_Literature of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (continued)――Religious and Miscellaneous Literature._

SECTION I.

_Religious Literature of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries._

THE religious literature of Scotland in the form of sermons and hortative discourses is pretty large, but in the department of theology there are comparatively few works of high authority, which may be accounted for upon the ground that until recently there was little necessity for such works, as the religious differences of belief among the Scots were not concerning the existence and attributes of God nor the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, but chiefly as to forms of Church government, and the powers of the Established Church in relation to the State. These were the grounds on which differences in convictions and opinions prevailed among the people of Scotland, and hence the characteristics of the religious literature of the country.

The Rev. Ebenezer Erskine and his brother, the Rev. Ralph Erskine,1 were both celebrated in the history of the national Church, but they were more remarkable for their personal influence and preaching than as writers. Ebenezer Erskine was the founder of the Secession Church, a man of great energy and strength of will. A collection of his sermons in five volumes has been published.

1 Ebenezer was born in 1680, and died in 1755; Ralph was born in 1682, and died in 1751.

The sermons of Ralph Erskine are numerous, and he also composed _Gospel Sonnets_, which appeared in 1760 in two volumes, but they are devotional, not poetical. He was minister of the Church of Dunfermline, but joined the Secession with his brother and withdrew from the Establishment.

The Rev. Dr. John Erskine1 was the eldest son of Erskine of Cardross, author of the _Principles of the Law of Scotland_. Mr. Erskine studied for the Church at the University of Edinburgh, and after completing his course he was ordained minister of the parish of Kirkintilloch in 1744. In 1753 he was presented to the church of Cardross; in 1758 he was transferred to the charge of the new Greyfriars Church in Edinburgh; and in 1765 he was appointed one of the ministers of old Greyfriars Church, where he had for his colleague Dr. Robertson. He was a learned divine, and the author of a long list of discourses and theological dissertations. He also has the honour of being among the first who advocated the cause of Foreign Missions in the Church of Scotland.

1 Born in 1721, died in 1803.

Dr. Alexander Webster1 was minister of the Tolbooth Church in Edinburgh. It was reported that at the time of the Rising of 1745 he wrote several patriotic songs to arouse the loyalty of his countrymen. After the battle of Culloden he was appointed to preach the thanksgiving sermon, which, with a few other of his sermons, was published. He has the merit of originating the Ministers’ Widows’ Fund, and also of carrying out the first attempt at a census in Scotland. According to the returns obtained by him in 1755, the population of Scotland was 1,265,380. He was an able and characteristic man in his day.

1 Born in 1707 and died in 1784.

Dr. John Witherspoon was born on the 5th of February, 1722, in the parish of Yester, where his father was minister. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and at the age of twenty-one he was licensed to preach. In 1744 he was appointed minister of the parish of Beith. His pamphlet, entitled _Ecclesiastical Characteristics_, which appeared in 1753, was mainly directed against flaws in the principles and practice of some of the ministers of the Church. As it showed a strain of satire, it soon attracted attention, became popular, and reached a fifth edition in 1762. In 1756 his treatise on the _Connection between the Doctrine of Justification by the imputed Righteousness of Christ and Holiness of Life_ was published. The following year his _Inquiry into the Nature and Effects of the Stage_ appeared. On this subject there was much difference of opinion, yet it was generally recognised that he had treated the subject with ability and candour. In 1757 he received a call from the Low Church of Paisley, which he accepted. While carefully discharging his pastoral functions in Paisley, he published several sermons, and in 1764 his _Essays on Important Subjects_ were issued in three volumes. Shortly after he received a call from a congregation in Dublin, another from the Scottish church at Rotterdam, and one from a congregation in Dundee, but he declined these invitations and remained in Paisley. Some years later, however, he was invited by the Trustees of the College of Princeton, New Jersey, in America, to become the President of that Institution, and he accepted the invitation and resolved to cross the Atlantic. On the 16th of April, 1768, he preached a farewell sermon to his congregation in Paisley, and in July he sailed for America.

