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Scotch, and in both the personal characteristic prevails, yet they are interesting. The first among the Scotch pieces is entitled "The Maker to Posterity," and begins thus :—

"Far 'yont amang the years to be,
When a' we think, an' a' we see,

An' a' we luve's been dung ajee

By time's rouch shouther,

An' what was richt and wrang for me
Lies mangled throw'ther;
It's possible-it's hardly mair-
That some ane, ripin' after lear-
Some auld professor or young heir,

If still there's either

May find an' read me, an' be sair

Perplexed, puir brither!

'What tongue does your auld bookie speak?'

He'll spier; an' I, his mou to steik :

'No bein' fit to write in Greek,

I wrote in Lallan,

Dear to my heart as the peat reek,
Auld as Tantallon.

Few speak it than, an' noo there's nane;

My puir auld sangs lie a' their lane,

Their sense, that ance was braw an' plain,

Tint a' thegether.

Like runes upon a standin' stane

Amang the heather."

As a novelist, he had the art of rendering his writings interesting. His faculty of description was fairly good. He had the power of grasping incidents and circumstances, realising and combining them, and presenting attractive stories.

In conclusion, it may be indicated that in earlier times the ballad literature, traditional tales, and chap-books, partly held the place among the people, which is now mainly filled by modern fiction. In the present century there has been a great development of this branch of literature, and during the last thirty years enormous quantities of fiction have appeared in the periodical and newspaper press. There are varied forms, classes, and qualities of fiction. Much of it is merely written for amusement, much also for special purposes, such as various religious aims, and moral aims. It seems extremely doubtful, if the intense struggle in this branch of literature to produce sensational and exciting stories is more likely to elevate than to debase the moral sentiments of the people.

CHAPTER XLIII.

Literature of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (continued)— Religious and Miscellaneous Literature.

SECTION I.

Religious Literature of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.

THE

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

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

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

The Rev. Dr. John Erskine 2 was the eldest son of Erskine of Cardross, author of the Principles of the Law of Scotland. Mr. Erskine studied for the Church at the University of Edinburgh, and

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

2 Born in 1721, died in 1803.

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

Dr. Alexander Webster 3 was minister of the Tolbooth Church in Edinburgh. It was reported that at the time of the Rising of 1745 he wrote several patriotic songs to arouse the loyalty of his countrymen. After the battle of Culloden he was appointed to preach the thanksgiving sermon, which, with a few other of his sermons, was published. He has the merit of originating the Ministers' Widows' Fund, and also of carrying out the first attempt at a census in Scotland. According to the returns obtained by him in 1755, the population of Scotland was 1,265,380. He was an able and characteristic man in his day.

Dr. John Witherspoon was born on the 5th of February, 1722, in the parish of Yester, where his father was minister. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and at the age of twentyone he was licensed to preach. In 1744 he was appointed minister of the parish of Beith. His pamphlet, entitled Ecclesiastical Characteristics, which appeared in 1753, was mainly directed against flaws in the principles and practice of some of the ministers of the Church. As it showed a strain of satire, it soon attracted attention, became popular, and reached a fifth edition in 1762. In 1756 his treatise on the Connection between the Doctrine of Justification by the imputed Righteousness of Christ and Holiness of Life was published. The following year his Inquiry into the Nature and Effects of the Stage appeared. On this subject there was much difference of opinion, yet it was generally recognised that he had treated the subject with ability and candour. In 1757 he received a call from the Low Church of Paisley, which he accepted. While carefully discharging his pastoral functions in Paisley, he published several sermons, and in 1764 his Essays on Important Subjects were issued in three volumes. Shortly after he received a call from a congregation in Dublin,

3 Born in 1707 and died in 1784,

another from the Scottish church at Rotterdam, and one from a congregation in Dundee, but he declined these invitations and remained in Paisley. Some years later, however, he was invited by the Trustees of the College of Princeton, New Jersey, in America, to become the President of that Institution, and he accepted the invitation and resolved to cross the Atlantic. On the 16th of April, 1768, he preached a farewell sermon to his congregation in Paisley, and in July he sailed for America.

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

One of the most popular ministers of the eighteenth century was Dr. Blair, a native of Edinburgh. He was first appointed minister of a parish church in Fifeshire, but being noted as a preacher, he was called to one of the city churches of Edinburgh. In 1759 he commenced a course of lectures on rhetoric and belles-lettres, which were subsequently published. In 1763 he issued a Dissertation on the Poems of Ossian. The first volume of his sermons was published in 1777, which was followed by other three, and a fifth volume which he had prepared, was published after his death. These volumes of

4 Born in 1718, died in 1800.

sermons were once exceedingly popular, though it is difficult to discover the reason why they were so; they are perhaps grammatically correct in composition, but they are monotonous in style, and as for grasp of thought or reasoning, elevated emotion, or impassioned eloquence, they have none.

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

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

5

John Brown of Haddington was a distinguished divine, and the author of various religious works. He belonged to Perthshire, being descended from parents in humble circumstances, both of whom died before he was eleven years of age. He says himself: "I was left a poor orphan, and had nothing to depend on but the providence of God." He was first employed as a shepherd, and afterwards as a pedlar. But before he was twenty years of age, he had taught himself Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. For some time he discharged the functions of a schoolmaster in Kinross, and in 1748 he entered on

5 Born in 1722, died in 1787.

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