Chapter IV (4)

[529] It was not until late in the eighteenth century, that the Scotch
clergy gave up this notion. At last, even they became influenced
by the ridicule to which their superstition exposed them, and
which produced more effect than any argument could have done. The
doctrines, however, which they and their predecessors had long
inculcated, had so corrupted the popular mind, that instances
will, I believe, be found even in the nineteenth century, of the
Scotch deeming precautions against small-pox to be criminal, or,
as they called it, flying in the face of Providence. The latest
evidence I can at this moment put my hand on, is in a volume
published in 1797. It is stated by the Rev. John Paterson, that,
in the parish of Auldearn, in the county of Nairn, 'Very few have
fallen a sacrifice to the small-pox, though the people are in
general averse to inoculation, from the general gloominess of
their faith, which teaches them, that all diseases which afflict
the human frame are instances of the Divine interposition, for the
punishment of sin; any interference, therefore, on their part,
they deem an usurpation of the prerogative of the Almighty.'
_Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland_, vol. xix. p. 618,
Edinburgh, 1797. See also vol. xiv. p. 52, Edinburgh, 1795. This
is well said. No doubt, so abject, and so pernicious, a
superstition among the people, was the result of 'the general
gloominess of their faith.' But the Rev. John Paterson has
forgotten to add, that the gloominess of which he complains, was
in strict conformity with the teachings of the most able, the most
energetic, and the most venerated of the Scotch clergy. Mr.
Paterson renders scant justice to his countrymen, and should
rather have praised the tenacity with which they adhered to the
instructions they had long been accustomed to receive.

[530] The Rev. John Welsh, when suffering from a painful disorder, and
also from other troubles, writes: 'My douleurs ar impossible to
expresse.' ... 'It is the Lord's indignation.' See his letter, in
_Miscellany of the Wodrow Society_, vol. i. p. 558. See also
_Cowper's Heaven Opened_, p. 128. A pain in one's side was the
work of 'the Lord' (_Memoirs of Marion Laird_, p. 95); so was a
sore throat (_Wast's Memoirs_, p. 203); and so was the fever in
pleurisy. _Robe's Narratives of the Extraordinary Work of the
Spirit of God_, p. 66.

[531] In January 1653, 'This tyme, and mony monethis befoir, thair wes
great skairshtie of wynes. In this also appered Godis justice
toward this natioun for abusing of that blissing many yeiris
befoir.' _Nicoll's Diary_, p. 105.

[532] This idea was so deeply rooted, that we actually find a public
fast and humiliation ordered, on account of 'this present uncouth
storme of frost and snaw, quhilk hes continewit sa lang that the
bestiall ar dieing thik fauld.' _Records of the Kirk Session,
Presbytery, and Synod of Aberdeen_, p. 82.

[533] 'There was a dog bit my leg most desperately. I no sooner received
this, but I saw the hand of God in it.' _Wast's Memoirs_, p. 114.

[534] 'The evident documentis of Goddis wrath aganes the land, be the
extraordinarie drouth.' _Records of the Kirk Session, Presbytery,
and Synod of Aberdeen_, p. 78.

[535] 'The hynous synnes of the land produced much takines of Godis
wraith; namelie, in this spring tyme, for all Februar and a great
pairt of Marche wer full of havie weittis.' _Nicoll's Diary_,
p. 152.

[536] _Halyburton's Great Concern of Salvation_, p. 85. _Fleming's
Fulfilling of the Scripture_, pp. 101, 149, 176. _Balfour's _,
vol. i. p. 169. _Boston's Sermons_, p. 52. _Boston's Human Nature
in its Four-fold State_, pp. 67, 136. _Memoirs of Marion Laird_,
pp. 63, 90, 113, 163. _Hutcheson's Exposition of the Book of Job_,
pp. 62, 91, 140, 187, 242, 310, 449, 471, 476, 527, 528.

[537] 'War is one of the sharp scourges whereby God punisheth wicked
nations; and it cometh upon a people, not accidentally, but _by
the especial providence of God_, who hath peace and war in his own
hand.' _Hutcheson's Exposition on the Minor Prophets_, vol. ii.
p. 3. In 1644, 'Civill war wracks Spaine, and lately wracked
Italie: it is coming by appearance shortlie upon France. The just
Lord, who beholds with patience the wickednesse of nations, at
last _arises in furie_.' ... 'The Swedish and Danish fleets, after
a hott fight, are making for a new onsett: great blood is feared
shall be shortly shed there, both by sea and land. The _anger of
the Lord_ against all christendome is great.' _Baillie's Letters
and Journals_, vol. ii. pp. 190, 223.

[538] 'Earthquakes, whereby God, when he is angry, overthrows and
overturns very mountains.' _Hutcheson's Exposition of the Book of
Job_, p. 114. 'The ministris and sessioun convening in the
sessioun hous, considdering the fearfull erthquak that wes
yisternicht, the aucht of this instant, throughout this haill
citie about nine houris at evin, to be a document that God is
angrie aganes the land and aganes this citie in particular, for
the manifauld sinnis of the people,' &c. _Records of the Kirk
Session, Presbytery, and Synod of Aberdeen_, p. 64.

[539] 'Whatever natural causes may be adduced for those alarming
appearances, the system of comets is yet so uncertain, and they
have so frequently preceded desolating strokes and turns in public
affairs, that they seem designed in providence to stir up sinners
to seriousness. Those preachers from heaven, when God's messengers
were silenced, neither prince nor prelate could stop.' _Wodrow's
History of the Church of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 421.

