son, to announce to you his departure from this valley of tears
on Wednesday, last week, at four o'clock in the morning,
llaving found some letters from you among his papers, in
which you express a warm regard for him, gratitude induced
me to make this communication to you, which will give you
pain for the present, but I hope may clo you good in the
latter end. I think I have reason to believe that he has left
our society for that of holy angels. I bless God for the
good hope I have of one day rejoining him in happier cir-
cumstances than ever ; yet I confess I have sometimes felt
some degree of regret that he has not been longer spared in
this world, to do something in the exercise of that profession
which he had in view for the direction of his fellow-men into
the way of salvation ; but to solace my sorrow, it occurs to
2 D
418 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
me, that, for aught I know,' his example or his conversation
may have ah'eady contributed in some degree to that end.
And that the remembrance of his early death may not be
without its happy eifect upon those who honoured him with
their friendship, and who cherish his memory, it occurs to
me that those who loved him will entertain the favourable
opinion that he is now in heaven, and that they will wish to
be again partakers of bis society. Thus they may have a
new excitement to consider, and to walk in the good way,
by which they may at last have the happiness of again enjoy-
ing that society which was in former times a part of their
happiness. This is a consideration which is not without its
effect on myself. I have lost several dear friends, with whom
I parted in the hope of dwelling with them for ever ; I would
shudder at the thought of being, by the sentence of our
great Judge, for ever excluded from their fellowship, and of
becoming the object of their contempt.
' I learn from Scripture that there is joy in heaven over
sinners that repent, and also, though in a less degree, over
righteous persons that need no change in their course of life.
That joy, I am persuaded, has place among departed Chris-
tians as well as among angels ; and if my sentiments on
this subject are right, we see how we may give pleasure to
our departed friends. My dear son deHghted to give plea-
sure, and was grateful to all who endeavoured to give him
pleasure when he was upon earth ; and I doubt not that it
will be an augmentation to his pleasure in the eternal world,
to know that any of those whom he loved on earth are fol-
lowing him in the path which he trode to that world where
he now is. He has left all his relations in grief, but I hope
their grief will have happy effects upon them ; and when his
life has not been so useful as we could have wished it, it will
add to his happiness if his death be useful, especially to those
whom he loved on earth.
'I conclude with sincere thanks for the friendship you
THE FATHER ANH HIS AFFLICTIONS. 419
appear to have entertained for him, and remain, your humble
servant, ' G. Lawson.'
Dr Lawson to J)r Husband.
' Selkirk, 30<A December 1813.
' My dear Friend, — What is the reason that I have been so
long of hearing from you, except in short letters of business ?
I hope you have not blotted me out of the list of your friends.
It would be too much for me to meet with such a calamity
at this time. I have lost, on Wednesday morning, one of my
dearest and most affectionate, and I hope I may say one of
my best friends, in a son, whom God was pleased to take (I
humbly hope) to Himself. Never did a son love his father or
his mother with a warmer affection. Never did mother or father
love a son more warmly since the first period of Christianity.
' The last time I wrote to you was, I think, on the occasion
of a similar calamity. It is probable that I then would not
enter very deeply into your feelings, although I had in former
times met with similar afflictions. I wish I may not at pre-
sent renew your sorrows by entering too deeply into them.
' My heart is sore pained within me in my solitary musings.
Were I now to become rich, the acquisition would scarcely
give me pleasure, because my beloved John is to inherit no
part of my substance. When I amuse myself with writing
discourses, it will often occur to me that John is to have no
part of them when I leave the world. He took great plea-
sure, from his early years, in hearing or in making plans of
sermons ; and within these few days he spent a few minutes
of each day 'in writing a portion of a sermon from a text
which I had prescribed him.
' His ruling disposition seemed to be, to please and to be
pleased. I know not that he was ever angry with any person,
or that any person was ever angry with him. And I had
good reason to think that he was a real fearer of God, who
made use of what he learned in rehgion for his own benefit.
420 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
* Perhaps I have used too strong language in speaking of
my affliction. My heart is pained sore within me at the recol-
lections concerning him that frequently present themselves to
my mind ; yet I hope I am not altogether unthankful for much
mercy in his lapt sickness and his death, I little doubt of his
readiness for his departure. His sufferings were so moderate
till the last day of his hfe, or his patience so well disguised
them, we could not be persuaded to resign some hope of his
recovery. If he had lived much longer, we have reason to
believe that his pains from want of breath w^oiild have been
so extreme as to rend our hearts. But he died suddenly,
after six months' sickness. On the morning of last Wednesday
he was suddenly torn from us, and, I humbly hope, conveyed
by angels into the bosom of his Saviour.
' My beloved John is torn from me during the few years
that remain for me on earth, but the separation between him
and me will not be nearly so long, as if he had been appointed
to live as long as I have already done in this valley of tears.
I trust ere long to see him again with joy, and yet I wish and
I ought to say, Whom have I in heaven but Thee ?
' You and I ought both to bless God that we have yet
several children ahve, who love us as affectionately, and whose
departure from us we would have as bitterly regretted, as
those of them whom we have lost.
' It will be still happier if we can indulge the hope (and I
am much disposed to do it), that the remaining part of our
families will at the great day have a joyful meeting with those
who have gone before them. What precious consolations
are in Christ and His Gospel ! It gives us the hope of eternal
life to ourselves, and teaches us how to direct the path of our
children towards the better country, where there are no painful
separations.
' You will not forget to communicate to your family and
your colleague my earnest wishes that they may all be found
walking in the way of peace. Then will you have much
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 421
pleasure in their life, and their death (if they should die in
youth) will not be without pleasure to counterbalance its
sorrows to surviving friends.
' Remember me to Alexander. I believe I cannot at this
time write to Mr Greig. I believe that you and he were
praying for me if you heard of the distress of my family, and
I still need your prayers.
' May the God of hope fill us and all our friends and
brethren with peace and joy in believing. — I am, your well-
wisher, ' George Lawson.'
To this letter Dr Husband sent the following very touch-
ing response : —
Dr Husband to Dr Lawson,
'Dunfermline, June 3, 1814.
' Mr DEAR Friend, — I am most deservedly, and yet affec-
tionately, reproved for not replying to your sympathizing
letters which I received during my afflictions, I reckon it an
evidence of unabated and warm friendship, that you regard
me as one to whom you can pour out your sorrows with the
assurance of sympathy. From the first moment that you did
me the honour to rank me among your friends, I have fondly
cherished the idea, and do still cherish it, as one of my great-
est earthly blessings. How pleasing to think that friendships
formed on earth shall not be finally dissolved by the separat-
ing stroke of death, but be renewed with unspeakable ad-
vantage in a happier and better world ! I wonder that it
should ever have been a question whether friends will know
one another in the heavenly state. The supposition that they
will not, is contrary to the scriptural representations of
heaven, which hold it out as a state of happy society. It is
contrary to the constitution of human nature, as framed by
the wisdom of God, — a constitution which makes us cleave
to others, and renders intercourse with them a spring of some
422 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
of our highest pleasures. It is not piety, but ignorance, to
say that the blessed God will so occupy the minds of those
who dwell in His presence, that they will have neither leisure
nor inclination to attend to any other object, for they will
enjoy God in all, and all in God.
' I have perused your letter again and again, and I cannot
peruse it without mingling my tears with those of the afflicted
parents who have suffered so great a bereavement. But you
have not lost your dear son. He is only gone a little before,
to w^ait and hail your arrival on the shores of bliss. His
character was, indeed, most engaging. I know it not merely
by the testimony of a fond afflicted father ; I know it by the
testimony of those who may be supposed to have looked on
him with a less partial eye.
' To say that I sympathize with you, would be to tell you
nothing but what you firmly believe. But I cannot say I
pity you. You are greatly afflicted, but you are not miser-
able. You believe that your son is inconceivably happier
than he would have been with you and his affectionate
mother ; and you have the well-grounded hope of seeing him
ere it be long, and of uniting with him in tracing the several
steps of wisdom and goodness by which you were led to the
blessed region which you are to inhabit.
' Your dear John now knows unspeakably more of his
Bible than he could have reached on earth by the most dili-
gent study, with all the assistance his father could have given
him, or than ever the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation Him-
self is pleased to impart while we dwell in this world of error
and mistakes. Happy state ! when that which is perfect is
come, and that which is in part is done away.
' I find my heart refreshed while it is melted by your letter.
It is so much the language of genuine grief, and at the same
time of true consolation, that, while it teaches me here to
mourn, it directs me where to find consolation. — I am, yours
sincerely, ' James Husband.'
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 423
Dr Lawson to Rev. A. Lothian.
' Selkirk, Is* January 1814.
' My dear Sir, — I write this to inform you of an event
which I know will give you much regret. It is the death of
my beloved son John, to whom, as to his brother, you paid
so much attention when he resided in Edinburgh. I take a
kind of melancholy pleasure in expressing my gratitude to
those who favoured him with their regard. Yet I find them
so numerous when I think of them, that I cannot find terms
of acknowledgment for them all. He had partly from nature,
and I hope also in part from grace, a facility in making
friends who will now sympathize with us in our sorrow. I
beUeve he never made any enemies, nor do I know that he
ever met with unkindness.
' His death makes a large diminution to the earthly happi-
ness of us all. We cannot but mourn for the loss of one
whom we loved so dearly, and who so well deserved our love.
This last observation I would not so readily make to you, if I
were not persuaded, from your knowledge of him, that you
will not place it to the account of a father's partiality. I am
sure, from continued experience, that a great part of his
happiness lay in giving pleasure to his parents, to his brothers
and sisters, to our friends and his, and to all who had any
connection with him.
' I believe we have reason to ascribe it to partial fondness
in David, that he never said to Adonijah, " Why hast thou
done so ? " But Adonijah was born to be a prince, and ex-
posed to those dangerous temptations which attend high
stations in life. My dear son was born in a humble and
safer station. And I do not feel regret, but pleasure, in the
recollection that I never, so far as I remember, found fault
with him. On the contrary, I sometimes told him that I had
been always well pleased with his behaviour.
' I do not know that he was ever called to the great duty
424 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
of Christian forgiveness; but no doubt, if his life had not
been short, he must have been exposed in some degree to the
injuries that try the meekness of the Christian. His days
have been very few in tliis world, but I trust that " God has
given him length of days for ever and ever."
' We all mourn deeply for the want of him ; but we are all
persuaded that we have great reason to rejoice and be thank-
ful for the ground we have to think that he is incomparably
happier than we can hope to be, till we are with him. Our
grief will, I hope, have its influence in preparing us for that
felicity. All of us should shudder at the thought of being
for ever separated from him. This, indeed, is a consideration
that ought to have infinitely less influence upon our minds
than the desire of being with Christ ; yet I think it may be
allowed a place in our thoughts. The holy writers do not
always use the most powerful arguments in recommending
hoHness, and the weaker may sometimes be of great use when
the stronger are not felt as they ought to be.'
In little more than three years after this, Dr Lawson drank
of another cup filled with a similar sorrow. His youngest
daughter, Jane, who had just grown into lovely womanhood,
exhibited symptoms of that fatal disease which had laid her
brother in an early grave. One of her brothers (George)
had recently been settled in Bolton, and it was resolved to
send her south, that, under his kind roof and with change of
air, she might derive bodily recruiting. On her way thither,
she had gone round by Edinburgh and Glasgow, accom-
panied by one of her sisters. They carried the following
letter to his ancient friend, Mr Swanston : —
Dr Lawson to John Swanston, Esq.
' Selkirk, June 1816.
' Dear Friend, — I rejoice your anxiety on your daugh-
ter's account terminated in the joy of an addition to your
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 425
family ; and yet tbis joy must, of course, iutroduce new soli-
citudes.
' Such is the nature of earthly comforts. But it is well
ordered that we should not find our rest in sublunary things.
And when our hope is in the Lord, we can with safety
commit to Hira everything that is dear to our hearts on earth.
His blessing is promised to the houses as well as to the
persons of them that trust in Him.
' I beUeve this will come to you by the hands of two of
my daughters, one of whom has been strongly urged by her
physician to make a voyage to her brother in Lancashire. I
have been very anxious for her for some time past, although
she does not appear to be worse than she was some time
ago. I should be glad you could have Dr Nimmo's opinion,
whether the voyage is likely to be useful to her. It would
be a great diminution of what remains of my earthly comfort
if she could not recover. She has been always a very dear
child, and deservedly so. But what shall I say ? Much
better men than I have often been bereaved of their beloved
children, and had no reason to complain of Him, who took
only what He had given. I think I have reason to hope
that God will either recover my beloved daughter to me, or
take her to Himself.
' Although you have not wept for the death of children, I
beheve your feelings have not been less acute for several very
amiable friends, than those of parents who lamented over
their sons or their daughters. But it is much more com-
fortable to weep for the loss of amiable friends than for the
bad hfe of friends of an opposite description. Whilst we
mourn for our own loss, we rejoice in the happiness of those
who are taken out of a world of vanities and sorrows, to the
regions into which sin or sorrow never enters.
