excluded from the manse by the dense masses of trees with which it was
surrounded, the wind howled and moaned through their branches and on
their summits, and, like the thunder, gave forth a solemn music to the
soul. I did not sleep, but listened to the sounds of the tempest with
that pleasure which philosophy cannot explain. Ere long, the current of
thought reverted to my own former relations, to the dwelling in which I
reposed; and busy memory, in the watches of the night, supplied, with
all the freshness of a recent event, the circumstances which chequered
the life and marked the character of my father. Though, perhaps, in the
estimation of many, these were commonplace, yet, to me, they were still
full of interest; and, as they seem to afford a true and undistorted
picture of a Scottish clergyman's real character and fortunes, I have
written them down to fill a spare corner in the _Tales of the Borders_.
William Douglas was the eldest son of a farmer in one of the northern
counties of Scotland. The family had been tenants of the farm of Mains
for five successive generations; and, so far as tradition and the humble
annals of the parish could be relied on, had borne an unspotted name,
and acquired that hereditary character for worth, which, in their humble
station, maybe regarded as constituting the moral nobility of human
nature. Just and devout in their lives--sincere, unpretending, and
unaffected in their manners--they were never spoken of but with respect
and goodwill by their neighbours; and were often, in the domestic and
rural affairs of the vicinity, the counsellors and umpires, in whose
good sense, and integrity, and kindness of heart, their humble friends
trusted with confidence. Such characters and families are to be found in
almost every rural district of this country; for, "though grace gangs
no' by generation, yet there is sic a thing as a hawk o' a guid nest." I
believe in the homely proverb, though some metaphysicians may dispute
it, but whether debatable or not in the abstract, William Douglas had
the good fortune, as he deemed it, to grow up in the bosom of a family
in which the characteristic of worth was cherished and transmitted as an
heirloom.
The eldest son of the guidman of Mains showed an early fondness for his
school exercises, and acquired, under the tuition of _Roaring Jock_, the
dominie of the parish, a tolerable proficiency in the rudiments of
literature. The guidman, being an elder of the kirk, was often at the
minister's manse, and the bairns from Mains were occasionally invited to
tea on the Saturdays and play-days; and Paplay, the minister, (was so
denominated, from the name of a small estate of which he was the laird),
showed great favour to the "auldest callant," and often conversed with
him about the subject of his reading. In these circumstances, and
considering the religious character of the Mains family, it was almost
a matter of course that Willie should be destined by his parents, and
prompted by his own predilections, to "the ministry." And, by the advice
of Paplay and Roaring Jock, Willie was sent to the Marischal College at
Aberdeen, where he gained a bursary at the competition, and prosecuted
his studies with assiduity, until, at length, in the fulness of time, he
became a licentiate of the church.
The only thing I remember to have heard connected with this period of my
father's life, was his anecdotes of Paplay's eccentricities, which were
numerous--some of them personal, and some of them the peculiarities of
the old school of clergy in Scotland. He was a pious and orthodox man;
but withal had a tincture of the Covenanter about him, blended with
the aristocratic and chivalrous feeling of a country gentleman of old
family. In the troubled times, about the years 1745-6, he was a staunch
Whig; and so very decided in his politics, that, when "Prince Charlie's
men" had the ascendancy in Scotland, he was either in arms or in hiding;
and when he ventured to preach, he wore his sword in the pulpit, and a
blue coat, girt with a belt, in which a pair of pistols were hung--more
like a man of war than a preacher of peace! Even after the defeat at
Culloden, the Jacobitism of the north was so strong, and Paplay was so
obnoxious, by reason of his vehement preaching against popery, and
prelacy, and the Pretender, that he continued long after to wear his
sword (in the pulpit and elsewhere), which was rather a formidable
concern to the nonjurors about him, in the hand of a brave and athletic
champion of true Whiggery. He assigned three reasons for wearing his
sword after it seemed to some of his friends to be unnecessary:--"First,
because I am a gentleman; secondly, because I can use it; and, thirdly,
because, if you doubt, you may try." Among some of his oddities, he had
a great admiration of a well-spring, a white calf, and a bonny lass; and
he never passed any of them in his way without doing them homage. Though
travelling on horseback, he would dismount to bathe his feet in a limpid
stream, as it gushed from the earth, or to caress a white calf, or to
salute a female--all which fantasies were united with the most primitive
innocence. And he never ate a meal, even in his own house, or when he
was a refugee in a hay stack or kiln barn, without exacting from his
wife and friends the most urgent _pressing_.
