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as "a sun blink of Gospel light and warmth;" and, he adds, "the fact is unquestionable, that the greater number of those who have been seriously impressed, at the time referred to, have attached themselves to the Free Church."* It was an interesting coincidence, that a prayer meeting which dates from the time of Mr. Robe, and which for fifty years had been held in an upper room, gave accommodation to the first meetings for organising the Free Church movements in the parish.

In Strathbogie similar preparatory work is described. Mr. Cowie, a dissenting minister in Huntly, "a man of eminent piety, vigorous mind, . . and remarkable zeal in his Master's work," is said to have produced a powerful effect on the district, and to have left many seals of his ministry. "Another of these Strathbogie parishes is Botriphnie, where, about eighty years ago, there was a godly parish minister, Mr. Campbell, to whose ministry the people were wont to travel for many miles." One of the fruits of his ministry was Mr. Cowie just referred to. "It is said that a godly farmer, who had been converted under the ministry of Mr. Campbell, mourning over the almost universal deadness both of ministers and people, was wont to spend much of the night in prayer in his barn for times of awakening and revival, and that long after this godly man was gathered to his fathers, this very barn was it in which, for five and a-half years, the Free Church congregation found a shelter for the worship of God, and in which many precious sermons were preached, and not a few souls were converted."+

A revival of religion is recorded to have taken place in Lawers and Lochtayside in 1815. Again a similar work appeared in 1834, and subsequent years, in connection with the ministry of Mr. Campbell, of Lawers, and his younger brother in Glenlyon, assisted by the Rev. William Burns. Often would Mr. Campbell, of Lawers, afterward of Kiltearn, "when in company with Christian friends, revert to these great days of the Son of man." His younger brother, Mr. Campbell, of Glenlyon, afterwards of Tarbat, writing under date October, 1864, mentions :-"I witnessed three religious revivals-one in Breadalbane and Glenlyon, in the year 1816; * Dis. Mss. xxix. pp. 2, 3. + Dis. Mss. x. pp. 1, 2, 5.

one in Tarbat and other parishes in Ross-shire, in the years 1840 and 1841; a third in Lawers in the year 1861. Let sovereign grace have all the glory." Both brothers took a decided part in the "Ten Years' Conflict," and were of signal service to the Free Church in 1843, and afterwards.

In Ross-shire, Mr. Flyter, of Alness, gives his view of how men were made ready for the Disruption :-" Preparation was made in regard to elders and people in the influences with which the Lord accompanied the preaching of the Gospel. This influence was striking and impressive in various parts of the country in 1840. About that time in every district of the parish of Alness there were some sin-sick souls." *

Dr. Mackintosh, of Tain, bears his decided testimony to the reality of this movement. "What I believe to be a genuine revival of religion-the work of the Spirit of God has taken place during the past year [1840] to a considerable extent in this parish and district. . . . There was at first a good deal of outward excitement on some occasions under the Word, but this gradually diminished. . . . The experience which I had of the revival of religion, though limited and partial, is such as would lead me to long for its continuance and to pant for its return, as bringing with it the blessed results for which a minister of Christ would desire to live and die-the conversion of sinners and the increasing consolation and edification of saints." +

At Collace, Dr. A. Bonar speaks of the parish having been prepared by a work of Divine grace in the souls of many among us. After my return from the mission to the Jews in Palestine and other countries a decided awakening took place. In the month of May, 1840, there was a deep impression on many, attended with outward expressions of concern upon one occasion when we were met during the week for prayer, but in general the work was silent. After that date one and another at different intervals seemed brought under the power of the truth. On the fast day appointed by our Assembly-in prospect of the solemn crisis of the Disruption-two persons

*Parish of Alness, by the Rev. A. Flyter, Parker Mss.
+ Memorials of Rev. C. Mackintosh, D.D., p. 53.

were led to the cross. In all these cases, without one exception, the individuals became most decided in their views regarding the Headship and Crown-rights of the Redeemer; and neither in this nor any of the neighbouring parishes did any of these awakened persons remain in the Establishment when the crisis came."