' Nothing can fully satisfy our minds when we think of our
long lost friends, but the hope of rejoining them. We are
not worthy to be admitted into their society. But they,
426 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
once, like us, lamented their own unworthiness ; and they
washed their robes, and made them white in that fountain of
blood which stands open to us also.
' I doubt not that I shall have Mrs Swanston's prayers
along with yours, for mercy to my poor distressed child.
May you and she be ever preserved from the pangs of
bereavement of children. But what do I say? We must
be parted one way or other from our dearest friends in a not
very distant period. I sympathize with Dr Nimmo in his
late bereavement. His feelings must be painful, although he
is not the chief mourner. But I am well informed that his
amiable sister had hope in her death. — I am, yours ever,
' G. Lawson.'
The sisters, by easy stages, arrived in safety at Bolton, and
received the following reply to their ' arrival letter ' from
their anxious parent : —
Dr Lawson to his Daughter Jane.
' Selkirk, June 29, 1816.
' My dear Jeanie, — We received Nancy's letter last
night. The doctor was present, and he thought it a favour-
able symptom that you did not appear to be worse, after so
many removals from place to place. We will wait with
anxiety for a letter from Bolton. God grant that it may
bring us good accounts of your state of health. Many of
your friends inquire for you. I love them the better for it.
I do not think that you will be put to great trouble by the
hard duty of forgiving your enemies : you have many warm
friends ; but I have not yet heard of any of your enemies.
We are all much indebted to your sister for her care of you.
She could not perform to us more acceptable service. The
natural kindness of brothers and sisters is well-pleasing to
the God of love ; and the acts of kindness which are attended
with some trouble and inconvenience to ourselves, are the
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 427
best proofs of the sincerity of that affection from which thej
proceed. You are, I hope, well estabhshed in the belief, that
us high as the heavens are above the earth, the compassion
of your heavenly Father exceeds the tender affection of your
earthly parents ; yet a question will arise in your mind. Why
does not God send His word and heal you ? My father on
earth would give everything he had for the recovery of my
health ; but God needs only speak the word, and His hand-
maid will be whole : yet His hand is stretched out still to
afflict me. You will of yourself be able to silence such whis-
perings in your bosom : you never did anything displeasing
to me, but everything the reverse ; you were always happy in
my presence, and disposed to render me happy ; but we have
all sinned a thousand and a thousand times against the Holy
One of Israel, who looks upon all sin with abhorrence. No
wonder that He often makes us feel the effects of His dis-
pleasure. If His mercy were not as much above the com-
passion of an earthly father as the heavens are above the
earth, the condition of all of us would be most dreadful ; but
you will likewise consider, that God's wisdom is equal to His
mercy : He knows infinitely better than we what is good for
us. What we would rejoice to see is your face, as usual,
clothed in pleasant smiles ; but God knows the heart, and
His pleasure lies in that hoUness which has its chief place in
the inner man. For this reason He sends and continues
trouble, that you may be a partaker of His holiness. His
eye glances through all the days of your life, and of eternity ;
and He considers that best for you which will be found best
at the distance of many years of life, or of ages in a better
world. I persuade myself that you have gained more in that
which is the true beauty of a Christian, than you have lost
in looks, which will be still pleasant to us after all the change
which sickness has made upon you ; but our hope is, in a
few weeks to see your countenance renovated with health,
whilst the happy effects of your affliction continue unim-
428 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
paired. We are much indebted to the friends whom you have
seen, for their kindness to your sister and yourself.
' You are going to friends who will not be less kind ; and
never did they perform a service more grateful to us, than
their attention to you in your present state.
' I always loved you dearly, but now much more than ever.
I am pleased with the placidity with which you bear your
distress. May God give you to bear with all patience what
He is pleased to lay upon you ; and to be thankful for every
symptom of begun recovery, if He accomphsh our humble
hopes of your deliverance. Remember the Lord, and what
He suffered for our salvation. Have we any reason to com-
plain of our sickness, when Jesus Himself, the Lord of glory,
was pleased to bear our sicknesses, and carry our sorrows,
that by His stripes we might be healed ?
' Your mother and sister remember you with warm affec-
tion : they would think it one happy symptom if you could
write a few lines to us with your own hand, which we sin-
cerely trust may soon be the case. God grant that a favour-
able answer may be vouchsafed to our earnest supphcations
for your speedy restoration to health ; and, above all, that
He may at least bestow upon us iu a better world length of
days, for ever and ever. — Your affectionate father,
' G. Lawson.'
The hopes entertained from this change were doomed to
disappointment. ' My heart is grieved,' he writes to his son,
' because you have not been able to give a more favourable
account of my beloved daughter's health ; but I have better
reason, if possible, than Eh to say, " It is the Lord, let Him
do what seeraeth Him good." In the threatened destruction
of his two wicked sons, he trembled at the thought of their
awful condition under the wrath of God. I have reason to
hope that our dear Jane is suffering under the hand of a
gracious Father, to make her a partaker of His hoKness, and
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 429
to prepare her for eternal happiness. It must give you great
pain to witness the suiferings of a sister so justly dear to you ;
but it will give you pleasure, many days hence, to remember
that you had the opportunity, and did not suffer it to pass
unimproved, of consoling her mind, and suggesting useful
directions to her. May God bless all your endeavours to
.tranquillize her, and to prepare her for the event.'
At length this amiable young woman died at Bolton, in her
brother's house. But we must allow paternal grief to tell its
own story : —
Dr Laivson to Rev. A. Lothian.
' Selkirk, \Oth August 1816.
' My dear Sir, — I have not yet sent you my thanks for
the kind attention which you paid to my beloved daughter
Jeanie, when she passed through Edinburgh. Your fears for
her were too well grounded: it pleased God to remove her
out of this world on Wednesday last. She has carried away
a very large portion of my earthly fehcity ; but I hope my
loss is not to be compared with her gain. This is the opinion
of ray son likewise, who says, in his letters to me, that he
entertains no doubt of her sleeping in Jesus. I will say to
you, what I would not say to others promiscuously, that she
was lovely and pleasant in her life. Her pains seem never to
have been extreme. No murmur ever passed from her lips,
and she gave no expression of dissatisfaction, either with her
distress of body or her distance from home.
' I have sometimes been afraid of intruding into the things
which I have not seen, by forming a judgment of my departed
children or friends ; but a well-known text satisfies my judg-
ment, that there is no irreverence to God in taking the com-
fort of strong persuasion, that our departed friends are happy,
when their lives have given us all the grounds for it that can
ordinarily be expected. We are commanded not to mourn
for those who are fallen asleep in Jesus, like those who have
430 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
no hope. We caunot improve this consolatory direction with-
out the persuasion that our friends are sleeping in Jesus, and
shall rise with Him.
' God has chastised me sore, by removing from my eyes
several children that wei-e very dear to my heart. But it
would be impious and ungrateful to murmur or to call in
question the goodness of Him who spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for our salvation. Job blessed God
when He made desolate all his company. Have not you and
I reason to bless Him, who spares so many children to us,
and so many other rich comforts ?
' I am afraid I have given too large a proportion of my
heart to my dear children. May God determine our hearts
to love Himself above our dearest earthly comforts.
' I will be obliged to you to take the trouble of notifying
her decease in the pubhc news. I give you, on the top of the
following page, the words in which I think it will be proper
to announce it. I wish the intelligence to reach Fife as soon
as convenient, because I have some friends there who would
be praying for her recovery — that they may turn their sup-
plications for my family into a new form.
' My wife, and all of my family who are present, desire me
to present their affectionate compliments to Mrs Lothian and
your family, along with yourself. We need your prayers. —
I remain, yours affectionately, ' G. Lawson.'
Dr Lawson to Dr Husband.
' Selkirk, 31si August 1816.
' My dear Friend, — I received your welcome letter by
Mr Murray. We have many alleviations of our grief; and
the sympathy of friends, and especially of such friends as you,
is far from being the least of them. We must mourn whilst
we are in this world for our own calamities, and those of our
friends. It is wisely ordained that we should be under the
necessity of feeling what we are so unwilling to believe, that
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 431
our happiness is not to be expected from the most delightful
enjoyments of this world. What would all the kingdoms and
glory of this world avail me ? They could not restore those
pleasant children whom I have lost (not, I hope, for ever).
The possession of them, I believe, would bring me more
sorrow than joy, because those whom I loved so dearly can-
not enjoy them with me.
' It gave me pleasure that, when you have so just cause to
mourn bitterly, you mourn after a godly sort, and are enabled
to comfort others with the comforts wherewith yourself also
are comforted of God. What would have become of you or
me if our mourning had been like David's for two of his sons ?
Would we not have been crushed under the dreadful weight?
Blessed be God that we mourn not like them that have no
hope. There is hope of our children in their latter end, that
they shall be brought again from the land of the enemy. The
last enemy is already conquered. Our dear deceased children
have (we humbly hope) obtained the victory over him through
the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony.
' The Lord will swallow up death in victory, and will wipe
away tears from all faces, — tears already wiped away from
the faces of those for whom we mourn ; and if we look for
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life, we
believe that they shall be wiped from our faces also.
' It is now more than forty years since I enjoyed the rich
pleasures of your friendship. Within less than the half of
that time, it is probable we shall be in a world where things
will be viewed in a different light from what they now are.
May we not, then, be praising God for His goodness in chas-
tising us by the loss of our pleasant children, that we might
be partakers of His hohness ? Whilst I live, if I should hve
as many years as I have already lived, I will remember those
lovely children whom God gave me and took from me. But
my remembrance will not be unmingled with pleasure.
' My poor Jeanie had a happy life, for she was always
432 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
cheerful, and always wished to make others happy. Her last
illness was not, in appearance, extremely painful. As far
as I have been informed, she was never heard to complain.
She now sleeps in the dust, at a great distance from me, but
not, I hope, from her Redeemer. She sleeps in Jesus, and
God will bring her with Him.
' I told Dr Anderson how very sorry you were at not seeing
him. He was much delighted with Mr Macfarlane's company
in some place where he saw him. — I am, ever aiFectionately
yours, ' George Lawson.'
No pious mind can rise from the perusal of these almost
apostolic letters, without being convinced that the author
held close communion with ' the Father, and the Son, and the
Holy Ghost.' We hear in them all one and the same voice
of meek resignation and heavenly hope. He was wont to tell
his people that they should strive to rejoice in their tribula-
tions, and finished the admonition once with these beautiful
words : ' The blackbird sings sweetly with the thorn at her
breast, and so should God's children when passing through
their trials.'
In the lives and conversations of his two surviving sons, Dr
Lawson had increasing delight during the remaining days of
his life. The eldest, George, became one of the most popu-
lar preachers in our Church. He was first of all ordained in
Galashiels, 4th November 1806; then he removed to Bolton;
from that he was translated to Kilmarnock ; and finally, after
the deaths of his father and brother Andrew (who succeeded
his father in Selkirk), he too became one of his father's suc-
cessors, and died 15th December 1850. In writing to him
at Kilmarnock, Dr Lawson says, ' Our chief pleasure as
ministers should be in doing good, and in the conscientious
use of the means of doing good. It can give little pleasure
to any man of consideration to be valued more than he
deserves ; and it need not give us great pain to be despised,
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 433
or to incur the displeasure of men, if we are conscious of
endeavouring to perform the duties we owe to them. I have
no hope of ever seeing you or your brother at Kilmarnock.
I have had my time in which I was happy to visit distant
friends, but everything in this world has its end. Let your
brethren know that I am glad to hear of their prosperity,
and of their endeavours to perform faithful service to Christ
and to their people. I am sorry that I have not been able
to do more than I have done to prepare them for usefulness :
but to supply my defects I hope they will be daily learners
at the school of Paul, or rather of Christ, and that they will
treasure up in their minds the epistles to Timothy and Titus,
which are epistles from Christ to all ministers who are called
to labour in His service.'
Dr Nicol, of Jedburgh, preached the funeral sermon of a
worthy father's worthy son, from which we make but one
extract : ' Mr Lawson was indebted in an eminent degree, for
the rich furnishing of his mind and the early formation of his
character for the work of the ministry, to the example and
training of his father. Professor Lawson, a man singularly en-
dowed by nature with a large and apprehensive mind, and by
a careful education, added to a large measure of the grace of
God, with all that variety of learning and Christian experience
which rendered him such an accomplished teacher of Christi-
anity whether in this pulpit or among his people, in the chair
of theology or in the bosom of his family. Our departed friend
was in the habit of acknowledging his obhgations to the care-
ful training of this learned and godly man ; and in all the
varied scenes of his ministry, down to the very close of it, his
wonderful maturity as a minister of the Gospel gave evidence,
that whilst it was the grace of God that had enlightened
his mind and accomphshed him for the work of the Gospel,
he had profited very early and very much by the singular
advantage of his parentage : his mind, naturally rich and
strong, having been discipUued judiciously under paternal
434 THE LIFE OF CR LAWSON.
care, so as to store his memory, at a very early period of life,
with the word of truth, and a vast variety of useful know-
ledge subordinate to it ; form him into the habit of a quick
and sound judgment on all subjects ; and teach him to conse-
crate and employ his faculties under a lively sense of responsi-
bility to God.'
