"Wherever the palm-tree is, there is water," says the Eastern proverb;
and so, wherever the godly flourish, there, we are sure, must the Word
of God be found. In the history of the Reformation we read of Brother
Martin, a poor monk at Basle, whose hope of salvation rested solely on
the Lord Jesus, long before Luther sounded the silver trumpet that
summoned sin-convinced souls to the One Sacrifice. Having written out
his confession of faith, his statement of reliance on the
righteousness of Christ alone, the monk placed the parchment in a
wooden box, and shut up the wooden box in a hole of the wall of his
cell. It was not till last century that this box, with its interesting
contents, was discovered: it was brought to light only when the old
wall of the monastery was taken down. The palm-tree speaks of the
existence of water at its root; the pure Word of God taught this man
his simple faith. And herein we learn how it was that Basle so early
became a peculiar centre of light in that region; the prayer and the
faith of that hidden one, and others like-minded, and the Word on
which they fed, may explain it all.
There is a fact not unlike the above in the history of the district
where Samuel Rutherford laboured so lovingly. The people of that shire
tell that there was found, some generations ago, in the wall of the
old castle of Earlston, in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, a copy of
"Wickliffe's Bible." It was deposited in that receptacle in order to
be hid from the view of enemies; but from time to time it was the lamp
of light to a few souls, who, perhaps in the silence of night, found
opportunity to draw it out of its ark, and peruse its pages. It seems
that the Lollards of Kyle (the adjoining district) had brought it to
Earlston. We know that there were friends and members of the family of
Earlston who embraced the Gospel even in those days. In the sixteenth
century, some of the ancestors of Viscount Kenmure are found holding
the doctrines of Wickliffe, which had been handed down to them. May we
not believe that the Gordons of Earlston, in after days, were not a
little indebted to the faith and prayers of these ancient witnesses
who hid the sacred treasure in the castle wall? As in the case of the
monk of Basle, their faith and patience were acknowledged in after
days by the blessing sent down on that quarter, when the Lord, in
remembrance of His hidden ones, both raised up the Gordons of
Earlston, with many others of a like spirit, and also sent thither His
servant Samuel Rutherford, to sound forth the Word of Life, and make
the lamp of truth blaze, like a torch, over all that region.
Samuel Rutherford was born about the year 1600. His father is
understood to have been a respectable farmer. He had two brothers,
James and George. But the place of his birth was not near the scene of
his after labours. It is almost certain that Nisbet, a village of
Roxburghshire close to the Teviot, in the parish of Crailing, was his
birthplace; the name Rutherford frequently occurs in the churchyard.
Not long ago, there were some old people in that parish who remembered
the gable-end of the house in which it was said that he was born, and
which, from respect to his memory, was permitted to stand as long as
it could keep together. And there was there a village well where, when
very young, Samuel nearly lost his life.[1] He had been amusing
himself with some companions, when he fell in, and was left there till
they ran and procured assistance; but on returning to the spot they
found him seated on a knoll, cold and dripping, yet uninjured. He told
them that "A bonnie white man came and drew him out of the well!"
Whether or not he really fancied that an angel had delivered him, we
cannot tell; but it is plain that, at all events, his boyish thoughts
were already wandering in the region of the sky.
[1] This village well is about three feet deep. It is now closed up
and worked by a pump.
He owed little to his native place. There was not so much of Christ
known in that parish then as there is now; for in after days he
writes, "My soul's desire is, that the place to which I owe my first
birth--in which, I fear, Christ was scarcely named, as touching any
reality of the power of godliness--may blossom as the rose" (Letter
cccxxxiv.). We have no account of his revisiting these scenes of his
early life, though he thus wrote to his friend, Mr. Scott, minister of
the adjoining parish of Oxnam. Like Donald Cargill, born in Perthshire
yet never known to preach there even once, Rutherford had his labours
in other parts of the land, distant from his native place. In this
arrangement we see the Master's sovereignty. The sphere is evidently
one of God's choosing for the man, instead of being the result of the
man's gratifying his natural predilections. It accords, too, with the
example of the Master, who never returned to Bethlehem, where He was
born, to do any of His works.
Jedburgh is a town three or four miles distant from Nisbet, and
thither Samuel went for his education; either walking to it, and
returning home at evening,--as a school-boy would scarcely grudge to
do,--or residing in the town for a season. The school at that time met
in a part of the ancient Abbey, called, from this circumstance, the
Latiners' Alley. In the year 1617 we find him farther from
home,--removed to Edinburgh, which, forty years before, had become the
seat of a College, though not as yet a University. There he obtained,
in 1621, the degree of Master of Arts. A single specimen (not elegant,
however) of his Latin verse remains in the lines he prefixed to an
edition of Row's "Hebrew Grammar," published at Glasgow, 1644--
Verba Sionææ gentis, submersa tenebris
Cimmeriis, mendax Kimchius ore crepat.
Quæ vos Rabbini sinuosa ænigmata vultis,
Nunc facilem linguam dicite quæso sacram.
Falleris, Hippocrates; male parcæ stamina vitæ
Curta vocas, artem vociferare μακραν;
Sit cita mors, rapido sit et hora fugacior Euro,
Bellerophontæis vita volato rotis:
Rouæi Hebracis sit mors male grata Camoenis.
