their persecuted ministers to the retired glen and the windbeaten mountain-side. Is it too much to anticipate as a certain consequence that, while the virtues and graces of these true-hearted men, as well as of their teachers, would be strengthened by the sacrifices which they made for the sake of their adorable Head, a spirit would by the blessing of God be awakened among those who had hitherto cared for none of those things, and, cherished by Divine grace, would spread, as it did of old, till its blessed influences might perhaps be felt over the whole mass of society? . . . Among Christ's ministers, indeed, the event would doubtless occasion many painful privations, and destroy many earthly hopes, but it would shake their hearts more loose from the cherished things of time, and give them freer scope and warmer zeal in their Master's cause, whilst among their people it would light a new and more holy flame. Oh! would not this repay tenfold our privations and sufferings, while it afforded a new proof of that blessed promise, so incomprehensible to worldly men, that those who leave houses and lands and all that is dear to them on earth for the sake of Christ, shall obtain even of blessings in the present life 'manifold more than they have abandoned, as well as what is infinitely more valuable, 'life everlasting in the world to come?'"* *Letter from the Minister of Ruthwell to his flock. XXI. THE SITUATION IN JUNE, 1843. THE Disruption having taken place under the circumstances already described, we are now to follow the Church when, no longer aided by State endowments, she suddenly found herself involved in all the difficulties of disestablishment. Outwardly, in the view of the world, the overthrow had been complete. All was lost, save the great cause for which she had contended, and which now more than ever she was bound to maintain at the cost of new sacrifices and efforts. It was not long till these additional demands began to make themselves severely felt. Before two months had passed, hundreds of thousands of the Scottish people had joined her communion; the numbers were increasing, and church-building on an extensive scale was immediately required. Six hundred and sixty-seven ministers and preachers were henceforth dependent on the contributions of the people. The entire staff of missions to Jew and Gentile must be sustained. A college had to be provided, where Dr. Chalmers and Dr. Welsh might continue their labours in training students of divinity for the service of the Church. On behalf of the expelled teachers, and for other reasons, a whole system of elementary schools was seen to be necessary. It soon appeared that manses must be built, for it was impossible to leave ministers and their families in such dwellings as have been described. A fund was also needed for the aged and infirm ministers, and another for the widows and orphans of the manse; while, to meet the whole of these and other similar requirements, the Church had absolutely nothing but the free-will offerings of her people. If men could have paused to estimate the magnitude of such demands coming upon a portion of the Scottish people hitherto little accustomed to the habit of giving, the enterprise might well have seemed utterly hopeless. But there was no time to These things had to be pause. The call of duty was plain. done, and men felt that they must arise, and by the help of God meet as best they might the difficulties of the crisis. Difficult enough certainly the struggle would have proved even if the hostility of the Church's adversaries had been appeased and had given way, in view of the great sacrifices to which she had submitted. Unfortunately, instead of being left at liberty to do her best in the circumstances, she continued for long to be assailed and thwarted by formidable opposition from various influential quarters. It is not desirable after so many years to reopen the full details of those grievances and hardships, but it is obvious that if a just estimate is to be formed of the Free Church, and if the lessons of her experience amidst the difficulties of disestablishment are to be read aright, some account must be given not only of her efforts and sacrifices, but of the persistent opposition in the face of which her work had to be done. It is the rebuilding of the Church, then, that the following pages are intended to describe-the rearing up of her external framework on the old foundations, after the overthrow of the Disruption. No attempt, indeed, can be made to give a full history of the time; the materials in the hands of the Committee are as yet far too imperfect to allow of this being done. It will be enough if the extracts and incidents here recorded shall serve in some degree to recall the general aspect of those busy years. With thankfulness we shall have to speak of help received in the hour of need-of the friends who were raised up of the generous aid sent from foreign lands—and still more, of what was done by the zeal and self-sacrifice of the Church's own members at home. But in the multiplicity of these details there is one thing which must never be forgotten, -the sacredness of the great cause for which all was done and suffered the spiritual independence of the Church under her Divine Head. And not less must we in humble thankfulness recognise the hand of God leading His people forward step by step-often by a way which they knew not-till, amidst innumerable tokens of blessing, the Church has risen into the position which this day she is permitted to occupy. Surely in the retrospect of all that has been done and suffered, her members may well unite their efforts and their prayers, that, knowing the day of her visitation, the Free Church of Scotland may prove faithful to the high trust which has been given into her hands. Р XXII. TEMPORARY PLACES OF WORSHIP. WHEN the time for parting came in 1843, and the parish churches were left, the first object was to obtain temporary accommodation for the worship of God. Different methods were taken according to circumstances, and nothing in the whole history of that period is more remarkable than the strange variety of expedients which suggested themselves to the people in different parts of the country. The details may in many cases seem simple and trivial, but they serve at least to bring into view the exigencies of the time and the difficulties in which our congregations were often placed. As was natural, wherever there were disused places of worship, they were at once applied for, and in some instances they passed by lease or purchase into the hands of the Free Church. The Independent Church at Banchory-Ternan,* for example, was fitted up anew for public worship, and opened on the 21st of May, three days after the Disruption. At Kirriemuir, an old unoccupied Relief church was rented. In the village of Keith, Strathbogie, there were two Secession churches, and one of them, on a vacancy occurring, was sold to the Non-intrusionists. At Ellon, Aberdeenshire, where "it would have been very difficult to procure a site, the way was made plain by a small chapel, with ground for enlargement, having been sold to the Free Church by a small body of Independents, most of whom united themselves to the new congregation." * Witness Newspaper, 10th June, 1843. + Ibid. |