The Annals of the Parish | Page 4

dear friends, have applied my talent
in the pulpit so effectually as perhaps I might have done, considering
the gifts that it pleased God to give me in that way, and the education
that I had in the Orthodox University of Glasgow, as it was in the time
of my youth; nor can I say that, in the works of peace-making and
charity, I have done all that I should have done. But I have done my
best, studying no interest but the good that was to rise according to the
faith in Christ Jesus.
"To my young friends I would, as a parting word, say, look to the lives
and conversation of your parents--they were plain, honest, and devout
Christians, fearing God and honouring the King. They believed the
Bible was the word of God; and, when they practised its precepts, they
found, by the good that came from them, that it was truly so. They bore
in mind the tribulation and persecution of their forefathers for
righteousness' sake, and were thankful for the quiet and protection of
the government in their day and generation. Their land was tilled with
industry, and they ate the bread of carefulness with a contented spirit,
and, verily, they had the reward of well-doing even in this world; for
they beheld on all sides the blessing of God upon the nation, and the
tree growing, and the plough going where the banner of the oppressor
was planted of old, and the war-horse trampled in the blood of martyrs.
Reflect on this, my young friends, and know, that the best part of a
Christian's duty in this world of much evil, is to thole and suffer with
resignation, as lang as it is possible for human nature to do. I do not
counsel passive obedience: that is a doctrine that the Church of
Scotland can never abide; but the divine right of resistance, which, in
the days of her trouble, she so bravely asserted against popish and

prelatic usurpations, was never resorted to till the attempt was made to
remove the ark of the tabernacle from her. I therefore counsel you, my
young friends, not to lend your ears to those that trumpet forth their
hypothetical politics; but to believe that the laws of the land are
administered with a good intent, till in your own homes and dwellings
ye feel the presence of the oppressor--then, and not till then, are ye free
to gird your loins for battle--and woe to him, and woe to the land where
that is come to, if the sword be sheathed till the wrong be redressed.
"As for you, my old companions, many changes have we seen in our
day; but the change that we ourselves are soon to undergo will be the
greatest of all. We have seen our bairns grow to manhood--we have
seen the beauty of youth pass away--we have felt our backs become
unable for the burthen, and our right hand forget its cunning.--Our eyes
have become dim, and our heads grey--we are now tottering with short
and feckless steps towards the grave; and some, that should have been
here this day, are bed-rid, lying, as it were, at the gates of death, like
Lazarus at the threshold of the rich man's door, full of ails and sores,
and having no enjoyment but in the hope that is in hereafter. What can I
say to you but farewell! Our work is done--we are weary and worn out,
and in need of rest-- may the rest of the blessed be our portion!--and in
the sleep that all must sleep, beneath the cold blanket of the kirkyard
grass, and on that clay pillow where we must shortly lay our heads,
may we have pleasant dreams, till we are awakened to partake of the
everlasting banquet of the saints in glory!"
When I had finished, there was for some time a great solemnity
throughout the kirk; and, before giving the blessing, I sat down to
compose myself, for my heart was big, and my spirit oppressed with
sadness.
As I left the pulpit, all the elders stood on the steps to hand me down,
and the tear was in every eye, and they helped me into the
session-house; but I could not speak to them, nor them to me. Then Mr
Dalziel, who was always a composed and sedate man, said a few words
of prayer, and I was comforted therewith, and rose to go home to the
manse; but in the churchyard all the congregation was assembled,

young and old, and they made a lane for me to the back- yett that
opened into the manse-garden--Some of them put out their hands and
touched me as I passed, followed by the elders, and some of them wept.
It