Haec relege, ast artem dixeris esse brevem.
Soon after, he was appointed Regent, or Professor, of Humanity, though
there were three other competitors; for his talents had attracted the
notice of many. But, on occasion of a rumour that charged him with
some irregularity--whether with or without foundation, it is now
difficult to ascertain--he demitted his office in 1625, and led a
private life, attending prelections on theology, and devoting himself
to that study.
That there could not have been anything very serious in the rumour,
may be inferred from the fact that no church court took any notice of
the matter, though these were days when the reins of discipline were
not held with a slack hand. But it is not unlikely that this may have
been the time of which he says in a letter, "I knew a man who wondered
to see any in this life laugh or sport."[2] It may have been then that
he was led by the Spirit to know the things that are freely given us
of God.[3] We have no proof that he was converted at an earlier
period, but rather the opposite. He writes, "Like a fool as I was, I
suffered my sun to be high in the heaven, and near afternoon, before
ever I took the gate by the end."[4] And again, "I had stood sure, if
in my youth I had borrowed Christ for my bottom."[5] The clouds
returned after the rain; family trials, and other similar dealings of
Providence, combined to form his character as a man of God and as a
pastor.
[2] Letter ccxxiv.
[3] 1 Cor. ii. 12.
[4] Letter clxxvii.
[5] Letter ccxli.
In 1627 he was settled at Anwoth,[6] a parish situated in the
Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, on the river Fleet, near the Solway. The
church stood in a wide hollow, or valley, at the foot of the Boreland
Hill. Embosomed in wood, with neither the smoke nor the noise of a
village near, it must always have been a romantic spot--the very ideal
of a country church, set down to cherish rural godliness. Though at
this period Episcopacy had been obtruded upon Scotland, and many
faithful ministers were suffering on account of their resistance to
its ceremonies and services, yet he appears to have been allowed to
enter on his charge without any compliance being demanded, and
"without giving any engagement to the bishop." He began his ministry
with the text, John ix. 39. The same Lord that would not let Paul and
Timothy preach in Asia,[7] nor in Bithynia, and yet sent to the one
region the beloved John,[8] and to the other the scarcely less beloved
Peter,[9] in this instance prevented John Livingstone going to Anwoth,
which the patron had designed, and sent Rutherford instead. This was
the more remarkable, because Livingstone was sent to Ancrum, the
parish that borders on Nisbet, while he who was by birth related to
that place was despatched to another spot. This is the Lord's doing.
Ministers must not choose according to the flesh.
[6] See notice of the topography at Letter cxcviii. It is a mile and a
half from the modern Gatehouse of Fleet, a clean, English-looking
village.
[7] Acts xvi. 6, 7.
[8] Rev. i. 11.
[9] 1 Pet. i. 1.
During the first years of his labours here, the sore illness of his
wife was a bitter grief to him. Her distress was very severe. He
writes of it: "She is sore tormented night and day.--My life is bitter
unto me.--She sleeps none, and cries as a woman travailing in birth;
my life was never so wearisome."[10] She continued in this state for
no less than a year and a month, ere she died. Besides all this, his
two children had been taken from him. Such was the discipline by which
he was trained for the duties of a pastor, and by which a shepherd's
heart of true sympathy was imparted to him.
[10] Letter xviii.
The parish of Anwoth had no large village near the church. The people
were scattered over a hilly district, and were quite a rural flock.
But their shepherd knew that the Chief Shepherd counted them worth
caring for; he was not one who thought that his learning and talents
would be ill spent if laid out in seeking to save souls, obscure and
unknown. See him setting out to visit! He has just laid aside one of
his learned folios, to go forth among his flock. See him passing along
yonder field, and climbing that hill on his way to some cottage, his
"quick eyes" occasionally glancing on the objects around, but his
"face upward" for the most part, as if he were gazing into heaven. He
has time to visit, for he rises at three in the morning, and at that
early hour meets his God in prayer and meditation, and has space for
study besides. He takes occasional days for catechising. He never
fails to be found at the sick-beds of his people. Men said of him, "He
is _always_ praying, _always_ preaching, _always_ visiting the sick,
_always_ catechising, _always_ writing and studying." He was known to
fall asleep at night talking of Christ, and even to speak of Him
during his sleep. Indeed, himself speaks of his dreams being of
Christ.[11]
[11] Letter cclxxxvi.
His preaching could not but arrest attention. Though his elocution was
not good, and his voice rather shrill, he was, nevertheless, "one of
the most moving and affectionate preachers in his time, or perhaps in
any age of the church."[12] "In the pulpit (says one of his friends),
he had a strange utterance--a kind of skreigh, that I never heard the
like. Many times I thought he would have flown out of the pulpit when
he came to speak of Jesus Christ." An English merchant said of him,
even in days when controversy had sorely vexed him and distracted his
spirit, "I came to Irvine, and heard a well-favoured, proper old man
(David Dickson), with a long beard, and that man showed me all my
heart. Then I went to St. Andrews, where I heard a sweet,
majestic-looking man (R. Blair), and he showed me the majesty of God.