It was under the auspices of this warlike and singular apostle that my
father was ushered into the sacred office of a minister of the gospel.
He preached his first sermon in the church of his native parish; and,
according to the fashion of the times, at the close of the service, the
parish minister publicly criticised the discourses of the day. The young
preacher, in this instance, found favour in Paplay's eyes; and his
testimony in favour of the _plant_ which had sprung up among them was so
emphatic, and rendered so piquant by his odd figures of speech, that
William Douglas was long distinguished among his friends and neighbours
by the familiar designation of _Paplay's Plant_.
But there was another _plant_ that graced the manse, which was not
unobserved or unadmired by the young preacher--Jane Malcolm (the
daughter of a clergyman in a more remote parish, and niece of Paplay's
lady), a sweet flower, that had grown up in the wilderness, like "a
daisy on the mountain's side." It was in the nature of things that "the
loves of the plants" should be illustrated by the juxtaposition of the
two favourite flowers of the chivalrous parson. An affectionate but
secret attachment naturally grew out of the frequent visits which
"Paplay's Plant" paid to the manse; and these were multiplied in
consequence of William Douglas being appointed assistant to his
spiritual patron, whose decline into the vale of years had begun to
abate the energy of his character, and to render assistance necessary.
The attachment between the young people might be suspected, but was
not formally made known to Paplay and "the lady," as she was called,
according to the courtesy of the olden time. Indeed, such a promulgation
would have been idle; for the "half-reverend" assistant (as Paplay was
wont to address the young probationers of the church) had no immediate
prospect of a benefice, although he was an acceptable preacher,
throughout the bounds of the presbytery. But an incident occurred
which facilitated the union, of which the preliminaries were thus
established.
The Earl of Bellersdale,[H] a nobleman in the neighbouring county, who
affected to be descended from an ancient family that flourished in the
days of good King Duncan, but who had really no more connection with it
than with Hercules or the Man in the Moon, reared a village or sea-port
at a short but convenient distance from his magnificent castle. Among
the other items in the arrangements which were destined to immortalise
the munificence of the Earl in the establishment of Bellerstown, a
church was deemed necessary for political, to say nothing of moral
considerations; and the earl, being a man of taste, thought that a
church, placed in a particular position, would make a fine vista from
various points in the noble park which surrounded the Castle of
Bellersdale. A picturesque chapel was accordingly built on a rising
knoll, separated from the pleasure grounds and the castle by a river,
over which a handsome bridge made no mean addition to the lordly scene.
[H] A little reflection will enable the reader to see what true
name this fictitious one is intended to cover.--ED.
The chapel being built, and endowed with a stipend of "forty pounds
a-year" (the hint, I suppose, was taken from Oliver Goldsmith), it was
necessary to provide a clergyman to officiate in it; and William Douglas
being one of the most approved young men in the district, had the honour
to be preferred by the patron. The period to which I now refer was long
before the church, in its wisdom, enacted a law for regulating chapels
of ease; and not only the amount of stipend, but the continuance of
clergymen who officiated in such chapels, depended on the arbitrary and
sovereign will of their pious founders. Bellerstown, though a step in
William Douglas' professional progress, yielded too scanty a revenue to
admit of matrimony; but the talents, respectability, and prepossessing
manners of the chaplain made him a favourite at the castle, and
rendered it practicable to eke out the slender living by the addition
of a small farm, at what was called a moderate rent. But this appendage,
too, was held by the same precarious tenure--Lord Bellersdale's will.