Immediately after his arrival at New Jersey he entered on his new duties. He soon made changes in the system of instruction which had previously prevailed in the College; he extended the study of mathematical science, and improved the method of teaching natural philosophy. But his peaceful career was interrupted, and for a time terminated, by the American War of Independence. He joined the Colonists in this great struggle, and on the 17th of May, 1776, he expressed his view of the subject in a lecture delivered at Princeton, which was published. In 1776 he was elected to represent the people of New Jersey in the Congress of the United States, and acted as a member for seven years. He had considerable influence in Congress, and wrote a number of important State papers. After the settlement of 1783 he resumed his duties at Princeton. In 1785 he visited his native country with the aim of raising a fund for the College, which had been much injured by the war, but party-feeling was then rampant in Britain, and his mission was not a success. He stayed a short time at Paisley, and preached in two of the churches; and taking a final farewell of his friends, returned to America. He continued to perform his duties at the College until his death on the 15th of November, 1794. His writings evinced much knowledge of human nature, while his style was animated, simple, and attractive.

One of the most popular ministers of the eighteenth century was Dr. Blair,1 a native of Edinburgh. He was first appointed minister of a parish church in Fifeshire, but being noted as a preacher, he was called to one of the city churches of Edinburgh. In 1759 he commenced a course of lectures on rhetoric and _belles-lettres_, which were subsequently published. In 1763 he issued a _Dissertation on the Poems of Ossian_. The first volume of his sermons was published in 1777, which was followed by other three, and a fifth volume which he had prepared, was published after his death. These volumes of sermons were once exceedingly popular, though it is difficult to discover the reason why they were so; they are perhaps grammatically correct in composition, but they are monotonous in style, and as for grasp of thought or reasoning, elevated emotion, or impassioned eloquence, they have none.

1 Born in 1718, died in 1800.

Dr. James MacKnight was a son of the Rev. William MacKnight, minister at Irvine, and was born on the 17th of September, 1721. He received the rudiments of education at the school of Irvine, and at the age of fourteen he entered the University of Glasgow, and passed through the usual course of study. Afterwards he proceeded to Leyden and studied theology, where he had an opportunity of reading many valuable works by foreign divines. On returning to Scotland he was licensed to preach. In 1753 he was appointed minister of Maybole; in 1769 he was translated to the church of Jedburgh; and in 1772 he was elected minister of Lady Yester’s church in Edinburgh.

His writings were chiefly on the New Testament, and for several generations they were greatly esteemed. The first edition of his _Harmony of the Gospels_ appeared in 1756, and a second, revised and enlarged, was issued in 1763. The same year he published the _Truth of the Gospel History_, which was intended to confirm by argument and reference to ancient authors what used to be called the Internal, the Collateral, and the Direct Evidences of the Gospel History. In 1795 his elaborate work, _The New Translation of the Apostolical Epistles_, with a commentary and notes, was published in four volumes. This work was long highly estimated. His style had little elegance or ornament, but it is clear, and pertinent to the subject. After a life of assiduous study and useful toil, he died on the 13th of January, 1800.

John Brown1 of Haddington was a distinguished divine, and the author of various religious works. He belonged to Perthshire, being descended from parents in humble circumstances, both of whom died before he was eleven years of age. He says himself: “I was left a poor orphan, and had nothing to depend on but the providence of God.” He was first employed as a shepherd, and afterwards as a pedlar. But before he was twenty years of age, he had taught himself Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. For some time he discharged the functions of a schoolmaster in Kinross, and in 1748 he entered on the study of divinity in connection with the Associate Synod――a dissenting body afterwards merged in the United Presbyterian Church. In 1750 he was appointed minister of the Secession Church at Haddington, and in 1768 he was elected professor of divinity under the Associate Synod, discharging the duties of this office for a period of twenty years.

1 Born in 1722, died in 1787.

His chief works are a _Dictionary of the Bible_, published in 1769, and his _Self-Interpreting Bible_ which appeared in 1778; _General History of the Christian Church_, in 1771; _A Compendious View of Natural and Revealed Religion_; _Harmony of Scripture Prophecies_, and many other short religious and devotional treatises. The two first-named works were long popular, and are so still among some sections of Christians.