Andrew Lawson, the twin-brother of Charlotte, was his
father's immediate successor in Selkirk. On the death of Dr
Lawson, the church gave the call, in the first instance, once
and again to George, the elder of the two ; but he firmly
declined. On one or other of them, however, the people's
hearts were set ; and Andrew was, after a second call, pre-
vailed upon to leave his charge at Ecclefechan and become
their pastor. The death of Charlotte, his closest and dearest
companion in childhood, had made a deep impression on his
mind. He determined to study for the ministry, and, along
with his younger brother John, with that view he attended
the University of Edinburgh, and afterwards joined the Hall
under his father's presidency. It was during their third
session at the latter that John died. At that time Dr Law-
son said, ' I am very sorry for Andrew, more so indeed than
for any of- the rest of the family ; for this is the second time
he has been deprived of his companion : first Charlotte, and
then John, having been withdrawn from him.' He was
much loved in and around Selkirk, for his own and for his
father's sake. He was ordained at Ecclefechan, 2d October
1816; inducted to Selkirk, 1st June 1824; and died there
on the 28th October 1836, in the twenty-first year of his
ministry and forty-fifth year of his age. After his death, his
brother George consented to leave Kilmarnock for Selkirk.
' His character,' says one who knew him well, ' was not showy
and artificial, but solid and sincere. When George Whitfield
was asked respecting the character of a certain person, he
replied, "I can't tell, I never lived with him." This test may
be applied with advantage to the deceased. Intimacy and
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 485
esteem grow together. It was in the domestic circle that
the amiableness of his heart appeared. In the bosom of his
family, and amid the endearments of home, he spent many of
his sweetest and happiest hours. There he was blessed with
all that affection could desire, and enjoyed the soft and tender
pleasures which flow from the purest friendship. . . . His
mental faculties were well balanced. This gave harmony to his
mind and consistency to his conduct. As there was no one
power more prominent than another, there was no eccentricity
about him. His perception was clear, his judgment sound,
his memory capacious and retentive, and his imagination
lively, though neither bold nor discursive. Accuracy and
neatness were things in which he delighted. ... He had a
taste for the curious and rare, whether in nature, science, or
literature. For the witty and the humorous he had a keen
relish, and occasionally showed that he had no mean power
for them himself. His acquaintance with general literature
was considerable, and his knowledge of the learned languages,
especially of Latin and Hebrew, was minute. ... It is not too
much to say, that he enjoyed to a large extent the esteem and
confidence of his fellow-citizens, and descended to the grave
amid the noonday splendour of an untarnished reputation. A
gentleman advanced in life, and of extensive acquaintance
with society, said on the day of his funeral, " He was the most
perfect character I ever knew, except his father. He did
more good, perhaps, with less ill, than any other man of my
acquaintance." '
It may interest the reader to be told that the present
occupant of the pulpit at Selkirk is a son of this most excel-
lent man, in every respect worthy to represent his uncle,
his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather,
who went before him in the Christian pastorate of that
church.
The only relic of Dr Lawson's correspondence with this
sou is subjoined : —
436 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
Dr Lawson to his Son Andrew.
' Selkirk, July 1814.
' Mr DEAR A., — We received your letter, and were glad
to find that you had reached Stirling in safety, where nothing
will be wanting on the part of our friends to make your
visit agreeable. We are now, hi a great measure, debarred
by age and infirmities from enjoying such pleasures as we
once did ; but we enjoy them a second time, when our chil-
dren taste the pleasures that belong to their time of hfe,
without forgetting that the pleasures of a good conscience
are a necessary ingredient in all the pleasures of life.
' You are now in a pleasant district of the country, and in
a district which calls up many recollections interesting to
every native of Scotland. I hope you will not leave Stirling-
shire, without looking with attention at the place where
Wallace and Bruce fought hard battles for the freedom of
their country, where the rebellion of 1715 was quelled, and
where many other transactions which will never be forgotten
by them who have read the history of their country, took place.
The Grahams, Wallace, Bruce, Argyle, and all the heroes of
the days of old, are gone to the land of forgetfulness ; but their
exploits will ever be remembered. Yet they will themselves
remember with pleasure only their works which were wrought
in God ; and although we do not expect that any of our
works will be remembered long after we leave this world, by
our fellow-men, yet every work of faith and labour of love
will be remembered for ever by God. At the great day, the
little charities, the kind services to persons in distress, the
prayers, the edifying speeches of many poor women, un-
known beyond their own parishes, will make a greater figure
than all the exploits of Alexander, or even of the heroes
who were the ornament and defence of their country, unless
their glories were sanctified by a sincere regard to God, and
to our Saviour Jesus Christ.
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 437
' My hearing is a little improved, so I hope I shall still be
able to continue my charge of the students ; but I will wait
patiently to see what God will do for me ; and should it be
Ilis will that I should resign that charge, I will be thankful
that I have been so long entrusted with the care of them. —
Yours affectionately, ' G. Lawson.'
Thus nurtured in the ordeal of affliction, Dr Lawson was
a comforter of others — indeed, a son of consolation :
' Haud ignarus mali, miseris succurere disco.'
We have already given specimens of his sympathy with
his fellow -sufferers, and now wind up this chapter with a
few more, in every way worthy of his fame, and well suited
to heal the broken in heart : —
Dr Laivson to a Mother on the Death of her Son.
' Selkirk, Sept. 1812.
' Madam, — Although I have not the pleasure of your
acquaintance, I take this opportunity of expressing my
sympathy with you and your afflicted partner, for the loss of
your amiable son, whose talents and piety promised (if his
life had been spared) much comfort to you, and much advan-
tage to the Church. I am glad to hear he was blessed, on
his death-bed, with the cheering hope of being with Christ.
I am persuaded that his hope was well grounded. You must
be of the same opinion ; and, therefore, I hope that your joy
and peace will exceed your grief. You will, while you Uve,
mourn the loss of such a son ; but you will bless God
you had such a son to lose. Would you not rather be the
mother of the deceased youth, than of most surviving children ?
How many fathers and mothers would be glad that their
children were such as yours, although they were to lose them
next day ! I remember it is related of Elliot, the American
Apostle, that he had some sons in youth, whom he wished to
educate for the ministry ; but he cheerfully acquiesced in the
438 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
will of God. He designed them, he said, for the service of
Christ in His Church on earth ; but, as it was His will they
should serve Him in a better world, he was not so unreason-
able as to make any objections. Time, I hope, has softened
your sorrows, and it is right it should ; yet no length of time
will make you to forget one who was so deservedly dear to
you. But, as I suppose you are advanced in years, the time
of your separation will probably be shorter than it would
have been, had your son lived as long as parents wish their
children to live. Every day is bringing you nearer to the
state, and, I hope, to the world in which he is ; and, doubtless,
one of God's designs in removing him before you, is to excite
your diligence in looking for, and hastening to, that world
where Christ is, and to render the time of your departure
more welcome than it might otherwise have been. " Blessed
is the man whom God chasteneth, and teacheth him out of
His law." Your sou is no more in this world. Your Lord
is not now in this world. Yourself and husband will not be
long in it. May you be blessed with the living hope of dwell-
ing for ever in that delightful region, where He who deserves
our love infinitely more than our best friends, lives and reigns.
It is pleasant to think you are the parent of one who is now
equal to the angels, but far pleasanter to think of being for
ever with Christ, where he is to behold His glory. — I am,
yours, etc., ' G. Lawson.'
Dr Lawson to Mrs Fair, on the Death of her Husband.
' Selkirk, May 1814.
' Dear Madam, — Allow me to express my sincere sympathy
with you for the heavy stroke which has deprived you of
your beloved partner ; but I hope that you will be taught of
God to bear it as becomes a Christian who hopes soon to be
rejoined to their beloved friends, never again to be separated
from them, and, what is still better, never to be separated
from Him whom they love better than their dearest friends.
THE FATHER AND HIS AFFLICTIONS. 439
Perhaps you would have considered yourselves happy had
you been assured that you were both to live happily to-
gether more than double the time that was promised to
Hezekiah by the prophet. He had reason to believe that he
was not to survive the fifty-fourth year of his age, and that
he was to leave his family in a state indescribable for a king
no less eminent for patriotism than piety ; yet he was very
thankful that he had so many days allowed him. Have not
you and I no less reason to be thankful that we have Hved a
greater number of days, and that some of our best friends
have been spared to us for so long a portion of our time, and
that we have hved to see our children arrive at a period of
hfe in which we can form a comfortable estimate of their
character and probable prospects concerning their future be-
haviour, and their condition in another world. Consider the
good as well as the evil that you have received from God,
and the good which a gracious Providence brings out of the
bitterest evil allotted us on earth.
' You have probably heard that we too have lost a much
loved member of our family ; but we did not consider him
altogether lost to us, because we hoped that he was more
alive to God than ever.
' I have taken the liberty to send you a small book, of which I
beg your acceptance. If you look into it, it may possibly call
up to your remembrance some of those passages of Scripture
which were written aforetime for our consolation, that we,
through patience and comfort of the Scripture, might have hope.
' With sincere sympathy and kind remembrance for your-
self and family, I ever am, yours affectionately,
' G. Lawson.'
Dr Lawson to Mr Grierson, on the Death of his Wife.
'Selkirk, Sept. 1, 1815.
' Dear Friend, — I am sorry that I was not in a state of
health to attend the funeral of our aunt, but I know that
440 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
you would have many sympathizing friends and neighbours
on the mournful occasion. You must, no doubt, mourn ; but
I hope you will not forget the many reasons you have
patiently to submit to the will of God, and eveu to be thank-
ful. We ought not to forget the blessings we have enjoyed,
and still enjoy, when we are deprived even of those whom we
most valued. How few have lived so long as you have done
with the wife of your youth! If you had been as great a
favourite of Heaven as Abraham, you could not have. obtained
a greater favour concerning the hfe of your wife than that
she should die in a good old age. She could not have hoped
to enjoy much pleasure in life, had it been prolonged for
many years to come. She came to the grave like a shock of
corn in its season, and it is to be hoped that she is now in a
state of bhss infinitely better than a thousand years of the
richest enjoyment which this world can afford. We were
happy to hear that she had of late recovered, to a consider-
able degree, her health ; but nothing in this world is certain,
and it is well ordered that it is so : the Providence as well
as the AVord of God calls loudly to us to be always ready for
our departure. It is a great comfort for you to be beside
your daughter and her family. I doubt not that the young
members of it have been taught to remember the first com-
mandment with promise, and that you will find much satis-
faction in their dutiful attentions. Young persons can do
nothing better for themselves, nothing which they will in an
after period of life recollect with more pleasure, than their
dutiful offices to parents, whether in the first or second degree,
which have rendered their declining years comfortable. But
I believe you will enjoy your chief comfort in Him who was
dead and is alive for evermore. Our remaining days cannot
be long in this world; but our hope is in Him who hath
said, Because I hve, you shall live also. All the family unite
in kind regards and sympathy to you, and your daughter and
family. — Your sincere friend, ' G. Lawson.'
THE FATHER AND HIS iVTFLICTIOXS. . 441
Dr Lawson to Mrs Fairhairn,
^February 3, 1818.
' Dear Madam, — I ought to make an apology for not sooner
returning an answer to the letter in which you express so
much kindness to my family, and so much depression of mind
on account of the affliction with which you have been visited ;
but what could I say on this subject that you have not
already learned from the Bible ? I doubt not that you have
often thoughts of the precious instructions contained in it,
and of the good examples of patience under affliction which
it sets before us. Our loss is, that we are so unable or in-
disposed to apply to ourselves the important truths which we
cannot but admire. We praise Job for his patience under
the awful stroke which deprived him at once of his whole
family, and a succeeding stroke which filled his body with
ulcers, and tormented him with all the pain which the devil
could inflict without killing him outright ; but our own spirits
fail under the afflictions which are common to men. We can
give good counsel to others from the Bible ; but when we are
called to follow our own advice to others, the great difference
between knowledge and practice soon appears.
' We, too, have been visited by the hand of God since you
left the country. We have lost three dear children. Yet
wherefore should those complain who are punished less than
their iniquities deserve? AVe shall go to them, but they shall
not return to us. We are too forgetful of our latter end,
and we would have been still more so if all our children had
been spared to us. Why should we wish to live always in a
world which separates us from some of them whom we dearly
love ? Above all, why should we fear the thought of leav-
ing this world, and being with Him whom, if we are Chris-
tians, our souls love above all on earth or in heaven ? We
all feel that tlie consolations of the Bible have too little effect
upon us ; and how often do we think of the most important
442 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
truths without feeling their power or tasting their sweetness ?
