Part 20 (2/2)

Mr. Crawford, in a MSS. never published, says, ”Mr. Guthrie was a burning and a s.h.i.+ning light, kept in after many others, by the favour of the old earl of Eglinton, the chancellor's father-in-law.--He converted and confirmed many thousands of souls, and was esteemed the greatest preacher in Scotland.”

And indeed, he was accounted as singular a person for confirming those that were under soul-exercise, as almost any in his age, or any age we have heard of.----Many have made reflections on him, because he left off his ministry, on account of the bishop's suspension; his reasons may be taken from what hath been already related. It is true indeed, the authority of the Stuarts was too much the idol of jealousy to many of our worthy Scots reformers; for we may well think (as a late author says, tho' no great enemy unto these civil powers) that it was a wonder the nation did not rise up as one man, to cut off those who had razed the whole of the presbyterian const.i.tution; but the Lord, for holy and wise ends, saw meet to do otherwise, and cut off those in power by another arm, after they had all been brought to the furnace together; altho' they might well have all the while seen as Mr. Guthrie has observed, ”That the civil power laid the foundation for the other.”

So far as can be learned, Mr. Guthrie never preached in Fenwick again, after the intimation of the bishop's sentence to him; and it is well known, that he, with many of his people in Fenwick, upon a time, went to Stuarton, to hear a young presbyterian minister preach, and when coming home, they said to him, that they were not pleased with that man's preaching (he being of a slow delivery);--he said, They were all mistaken in the man, he had a great sermon; and, if they pleased, at a convenient place, he should let them hear a good part thereof.----And sitting all down on the ground in a good summer night, about sun-setting; when, he having rehea.r.s.ed the sermon, they thought it a wonderful great one, because of his good delivery, and their amazing love to him: After which they arose, and set forward.

All allow that Mr. Guthrie was a man of strong natural parts (notwithstanding his being a hard student at first); his voice was, among the best sort, loud, and yet managed with a charming cadence and elevation; his oratory was singular, and by it he was wholly master of the pa.s.sions of his hearers. He was an eminent chirurgion at the jointing of a broken soul, and at the stating of a doubtful conscience; so that afflicted persons in spirit came far and near, and received much satisfaction and comfort by him. Those who were very rude, when he came first to the parish, at his departure were very sorrowful, and, at the curate's intimation of the bishop's commission, would have made resistance, if he would have permitted them, not fearing the hazards or hards.h.i.+ps they might have endured on that account afterwards.

Besides his valuable treatise already mentioned, there are also a few very faithful sermons, bearing his name, said to be preached at Fenwick from Matth. xiv. 44, &c. Hos. xiii. 9, &c. But because they are somewhat rude in expression, differing from the stile of his treatise, some have thought them spurious, or, at least, not as they were at first delivered by him. And as for that treatise on ruling elders, which is now affixed to the last edition of his treatise (called his works), it was wrote by his cousin, Mr. James Guthrie of Stirling. There are also some other discourses of his yet in ma.n.u.script, out of which I had the occasion to transcribe seventeen sermons published in the year 1779.

There are yet a great variety of sermons and notes of sermons bearing his name yet in ma.n.u.script, some of which seems to be wrote with his own hand.

_The Life of Mr. ROBERT BLAIR._

Mr. Blair was born at Irvine _anno_ 1593. His father was John Blair of Windyedge, a younger brother of the ancient and honourable family of Blair of that ilk; his mother was Beatrix Muir of the ancient family of Rewallan. His father died when he was young, leaving his mother with six children (of whom Robert was the youngest). She continued near fifty years a widow, and lived till she was an hundred years old.

Mr. Robert entered into the college of Glasgow, about the year 1608, where he studied hard and made great progress; but lest he should have been puffed up with his proficiency (as he himself observes) the Lord was pleased to visit him with a tertian fever, for full four months, to the great detriment of his studies.