The probationer was inducted as pastor of the Bellerstown chapel,
according to the rules of the church; and, after the lapse of a few
months, he and Miss Jane Malcolm thought--although no other person
thought--that they might venture to enter into the holy bands of
wedlock, and, with frugality and mutual love in their household, look
forward to happiness in their humble and unambitious sphere of life.
This thought ended in deed--and they were married.
The tenor of a clergyman's life is, in general, even and unvaried,
consisting of a faithful and regular discharge of his peculiar duties.
Such, for some years, was the fate of William Douglas. He acquired the
confidence and affections of his humble flock--the esteem of his
brethren--the countenance of the neighbouring gentry--and even the
patronage of the great man, at whose table he was a frequent and
welcomed guest. Mrs. Douglas had presented him with two sons: and his
parents, advanced in years, were gathered to their fathers. This
bereavement was not unlooked for; but the first trial of life which
wrung his heart to the core, was a fatal illness which, in a few days,
snatched the object of his most tender affection from him.
Time passed on, and "brought healing on its wings." After the lapse of
several years, my father felt that it was not meet for man to be alone;
and, whilst he cherished the fondest remembrance of his first domestic
companion, he had too much good sense to go into the affectation of
continuing single during the rest of his life "for her sake;" more
especially as he had no female relative to whom he could confide the
maternal charge of his boys in their nursery days. He accordingly
discerned, in the daughter of one of his flock, a respectable farmer in
the neighbourhood, those personal attractions and amiable dispositions
which awakened his manly sympathies; and, too high-minded to stoop to
mercenary considerations, he married a second time, without hunting for
a _tocher_, as is sometimes imputed sarcastically to the Scottish
clergy. Isobel Wilson was lovely and virtuous.
About the time the American war ended, I came into this earthly part of
the universe; but nothing occurred for several years of my father's life
to diversify the peaceful enjoyments of his domestic life, or to
interrupt the conscientious and zealous discharge of his pastoral
duties. At length, however, a cloud gathered in the firmament, which
ere long burst on his head, in the wrath of his patron, the Earl of
Bellersdale.
Local, rather than general politics agitated the district in which his
humble life was cast; and there was a vehement struggle betwixt his
lordship and a neighbouring nobleman for ascendancy in the county. The
ranks of either party were swelled by the multiplication of freehold
qualifications, for the purpose of acquiring votes. One of the
expedients, as is well known, for the attainment of such objects, is the
creation of nominal and fictitious voters, by conferring on the
_friends_ of a political party an apparent, but not a real interest in a
landed estate; and this is practised and justified by a legal fiction,
and a little casuistry, with which political agents are quite familiar.
The ordinary mode in these cases, is to confer such _parchment_
franchises on dependents and personal connections of the great man who
needs their support--and the Earl of Bellersdale, who had the patronage
of many churches of greater or less value, found, even among the clergy
who had hopes of preferment from his hand, several individuals
sufficiently unscrupulous to accept of such discreditable titles to a
political franchise as freeholders.[I] Amongst others, my father, who
was in good odour at the castle, was deemed a _likely_ person to be
intrusted with so precious a privilege as a right to vote for any tool
of the earl who might be brought forward as a candidate for representing
the shire in Parliament. The factor was despatched to Bellerstown to
offer this high behest to the poor parson, whose ready compliance was
expected, _as a matter of course_. But he calmly and peremptorily
refused the proffered vote, and intimated that he held it derogatory to
the sacred nature of his office to pollute himself with such politics,
and inconsistent with every principle of honour, morality, and religion,
to take an oath, as required by law, that he was possessed of a landed
estate, while, in truth, he had no earthly title to an inch of it. This
scrupulosity gave mortal offence at the castle; and the recusant parson
was doomed to ridicule as a pious fool, and to ruin. And as, in such
cases, when an offending individual is completely dependent on the
offended party, pretexts are never wanting for cloaking the lurking
purpose of mischief: these were soon and easily discovered. If the
minister of Bellerstown discoursed on integrity and truth as Christian
virtues, or on the sacredness of an oath, the earl's underlings bore the
tidings to the castle, where such doctrine was deemed high treason
against the electioneering morality; and the faithful and fearless
minister of religion having rebuked, from the pulpit, some gross and
public enormities and violations of the Sabbath by the canvassers for
the earl's candidate, within the precincts of his pastoral charge, this
was a sad and unpardonable aggravation of his rebellion. Nay, having
published a little tract on the duty of attending public worship, of
which he was the known author, this was regarded as a direct personal
insult to the lord of the manor--because his lordship was so much
engrossed with politics and his other affairs, that he had, for some
time, ceased entirely to go to church. These little incidents were
aggravated by the perfidy of the parson of the parish within which Mr.