But the Spirit of God is pronounced to be our Comforter by
the Scriptures. May that Divine Spirit fill you with all joy
and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through
the power of the Holy Ghost. ,
' Those things are certainly best for us that will appear best
an hundred years hence. I hope you are further advanced in
preparation for a better world than you would have been if
your worthy husband and children had been still around you.
You have been sore afflicted ; but what son or daughter is
there whom our heavenly Father chasteneth not ? He does
it for our profit. Let it be our earnest desire that we may
not be for ever separated from those whom we had reason to
love so tenderly while they were with us in this world. —
Yours most sincerely, ' G. Lawson.'
CHAPTER X.
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED.
The days of the years of Dr Lawson's pilgrimage must now
be summed up. He has entered what has been called ' the
grasshopper's country.' Ere long it shall be recorded of him,
as it is of another patriarch, ' And when Jacob had made an
end of coramandiDg his sons, he gathered up his feet into the
bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his
people.' The infirmities of old age crept upon him very
gradually, and so as never seriously to interfere with the dis-
charge of his duties, either pastoral or professorial. He
became exceedingly sensitive to cold ; had to be carried iu
a sedan-chair to church ; and wore, not a gown, but a
warm Scotch plaid, in the pulpit. For the same reason, the
meetings of the Hall were no longer held in the church, but
in his own dwelling-house. There was no one apartment
in it that could accommodate the students. He so far
remedied this, by throwing down a partition, and making
two rooms into one. Even this, however, did not meet the
necessity ; and the students that could not get admission
sat on the landing outside, or upon the steps of the stair that
led up to the Hall-room. They did not see, but they heard
the Professor. Such was their reverence for him, that, upon
the whole, neither trifling, nor any degree of uproariousness,
disgraced this ' outer court.' To his views and feehngs
under the pressure of years, he thus afifectingly alludes, in a
letter to a friend : —
' I certainly am become very feeble ; but I have reason
444 " THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
to thank God that I am free from sickness, and mostly
from pain. I could walk but a small part of the way to
the meeting-house without extreme fatigue (he was now
regularly carried to church on Sabbath), and yet I can
preach for a decent length of time without much fatigue ;
and, I believe, I am as well heard as in my younger days.
I am now past my seventieth year, and 1 cannot expect
to recover the strength which I once had ; but I am in
the hand of a good God, who has preserved me hitherto, and
sometimes delivered me from very alarming sicknesses. I
complain not that I share in the common lot of the old ; but I
bless God that I live, when so many of my acquaintances are
gone down to the grave, that I still enjoy many comforts,
and that I can still perform the chiefest part of my ministerial
work. I might have been happier in heaven than on earth ;
but, alas ! I need all the time that has been given me to pre-
pare to meet God in another world. May He grant that I
may not, after all, be found unprepared when the day comes,
on which I shall go whence I shall not return. It gives me
pleasure to hear that the brethren in your neighbourhood
interest themselves deeply in my welfare. I hope, if they
live to old age, they will meet with that respect from their
juniors which they pay now to their senior brethren.
' We must look forward to changes in this world ; but we
have reason to be thankful not only for our present circum-
stances, but likewise for our ignorance of what is before us.
I know that I must die, and that soon ; but I by no means
wish to know when I am to be called out of the world, or
what I may be called to suffer before I leave it. My desire
is to be found ready to go when called by Him, to whose
sovereign pleasure it belongs to order everything that con-
cerns us. I often wonder that men should think so much on
a world in which they are to dwell but for a moment, and so
httle upon that world in which they are to dwell for ever and
ever. On this moment depends eternity.'
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 445
If there were few incidents in his days of action and use-
fuhiess, these became fewer, now that he could not even pay
his accustomed visits to his brethren and neighbours. His
pen, however, availed him to the last. When they could not
visit him as in the days of old, they corresponded with him,
and he with them. In some of these letters, the richness
and beauty of matured saintship come softly and sweetly out.
We still hear in them the wisdom of the Christian sage ; but
there are added the accents and hues of a rapidly approach-
ing perfection. We select the following, which are the last
letters he ever wrote to his trusty old friends, Mr David
Greig, of Lochgelly ; Dr Husband, of Dunfermline ; and
Robert Greig, Esq., of Lethangie.
Dr- Lawson to Bev. D. Greig.
' Selkirk, \1th April 1817.
' My beloved Friend, — You had good reason to confide
in my tender sympathy with your distress. You know my
warm friendship for you ; and you remember what sympathy
I experienced from you in painful distresses, like that which
you now feel. But you know that you have infinitely better
reason to trust the compassion of Him who was in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Jesus seems not
to have exerted His power to save Himself from the loss of
His supposed father, who loved Him more dearly than any
real father ever loved his first-born or his only son. He
took part in all our griefs, that we might find ample consola-
tion under our sorrows in thinking of Him. In that He
Himself hath suffered, being tempted. He is able also to
succour them that are tempted.
' I would have known almost without your information, that
you and our dear sister felt a peculiar attachment to William.
Your sensibilities were powerfully awakened by his infirmities ;
and your compassion added strength to your parental love.
Now, your thoughts will be powerfully drawn back to former
446 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
scenes ; and his innocency and piety must warm your hearts.
Yet if any other of your dear children had been called out of
the world, remembrance would have been very busy concern-
ing them also, and might have almost persuaded you that
you had loved them beyond all your other children.
' Often have I thought, with tender regret, of the innocency,
of the amiable manners, of the fihal affection of those of my
children who were taken from me after their character was
developed. But I think with pleasure on any evidences which
they appeared to give of their piety. I have said, and I am
persuaded you will agree with me in it, that I should wish, if
such calamities were again to befall me, that it might please
God to take those away who were best fitted to leave the
world. The pain of separation to us is a thing that scarcely
deserves a thought, compared with the eternal importance of
the event to themselves.
' The days are drawing on that you and I must ourselves
leave the world ; and, in the view of your latter end, the
departure of your son before you may save you much anxiety.
Your other children will stand in much less need of a
parent's care.
' I was this day visiting an amiable woman, the wife of one
of my elders, who was much afflicted at the fear of losing her,
for which he has, I am afraid, too good reason. He told me
that he found the loss of children very heavy, but the loss of
his beloved wife would be far more difficult to be borne.
God is still preserving you, and may He long preserve you,
to one another. Your present affliction may be the more
severely felt, that it is the first of the kind ; but you will
surely consider what reason you have to be thankful that you
are only beginning to feel such a bitter calamity.
' I have heard of William's piety from others besides you ;
and I hope his departure from the world will have a good
effect on all who remain of the family. Whilst they rejoice
in the thought that he is in a state of happiness, they will not
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 447
be able to bear the thought of an eternal separation from him
whom they loved so dearly, and whose loss to them will be
felt with so much pain.
' I should be glad to hear oftener from you, although no
incidents of a painful kind should occur to be communicated.
Letters are but an insufficient substitute for visits ; yet letters
from you have always given me great pleasure (unless the
pleasure were counteracted by disagreeable information, which
it has seldom been). It is now half a century since our warm
and uninterrupted friendship commenced. Fain would I
indulge the dehghtful hope, that, in far less space of time, our
friendship will be incomparably more fervent and pure than
ever.
' I wish I had as little reason to stand in fear of myself as
for you. — I am, ever yours, ' G. Lawson.'
Dr Lawson to Rev. D. Greig.
' Selkirk, lih May 1818
' My dear and ancient Fkiend, — I believe you will more
easily forgive me than I can excuse myself, for not answering
sooner your affectionate letter.
' One of my chief pleasures must now be to hear from you,
as I have now no hope of ever seeing you again at Lochgelly,
and I can seldom, if ever, expect to see you again at Selkirk.
' I have, however, many things to console me, and to be a
subject of thanksgiving. You are still, as I am informed,
enjoying a better state of health than I once thought you
would ever enjoy. The remembrance of past days in your
society calls up many pleasant thoughts. I am still able to
enjoy the pleasure of books, and have much satisfaction in
my own family. But time would fail me to mention all the
favours which both you and I have received, and still receive,
from the gracious providence of God ; and, if I am what I
profess to be, my intercourse of friendship with you, and with
some others whom I love, is yet in its beginning. Much do
448 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
I wish that you may be yet spared some years on earth, to
your family and friends ; but the years assigned to us in this
world must give place to eternal ages. How dehghtful it is
to think of being rejoined to those beloved friends who were
once separated from us on earth ! But unspeakably more
delightful must it be, to the lovers of Christ, to think of being
for ever present with Him, who loved them, and gave Himself
for them, and is gone to prepare a place for them in His
Father's house.
' I do not recollect whether you have heard from me since
I lost a dearly beloved member of my family, — my youngest
daughter. It was the loss of one of the richest of my earthly
comforts. But I had good reason to think that our loss was
great gain to herself. She had been pleasant to us in her
life, and she still affords us pleasant recollections and pleasant
hopes.
' You, too, will be thankful that you have reason for such
pleasant thoughts concerning the second child of whom you
have been bereaved. God grant that you may always have
a rich source of comfort in your surviving children. A very
large proportion of our earthly comfort depends upon our
children. I believe, if young persons knew and considered
how much of the happiness of their parents is involved in
their conduct, it would be a powerful stimulus, at least, to
decency of manners.
' I am confident that my kind friend and sister still remem-
bers me with the partiality of a friend, both to herself and to
her husband. She must be happy and thankful that a hus-
band so well and so justly beloved has been so long spared to
her, and that her health of body is not worse than it is.
' Cheering are the prospects that our rehgion gives us.
Blessed be God, that, when fears take possession of our souls,
we are authorized still to trust in Him who is abundant in
goodness and truth to sinners. Often have I thought with
pleasure on the publican's prayer, and its happy success.
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 449
' All my friends share with me in my warm attachment to
the friend of my youth, and in my cordial desires for grace
and peace to every member of his family. Forget not to
communicate to your brotlier of Lethangie, and to his com-
panion in life, my warm wishes for their welfare, and that of
their family. Never can I forget the place where I spent so
many of the happiest hours of my youth. I should like, also,
to be remembered to my old friend of Turf hills, and to your
brother Mr Robert. — I ever am, most affectionately yours,
' G. Lawson.'
Dr Lawson to Dr Husband.
'■f' ' Selkirk, 26th July 1819.
' My dear Friend, — I need not tell you how much I re-
joice to hear of your deliverance from your late distress.
You have now, I hope, found pleasure more than sufficient
to compensate all the pain you felt in the day of distress.
Health is now more than doubly pleasant when it is restored
to us after sickness.
' Although I have lost many of my early friends, I cannot
be too thankful that some not less dear than those which I
have lost are still spared to me. Some of them have been
taken from me that I may not be too fond of the present life,
but others are left that I may not become weary of the world.
' What space of life is left to you or me, or to any of our
friends, we cannot say. I often think of the time as not now
far distant, when I shall be taken from my friends, or they
from me. When that time comes, we will have reason to be
thankful that we have been spared to ourselves and to one
another so long. And if we look for the mercy of our Lord
Jesus Christ unto eternal life, it will fill us with joy that we
are for ever to be rejoined with those whom we most dearly
loved, and whom we had most reason to love.
' I would have been angry with your colleague for not
answering my letter sooner, were it not for a maxim which I
2 F
450 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
wish to observe, not to be displeased with anything done, or
omitted to be done, by those whom I esteem, till I know the
reasons of their conduct.
' If I were such as I have been in former days, you would
long since have seen me ; yet I am very thankful that I am
such as I am. I do not feel my friendly affections diminished,
and I would gladly hope that the time is now approaching
when they will be more fervent, and give me more happiness
than they ever could give me in this world.
' I would gladly follow the example of our friend Mr
Gilfillan, who professed that he did not feel the days of old
age less pleasant than the days of youth.
' I beheve it is only the humble hope of a life everlasting
beyond the grave that can make such language the language
of truth. But are we not called to look for the mercy of our
Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life ? I am far from being
such as many of my friends have been, but I have the same
sure grounds of faith laid down for me in the Word of God,
and the authority of God requires me to believe on the name
of His Son Jesus Christ.
' One of my chief remaining comforts is, that I can still
read and write. I will be very happy to hear from you as
soon as you find it consistent with your state of body and
mind to favour me with intelligence concerning an object so
interesting to me as your health and happiness. — I am, ever
yours, ' G. Lawson.'
Dr Lawson to Dr Husband.
' Selkirk, September 1819.
' Dear Friend, — I rejoice greatly in your deliverance,
although I am informed that you still think it advisable to
return to the mineral waters which you found so salutary. A
partial restoration of health I have found exceedingly delight-
ful after sickness. And the God who hath delivered and
doth deliver, will, I trust, yet deliver you. What reason
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 451
have we to love the Lord our God for the many deliverances
granted to us or to those who were dear to us as ourselves
He that is our God is the God of salvation.