Mr. Carment, of Rosskeen (Ross-shire), writes, under date January, 1841 :-"Though the prospects of the beloved Church of my fathers are becoming every day more dark and gloomy,

yet the prospects of this parish are becoming increasingly bright and pleasing. There has been since 1840 a very remarkable awakening and religious revival in this parish and neighbourhood, especially among the young; and numbers, I have reason to believe, have been savingly converted. . . . I have been enabled to preach frequently on week days to attentive, impressed, and weeping congregations, who flock by night and by day to hear the Word." At the previous communion he had admitted more communicants than during the whole of the preceding eighteen years of his ministry. "It seems to me a token for good that our present contendings as a Church are approved by God, when revivals of religion are taking place in various parts of Scotland at a time when the Court of Session is, like the Scottish Council of old, trying not only to intrude unacceptable ministers into parishes by an illegal assumption of power not sanctioned by the constitution of the country, but in direct violation of all those Statutes which were passed to secure the Church against all such attempts." +

One additional example may be given, on the testimony of Mr. M'Cheyne, as to the work in Dundee :-"It is my decided and solemn conviction, in the sight of God, that a very remarkable and glorious work of God, in the conversion of sinners and edifying of saints, has taken place in this parish and neighbourhood. This work I have observed going on from the very beginning of my ministry in this place in November, 1836, and it has continued to the present time. But it was much more remarkable in the autumn of 1839, when I was abroad on a mission

*Dis. Mss. xxi. pp. 1, 2.

+ Parish of Rosskeen, Rev. J. Carment, Parker Mss.

of inquiry to the Jews, and when my place was occupied by the Rev. W. C. Burns. . . . Immediately after the beginning of the Lord's work at Kilsyth, the Word of God came with such power to the hearts and consciences of the people here, and their thirst for hearing it became so intense, that the eveningclasses in the schoolroom were changed into densely-crowded congregations in the church; and for nearly four months it was found desirable to have public worship almost every night. At this time, also, many prayer meetings were formed, some of which were strictly private or fellowship meetings; and others, conducted by persons of some Christian experience, were open to persons under concern about their souls. . . . Many hundreds under deep concern for their souls have come from first to last to converse with the ministers, so that I am deeply persuaded the number of those who have received saving benefit is greater than any one will know till the judgment day.'"

Nor was it only at Dundee that such effects were produced; a blessing was seen to go with Mr. M'Cheyne's labours in other districts. At Wanlockhead, Mr. Hastings speaks of a change having taken place in his congregation "since the sacrament in July, 1841, when the late Rev. Mr. Murray M'Cheyne assisted me. Many, indeed, were melted under his preaching, and became obviously more serious in their demeanour, and the chapel afterwards more regularly crowded." . . . "The people here understood well the principles of the Free Church." +

In the district of Buchan, Aberdeenshire, "the various parishes were blessed with the preaching of the saintly M'Cheyne in the early part of 1843, and in Ellon, as elsewhere, he left precious fruits of his ministry. Accordingly, though a year before the Disruption there were not known to be half-adozen Non-intrusionists in the whole parish of Ellon, when the event came, a congregation of above a hundred, with more than eighty communicants, was at once formed in this stronghold of Moderatism; and since that time the congregation has greatly increased [1846].” ‡

It was a striking circumstance that the whole circle of friends * Memoir, pp. 495, 496. + Dis. Mss. xix. Dis. Mss. ix. p. 4

with whom Mr. M'Cheyne was specially associated were of one mind through the whole time of the great conflict. There was much to be done for Christ in Scotland, and God had raised up a remarkable band of labourers in the zeal of their first love, and in the strength of early manhood. What Dr. Horatius Bonar says of one of their number-Mr. Milne, of Perth-was equally true of them all:-"In the movements of the Ten Years' Conflict' he took no lukewarm part, though by no means an Ecclesiastic in the common sense of the word; he was a thorough Presbyterian-a vigorous maintainer of Reformation doctrine and Reformation discipline. Those who counted. upon his laxity in regard to Church principles, and who were persuaded that a man so spiritual and so silent in Church Courts would take no part in the struggles of these years, were surprised at the resolute decision which he showed in adopting, and the energy in maintaining, the great ecclesiastical principles then battled for. . . . The ecclesiastical turmoil seemed to elevate, not to depress-to spiritualise, not to secularise. All the brethren whom he loved, and in whose fellowship he delighted, were of one mind on the questions which were dividing the Church. Courts. Hence they could meet together, confer together, pray together. All were of one heart and of one soul. ... The Church questions agitated were not those of partisanship or routine, they were vital and spiritual, both in themselves and in their bearings. They centred in Christ Himself-Christ, the Lawgiver of the Church-Christ, the Lawgiver of the realm. Hence, in handling them, Christian men were dealing with the Master and the Master's honour. The questions were summed up in two Shall Christ give laws to the Church, or shall the Church give laws to herself? Shall Christ give laws to the nations, or shall the nations give laws to themselves?' Christian men had not to come down to secularities and externalisms in maintaining these. They felt they were discussing matters which touched their spiritual interests on every side, and they were contending for truths which brought their souls in contact with the Lord Himself." *

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The testimony of such men was of incalculable value-drawing * Life of Rev. J. Milne, by Dr. Horatius Bonar, pp. 74-76.

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