Douglas' chapel was situated. That gentleman had formed a scheme for
transferring his residence from the ancient manse, in a remote part of
the parish, to the more populous and flourishing burgh of barony of
Bellerstown--intending to officiate himself in the chapel (receiving,
of course, the additional accommodation applicable to that cure),
and consigning the care of the souls in the parish church to the
schoolmaster--a preacher whom he satisfied with a bonus of L10 or L12
a-year. And for the accomplishment of this object, it was no difficult
thing, as matters stood, to ingratiate himself into the patron's favour,
and to accomplish his own personal objects, by whispering into the
earl's greedy ear every remark that would suit his purpose, made by Mr.
Douglas, in the most unbounded confidence of private intercourse and
seeming friendship.
[I] This was written in 1829, before the Reform Act was dreamt
of.--ED.
When the wrath which had accumulated in the heart of the earl was fanned
to its height, he issued his orders to the factor in the following
decree:--"Rackrent--_Us_"--(a grammatical singularity which his lordship
always used, surpassing even the royal or editorial majesty, indicated
by the first person plural)--"_Us_ is determined to root out that
rebellious fellow Douglas, and to banish him from our grounds. Rackrent,
order Spulzie, the scribe, instantly to serve the fellow with a summons
of removing from Stablebarns; and, do you hear, go to Bellerstown, lock
and nail up the chapel door, and tell the fellow that he shall never
preach there again against _us_. Tell him to go to the devil, as _us_
will not suffer rebels against our will."
This mandate was instantly obeyed. Mr. Douglas received the intimation
from Rackrent with surprise, but undismayed; and, his "courage swelling
as the danger swells," he accepted the intimation as a testimony to his
fidelity, and pitied the tyrant who had thus abused his authority. The
earl had the uncontrolled power--there was no appeal from his heartless
decree. Rackrent speedily promulgated in the burgh the purport of his
mission, and ostentatiously performed his task of shutting up the
chapel--putting the key in his pocket. Consternation, and sympathy with
their "ain guid minister and his wife and bairns," spread from house to
house; and it was not till the shadow of night afforded shelter from
observation, that even a few true friends mustered courage to venture
into the house of a proscribed man, and to cheer him with their
condolence.
Mr. Douglas had an instinctive courage, which prompted him to bear
Rackrent's message without a quiver on his countenance, save perhaps a
momentary expression of scorn on his lip, and a sparkle of indignation
in his keen blue eye. But, after the minion of power had retired, and he
felt himself alone, a cold and chilling emotion gathered round his
heart. He went immediately to the nursery, where his wife was busied in
tending and amusing her children; and having desired Grace Grant (our
attached and only servant, who never was in any other service) to look
after her matters in the kitchen, he communicated to his dear Isobel,
that she and her little ones were thrown destitute. I was too young
(being only four or five years of age at the time) to understand the
import of what he said. But my mother and the elder children knew it
well; and I need not describe the scene. The tears which a brave man
sheds are only those of tenderness and affection--but these are, indeed,
tears of bitterness. Such scenes of love and agony are too sacred to
be disclosed to an unfeeling world; and all I remember of the one now
alluded to, was, that my heart was like to break when I saw those around
me embracing and embraced, in tears and in silence, save the sounds of
sobs which burst from every bosom.