After him I heard a little, fair man (Rutherford), and he showed me
_the loveliness of Christ_."[13]
[12] "Wodrow's Church Hist." i. 205.
[13] "M'Crie's Sketches."
Anwoth was dear to him rather as the sphere appointed him by his
Master, than because of the fruit he saw of his labours. Two years
after being settled there, he writes, "I see exceedingly small fruit
of my ministry. I would be glad of one soul, to be a crown of joy and
rejoicing in the day of Christ." His people were "like hot iron, which
cooleth when out of the fire." In a sermon on Song ii. 8, he complains
of it being spiritually _winter_ in Anwoth. "The very repairing of
God's house, in our own parish church, is a proof. Ye need not go any
farther. The timber of the house of God rots, and we cannot move a
whole parish to spend twenty or thirty pounds Scots upon the house of
God, to keep it dry." Still he laboured in hope, and laboured often
almost beyond his strength. Once he says, "I have a grieved heart
daily in my calling." He speaks of his pained breast, at another time,
on the evening of the Lord's day, when his work was done.[14] But he
had seasons of refreshing to his own soul at least; especially when
the Lord's Supper was dispensed. Of these seasons he frequently
speaks. He asks his friend, Marion M'Naught, to help with her prayers
on such an occasion, "that being one of the days wherein Christ was
wont to make merry with His friends."[15] It was then that with
special earnestness he besought the Father to distribute "the great
Loaf, Christ, to the children of His family."
[14] Letter clxxxv.
[15] Letter xiv.
Another church was filled, but not altogether by parishioners.[16]
Many came from great distances; among others, several that were
converted, seventeen years before, under John Welsh, at Ayr. These all
helped him by their prayers, as did also a goodly number of godly
people in the parish itself, who were the fruit of the ministry of his
predecessor. Yet over the unsaved he yearned most tenderly. At one
time we hear him say, "I would lay my dearest joys in the gap between
you and eternal destruction."[17] At another, "My witness is in
heaven, your heaven, would be two heavens to me, and your salvation
two salvations." He could appeal to his people, "My day-thoughts and
my night-thoughts are of you;" and he could appeal to God, "O my Lord,
judge if my ministry be not dear to me; but not so dear by many
degrees as Christ my Lord."[18]
[16] The oak pulpit out of which he preached was preserved till a few
years ago. The old church (60 feet by 18) is in the shape of a barn,
and could hold only 250 sitters. It is now entirely a ruin. The years
1631 and 1633 were carved on some of the seats--perhaps the seats of
the Gordons, or other heritors. We may add, while speaking of this old
edifice, where "the swallows building their nest," seemed to the
exiled pastor "blessed birds," that the rusty key of that kirk-door is
now deposited in the New College, Edinburgh, sent to the museum there
as a precious relic several years ago by a friend, through Dr. Welsh.
The church is now roofless, its walls overgrown with ivy, in which the
sparrows build their nests at will. The tomb of Lady Cardoness, an
antique pile at the side of the wall, was removed in 1878, though the
slabs are preserved.
[17] Letter ccxvii.
[18] Letter ccxvii.
All classes of people of Anwoth were objects of his care. He
maintained a friendly intercourse with people of high rank, and very
many of his Letters are addressed to such persons. He seems to have
been remarkably blessed to the gentry in the neighbourhood--more far
than to the common people. There was at that time some friend of
Christ to be found in almost every gentleman's seat many miles around
Anwoth.
[Illustration: OLD CHURCH OF ANWOTH.]
But the _herd boys_ were not beneath his special attention. He writes
of them when at Aberdeen, and exclaims, "O if I might but speak to
thee, or your herd boys, of my worthy Master."[19] He had a heart for
_the young_ of all classes, so that he would say of two children of
one of his friends, "I pray for them by name;"[20] and could thus take
time to notice one, "Your daughter desires a Bible and a gown. I hope
she shall use the Bible well, which, if she do, the gown is the better
bestowed." He lamented over the few that cry "Hosanna" in their
youth. "Christ is an _unknown_ Christ to young ones; and therefore
they seek Him not, because they know Him not."
[19] Letter clxiii.
[20] Letter xiv.
He dealt with _individual parishioners_ so closely and so personally
as to be able to appeal to them regarding his faithfulness in this
matter. He addresses one of them, Jean M'Millan: "I did what I could
to put you within grips of Christ; I told you Christ's testament and
latter-will plainly."[21] He so carried them on his heart (like the
priest with the twelve tribes on his breastplate), that he could
declare to Gordon of Cardoness, "Thoughts of your soul depart not from
me in my sleep."[22] "My soul was taken up when others were sleeping,
how to have Christ betrothed with a bride in that part of the land,"
viz. Anwoth.[23] He so prayed over them and for them, that he fears
not to say, "_There_ I wrestled with the angel and prevailed. Woods,
trees, meadows, and hills, are my witnesses that I drew on a fair
match betwixt Christ and Anwoth."[24] It is related that, on first
coming to the parish, there was a piece of ground on Mossrobin farm,
in the hollow of a hill, where on Sabbath afternoon the people used to
play at foot-ball. On one occasion he repaired to that spot, and
pointed out their sin, solemnly calling on the objects round to be
witnesses against them, especially three large stones[25] close at
hand on the slope of the hill, two of which still remain, and are
called "_Rutherford's Witnesses_." The third was wantonly dislodged
some years ago; and it is said that the other two were removed to the
other side of the stone dyke, where they are now, for the sake of
security. This is the spot which is especially taken notice of by Dr.