A grandson of the preceding divine, Dr. John Brown,1 attained distinction as a minister and a professor of the Secession Church and as a biblical expositor. In 1806 he was appointed minister of a church at Biggar, but in 1822 he was called to Edinburgh, where he became professor of pastoral and exegetical theology in connection with the Associated Synod. As a preacher and lecturer he was masterly, at once vigorous, manly, warm, and exceedingly pathetic, and always rivetted the attention of his hearers.

1 Born in 1784, died in 1858. The religious writings of Dr. James Fordyce, Dr. John Drysdale, and Dr. Robert Walker, were of some note, and widely read in their day.

He is the author of various theological works, amongst which may be mentioned his _Expository Discourses on the Epistles of St. Peter_, the _Epistle to the Galatians_, and the _Epistle to the Romans_. In 1860 Dr. Cairns published a _Life of Dr. Brown_, to which Dr. Brown’s own son, John Brown, M.D., added some very interesting particulars, which appeared in _Horæ Subsecivæ_ in 1861.

Dr. Henry Hunter was born at Culross, Fifeshire, in 1741. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, licensed to preach in 1764, and in 1766 appointed one of the ministers of Leith. In 1769 he visited London, preached in several of the Scottish meeting-houses, where his sermons attracted much attention. Soon after he received an invitation to become minister of the congregation in Swallow Street, London, which he declined. In 1771, however, he accepted a call from the London Wall congregation, and removed to his new field of labour. This congregation became warmly attached to him. He was also appointed chaplain to the Scottish Corporation in London; and in 1790 he became secretary to the Corresponding Board of the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge in the Highlands, and to both institutions he rendered important service.

In 1783 the first volume of his _History of the Patriarchs and of Jesus Christ_ appeared, which was extended to seven volumes. This work had reached a seventh edition in 1814. He published two volumes of his sermons, and _Lectures on the Evidence of Christianity_ in one volume. He also attained some distinction as a translator of French and German works. He commenced the publication of a popular _History of London and its Environs_, which he did not live to complete. Dr. Hunter was a genial and benevolent man, and his social characteristics and conversation were much esteemed. He died in 1802.

Dr. William L. Brown, a son of the Rev. William Brown, was born at Utrecht on the 7th of January, 1755, where his father was then minister of the Scottish Church; but in 1757 his father was appointed Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the University of St. Andrews, and he returned to Scotland and assumed the duties of the chair. Although young Brown was sent to the Grammar School, he mainly received his early education from his father at home. At the age of twelve he entered the University of St. Andrews, where he studied seven years. In 1778 he was elected minister of the Scottish church at Utrecht. He discharged his pastoral functions with zeal and credit; but trying times were approaching. In 1787 he was appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy and Ecclesiastical History in the University of Utrecht. His “Essay on the Natural Equality of Men, the Rights that result from it, and the Duties which it imposes,” was published at Edinburgh in 1793, and the following year reprinted at London. It attracted considerable attention, and may be characterised as a discriminative discussion of the subject. Brown resided at Utrecht, and continued to discharge his professorial duties till the invading French army approached, when, in January, 1795, he embarked with his family in an open boat and landed in England. On returning to Scotland in the summer of 1795 he was appointed Professor of Divinity in Marischal College, Aberdeen, and a few months later he was made Principal of the College. He entered on his functions at the opening of the ensuing session, and delivered an elaborate course of theological lectures. He held the offices of Professor and Principal until his death, which occurred on the 11th of May, 1830, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.

Besides the Essay mentioned above, he wrote pamphlets on the Revolutionary War with France, which were published in 1795‒98. A volume of his sermons appeared in 1803. His important _Essay on the Existence of a Supreme Creator_ was published in 1816 in two volumes, and gained the first Burnett prize of £1250; the second prize was awarded to Dr. Summers, Bishop of Chester. His other large work――_A Comparative View of Christianity and of Other Forms of Religion which have existed in the World_――was published in 1826 in two volumes. This work evinced great research, and it is composed in a clear and calm style.

Dr. George Hill, principal of St. Mary’s College, St. Andrews, one of the leaders of the moderate party of the Church, is the author of _Lectures on Divinity_, which were published after his death, by his son, Dr. Alexander Hill. They are chiefly remarkable for clearness in the statement of doctrines, and candour in representing the views of opponents.