It was a day of sorrow. Even the youngsters forgot, for a time, that
they required their wonted frugal dinner; and it was not until twilight
succeeded the last blaze of the setting sun, that Grace Grant called
her mistress from the nursery (having heard from a neighbour the
adversity which had befallen), to remind her that tea was ready. My
mother was now much composed, and invited the minister to go to the
parlour. It was a silent procession. My eldest brother carried me in
his arms; and my father led his wife in one hand, while he bore their
younger babe on his other arm. On reaching the parlour, we found tea
prepared by the careful hands of Grace Grant; but, before sitting down
to partake of that comforting refreshment, the minister proposed to
offer up a prayer of resignation to the will of God, and of hope and
trust in his providence.
"Then kneeling down to Heaven's eternal King,
The saint, the father, and the husband prays:
Hope 'springs exulting on triumphant wing,'
That thus they all shall meet in future days;
There, ever bask in uncreated rays,
No more to sigh or shed the bitter tear;
Together hymning their Creator's praise--
In such society yet still more dear,
While circling time moves round in an eternal sphere."
These devout aspirations being ended, an air of calm composure reigned
around my "Father's Fireside." He seated himself in his arm-chair, while
my mother busied herself in preparing tea, and each little one took his
appointed place around the oval wainscot table. The turf fire burned
cheerily on the hearth. The tea-kettle gave out its hissing sounds,
indicative of comfort; and the solitary candle diffused light on the
fair young faces which brightened as the oat-cake and the "buttered
pieces" began to disappear. But the minister's wonted playfulness was
gone; and the decent silence of a Sabbath afternoon was observed even by
the younger boys.
The visits of their friends were a solace in the first hour of their
unlooked-for adversity. But, after their retirement the vague,
undefined, and gloomy shadows which rose to the contemplation of my
parents, with respect to their future prospects, yielded only a troubled
and unutterable anxiety. Repining and supineness, however, were not
suited to my father's character; for, with mildness, he united decision
and even boldness of spirit. He had, for several years previous to this
explosion of lordly despotism in the patron of his chapel, corresponded
with some of his college friends in the new Republic of America; and
had been encouraged by them, and through them, by one of the most
distinguished of the American patriots, to leave his meagre benefice and
cross the Atlantic. These invitations he had declined; being warmly
attached to his flock, to the Established Church of Scotland, to his
friends at home, and to his country. In his altered circumstances,
however--severed as he was by an arbitrary act over which there was no
moral or legal control, cast destitute from the altar at which he had
ministered with usefulness and acceptance, and having no claims to
immediate patronage in the church--he resolved, with a heavy heart, to
betake himself to that field of exertion in a foreign land to which he
had been so courteously invited. Having adopted this resolution, he
did not waste time in idle whining, but prepared to encounter all the
inconveniences and perils of a long voyage across the deep; aggravated,
unspeakably, by the accompaniments of a wife and six young children, and
hampered by the scanty means which remained to him amidst this wreck of
his hopes of happiness at home.
But before his final departure from the cold and rocky shore of Scotland
for ever, he wished to take a public leave of his flock. His own chapel
had been shut up; but a reverend friend, in a closely adjoining burgh,
acceded at once to his request, that he might have the use of his pulpit
on the Sunday after the act of ejection which I have already mentioned.
The villagers of Bellerstown were speedily apprised of their minister's
intention; and they and many others attended to hear his farewell
sermon. The church was crowded with an affectionate and even somewhat
exasperated multitude, and the service of the day was characterised by a
more than usual solemnity. All the energy of the preacher's spirit was
called up to sustain him on so trying an occasion; and the unaffected,
earnest, and native eloquence of his pulpit appearances, were heightened
by the emotions which struggled within his bosom.
His brief but christianlike and dignified address, in which the
tremulous voice of deep emotion was occasionally mingled with the manly
tones of bolder elocution, was listened to in silence deep as death; and
when he descended from the pulpit, Mr. Douglas was surrounded by a
throng of elders, and young men, and humble matrons, who were eager to
manifest their heartfelt reverence for their beloved pastor.