' You have met, however, with a heavy trial in the death
of your grandchild. But we who live so long, and have been
blessed with families and friends, need not be surprised that we
meet with such aSiictions. If God has spared us to old age,
we have Uved longer than the greater part of our race has
done for these many thousand years past. Let us be thank-
ful that some, that many, of our friends are left when others
are taken from us.
' The day is coming when we must be taken away from
our families and friends. lu reading the lives of men who
are now gone from the world, we find that many more of
them have died before than after seventy years. I do not
recollect that any of the sovereigns of England, before George
II., Hved so long, except Elizabeth. None of the kings of
David's family, after himself, attained that age.' Through
the long-suffering of God I have now gone beyond that
period. God grant me and you length of days for ever and
ever in a better world.
' It would be ungrateful to our great Benefactor to indulge
gloomy reflections on the pleasures that are past never to
return. Ought we not to think with delight and thankfulness
on the comforts with which many of our former days were
sweetened ? And ought not Christians to rejoice in hope of
better days than they ever could enjoy on earth ? I know
that you are still my cordial friend, and doubt not that you
often remember me in your prayers.
' You doubtless rejoice with me that our beloved friend Mr
Greig has enjoyed such a degree of health for a considerable
time past. Yet the time cannot be far distant when one or
other of us must be lost to the survivors for the little time
that will be left to them. But the interval will not be long.
Although our departed friends will not return to us, we shall
452 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
soon go to them if we are members of the same body. All
that concerns us is in the hands of Him who knows far better
than we do what is good and what is not good for us. — I am,
ever yours and Mrs Husband's sincere friend,
' G. Lawson.'
Dr Latvson to Robert Greig, Esq., of Lethangie.
' Selkirk, 10//* April 1819.
' Dear Sir, — The cordial friendship with which I was in
some days of hfe favoured by the family of Lethangie, has
always disposed me to take a warm interest in its prosperity.
It was in your house that, more thau half a century ago, I
formed that warm friendship with Mr David Greig, which
has been one of the chief pleasures of my life. You will not
therefore wonder that I heard with grief of the departure
from this world of your elder brother, although he had lived
longer than most other men live in this world. However
long the death of those whom we love and esteem is deferred,
it must be deeply felt when the separating stroke takes place.
His widow must deeply feel the loss of the beloved half of
herself; his children must feel the loss of an affectionate
father. His brothers and sisters must all be afflicted with
the stroke that has removed from their eyes the elder branch
of their father's family. I thought you was likely to feel the
deepest depression of spirits, after having lived with him in
the same house between seventy and eighty years. I think
few in the kingdom have lived so long in the same house
with a brother; and I sujjpose your manner of being together
was such as not to diminish, but always to increase, your
mutual affection, and so to render the pain of separation more
severe.
' But I hope your sorrows and the sorrows of your friends
on this occasion will be regulated by reason and rehgion, and
that it will not be unattended with that consolation which
our religion is so well calculated to inspire. Your brother, I
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 453
trust, was one of that happy number of which it is said, ' that
they shall never die, in that though they were dead yet shall
they live.' The separating stroke, too, will be useful to your-
self; it will contribute much to detach your affection from
those objects to which they too eagerly cleave, and to in-
vigorate your preparation for that world into which you and
I must soon go. The last letter which Dr Park's friends (the
traveller) in this country received from him gave them an
account of the death of a pious brother, Mr Anderson. And
I never forget one of the observations made in it, which I
beheve has been since that time verified. He said that he
hoped the death of his friend, and his dying behaviour, would
be a happy means of preparing him for his own death when
that event should come. Whilst you feel the stroke of the
rod of God, I hope you will be thankful that you so long
enjoyed the pleasure of his society, and that so many pleasant
friends are left to you.
' You and I have now lost a great part of the friends of
our youth. I think none of my old acquaintance of your
neighbourhood are now left, except Mr Henderson, of Turf-
hills. I am not sure whether Mr Stedmau (the weaver in
Kinross) is still alive. How dreadful would it be for me to be
for ever separated from such friends as Andrew Swanston or
George Henderson ; but it would be infinitely more dreadful
to be for ever separated from Jesus Christ. We will thank
God hereafter for many things that are now very unpleasant
to us. You will, I hope, see one day reason to bless God for
all the privations which you have suffered. Those things are
certainly best for us that do most good to our souls ; and
Solomon tells us that by the sadness of the countenance the
heart is made better.
' When we look forward to the day of our own death, we
sometimes feel anxious fears, lest we should be finally rejected
by our Judge. Alas, how many bad things are to be found
with us, which would strike us with horror, if we had not
454 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
such clear discoveries of infinite mercy with God ! You and
I may find it difficult to know whether our hearts are right
in the sight of God. But one thing we know (and oh how
delightful is the knowledge of it !), that there is forgiveness
with God, and that Jesus Christ has said, " Him that cometh
unto Me, I will in no wise cast out." To whom, blessed
Jesus, shall we come, but unto Thee ? Behold, we come unto
Thee, for Thou art able and willing to save to the uttermost.
Lord, we beUeve ; help our unbelief. I have not the pleasure
of being much acquainted with your sister-in-law, or with the
young family ; but they will noc be displeaifed to hear from
you that I heartily sympathize with them. I hope the young
persons will endeavour to walk in the path that will lead to
a happy reunion with those friends whom they had most
reason to love. May grace and peace be with you, and with
all your friends, Hving and dying. — I am, your sincere friend,
' George Lawson.'
The rumour now went all over the country that the vener-
able Lawson, of Selkirk, was dying. All that personally
knew him were made sad by it. They felt that one of their
nearest and dearest of earthly friends was passing away. The
Church at large anticipated the days of her mourning for one
of her 'princes and great men.' Plis own sons were most
deeply touched, as we read in what follows from his sf>n
George
♦ Rev. George Lmcson to Dr Lawson.
'■ Kilmarnock, April 30, 1819.
' Dear Father, — Although I have nothing of any moment
to communicate, yet I write at this time in consequence of
having heard that of late your health has not been so vigor-
ous as before. You will not wonder that, hearing this report
from different quarters, I should feel much surprised that I
had heard nothing of it from Selkirk. This circumstance
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 4.55
even led me to think that the report was totally unfounded,
till on hearing, a few days ago, from Andrew, I learned that
he had been to see you ; and though he found you better than
report had represented, yet you were more infirm than usual.
This led me the more to wonder that I had not heard directly
from you on the subject. I should think it is not necessary
to say that, in such a case, I must naturally feel great anxiety
to know how the truth really stands.
' Mcaj oth. — I have been, in some measure, informed by
some brethren who heard of your state at the Synod, and am
unspeakably gratified to learn that you are considerably
better ; and I am sure that this intelligence is gratifying not
to me alone, but to all who feel an interest in the prosperity
of religion, and more especially to the body with which you
are peculiarly connected. I see, by looking over the list in
the almanack, that, so far as I can judge, more than a
hundred of the ministers have been under your immediate
tutorage as Professor.
' I was a good deal interested in meeting, the other day, a
man who lives in this neighbourhood, who heard you, at
Burnshields, before you were ordained. He says that he
heard you both preach and examine ; and that, in those days,
you were so bashful, that, in examining, you commonly kept
your face covered with your hand.
' Some of Mr Jeffray's note-books have fallen into my
possession. In one of them are some letters, apparently
transcribed on account of the point and naivete and laconic
brevity which is in the expression. One of them is from
Hume, the historian, to a Professor, requesting a ticket to his
class for a student who was too poor to pay for it. Another
is from you to Dr Caverhill, requesting medical advice for
the wife of one of your elders. I mention this, though you
may perhaps think it insignificant, merely because I was both
amused, as you may perhaps be, and gratified to find you thus
distinguished and associated in any way with Hume. I have
456 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
lent the book, or I would transcribe them. That of Hnme
is to this effect : " is a Christian, and, like his Master, has
little to recommend him but his poverty. If you can help
him on his road to heaven, by giving him a ticket for your
class, you will oblige, etc." Yours is something to this effect :
After telling who the person is, you request his advice, and
desire him to place it to the account of the Friend of man
and the Saviour of sinners. But there was something more
of it which added to the zest.
' I understand that I am appointed to supply for you on
the last Sabbath in August, and the first in September : so
that I hope to see you before a very long period elapse ; and
I trust to find you in as good health as can be expected. —
Your most affectionate son, ' George Lawson.'
The following letters to his son Andrew wind up his
correspondence with that most amiable and excellent man : —
' Sblkikk, 1819.
' Dear Andrew, — Your late narrow escape from your
perilous situation, I hope, will never be forgotten by you.
Life will be a blessing indeed to you, if you are duly careful
to employ every day in work which may give you pleasure,
on reflection, during your future years. Never will you have
learned too much of the Book of God. All who have the
work of the ministry in view, ought, in particular, to be well
acquainted with the two Epistles to Timothy, and that to
Titus. It is a great privilege to have the opportunity of
preaching the glorious Gospel of the blessed God. May you
be long enabled to perform that most honourable and impor-
tant work, in a manner fitted to edify your hearers, and with
profit to your own soul. May God still preserve your Ufe ;
and may He richly furnish you for any service to which He
may call you. But if we hope for such grace from God, we
must use the means which He has appointed. We know
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 457
how Timothy was so richly furnished for the work of an
evangeHst. If God spares us for years to come, we ought
to adore His long-suffering, and to make such an improve-
ment of His providential dispensations, as will afford us
comfort when the time of our departure from this world of
sin and suffering draweth near. Wishing you every blessing,
spiritual and temporal, I ever am, your affectionate father,
' G. Lawson.'
' Selkirk, April 1819.
' Dear Andrew, — Your wish that I should write some
memoir of the days of my youth comes too late ; it is but a
very indistinct account that I could now give of my younger
years. But should you be favoured with a life as long as
mine, it may be useful to you to have, many years hence,
some memorials of what is now passing in your mind, or
family, or congregation. Should my youthful exercises of
mind be recorded, they would bear no comparison with those
of some of our fathers ; but I would fain hope that through
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ I shall be saved even as
they. My health continues much as you saw it. I have
great reason to be thankful for two things : that I am httle
troubled with pain, and that I find little difficulty in perform-
ing the public work of the sanctuary. I have warnings in
my body that I am approaching my long home, but I desire
to look for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal
life. If my hopes do not deceive me, I will again see your
amiable predecessor, and be joined with many beloved friends,
I from whom it would be terrible to be for ever separated ; but
to be with Christ is far better. . . . — Your affectionate
father, ^ 'G. Lawson.'
' Selkirk, August 1819.
' Dear Andrew, — I am very glad to see one of your
friends in this place, and to hear that you still give satis-
458 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
faction to your hearers. May God render you more and more
acceptable, and, what is of far more importance, useful to
your hearers. I find that you do not grudge the labour of
preaching when opportunity offers. Why should we? How
thankful ought we to be for opportunities to do good to the
souls of men, especially when we can do it without incon-
venience or danger to ourselves, to which our fathers were
often exposed, and to which missionaries in many parts of
the world are still exposed. I have read a few of the last
published volumes of Chalmers' Sermons with much satis-
faction. He observes, among other things, that there is a
very great difference between the approbation of sermons and
receiving benefit from them, and that earnest prayer is no
less necessary for the Divine blessing upon our labours, than
the exertion of our powers of body and mind in performing
them. This, indeed, we might learn from Paul ; but how often
do we overlook in practice what ought to dwell always in
our mind ! — Your affectionate father ' G. Lawson.'
Selkirk, Bee. 14, 1819.
' Dear Andrew, — I was much pleased with the sentiments
you express in your last letter, as to the success of your
ministry. This is a matter of far greater importance, in the
eye of every faithful minister, than the esteem in which his
pulpit labours are held by his hearers.
' You will probably have heard, before this reach you, of
the sudden departure from this world of my good friend Mr
Elder, who has been thirty-eight years my neighbour. His
death was quite unexpected ; but, by his sudden removal, he
was probably preserved from much pain, and from much
anxiety about the cares that might have occupied his mind
in the prospect of death. No man has left fewer enemies, and
few have left a greater number of mourners. He was deserv-
edly much beloved by his congregation.
' We must look forward to changes in this world ; but we
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 459
have reason to be thankful, not only for our present circum-
stances, b^t Hkewise for our ignorance of futurity. I know
that I must die, and I know that, at my time of hfe, I cannot
reasonably expect such continuance of health as I usually
enjoyed at your age ; but I by no means wish to know when
I am to be called out of the world, or what I may be called
on to suffer before I leave it. My desire is, that I may be
found ready to go when I am called by Him to whose sove-
reign pleasure it belongs to order everything that concerns
me. May the Lord be ever with you. — Your affectionate'
father, ' G. Lawson.'