Nothing remarkable occurred till the 20th year of his age, when he gave himself sometimes to the exercise of archery and the like recreations; but lest his studies should have been hindered, he resolved to be busy at them every other night, and for that purpose could find no place so proper as a room whereinto none were permitted to go, by reason of an apparition that was said to frequent it, yea, wherein it is also said, that he himself had seen the devil, in the likeness of one of his fellow-students[140], whom he took to be really his companion, but when he, with a candle in his hand, chased him to the corner of the room, offering to pull him out, he found nothing; after which he was never more troubled, studying the one night without fear, and the other he slept very sweetly, believing in him, who was still his great Preserver and Protector for ever.

Having now finished his course of philosophy under the discipline of his own brother, Mr. William Blair (who was afterwards minister at Dumbarton). He engaged for some time to be an a.s.sistant to an aged schoolmaster at Glasgow, who had above 300 scholars under his instruction, the half of whom were committed to the charge of Mr. Blair.

At this time he was called, by the ministry of the famous Mr. Boyd of Trochrigg (then princ.i.p.al of the college of Glasgow), in whose hand, the Lord, as he himself observes[141], did put the key of his heart, so that whenever he heard him in public or private he profited much, being as it were sent to him from G.o.d to speak the words of eternal life.

Two years after he was admitted in the room of his brother Mr. William, to be regent in the college of Glasgow, though not without the opposition of arch-bishop Law, who had promised that place to another.----But neither the princ.i.p.al nor regents giving place to his motion, Mr. Blair was admitted. After his admission, his elder colleagues, perceiving what great skill and insight he had in humanity, urged him to read the cla.s.sical authors; whereupon he began and read Plautus, but the Lord, being displeased with that design, diverted him from this, by meeting with Augustine's confession, wherein he inveighs sharply against the education of youth in heathen writings.----Whereupon he betook himself to the reading of the holy scriptures and the ancient fathers, especially Augustine, who had another relish; and though he perceived that our reformed divines were more sound than several of the ancient, yet in his spare hours he resolved to peruse the ancient monuments, wherein he made a considerable progress.

In summer 1616, he entered on trials for the ministry, and it was laid upon him to preach in the college-kirk the first Sabbath after his licence; and some years after, being told by some of the hearers (who were better acquainted with religion, than he was then) that in his sermon the Lord did speak to their hearts, which not only surprized him, but also stirred him to follow after the Lord.

Upon an evening, the same year, having been engaged with some irreligious company, when he returned to his chamber to his wonted devotion, he was threatened to be deserted of G.o.d, had a restless night, and to-morrow resolved on a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer, and towards the end of that day he found access to G.o.d with sweet peace, through Jesus Christ, and turned to beware of such company; but running into another extreme of rudeness and incivility to profane persons, he found it was very hard for short-sighted sinners to hold the right and the straight way.

While he was regent in the college, upon a report that some sinful oath was to be imposed upon the masters, he enquired at Mr. Gavin Forsyth, one of his fellow-regents, What he would do in this? He answered, By my faith I must live.----Mr. Blair said, ”Sir, I will not swear by my faith, as you do, but, truly, I intend to live by my faith. You may choose your own way, but I will adventure on the Lord.”----And so this man did continue (to whom the matter of an oath was a small thing) after he was gone, but it is to be noticed, that Mr. Forsyth was many years in such poverty as forced him to supplicate the general a.s.sembly for some relief, when Mr. Blair (who was chosen moderator) upon his appearing in such a desperate case, could not shun observing that former pa.s.sage of his, and upon his address to him in private, with great tenderness, put him in mind, that he had been truly carried through by his faith, at which he formerly had scoffed.

Some time after he was a regent in the college, he was under deep exercises of soul, wherein he attained unto much comfort.--Amongst other things, that great oracle, _the just shall live by faith_, sounded loudly in his ears, which put him on a new search of the scriptures, in which he went on till Mr. Culverwal's treatise of faith came out; which being the same with what is since published by the Westminster a.s.sembly, he was thereby much satisfied and comforted.