Chalmers, in recording a visit to Anwoth and its neighbourhood (Life,
vol. iii. 130):--
"_Wednesday, August 23, 1826._--Started at five o'clock; ordered
the gig forward on the public road to meet us after a scramble of
about two miles among the hills, in the line of 'Rutherford's
Memorials.' Went first to his church; the identical fabric he
preached in, and which is still preached in.[26] The floor is a
causeway. There are dates of 1628[27] and 1633 on some old carved
seats. The pulpit is the same, and I sat in it. It is smaller
than Kilmany, and very rude and simple. The church bell is said
to have been given him by Lady Kenmure, one of his correspondents
in his Letters. It is singularly small for a church, having been
the Kenmure house bell. We then passed to the new church that is
building; but I am happy to say the old fabric and Rutherford's
pulpit are to be spared. It is a cruel circumstance that they
pulled down (and that only three weeks ago) his dwelling-house,
his old manse; which has not been used as a manse for a long
time, but was recently occupied. It should have been spared. Some
of the masons who were ordered to pull it down refused it, as
they would an act of sacrilege, and have been dismissed from
their employment. We went and mourned over the rubbish of the
foundation. Then ascended a bank, still known by the name of
_Rutherford's Walk_.[28] Then went further among the hills, to
_Rutherford's Witnesses_,--so many stones which he called to
witness against some of his parishioners who were amusing
themselves at the place with some game on the Sunday, and whom he
meant to reprove. The whole scene of our morning's walk was wild,
and primitive, and interesting."
[21] Letter cxxxii.
[22] Letter clxxx.
[23] Letter clxxxvi.
[24] Letter cclxxvii.
[25] Josh. xxiv. 27.
[26] It has not been preached in since the year 1827.
[27] A mistake for 1631.
[28] It was a walk among trees, close to the manse.
Once, while in Anwoth, his labours were interrupted (Letter xii.) by a
tertian fever which laid him aside for thirteen weeks. Even when well
recovered he could for a long time only preach on the Sabbath:
visiting and catechising were at a stand. This was just before his
wife's death in 1630, and he writes in the midst of it, "Welcome,
welcome, cross of Christ, if Christ be with it." "An afflicted life
looks very like the way that leads to the kingdom." And some years
thereafter, when his mother (who came from Nisbet and resided with him
six years after his first wife's death) was in a dangerous illness, he
touchingly informs one of his correspondents, to whom he writes from
Anwoth, "_My mother_ is weak, and I think shall leave me alone; but I
am not alone, because _Christ's Father_ is with me."[29]
[29] Letter xlix.
And what was his recreation? The manse of Anwoth had many visits of
kind friends, who, in Rutherford's fellowship, felt that saying
verified, "They that dwell under His shadow shall return; they shall
revive as the corn."[30] The righteous compassed him about, because
the Lord had dealt bountifully with him. His Letters would be enough
of themselves to show that his friendship and counsel were sought by
the godly on all sides. One of his visitors was his own brother,
George, at Kirkcudbright. This good man was a teacher in that town,
who often repaired to Anwoth to take sweet counsel with Samuel; and
then, together, they talked of and prayed for their only other brother
James, an officer in the Dutch service, who had sympathy with their
views, and, in after days, conveyed to Samuel the invitation to become
Professor at Utrecht. Visits of those friends who resided near were
not unfrequent--such as the Gordons, Viscount Kenmure and his lady,
and Marion M'Naught. But at times Anwoth manse was lighted up by the
glad visit of unexpected guests. There is a tradition that Archbishop
Usher, passing through Galloway, turned aside on a Saturday to enjoy
the congenial society of Rutherford. He came, however, in disguise;
and being welcomed as a guest, took his place with the rest of the
family when they were catechised, as was usual, that evening. The
stranger was asked, "How many commandments are there?" His reply was
"_Eleven_."[31] The pastor corrected him; but the stranger maintained
his position, quoting our Lord's words, "_A_ NEW COMMANDMENT _I give
unto you, that ye love one another_." They retired to rest, all
interested in the stranger. Sabbath morning dawned. Rutherford arose
and repaired, as was his custom, for meditation to a walk that
bordered on a thicket,[32] but was startled by hearing the voice of
prayer--prayer too from the heart, and in behalf of the souls of the
people that day to assemble. It was no other than the holy Archbishop
Usher; and soon they came to an explanation, for Rutherford had begun
to suspect he had "entertained angels unawares." With great mutual
love they conversed together; and at the request of Rutherford, the
Archbishop went up to the pulpit, conducted the usual service of the
Presbyterian pastor, and preached on "the New Commandment."
[30] Hos. xiv. 7.