Dr. Andrew Thomson1 was a vigorous and able minister of the Scottish Church. He was first appointed minister of Sprouston, in the presbytery of Kelso; afterward of the East Church in Perth; and finally of St. George’s Church in Edinburgh. In 1810 _The Scottish Christian Instructor_ appeared under his editorship, and it exercised a considerable influence on Scotch ecclesiastical questions. In the General Assembly he was a strong, an able, and a vehement debater, and an unsparing opponent in controversy. He was the author of various sermons and lectures.

1 Born in 1779; died in 1831.

Dr. Thomas Chalmers1 was the most distinguished of the Scottish divines of the first half of the present century. He was a native of Anstruther, in Fife; his father was a merchant there, and Thomas was sent at the age of twelve to the University of St. Andrews. Thus he received little preparatory grounding in his education, which may account for his lack of critical power as a scholar. Having finished his studies for the Church in 1803, he was appointed minister of Kilmany, a country parish in his native county. In this place his energy soon manifested itself; he lectured on chemistry in the towns of his district; he joined a volunteer corps; he wrote a book on the resources of the country, and pamphlets on some of the topics of the day. When the _Edinburgh Encyclopædia_ was projected, he was asked to be a contributor, and engaged to write the article “Christianity.”

1 Full and interesting details of Dr. Chalmers are given in Dr. Hanna’s Memoirs of him.

In 1815 Dr. Chalmers removed from Kilmany to the Tron Church in Glasgow, and, in 1819, to St. John’s. In this city he worked incessantly, and his fame rose rapidly. Yet it was said by competent eye-witnesses that his appearance and manner in the pulpit were ♦not prepossessing; he read his sermons and adhered closely to paper. But his power lay in the intensity and earnestness, the vehement and concentrated glow of his mind, throwing out his native eloquence like the blasts of a furnace.1 Chalmers worked hard for the benefit of his congregation, and struggled to the utmost to excavate the practical heathenism of the city.

♦ extraneous word “his” removed

1 A writer in the _London Magazine_ gives an interesting account of Dr. Chalmers’ appearance in London:――When he visited London, the hold that he took on the minds of men was unprecedented. It was a time of strong political feeling; but even that was unheeded, and all parties thronged to hear the Scottish preacher. The very best judges were not prepared for the display that they heard. Channing and Wilberforce went together, and got into a pew near the door. The elder in attendance stood close by the pew. Chalmers began in his usual unpromising way, by stating a few nearly self-evident propositions neither in the choicest language nor in the most impressive voice. “If this be all,” said Channing to his companion, “it will never do.” Chalmers went on――the shuffling of the congregation gradually subsided. He got into the mass of his subject; his weakness became strength, his hesitation was turned into energy, and, bringing the whole volume of his mind to bear upon it, he poured forth a torrent of the most close and conclusive argument, brilliant with all the exuberance of an imagination which ranged over all nature for illustrations, and yet managed and applied each of them with the same unerring dexterity, as if that single one had been the study of a whole life. “The tartan beats us,” said Mr. Channing, “we have no preaching like that in England.”

His style became the rage among the young preachers in Scotland, but few of them could do more than copy his defects. His glowing energy, enthusiasm, and powerful mind were wanting.

In 1823 Dr. Chalmers was appointed professor of moral philosophy in the United College of St. Andrews; and in 1828 he was elected to the chair of divinity in the University of Edinburgh. A description of his inaugural address in the divinity chair in Edinburgh has been preserved, of which the following is a part:――“As to his discourse, all felt far more deeply than they could worthily declare, that it was a most glorious prelude, and that at once and for ever his right to reign as king in the broad realms of theological science, and to rule over their own individual minds as a teacher, was as unequivocal as his mastery over a popular assembly.”1 He relinquished this chair in 1843, when he seceded from the Established Church.

1 One of his pupils, Professor Masson, has stated that Chalmers’ course in theology was “really a course of Chalmers himself, and of Chalmers in all his characters. The students were carried through the whole circle of Chalmers’ favourite ideas.”――_Macmillan’s Magazine_,