Old age has been sometimes represented as selfish and un-
sympathizing. It was not so in the case of Dr Lawson. His
heart was as fresh with the dews of friendship at the close as
at the beginning of his career, and overflowed with generous
sentiment to the last. A very pleasing savour comes from
the following expressions of his regard for the comfort of the
friends whom he tries to strengthen and counsel : —
Dr Laicson to cm Old Friend ivho had lost his Wife and Seven
Children.
' Dear Sir, — Though you be surprised, I flatter myself
you will not be displeased to hear from an old friend,
especially when I state that my single design in addressing
you is to endeavour to impart that consolation of which,
from your numerous and heavy trials, you can scarcely fail
to be greatly in need.
' What a chequered scene is the life of man ! How calm
and serene may the morning be, and yet by mid-day how
many dark clouds may obscure the sky, — what boisterous
storms may rage ! Alas, how painfully have you felt this
verified in your history! 'Tis but yesterday since, together.
We, free from corroding care, phed our pleasing vocation at
P , and at evening, set free, rambled by the light of the
460 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
moon amid the neighbouring hills, in an interchange of senti-
ments the recollection of which still recalls to my mind many
delightful associations ; and since that time you have entered
into the connubial relation, and have seen your children
springing up like olive plants around your table ; and now
again you have been deprived of all, have buried in their
graves many of your most ardent affections and sanguine
hopes, and been left to pursue your journey alone.
' These, my dear sir, are heavy trials indeed, and I do
sincerely feel for you the deepest sympathy. I acknowledge,
however, that my sympathy or that of any mere creature, can
do but httle for you ; but I may be allowed to remind you of
the efficiency of His sympathy who breaks not the bruised
reed nor quenches the smoking flax, who wept at the grave
of His friend Lazarus, and who, though exalted to heaven,
still wears our nature, and feels acutely every pang that rends
the heart of any of His people. He is a merciful as well as a
faithful high priest, and it is this attribute especially that
renders Him so suitable to His people's necessities while they
dwell in this land of sorrow.
' Your case is very hard, yet it might have been worse.
Job lost all his children, and that when grown to maturity,
by a violent death : his wife was spared to him only to make
his trial heavier, his body was smitten with a painful and
loathsome disease, and he was deprived of all his possessions ;
yet such was the influence of Divine grace upon his soul, that
he could say from the heart, " The Lord gave, and the Lord
hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord." That
grace is as free to you as it was to him. Use then, I entreat
you, the means of obtaining it by humble and fervent prayer.
" Ask, and ye shaU receive ; seek, and ye shall find." God can
make up in various ways for such bereavements. He did so
to Job, and He is able to do so to you. Only believe, and
you will see the salvation of the Lord.
' How comfortable to reflect that our pious friends de-
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 461
parted, are not lost ! Their souls are happy, and their
bodies, though reduced for a season to their primeval element,
shall live anew. If we are followers of them, in so far as they
were of Christ, we shall meet them in a more felicitous state
of being, where the impossibility of separation shall form an
important element of enjoyment. , . . — Farewell, from
' George Lawson.'
Dr Lawson to a Student.
' Selkirk, Aug. 1818.
' Dear Sir, — I was sorry to hear that you had determined
to change your views as to the study of divinity, although I
could not but respect the motives by which you were under-
stood to be actuated. There is, indeed, an awful responsi-
bility attached to the ministerial office ; yet I am disposed
to suspect that your sense of this responsibility has suggested
measures for your adoption, which you will not see good
reason, in the future part of your life, to approve. What
would have been the result, if no man of a tender conscience
could have taken upon him an office of such responsibiUty ?
Would not truth have fallen in our streets, and iu every part
of the earth ? Would not the dispensations of the ordinances
of Christ have been left to those who studied more to please
man than God ?
' You thought yourself unquahfied to undertake the mini-
sterial office, because you could not trust to your ability, or
to your inflexible integrity, for performing the duties of it in
a right manner ; and surely you had no great reason to trust
either to your talents or your resolutions. But ought you not
to have trusted in Christ for grace to perform duties to which
you seemed evidently called by Divine Providence. Every
faithful minister is strong, not in himself, but in the grace
which is in Christ Jesus, through whom we may be enabled
to perform with acceptance the most difficult duties. Without
it, we are unable to perform aright those we account the most
462 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
simple. I know not what line of life you have in view;, but
certainly, whatever it is, you will have duties to perform and
temptations to avoid. That you may perform the one and be
preserved from the other, you must depend on the grace that
is in Christ Jesus ; but is not this grace as sufficient for
ministers of the Gospel as for men of any other profession ?
' Do you not trust to Christ for salvation to your soul ?
But have we not the same ground for committing the salva-
tion of our souls into His hand, that we have for trusting in
His strength for enabling us acceptably to perform the duties
of any situation in which He is pleased to place us ? " We
are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves,"
says the Apostle ; and yet the same believer says, " I can do aU
things through Christ which strengtheneth me." I hope you
will give due weight to the use that some may make of your
relinquishing that profession to which Providence has directed
your studies. They will allege that serious impressions of
religion tend to disqualify men for experiencing that comfort
which is enjoyed by others, and to unfit them for the perform-
ance of other duties which they ought to fulfil. Some may
even think that doubts about the principles of our holy faith
have obtained entrance into your mind. We caimot, indeed,
prevent men from entertaining groundless suspicions, nor
ought we to sin against the light of our own conscience, to
prevent sin in others ; yet we ought to avoid everything that
may be a stumbhng-block to the weak, or that may give
occasion of offence to them that seek it. We cannot enter-
tain too humble thoughts of ourselves, but we must not place
humility of mind in a disbelief of the precious promises which
God hath given us to prepare us for undertaking any service
which He requires. I hope, before you finally relinquish your
present employment, you will seek counsel from Him who has
promised to direct the steps of them who acknowledge Him
in all their ways. — I am, your sincere friend,
' G. Lawson.'
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 463
Z)?' Lawson to Mrs Vogan.
' Selkirk, April 2^, 1818.
' Dear Friend, — I cannot now, as in former clays, have
the pleasure of seeing you and my friend Mr V. in your own
house ; so I must with the pen express my sympathy with you
for the loss of a well-beloved sister whom God has been
pleased to remove from our eyes, that slie may enjoy, I hope,
a feUcity unspeakably transcending all that she could ever
have enjoyed in that society which this world affords. I never
saw friends more deeply penetrated with concern and grief
than her relations. I most sincerely sympathize with them,
and especially with her husband, whose future days will be
clouded with the remembrance of past pleasures, never to
return. Your sister possessed in a great degree, amongst
other virtues, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. She
well deserved, and she completely gained, the affection of all
who had the pleasure of knowing her. I had reason to
believe, from conversations with her, that her troubles and
deliverances were blessed to her ; and that the God of mercy
was preparing her, by previous dispensations of providence,
for that important change which was awaiting her.
' We have lost many pleasant friends within a short period.
You are aware that we have lately lost a very pleasant mem-
ber of our own family. Our friends will, when a few more
days or years are past, lose us. How dreadful would it be
for us to be for ever separated from those we had most reason
to love on earth ! But the grace which abounded in them,
will, I hope, preserve us from an eternal separation. God
grant that you may enjoy the comforts of religion through
life, and at your latter end. — I am, ever your sincere friend,
' G. Lawson.'
There is something exceedingly affecting in seeing old and
tried Christian friends, who had together struggled up the
4 64 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
' Hill Difficulty,' taking such solemn farewells of each other
as is done in the following communication from one of his
most attached friends and devoted admirers — Mr Macfarlaue,
of Dunfermline. They stand for a moment on the summit of
' Nebo,' and disappear : —
Rev. James Macfarlane to Dr Lawson.
'Dunfermline, \1th July 1819.
' Dear Sir, — I am extremely sorry that your very friendly
epistle should have been so long unanswered. The reason is
this. Colleague and I, some days before your letter reached
Dunfermline, had gone to Pitcaithley Wells, from which we
did not return till last night. Owing to the inconsideration
of friends at home, your letter was not forwarded to me.
This I beg you will sustain as an apology for my apparent
neglect. Colleague is greatly better for drinking of the water
of Pitcaithley. I entertain sanguine hopes that he will soon
be quite well. Perhaps you have heard of medicinal wells at
Dunblane. After a few days' rest we propose going there to
drink of them for a week or two. By that time we hope that,
by the blessing of Him who saith, " I am the Lord that
healeth thee," we shall return to our habitations in peace and
health.
Yes, Doctor, our dear friends are dropping away one after
another, and our time must come — must soon come. In
reflecting on this, I sometimes chide myself for feeUng uneasy
at the thought of going the way I shall never return, especially
when I cou.^ider that, though I am to part with friends whom
I highly value and tenderly love, yet I shall go to meet with
them whom I more highly valued and more tenderly loved.
But I am bewildered when I begin to reflect how departed
spirits associate with each other, and communicate their feel-
ings and sentiments. Were you now by my side, you would
probably check me by saying, " What thou knowest not now,
thou shalt know hereafter." But I am forgetting that this
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 465
is Saturday, and that I have to prepare both for a part of
the -public services of to-morrow at home, and for doing duty
at Limekilns, where the sacrament of our Lord's Supper is
dispensed. Colleague is to preach a short sermon to our own
people on the afternoon of to-morrow, which he has not done
for four Sabbaths. I had almost forgotten your kind in-
quiries after my own situation. In the month of April I had
a small shock, somewhat Hke that which has carried off Mr
Daucanson, and it is not improbable that another and severer
shock awaits me. At present, however, I am very well, only
occasionally troubled with a dizziness in my head. Both
colleague and I were a good deal moved by your simple but
pathetic remark, " I cannot now come over to visit you, but I
will never forget you." And shall we behold our friend no
more in this world ? 0 to be fitted for that glorious world,
Avhere all who die in the Lord shall meet to part no more for
ever ! Colleague most cordially unites with me in the kindest
regards to you, Mrs Lawson, and family. — Excuse haste, and
believe me, dear Doctor, ever yours,
' Jajies Macfaelane.'
A few months only before his death, there was an arrival
at Selkirk which threw the inmates of the manse into unusual
excitement. This was no less a personage than his ancient
friend Dr Waugh, who was now on his last tour to Scotland,
on the business, so dear to his large heart, of the London Mis-
sionary Society. The two old men embraced each other,
heart to heart. They had seen each other only once or twice
since the days when, on ' Stitchel Brae,' they had met and
worshipped. The present was forgotten, and the future also
for a time gave place to the memories of that never to be
forgotten period. They talked of communion Sabbaths,
especially at Stitchel, and the fires from the old altars there
seemed again to be kindled before them. Of their pious
intimacy there we have heard. An eye and ear witness has
2 G
466 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
told the compiler, that she remembers still of Lawson of Sel-
kirk, Waugh of London, Elder of Newtown, and Young of
Jedburgh, having at one time assisted her husband at Stitchel ;
and that, when other strangers had left, Mr Lawson and Mr
Waugh remained over the Monday evening. Of that even-
ing's conversation between the two, Mr M'Lae used to say,
that listening to them enabled him in some measure to idealize
what would be the happiness of heaven. The subsequent
intercourse of these two friends was, of necessity, abridged
by Mr Waugh's translation to London. He had been or-
dained at Newtown only a few years after Dr Lawson's
settlement in Selkirk ; and though his ministry there scarcely
reached two years, its savour went over all that country side,
— so that his first and only sacrament there was attended by
a great multitude of the surrounding congregations. After
listening to the address which he gave upon that occasion at
the Lord's table, Mr Coventry, who was assisting him, ex-
claimed, ' 0 what lofty expressions ! what exalted views of
the perfections of the Almighty ! 0 what a bright star this
young man promises to be !'
In writing to Mrs Waugh, Dr Waugh briefly refers to this
his last interview with his old friend : ' I found Dr Lawson
and family in good health, except for his deafness and partial
imbecility in his hmbs, which furnishes an opportunity to his
good people of providing a sedan-chair for him, to carry him,
as the deacons of Ephesus carried the aged Apostle John, to
the pulpit every Sabbath. His folk gave me a good collec-
tion— L.21 — besides a guinea which a friend of Alexander's
— Mr Pringle, of Whytbank — sent over to me.'