[31] In the parish church of Chiseldon, North Wilts, there are to be
seen Eleven Commandments inscribed on a slab (which is affixed to the
chancel arch); the additional one consisting of our Saviour's
precept--"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another"
(John xiii. 34). The church is quite an ancient one, dating back to
1641.
[32] The place is still pointed out by tradition, as "Rutherford's
Walk." It was close to the old manse, which was pulled down many years
ago. It stood about a quarter of a mile from the church, and bore the
name, _Bushy Bield_, or _Bush o' Bield, i.e._, the bush of shelter.
Some make it _Bush o' Biel_, and say it is a corruption of
_Bosco-bello_, fair-wood, _Boscobel_.
[Illustration: BUSH O' BEILD--RUTHERFORD'S HOUSE.]
Scarcely less interesting is the record of another unlooked-for
meeting. Rutherford had one day left home to go to the neighbouring
town of Kirkcudbright, the next day being a day of humiliation in that
place. Having no doubt spent some time with his like-minded brother,
he turned his steps to the house of another friend, Provost Fullerton,
whose wife was Marion M'Naught. While sitting with them in friendly
converse a knock at the door was heard, and then a step on the
threshold. It was worthy Mr. Blair, who, on his way from London to
Portpatrick, had sought out some of his godly friends, that with them
he might be refreshed ere he returned to Ireland. He told them, when
seated, that "he had a desire to visit both Mr. Rutherford at Anwoth,
and Marion M'Naught at Kircudbright; but not knowing how to accomplish
both, had prayed for direction at the parting of the road, and laid
the bridle on the horse's neck. The horse took the way to
Kirkcudbright, and there he found both the friends he so longed to
see." It was a joyful and refreshing meeting on all sides. Wodrow
tells[33] another incident that, in part, bears some resemblance to
this. Rutherford had been reasoning at Stirling with the Marquis of
Argyle, and had set out homeward. But his horse was very troublesome,
and he was feeling in his mind that he should have been more urgent
and plain! He returned, and dealt freely this time. And now his horse
went on pleasantly all the way.
[33] "Analecta," vol. ii. p. 161.
In 1634 he attended the remarkable deathbed of Lord Kenmure, a
narrative of which he published fifteen years after, in "The Last and
Heavenly Speeches and Glorious Departure of John Viscount Kenmure."
The inroads of Episcopacy were at this time threatening to disquiet
Anwoth. His own domestic afflictions were still affecting him; for he
writes that same year, in referring to his wife's death many years
before, "which wound is not yet fully healed and cured." About that
time, too, there was a proposal (never carried into effect) to call
him to Cramond near Edinburgh,[34] and another to get him settled at
Kirkcudbright.
[34] Letter xliii. His friend and neighbour Mr. Dalgleish, minister of
Kirkdale and Kirkmabreck, was translated to Cramond in 1639.
Meanwhile he persevered in study as well as in labours, and with no
common success. He had a metaphysical turn, as well as great
readiness in using the accumulated learning of other days. It might be
instructive to inquire why it is that wherever godliness is healthy
and progressive, we almost invariably find learning in the Church of
Christ attendant on it: while on the other hand, neglect of study is
attended sooner or later by decay of vital godliness. Not that all are
learned in such times; but there is always an element of the kind in
the circle of those whom the Lord is using. The energy called forth by
the knowledge of God in the soul leads on to the study of whatever is
likely to be useful in the defence or propagation of the truth;
whereas, on the other hand, when decay is at work and lifelessness
prevailing, sloth and ease creep in, and theological learning is
slighted as uninteresting and dry. With Samuel Rutherford and his
contemporaries we find learning side by side with vital, and
singularly deep, godliness. Gillespie, Henderson, Blair, Dickson, and
others, are well-known examples. Nor less distinguished was
Rutherford, who was led by circumstances in 1636 to publish his
elaborate defence of grace against the Arminians, in Latin. Its title
is, "Exercitationes de Gratia." So highly was it esteemed at
Amsterdam, where it was published, that a second edition was printed
that very year; and repeated invitations were addressed soon after to
the author to come to Holland, and occupy one or other of their
Divinity chairs. Soon after, the contest for _Christ's kingly office_
became increasingly earnest and keen. To Rutherford it appeared no
small matter. "I could wish many pounds added to my cross to know that
by my suffering Christ was set forward in His _kingly office_ in this
land."[35] July 27, 1636, was a day that put his principles to the
test. He was called before the High Commission Court, because of
nonconformity to the acts of Episcopacy, and because of His work
against the Arminians. The Court was presided over by Sydserff, Bishop
of Galloway, and was held at Wigton, about ten miles from Anwoth,
accross the Bay. He appeared in person there, and defended himself.
The issue could not be doubtful, though Lord Lorn made every exertion
in his behalf. He was deprived of his ministerial office, which he had
exercised at Anwoth for a period of nine years,[36] and banished to
Aberdeen. The next day (writing at evening on the subject), he tells
of his sentence, and calls it, "The honour that I have prayed for
these sixteen years." He made up his mind to leave Anwoth at once,
observing, with a submissiveness which we might wonder at in
[35] Letter cxv. _See also_ Letter liv.