”By this study of the nature of faith, and especially of the text before mentioned; (says he) I learned, _1st_, That nominal Christians or common professors were much deluded in their way of believing; and that not only do Papists err who place faith in an implicit a.s.sent to the truth which they know not, and that it is better defined by ignorance than knowledge, (a way of believing very suitable to Antichrist's slaves, who are led by the nose they know not whither); but also secure Protestants, who, abusing the description of old given of faith, say that it implies an a.s.sured knowledge in the person who believes of the love of G.o.d in Christ to him in particular: this a.s.surance is no doubt attainable, and many believers do comfortably enjoy the same, as our divines prove unanswerably against the Popish doctors who maintain the necessity of perpetual doubting, and miscall comfortable a.s.surance the Protestant's presumption. But notwithstanding that comfortable a.s.surance doth ordinarily accompany a high degree of faith, yet that a.s.surance is not to be found in all the degrees of saving faith: so that by not adverting to that distinction many gracious souls and sound believers, who have received Jesus Christ and rested upon him, as he is offered to them in the word, have been much puzzled, as if they were not believers at all: on the other hand, many secure and impenitent sinners, who have not yet believed the Lord's holiness, nor abhorrence of sin, nor their own ruined state and condition, do from self-love imagine, without any warrant of the word, that they are beloved of G.o.d, and that the foresaid description of faith agrees well to them.

”_2dly_, I perceived, that many that make a right use of faith, in order to attain to the knowledge of their justification, make no direct use of it in order to sanctification, and that the living of _the just by faith_, reacheth further than I formerly conceived, and that the heart is purified by faith. If any say, Why did I not know, that precious faith, being a grace, is not only a part of our holiness, but does promote other parts of holiness, I answer, that I did indeed know this, and made use of faith as a motive to stir me up to holiness, according to the apostle's exhortation, _Having therefore these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord._ But I had not before learned to make use of faith as a mean and instrument to draw holiness out of Christ, though, it may be, I had both heard and spoken that by way of a transient notion; but then I learned to purpose that they who receive forgiveness of sin, are sanctified through faith in Christ, as our glorious Saviour taught the apostle, Acts xxiv. 18.--Then I saw, that it was no wonder that my not making use of faith for sanctification, as has been said, occasioned an obstruction in the progress of holiness, and I perceived that making use of Christ for sanctification without direct employing of faith to extract the same out of him, was like one seeking water out of a deep well without a long cord to let down the bucket, and draw it up again.--Then was I like one that came to the storehouse, but got my provision reached unto me, as it were, through a window: I had come to the house of mercy, but had not found the right door; but by this discovery, I found a patent door, at which to go in, to receive provision and furniture from Christ Jesus.

Thus the blessed Lord trained me up, step by step, suffering many difficulties to arise, that more light from himself might flow in.

”I hoped then to make better progress with less stumbling; but shortly after I met with another difficulty; and wondering what discovery would next clear the way, I found that the spirit of holiness whose immediate and proper work was to sanctify, had been slighted, and thereby grieved: for though the Holy Spirit had been teaching, and I had been speaking of him and to him frequently, and had been seeking the outpouring thereof, and urging others to seek the same; yet that discovery appeared unto me a new practical lesson: and so I laboured more to cherish and not quench the Holy Spirit, praying to be led unto all truth, according to the scripture, by that blessed guide; and that by that heavenly Comforter, I might be encouraged in all troubles, and sealed up thereby in strong a.s.surance of my interest in G.o.d.

”About that time, the Lord set me to work to stir up the students under my discipline, earnestly to study piety, and to be diligent in secret seeking of the Lord: and my endeavours this way were graciously blessed to severals of them.”