In the union of the two great branches of the Secession
Church Dr Lawson took a profound interest. Along with
his friend Dr Hu.'sband, he helped it on by all the means in
his power, partaking in no degree of the shyness or fears of
several of the brethren on both sides. It is truly refreshing
to find such catholicity of spirit among these early magnates
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 467
of our Church. In reference to the union, we find Dr Hus-
band, in a letter to Dr Lawson, thus expressing himself;
' We are to have business of a very important nature before
us at next meeting of Synod. The idea of union and co-
operation among the friends of truth is very j)leasant, and
ought, if possible, to be carried into practice. But whether
the terms of union between us and our Antiburgher- brethren
can be such as will answer the purposes of edification, remaiss
yet to be seen. "We had a very agreeable meeting at the
committee. The brethren on the other side, almost all of
whom were perfect strangers to me, appeared in a very
respectable light, both in regard to talent and Christian
temper.' Dr Lawson was asked by the late Dr Beattie what
were his sentiments upon this contemplated union. The
Professor expressed his high approbation of it, and added,
somewhat facetiously, ' Perhaps, however, it might be proper
to ask some satisfaction from the Antiburghers for having
excommunicated us Burghers.' Much as he longed to wit-
ness its consummation, this pleasure was denied him. He
had gone over to the general assembly of the church of the
first-born eight months previously. Had he lived till Sep-
tember 1820 he would have graced it with his venerable
presence, and blessed it with his prayers. His interest indeed,
and his zeal in all the great public religious questions of the
day, never flagged. There was life in the old man for them
all to the last. In his views and feelings upon the missionary
enterprise, he was ahead of his times. To the London
Society, of which Dr Waugh was one of the founders, he
gave his heart, his hand, and his purse. It must have been
no ordinary influence in that direction, exerted by him upon
a purely pastoral congregation, that secured them a collec-
tion of twenty guineas for missions. Many churches even
now do not so liberally. But it was so with him, aU through
life, that his discernment and zeal secured a fair measure of
support for every good and holy object. The man was so
468 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
thoroughly unselfish, and so full of faith, that he was up to
the mark in all points of duty before many of his contempo-
raries were moved. God be thanked, the Church has many
such men now ; but their number with us might have been
fewer, had not Lawson and his associates previously ploughed
up the fallow ground. It is well known that many, if not all,
who studied under bim, were the ready and generous sup-
porters of the missionary revival. And though their own
piety led them into this path, the memory of the Selkirk
divine held up their feet so that they did not slide. That
Dr Lawson thought thus, and would have acted thus, decided
the waverer. When the amiable Horner died, his friend,
Sydney Smith, said, ' It will be useful for us, in the great
occasions of life, to reflect how Horner would act and think
in them.' And so it ought to be with all who name the name
of Christ — our great pattern, as well as our sole propitiation.
We should consider, in our varied conditions of life, how He
would act, and go and do likewise, earnestly desiring that the
same mind that was in Him may be in us.
Only a very few weeks before his death he received an un-
expected mark of esteem from a well-known member of
Parliament, who had long known and appreciated his great
worth. The M.P. wished to distribute some charities in
and about Selkirk, and in looking round for an almoner he
fixed upon Dr Lawson. After politely apologizing for taking
such a liberty, he says, in the letter embodying the request,
' I own that I am emboldened to do so from the known and
admired excellence of your heart, from the tried philanthropy
of your character, and the honourable age of a life passed
in the exercise of every virtue. These sentiments I only
entertain in common with every one who knows you, either
personally or by report, and by none are they more truly
estimated than by myself.' The good old man cheerfully
consented to act as requested, and this was among the very
last of his ' good works ' ere he retired to die.
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 469
Before he laid down that pen — that busy and useful pen —
for the last time, he wrote the following letter to Dr Thomson,
of Coldstream. It is chiefly interesting, as being the last of
Dr Lawsou's. In a few days thereafter he was in heaven.
Dr Laivson to Dr Thoinson.
'Selkirk, Jan. 20, 1820.
' My deak Sir, — Finding a convenient opportunity, I im-
prove it to express my sympathy with you in the loss of your
worthy father. I know the sensibiUty of your heart, but I
likewise know that you will endeavour to regulate all your
affections with a view to eternity, on which perpetually we
ought to govern our minds in such a manner as that our
happiness will not depend on any earthly object. Although
you are yet in middle life, you have lost many relations or
friends, in whose society much of your present happiness was
placed. You will probably lose more of them, if you live
many years longer ; but you will bless God that He has left
you other friends in whose society you take pleasure, and
that ' you have not in reality lost those who are removed out
of your sight. We have reason to believe that the inhabitants
of heaven are not left in ignorance of what is done on earth ;
if they take pleasure in the repentance of the ungodly, they
must rejoice likewise in the holy conversation of the friends
whom they left on earth.
' I have sometimes thought of the horrors that must seize
the soul of Judas Iscariot, when he thought of his fellow-
apostles still with their Master. And it is a powerful motive
with me to be vigilant, that I may not be a castaway, that
many whom I dearly loved are now with Christ. How
awful would it be to be eternally separated from them ! They
have been removed from me to a better world, for which they
were far better prepared than I hitherto am ; yet I hope that,
through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, I shall be saved
even as they. If we are Christians, we are come to the
470 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
spirits of just men made perfect. We are still members of
the same body, though in different worlds, and the time of
their separation from us is but a little moment compared
with the duration of those ages in which we shall again
enjoy their society. May God spare your family, and give
you always much pleasure in every member of it here and
in a better world. — Yours affectionately, ' G. Lawson.'
On the 29th of January 1820, the great bell of St Paul's,
London, was tolled. It was the death-knell of George III.
It was also the warning given to the Selkirk divine to go to
his last work in his much-loved hbrary. He determined to
improve the decease of the sovereign, and prepared a dis-
course upon the subject from Psalm Ixsxii. 6, 7, — 'I have
said, ye are gods ; and all of you are children of the Most
High : but ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the
princes.' On Sabbath, the Gth of February, he was carried
in his chair for the last time to the house of God, and closed
his long public career by delivering this sermon in honour of
one of the best of kings. The people were greatly affected
by his appearance, the change in his voice, and the ominous
nature of the subject. They foreboded the truth that this
should be his last sermon from that pulpit. They were
specially impressed with his concluding appeals, which were
made to the praise and glory of ' the King immortal, in-
visible, and eternal,' and to the duty of all to love, beUeve
in, and obey Jesus the King of saints. Having finished this
service, which was rendered in great weakness of body, he
was carried home, and that pulpit knew him no more for ever.
Of this his last sermon, Dr Belfrage says : ' It was not
a fulsome panegyric on departed greatness, but a solemn
admonition to the living. While eloquence, not content with
decking the throne, garnishes the sepulchre, piety feels itself
impelled by the death of kings, to give effect to those lessons
on the vanity of man, which are too often forgotten amidst
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 471
the pomp of the world, Dr Lawsoii (on this occasion) read
out a portion of the 90th Psalm, to be sung by the congrega-
tion, and piously appHed it to himself. He felt that he
had arrived at the limits of life, and that his strength was
sinking to the dust ; but in him it was seen that, for an old
age of piety and wisdom, religion has provided her sweet
consolations and her reviving hope, hke nature reserving its
mildest lustre and its softest calm for the setting sun.' In a
few days after this effort, he fell asleep like one of the princes of
Israel. And this was the manner of the good man's death : —
He had, a short while before, received a visit from his
beloved sou George. Hearing that symptoms of an unmis-
takeable character had appeared, he had hastened from
Kilmarnock to obtain his father's blessing, and, in all likeli-
hood, to close his eyes at death. He was, however, under
the necessity of returning to the west, while the old man was
yet moving about. Under the impression that their parting
was to be final, the dying father took his son to the well-
known room where they oft had studied and prayed. They
knelt down together, and he offered up supplications for his
son. When they arose, he suddenly charged him, in the name
of his God and Redeemer, to be a faithful minister of the
New Testament. He then gave him his blessing, and they
parted to meet no more on earth.
His sufferings now became severe. He could not rest in
bed, and had to assume the sitting posture, both by night
and day. But he never waxed impatient. He was full of
faith, and much in prayer. There was no cloud upon his
view of the future. ' For my part,' he declared, ' I am firmly
persuaded, that all my hope must rest upon the richness and
sovereignty of the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. I am per-
suaded that millions already in hell were far less criminal,
when they left the world, than I have been. I am sensible
that I can never make myself a fitter subject of mercy than I
am at this moment ; and that, therefore, I must follow to the
472 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
pit those miserable wretches that are groaning under the
wrath of God, unless I am plucked as a brand out of the
burning, A doctrine so necessary to my hope and peace, as
the sovereignty of Divine mercy, I hope never to renounce.'
He firmly believed, that so soon as he died he should be with
Christ. At one time a member of the family repeated to him
the subhme words of the apostle, ' I am persuaded, that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'
He repUed that he highly appreciated such an assurance, and
the blessed hope with which he was cleaving to the Lord.
' I have not had a doubt of my security for twenty years,'
said one to Robert Hall, whose reply was characteristic,
' Then you will give me leave to doubt for you.' During life
Dr Lawson was careful never to express himself so confidently
as to his safety ; but on his death-bed he did not hesitate to
do so, and no witness of that solemn scene would ever have
thought of * doubting for him.' The manner, however, in
which he expressed it evinced the holy modesty of his spirit ;
and it was evident, from what followed, that he wished that his
Lord's translating hand should find him kneeling at the foot-
stool of His mercy. ' It is, indeed,' he said with emphasis, ' my
full persuasion and sweet hope, that I shall never be separated
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord,'
His last night and day M'ere almost sleepless. He sat upon
his chair, waiting on the summons, but not wearying for it.
The short prayers he put up from time to time were some of
them audible, and others not. They referred to the present
and everlasting well-being of his family, his congregation, his
pupils, and his brethren, and to the filling of the whole earth,
in due time, with the glory of the Redeemer.
On the afternoon of Monday, the 21st of February, to-
wards sun-setting, groups of people were seen surrounding
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 473
the door of the manse. It was known in the town that Dr
Lawson was near his end. Not a sound was heard, unless
it were a whisper from one to another concerning the godh-
ness of the dying pastor, and the loss which his death should
be to the Church. Every now and then the door slowly
opened, and the ' bulletin ' was given. At last the town clock
struck the hour of ten, when a subdued lamentation was
heard coming from the room where the old man was gaining
the victory, or rather where he had gained it ; for the door
opened again : ' He is gone,' was the message, and that crowd
took it silently away with them, each one to his own home,
sorrowing, like the elders of Ephesus, that he should see his
face no more. The work within the house had been very
calm and very solemn. His family stood around the chair
where the dying Christian sat. Some of his most dearly
loved elders were also in this room, and two of his brethren
from a distance came to comfort hira. Very little was said
on either side. He had not strength to converse, and they
were too sad and too full of holy awe to profane the silence.
They looked upon him with tearful eye, for he had been in-
deed as an angel of God to them in the wilderness. Blessing
a gentleman at his side who had been very kind to him, he
said, ' I can only thank you ; but God, I trust, will abun-
dantly reward you.'
His son Andrew had arrived from Ecclefechan. Among
other things, he said to his father, ' Dearest father, what is
the ground of your hope and comfort in this trying hour?'
' All my hope,' he replied, ' and all my comfort, spring out
of the mercy of God, as manifested in the mediation of Jesus
Christ. Here are my only stay, and strength, and consolation.'
Some allusion was made to the useful life he had led, when
he replied, ' No, no. Had I been such a man as Mr Brown
of Haddington, or Mr Johnston of Ecclefechan, I would have
done far more good. I have done little, very little.'
About ten o'clock he raised his eyes and looked around.
474 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
He then seemed to put forth the last remains of his strength,
and called his family, one after the other, to come near to
him. They did so. He took each of them by the hand,
blessed them severally, and bade them farewell in the most
simple, devout, and affecting manner. After this, he lifted
up both his hands, and, casting a look upon the company
assembled to see him die, he said, with a tremulous voice,
' The Lord my God bless you all.'
Mrs Lawson then asked Mr Young (Jedburgh) to offer
prayer that his departure might be in peace. This was done.
' Lord,' they prayed, ' let an abundant entrance be now ad-
ministered to Thy servant into the everlasting kingdom of his
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.'
' Lord ! take jme to Paradise,' added the dying saint ;
and as the sublime petition dropped from his lips, his soul
was with Jesus. The simplicity of a lifetime was embodied
and embalmed in the last words he uttered.
It is worthy of notice, that, in the ordinary course of reading
that morning at family worship, the chapter happened to be the
34th of Deuteronomy, where is narrated the death of Moses on
Mount Pisgah, with his death and burial in the land of Moab.
And the last hymn, also in the ordinary course, which he sung
with the family, was the 31st Paraphrase, beginning —
' Soon shall this earthly frame, dissolved,
In death and ruins lie ;
But better mansions wait the just,
Prepared above the sky.
An house eternal, built by God,
Shall lodge the holy mind ;
When once those prison walls have fallen,
By which 'tis now confined.'
The funeral took place on the Friday after his death ; and
on the following Sabbath, as has been already noticed, his
funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr Thomson, of
Coldstream, from these words, ' And devout men carried
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 475
Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.'
The character of Dr Lawson, given at the close of the discourse
(M'hich was afterwards published), is alike forcible and truth-
ful, solemn and eloquent. We quote the last paragraph : —
' It was a fact that " devout men carried him to his burial,
and made great lamentation over him." I have never wit-
nessed a funeral at which sorrow appeared more visibly de-
picted on every countenance. But the grief for his loss was
not confined to his immediate neighbours and others who
were present at the interment. His death will be long and
deeply lamented by all to whom he was known.'