[36] Letter cclxix. the author of "Lex Rex," "I propose to obey the
king, who has power over my body." His only alarm was lest this
separation from his flock might be a chastisement on him from the
Lord, "because I have not been so faithful in the end as I was in the
two first years of my ministry, when sleep departed from mine eyes
through care for Christ's lambs."[37]
[37] Letter cix.
On leaving Anwoth he directed his steps by Irvine, spending a night
there with his beloved friend David Dickson. What a night that must
have been! To hear these two in solemn converse! The one could not
perhaps handle the harp so well as the other; for David Dickson could
express his soul's weary longings and its consoling hopes in such
strains as that which has made his name familiar in Scotland, "O
mother dear Jerusalem;" but Rutherford, nevertheless, had so much of
poetry and sublime enthusiasm in his soul, that any poet could
sympathise with him to the full. Many of his letters "from _Christ's
palace_ in Aberdeen" are really strains of true poetry. What else is
such an effusion as this, when, rising on eagles' wings, he exclaims,
"A land that has more than four summers in the year! What a singing
life is there! There is not a dumb bird in all that large field, but
all sing and breathe out heaven, joy, glory, dominion, to the High
Prince of that new-found land. And verily the land is sweeter that He
is the glory of that land."[38] "O how sweet to be wholly Christ's,
and wholly in Christ; to dwell in Immanuel's high and blessed land,
and live in that sweetest air, where no wind bloweth but the
breathings of the Holy Ghost, no sea nor floods flow but the pure
water of life that floweth from under the throne and from the Lamb, no
planting, but the tree of life that yieldeth twelve manner of fruits
every month! What do we here but sin and suffer? O when shall the
night be gone, the shadows flee away, and the morning of the long,
long day, without cloud or night, dawn? The Spirit and the bride say,
'Come!' O when shall the Lamb's wife be ready, and the Bridegroom say,
'Come?'"[39] Whoever compares such breathings with David Dickson's
hymn will see how congenial were their feelings and their hopes, and
even their mode of expressing what they felt and hoped, though the one
used prose and the other tried more memorable verse.
[38] Letter cccxxiii.
[39] Letter cccxxxiv.
We follow Rutherford to Aberdeen, the capital of the North, whither he
was accompanied by a deputation of his affectionate parishioners from
Anwoth, in whose company he would forget the length and tediousness
of the way. He arrived here in September 1636. This town was at that
time the stronghold of Episcopacy and Arminianism, and in it the state
of religion was very low. "It consisted of Papists, and men of
Gallio's naughty faith."[40] The clergy and doctors took the
opportunity of Rutherford's arrival to commence a series of attacks on
the special doctrines of grace which he held. But in disputation he
foiled them; and when many began to feel drawn to him in consequence
of his earnest dealings and private exhortations, there was a proposal
made to remove him from the town. "So cold," writes he, "is northern
love!" But (added he) "_Christ and I will bear it_;"[41] deeply
feeling his union to Him who said to Saul, "Why persecutest thou
_Me?_" Often, on the streets,[42] he was pointed as "_the banished
minister_;" and hearing of this, he remarked, "I am not ashamed of my
garland." He had visitors from Orkney, and from Caithness, to the
great annoyance of his persecutors.[43] Some blamed him for not being
"_prudent enough_," as we have seen men ready to do in similar cases
in our own day; but he replies, "_It is ordinary that that should be
part of the cross of those who suffer for Him_." Still he enjoyed, in
his solitude, occasional intercourse with some of the godly ones,
among whom were Lady Pitsligo, Lady Burnet of Largs, Andrew Cant, and
James Martin. His deepest affliction was separation from his flock at
Anwoth. Nothing can exceed his tender sorrow over this flock.[44]
[40] Letter lxvi. Dr. James Sibbald, said to have been a man of great
learning, was minister in one of the churches of New Aberdeen.
Rutherford attended his preaching, and finding that he taught
Arminianism, testified against him.
[41] Letter cxvii.
[42] The impression of some readers might be that he was in prison.
But he never was so. He was _in exile_; but the whole town was his
_prison_. He was, in this respect, like Shimei confined to Jerusalem
(Letters lxviii., lxix., etc.). His house was in the Upper Kirkgate.
[43] Letter clxi.
[44] Letter clxxxi.
[Illustration: MARKET CROSS, ABERDEEN]
It was a saying of his own, "Gold may be gold, and bear the King's
stamp upon it, when it is trampled upon by men." And this was true of
himself. But he came out of his trial not only unscorched, but, as his
many letters from Aberdeen show, greatly advanced in every grace. The
Latin lines prefixed to the early editions of these Letters scarcely
exaggerate when they sing--
"Quod Chebar et Patmos divinis vatibus olim;
Huic fuerant sancto claustra Abredæa viro."
But we err if we suppose that it was only while there that he
experienced that almost ecstatic enjoyment of his Lord. He carried it
away with him; for is not this the same strain as pervades his
Letters, when, preaching in 1644, before the House of Commons in
London, he exclaims, "O for eternity's leisure, to look on Him, to
feast upon a sight of His face! O for the long summer day of endless
ages to stand beside Him and enjoy Him! O time, O sin, be removed out
of the way! O day! O fairest of days, dawn!"