Dr. John Cameron, being brought from France, and settled princ.i.p.al of the college in Mr. Boyd's place, and being wholly set on to promote the cause of episcopacy, urged Mr. Blair to conform to Perth articles, but he utterly refused.----And, it being a thing usual in these days, for the regents to meet to dispute some thesis, for their better improvement, Mr. Blair had the advantage of his opponent (who was a French student), who maintained that election did proceed upon foreseen faith; but the doctor stated himself in the opposition to Mr. Blair, in a way which tended to Arminianism; and Mr. Blair being urged to a second dispute by the doctor himself, did so drive him to the mire of Arminianism, as did redound much to the doctor's ignominy afterward, and although he and Mr. Blair were afterward reconciled, yet he, being so nettled in that dispute, improved all occasions against him; and, for that purpose, when Mr. Blair was on a visit to some of his G.o.dly friends and acquaintances, he caused one Garner search his prelections on Aristotle's ethics and politics, and finding some things capable of wresting, he brought them to the doctor, who presented them to the arch-bishop of Glasgow; which coming to Mr. Blair's ears, he was so far from betraying his innocence, being a.s.sured the Lord would clear his integrity, that he prepared a written apology, and desired a public hearing before the ministers and magistrates of the city; which being granted, he managed the points so properly, that all present professed their entire satisfaction with him; yea, one of the ministers of the city (who had been influenced against him formerly) said in the face of that meeting, Would to G.o.d, king James had been present, and heard what answers that man hath given. Such a powerful antagonist rendered his life so uneasy, that he resolved to leave the college and go abroad; which resolution no sooner took air than the doctor and the arch-bishop (knowing his abilities) wrote letters to cause him stay; but he, finding that little trust was to be put in their fair promises, and being weary of teaching philosophy, demitted his charge, took his leave of the doctor, wis.h.i.+ng him well (although he was the cause of his going away) and left the college, to the great grief of his fellow-regents and students, and the people of Glasgow.

Though he had several charges in Scotland presented him, and an invitation to go to France, yet, the next day after his leaving Glasgow, he had an invitation to go and be minister of Bangor in the county of Down in Ireland, which call he, for some time, rejected, until he was several times rebuked of the Lord, which made him bound in spirit to set his face towards a voyage to that country; and although he met with a contrary wind, and turned sea-sick, yet he had such recourse to G.o.d, that upon the very first sight of that land, he was made to exult for joy; and whilst he came near Bangor, he had a strong impression borne in upon him, that the dean thereof was sick; which impression he found to be true when he came thither, for Mr. Gibson, the inc.u.mbent, being sick, invited him to preach there (which he did for three sabbaths, to the good liking of the people of that parish); and, though he was formerly but a very naughty man, yet he told Mr. Blair, he was to succeed him in that place, and exhorted him, in the name of Christ, not to leave that good way wherein he had begun to walk, professing a great deal of sorrow that he had been a dean; he condemned episcopacy more strongly than ever Mr. Blair durst, and drawing his head toward his bosom, with both his arms he blessed him; which conduct being so unlike himself, and speaking in a strain so different from his usual, made a gentlewoman standing by say, An angel is speaking out of the dean's bed to Mr. Blair; thinking it could not be such a man. Within a few days he died, and Mr. Blair was settled minister there, whose ordination was on this manner--He went to bishop Knox, and told him his opinions, and withal said, That his sole ordination did contradict his principles.--But the bishop, being informed before-hand of his great parts and piety, answered him both wittily and submissively, saying, ”Whatever you account of episcopacy, yet, I know, you account presbytery to have a divine warrant--Will ye not receive ordination from Mr. Cunningham and the adjacent brethren, and let me come in among them in no other relation than a presbyter;”

for on no lower terms could he be answerable to law. This Mr. Blair could not refuse; he was accordingly ordained about the year 1623.

Being thus settled, his charge was very great, having above 1200 persons come to age, besides children, who stood greatly in need of instruction; and in this case, he preached twice a week, besides the Lord's day; on all which occasions, he found little difficulty either as to matter or method.

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