As a sweet voice from the past, — a voice which one might
think could only issue from the grave, — we give a letter of
sympathy from the old widow of Mr Kidston, of Stow, to the
widow of Dr Lawson. The former had gone to Peebles to
end her days in peace ; and the latter, in fourteen months
after this, died in the Lord. We have no reason to be
ashamed of these matrons of the early Secession ; they were
worthy of our fathers.
' Peebles, March 30, 1820.
' My dear Mrs Lawson, — Though somewhat late in
telling you the fellow-feeling that I have with you, it is not
because I have not felt the loss you have sustained. The
death of your dear husband brought many and keen recollec-
tions with it. Mine and yourn were very intimate in their
lives ; and I entertain the sure hope that they are together
in that place, and in the presence of that loved Master whom
they both loved so much and faithfully served in the Gospel.
However much we may feel their loss, they are both infinitely
happier than when here. Intimate and agreeable as was the
union between them, yet, from union to Christ, He had a pre-
ferable claim to them. He died for them ; they served Him ;
and He has called them to their reward. Ought we to
grudge them to Him, or what they enjoy to them ? And as
476 THE LIFE OF DE LAWSON.
they will not return to us, let it be your concern and mine to
be followers of them who through faith and patience are now
inheritors of the promises. May His blessing be upon you
and your family, who hath revealed Himself as " the Father
of the fatherless, and a Husband to the widow." — I am, with
sisterly sympathy and affection, yours,
' Janet Kidston.'
Appropriately following this grave epistle, is the inscrip-
tion prepared by her son, Dr Kidston, for the monument
which was subsequently erected over the grave of the deceased
in the churchyard of Selkirk : —
'5Eo t^e ^emorg of ti)c
REVEREND GEORGE LAWSON, D.D.,
MINISTER OF THE ASSOCIATE CONGKEGATION IN SELKIEK,
AND
PKOFESSOE OF DIVINITT UNDEE THE ASSOCIATE SINOD.
HE WAS BOKN 13tH MAKCH 1749 ; ORDAINED 17tH APRIL 1771 ;
APPOINTED PROFESSOR 2d MAY 1787 ; AND DIED 20m FEBEtTABT 1820,
IN THE 71ST TEAR OF HIS AGE AND 49TH OF HIS MINISTRY.
THIS VENERABLE MAN WAS EMINENTLY DISTINGUISHED
BY GREAT NATURAL TALENTS, IMPROVED BY CONSTANT AND LABORIOUS STCDTJ
BY A MINUTE AND EXTENSIVE ACQUAINTANCE WITH SACRED THEOLOGY ;
BT SIMPLICITY OF MANNERS AND SINGULAR MODESTY ;
AND, ABOVE ALL, BY FERVENT AND UNAFFECTED PIETY.
HIS GREAT ATTAINMENTS AS A SCHOLAR,
AND HIS FIDELITY AS A MINISTER AND A THEOLOGICAL TUTOR,
RENDERED HIS LIFE A VALUABLE BLESSING,
AND HIS DEATH A SEVERE LOSS,
TO SOCIETY AND THE CHURCH OF CHRIST.
'the memory of the just is blessed."
A MEMORIAL OF THE AFFECTION AND ESTEEM OF
HIS CONGREGATION AND OTHER FRIENDS.
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 477
At the meeting of Synod, in April, the following tribute to
his memory was unanimously entered upon the minutes : —
' In recording the decease of the Rev. Dr Lawson, the
Synod find themselves called on to express, in their minutes,
the peculiar and important obligations which they and the
people of their charge are under to the Head of the Church,
for the prolonged and valuable services performed by this
worthy and venerable member of their body, as their Profes-
sor of Divinity ; to whom, under God, most of the ministers
of this Synod are much indebted for their knowledge of the
Gospel of the blessed God, and their qualification for preach-
ing it to their fellow-men ; and the impression of whose
amiable and venerable character, for piety, for the knowledge
of the Word of God, for sacred literature, and for every
excellence which can adorn the man, the Christian, and the
Professor of Divinity, they wish ever to retain and to cherish,
as an excitement to the faithful discharge of the duties of
their office.'
It is but due to the memory of Mr Greig, of Lochgelly, to
state, that the drawing out of the foregoing resolution was
committed by the Synod to him, as one of Dr Lawson's most
attached friends. Within three years from this time, Greig,
and Husband, and Macfarlane, were gathered also to their
people, — these all dying in the faith. Mr Greig's last words
remind us of the Professor's. With a voice faltering in death,
he said, ' I will soon be in heaven,' and he was there. We
cannot wind up these memoirs more appropriately than with
the precious letter which this man of God addressed to the
widow at' Selkirk, when he heard of the death of her husband,
and of his own dearest earthly friend : —
' Lochgelly, 2d March 1820.
* My dear Madam, — It was with the deepest concern I
received the melancholy intelligence of the death of my dear
and worthy friend. I sincerely sympathize with you and
478 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
your family under this severe bereavement. The loss you
have sustained must be felt by you to be great and irrepar-
able, except by Him who is the all and in all of our happiness,
and who hath said. He will be a father to the fatherless, and a
husband to the widow. Your separation from one with whom
you enjoyed the sweetest fellowship that can flow from a human
being, cannot fail to cast a shade of sadness over the remain-
der of your days, which can only be removed by your reunion
with him in a better world. If the sympathy of the many
friends of your dear husband can soothe your griefs, and
mingle sweetness with your cup of sorrow, this I am sure you
enjoy in the present feelings of many a sorrowful heart ; for
I know of no person that was more tenderly loved than he
with whom it was your honour and happiness to be so nearly
connected, or that better deserved to be esteemed and beloved,
I need not speak of his excellences to you, who so well knew
them, and so long enjoyed the advantages of them. It is
with the utmost sincerity I can say, that, after more than
fifty years of the most intimate acquaintance with him, I have
not known a more excellent person in the course of my life.
He was, indeed, a fountain of wisdom and delight to all who
had intercourse with him. He was the oldest and the most
intimate friend of my life ; and, by his removal, this world
hath become a much more solitary abode to me. Many
happy days have I enjoyed in his company, and I never retired
from his society without deriving pleasure and advantage.
From the accounts which I had, a few weeks ago, from one
from your place, I was flattering myself that, though he was
labouring under inflrmities, Providence would continue him a
while longer in the church below, where he was so usefully
employed. But we are ill able to judge what is fit and neces-
sary in the plans of the wise and I'ighteous Disposer of all
things ; and to His will it becometh us to bow down in holy
submission. If his many friends had had their wish, he had
lived many years longer to prolong their happiness. But let
THE OLD DISCIPLE AND HIS DEATH-BED. 479
US rejoice that he has entered into the joy of his God. If
we loved him, why should we not rejoice that he hath gone
to the Father. He served his God and Redeemer long and
faithfully ; he now rests from his labours, and his works shall
follow him. The much good seed which was sown by him
has taken root in the hearts of many, and I doubt not but it
will be bringing forth fruit unto God in this and the succes-
sive generations of mankind, till time shall be no more. By
his death God has been cutting asunder some of our tender-
est ties to this world, and furnishing us with a new motive to
set our affections on things above. The friend whom we
loved is there, and by his presence has increased the joy of
his Lord, and of all its holy inhabitants. We have greater
reason than ever to be affectionately mindful of heaven, where
so many that were dear to us are collected, and, as it were,
looking down upon us and calling us to run with patience the
race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. Living by faith on the Sou of God, and cleaving
to Him under the trials and afflictions of the present Hfe, it
is not long when we too will join the society of our pious
departed relatives and friends, and enjoy unmingled pleasures
with them, without interruption and without end. Though
God hath given you cause of grief in taking from you your
dear and invaluable companion, yet He hath left you worthy
and amiable sons and daughters, to minister to your comfort,
and who, I doubt not, will tread with you in the steps of
their most excellent and affectionate father. I hope both
you and they will be helped neither to despise the chastening
of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked by Him. He
who hath afflicted you is God, all-sujicient, and hath given
you His promise, that, when you pass through the waters,
He will be with you. In the faith of His promise, cast your-
self and your family into His arms, trusting He will perfect
what concerns you, and that He will make the present afflict-
ing dispensation work for your good. If you find yourself at
480 THE LIFE OF DR LAWSON.
a loss to see how this can be, remember His saying, that what
you know not now you shall know hereafter. — I am, dear
Madam, yours very affectionately, ' David Greig.'
I have thus attempted to write the history of a life — of
a pre-eminently simple and quiet life, — a life that arose,
culminated and set, before the pressure and progress of this
febrile era had made literary and pastoral otium an im-
possibility. Lawson was the Enoch of his generation, the
Solomon of his tribe, and the beloved disciple of his Church.
He walked with God : there was peace in his day, and he
taught Christians to love one another. No trumpets are
heard, no tournaments are held, and, with perhaps one ex-
ception, no fiery spirits are combated in his history. All is
tranquil, as early morn in spring when the seed is sowing —
hopeful, as fruitful fields when the summer's sun and breeze
whiten them for the sickle ; and all is golden and gladdening,
as an harvest-home when reapers' songs chaunt the ingather-
ing. Such-like was his pilgrimage. And, as memory oft
fixes her full eye on the beauties and blessings that enriched
and bespangled the past, to quicken gratitude and excite
emulation, so is this monument reared, and left, with all its
defects, to remind our Church how much she is indebted,
for her present position and influence, to the wisdom, piety,
and zeal of such a man as George Lawson, — a man who has
had no superior in any church, for extent, variety, and depth
of learning, for wonderful sagacity, and, withal, for such a
majesty of simphcity, such a fascination of meekness, and
such a power of godliness as entitle him to be held in ever-
lasting remembrance.
A P P E N D 1 1.
The following is a list of ministers who studied at Selkirk,
and still survive. We are indebted for it to the Rev.
Dr Mackelvie, whose statistical labours have for years been
onerous and praiseworthy ; and it is to be hoped that he
will soon benefit the Church by their pubhcation. Since the
list was obtained, five of the names must be erased, viz., Dr
Fletcher, of London ; Dr Thomson, of Penrith ; Dr Thomson,
of Coldstream ; Dr Newlauds, of Perth ; and Mr Sandy, of
Gorebridge.
The Rev. H. Thomson, D.D., Penrith.
The Rev. A. Thomson, D.D., Coldstream.
The Rev. A. Fletcher, D.D., London.
The Rev. William Bro>vn, M.D., Edinburgh
The Rev. John Johnston, Glasgow.
The Rev. George Sandy, Gorebridge.
The Rev. John Law, Innerleithen.
The Rev. John M'Kerrow, D.D., Bridge of Teith.
The Rev. John Struthers, Hamilton.
The Rev. George Brown, LL.D., Liverpool.
The Rev. A. Scott, Cambusnethan.
The Rev. James Sommerville, Airth.
The Rev. John Jajheson, Douglas.
The Rev. Walter Hume, Yetholm.
The Rev. William Pringle, D.D., Auchterarder.
The Rev. A. Jack, Dunbar.
The Rev. James Harper, D.D., Leith.
The Rev. Ebenezer Johnston, Plean.
The Rev. David M. Inglis, Stockbridge.
2 h
482 APPENDIX.
The Rev. James Pullar, Glenluce.
The Rev. A. Nicol, Dubbieside.
The Rev. George Reid, Westray.
The Rev. Robert Simpson, D.D., Sanquhar.
The Rev. Jajnies Wilkie, Twickenham.
The Rev. Jaimes Wood, Kirkcudbright.
The Rev. Thomas Adam, Kirriemuir.
The Rev. Thomas Caie, Glasgow.
The Rev. William Johnstone, D.D., Limekilns.
The Rev. D. Smellie, Stranraer.
The Rev. H. Crichton, D.D., Liverpool.
The Rev. James Hardie, Kinghorn.
The Rev. George Kennedy, Kilconquhar.
The Rev. John Newlands, D.D., Perth.
The Rev. William Pullar, Glenluce.
The Rev. D. Smith, D.D., Biggar.
The Rev. John Shoolbread, Lochwinnoch.
The Rev. John Jack, Kingsbridge.
The Rev. John Thom, Anstruther.
The Rev. George Chapman, Great Salkeld.
The Rev. James Lilt, Montrose.
The Rev. Alexander Lowrie, East Calder.
The Rev. John Smart, D.D., Leith.
The Rev. John Taylor, M.D.
The Rev. James M'Whirter, Greenwich.
Out of 390 students who entered the Hall during Dr
Lawsou's Professorship, these thirty-nine remain. In a few
years all shall have ' gone over to the majority, and be joined
to the famous nations of the dead.' ' Help, Lord, for the godly
man ceaseth ; for the faithful fail from among the children of
men.'
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