He was, during part of two years, closely confined to that town,
though not in prison; but in 1638 public events had taken another
turn. The Lord had stirred up the spirit of the people of Scotland,
and the covenant was again triumphant in the land. Rutherford hastened
back to Anwoth. During his absence, "For six quarters of a year," say
his parishioners, "no sound of the Word of God was heard in our kirk."
The swallows had made their nests there undisturbed for two summers.
His Letters do not refer to the proceedings of the Glasgow Assembly of
1638. It is well known, however, that he was no mere indifferent
spectator to what then took place, but was present, and was member of
several committees which at that time sat on the affairs of the
church. Presbytery being fully restored by that Assembly, it was
thought right that one so gifted should be removed to a more important
sphere. He was sent by the church to several districts to promote the
cause of Reformation and the Covenant; and at length, in spite of his
reluctance, arising chiefly from love to his flock--his rural flock at
Anwoth--he was constrained to yield to the united opinion of his
brethren, and be removed to the Professor's Chair in St. Andrews in
1639, and become Principal of the New College. He bargained to be
allowed to preach regularly every Sabbath in his new sphere; for he
could not endure silence when he might speak a word for his Lord. He
seems to have preached also, as occasion offered, in the parishes
around, especially at Scoonie, in which the village of Leven
stands.[45]
[45] "In 1650, Mr. Samuel Rutherford, minister of St. Andrews, did
preach the preparation sermon in Cant. v. 2. Mr. Samuel had a lecture
on Monday following on the 20th chapter of Matthew's Gospel."
"_1651, July 13._--The comm. was given at Scoonie. Mr. Alex.
Moncrieff, m. there, did preach the Preparation Sermon, and on Monday
morning Mr. Sa. Rutherford did preach; his text at both occasions was
Luke vii. 36 till 39 ver. At this time was present, besides Mr. Sa.
Rutherford, Mr. Ja. Guthrie, and Mr. David Bennet, Mr. Ephraim Melvin,
and Mr. William Oliphant, m. in Dumfermlin. Thither did resort many
strangers, so that the throng was great. Mr. Ephraim and Mr. D. Bennet
both did sit within the pulpit while the minister had his sermon." So
again, "In _1652, June 13_.--Mr. S. R. of St. Andrews, did preach on
the Sabbath afternoon; his lecture Luke xiv.; his sermon Luke vii. 36,
38, to end. Mr. S. did exhort on Monday following, on his foresaid
text, Luke vii. 40, 44." Once more, "_1653, Aug. 11_.--A fast keepit
at Scoonie kirk, Mr. S. R. in the morning, lecture, Jonah ii.; his
text, Rev. iii. 1, at end. Afternoon preached on same; his lecture
Psalms cxxx., cxxxi." "_1654, Jan. 4._--Being Saturday, there was a
Preparation Sermon for a Thanksgiving preached at Scoonie in Fyfe, for
the continuance of the Gospel in the land and for the spreading of it
in some places of the Highlands in Scotland, where in some families
two and in some families one, began to call on God by prayer. Mr.
Samuel Rutherford, m. in St. Andrews, preached on Saturday; his text,
Isa. xlix. 9, 10, 11, 12. On the Sabbath, Mr. Alex Moncrieff, m., then
preached; his lecture, 1 Thess. ch. i.; his text, Coloss. i. 27. In
the afternoon of the Sabbath, Mr. Samuel preached again upon his
forementioned text. On Monday morning, Mr. Samuel had a lecture on
Psal. lxxxviii. He did read the whole Psalm. Observe, that on Saturday
Mr. Samuel had this expression in his prayer after sermon, desiring
that the Lord would rebuke Presbyteries and others that had taken the
keys and the power in their hands, and keeped out, and would suffer
none to enter (meaning in the ministry) but such as said as they
said."--"Lamont's Diary."
His hands were necessarily filled with work in his new sphere; yet
still he relaxed nothing of his diligence in study. Nor did he lack
anything of former blessing. It was here the English merchant heard
him preach so affectingly on the loveliness of Christ; while such was
his success as a Professor that "the University became a Lebanon out
of which were taken cedars for building the house of God throughout
the land."
In the year 1640, he married his second wife, Jean M'Math, "a woman,"
says one, "of such worth, that I never knew any among men exceed him,
nor any among women exceed her. He who heard either of them pray or
speak, might have learnt to bemoan his own ignorance. Oh how many
times I have been convinced, by observing them, of the evil of
unseriousness unto God, and unsavouriness in discourse." They had
seven children; but only one survived the father, a little daughter,
Agnes, who does not seem to have been a comfort to her godly
mother.[46]
[46] In the "Statistical Account of Scotland" it is stated that in
1642 he was presented to the church of Mid-Calder. But he must have
declined it at once; for in 1643 Mr. Hugh Kennedy is found the
ordained and settled pastor of that parish.
In July 1643, the Westminster Assembly began their sittings; and to it
he was sent up as one of the Commissioners from the Church of
Scotland. A sketch of a "Shorter Catechism" exists in MS., in the
library of the Edinburgh University, in _Rutherford's handwriting_,
very much resembling the Catechism as it now stands, from which it has
been inferred that he had the principal hand in drawing it up for the
Assembly. He continued four years attending the sittings of this
famous synod, and was of much use in their deliberations. So prominent
a part did he take, that the great Milton has singled him out for
attack in his lines, "On the new forcers of conscience, under the Long
Parliament." Milton knew him only as an opponent of his sectarian and
independent principles, and so could scorn measures proposed by "Mere
A. S.[47] and Rutherford." But had he known the soul of the man, would
not even Milton have found a sublimity of thought and feeling in his
adversary, that at times approached his own lofty poesy? How
interesting, in any point of view, to find the devoted pastor of
Anwoth, on the streets of London, crossing the path of England's
greatest poet.
[47] A. S. stands for _Adam Stewart_, who wrote a pamphlet,
"Zerubbabel to Sanballat."
During his residence in London he was tried with many afflictions.
Several of his family died; and his own health began to give way, so
that he and his brother minister, Mr. G. Gillespie, visited Epsom to
drink the waters. Yet such was the amazing spirit of the man, under a
sense of duty, that amid the trials and bustle of that time he wrote,
"The Due Right of Presbyteries," "Lex Rex," _i.e._ "The Law, The
King," and "Trial and Triumph of Faith." Nor was he soured by
controversy. In the preface to one of his controversial works, he
discovers his large-hearted charity and manly impartiality in regard
to what he saw in these parts. He writes: "I judge that in England the
Lord hath many names, and a fair company, that shall stand at the side
of Christ when He shall render up the kingdom to the Father; and that
in that renowned nation there be men of all ranks, wise, valorous,
generous, noble, heroic, faithful, religious, gracious, learned."[48]
[48] Preface to "Survey of the Spiritual Antichrist."
Returning home to St. Andrews, he resumed his labours both in the
college and in the pulpit with all his former zeal. In 1644, it
appears from the old minutes of Lanark Presbytery, a vacancy having
occurred, Rutherford was unanimously called to Lanark. He was inclined
to go, but the Presbytery of St. Andrews refused to loose him. He had
often preached at Lanark. He declined two invitations to the
professorship in Holland; one from Harderwyck in 1648, the other from
Utrecht in 1651; though the former offered the chair both of Divinity
and of Hebrew. He joined the Protestors in determinedly opposing the
proceedings of the Commission of Assembly, who had censured such as
protested against the admission to power of persons in the class of
malignants. His friend David Dickson keenly opposed him, and Mr. Blair
also, though less violently.[49] It was this controversy that made
John Livingstone say, in a letter to Blair, "Your and Mr. D. Dickson's
accession to these resolutions is the saddest thing I have seen in my
time. My wife and I have had more bitterness in this respect, these
several months, than ever we had since we knew what bitterness meant."
Rutherford wrote too violently on this matter.[50] Some say he was
naturally hot and fiery; but at this time all parties were greatly
excited. Still he did not lose his brotherly love--the same brotherly
love that led him so fervently to embrace Archbishop Usher as a
fellow-believer. We may get a lesson for our times from his remarks on
occasion of these bitter controversies. "It is hard when saints
rejoice in the sufferings of saints, and redeemed ones hurt, and go
nigh to hate, redeemed ones. For contempt of the communion of saints,
we have need of new-born crosses, scarce ever heard of before.--Our
star-light hideth us from ourselves, and hideth us from one another,
and Christ from us all." And then he subjoins (and is he not borne out
by the words of the Lord in John xvii. 22?): "A doubt it is if we
shall have fully one heart till we shall enjoy one heaven." The state
of things lay heavy on his mind: "I am broken and wasted by the wrath
that is upon this land."
[49] When the Lord's Supper was to be dispensed, Blair in vain used
every argument to induce Rutherford to take part with himself and Mr.
Wood in serving tables; and, being forced to do it alone, began thus:
"We must have water in our wine while here. O to be above, where there
will be no mistakes!"--"Wodrow's Anal."
[50] "Brodie's Diary" (May 27, 1653) says that S. R. in a conference
in "Warriston's Chambers" retorted, that he had heard much of peace
with men, but would like better to hear of a peace with God, and with
sin, that His wrath may be turned away, without which a patched peace
would be little effectual (p. 43). In June a longer conference (pp.
48, 49, 50).
It was in 1651 that he published his work "De Divinâ Providentiâ," a
work in which he assailed Jesuits, Socinians, and Arminians. Richard
Baxter (tinged as he was with the Arminian theology), in referring to
this treatise, remarked (says Wodrow), that "His Letters were the best
piece, and this work the worst, he had ever read." Of course, this was
the language of controversy, for the book is one of great ability. It
was this work, indeed, that drew forth several invitations from
foreign Universities. The ten years that followed were times of much
distraction, being the times of Cromwell and the Commonwealth, as well
as of the Protesters and Resolutioners. In 1651 the Scottish nation
resolved to crown Charles II., as lawful king, at Scone; and when the
young king was at St. Andrews, in prospect of that event, he visited
the colleges. It fell to Rutherford to deliver, on that occasion, an
oration in Latin before His Majesty, on a subject which he could
handle well, both as a patriot and a Christian, "The Duty of Kings."