[540] 'People of all sortes rane to the churches to deprecat God's
wrath.' _Balfour's Annales_, vol. i. p. 403. This was in 1598.

[541] 'By it, he manifests his power and shows himself terrible.'
_Durham's Commentarie upon the Book of the Revelation_, p. 33.
Compare _Row's History of the Kirk_, p. 333; and a passage in
_Laird's Memoirs_, p. 69, which shows how greedily their credulous
hearers imbibed such notions: 'There were several signal evidences
that the Lord's righteous judgments were abroad in the earth;
great claps of thunder,' &c.

[542] 'The stupidity and senselessnesse of man is greater than that of
the brute creatures, which are all more moved with the thunder,
then the hearts of men for the most part.' _Dickson's Explication
of the First Fifty Psalms_, p. 193. Hutcheson makes a similar
remark concerning earthquakes. 'The shaking and trembling of
insensible creatures, when God is angry, serves to condemn men,
who are not sensible of it, nor will stoop under his hand.'
_Hutcheson's Exposition of the Book of Job_, p. 115.

These visitations, eclipses, comets, earthquakes, thunder, famine, pestilence, war, disease, blights in the air, failures in the crops, cold winters, dry summers, these, and the like, were, in the opinion of the Scotch divines, outbreaks of the anger of the Almighty against the sins of men; and that such outbreaks were incessant is not surprising, when we consider that, in the same age, and according to the same creed, the most innocent, and even praiseworthy, actions were deemed sinful, and worthy of chastisement. The opinions held on this subject are not only curious, but extremely instructive. Besides forming an important part of the history of the human mind, they supply decisive proof of the danger of allowing a single profession to exalt itself above all other professions. For, in Scotland, as elsewhere, directly the clergy succeeded in occupying a more than ordinary amount of public attention, they availed themselves of that circumstance to propagate those ascetic doctrines, which, while they strike at the root of human happiness, benefit no one except the class which advocates them. That class, indeed, can hardly fail to reap advantage from a policy, which, by increasing the apprehensions to which the ignorance and timidity of men make them too liable, does also increase their eagerness to fly for support to their spiritual advisers. And the greater the apprehension, the greater the eagerness. Of this, the Scotch clergy, who were perfect masters of their own art, were well aware. Under their influence, a system of morals was established, which, representing nearly every act as sinful, kept the people in perpetual dread, lest unwittingly they were committing some enormous offence, which would bring upon their heads a signal and overwhelming punishment.

According to this code, all the natural affections, all social pleasures, all amusements, and all the joyous instincts of the human heart were sinful, and were to be rooted out. It was sinful for a mother to wish to have sons;[543] and, if she had any, it was sinful to be anxious about their welfare.[544] It was a sin to please yourself, or to please others; for, by adopting either course, you were sure to displease God.[545] All pleasures, therefore, however slight in themselves, or however lawful they might appear, must be carefully avoided.[546] When mixing in society, we should edify the company, if the gift of edification had been bestowed upon us; but we should by no means attempt to amuse them.[547] Cheerfulness, especially when it rose to laughter, was to be guarded against; and we should choose for our associates grave and sorrowful men, who were not likely to indulge in so foolish a practice.[548] Smiling, provided it stopped short of laughter, might occasionally be allowed; still, being a carnal pastime, it was a sin to smile on Sunday.[549] Even on week-days, those who were most imbued with religious principles hardly ever smiled, but sighed, groaned, and wept.[550] A true Christian would be careful, in his movements, to preserve invariable gravity, never running, but walking soberly, and not treading out in a brisk and lively manner, as unbelievers are wont to do.[551] So, too, if he wrote to a friend, he must beware lest his letter should contain any thing like jocoseness; since jesting is incompatible with a holy and serious life.[552]

[543] Lady Colsfeild 'had born two or three daughters, and was sinfully
anxious after a son, to heir the estate of Colsfeild.' _Wodrow's
Analecta_, vol. iii. p. 293.

[544] Under the influence of this terrible creed, the amiable mother of
Duncan Forbes, writing to him respecting his own health and that
of his brother, speaks 'of my sinful God-provoking anxiety, both
for your souls and bodies.' _Burton's Lives of Lovat and Forbes_,
p. 724. The theological theory, underlying and suggesting this,
was, that 'grace bridles these affections.' _Boston's Human Nature
in its Four-fold State_, p. 184. Hence its rigid application on
days set apart for religious purposes. The Rev. Mr. Lyon (_History
of Saint Andrews_, vol. i. p. 458) mentions that some of the
Scotch clergy, in drawing up regulations for the government of a
colony, inserted the following clause: 'No husband shall kiss his
wife, and no mother shall kiss her child on the Sabbath day.'

[545] 'The more you please yourselves and the world, the further you are
from pleasing God.' _Binning's Sermons_, vol. ii. p. 55. Elsewhere
(vol. ii. p. 45): 'Amity to ourselves is enmity to God.'

[546] 'Pleasures are most carefully to be auoided: because they both
harme and deceiue.' _Abernethy's Physicke for the Soule_, p. 251.
At p. 268, the same authority says, 'Beate downe thy body, and
bring it to subiection by abstaining, not only from vnlawfull
pleasures, but also from lawfull and indifferent delights.'

[547] According to _Hutcheson's Exposition of Job_, p. 6, 'there is no
time wherein men are more ready to miscarry, and discover any
bitter root in them, then when they are about the liberal use of
the creatures, and amidst occasions of mirth and cheerfulness.'
How this doctrine ripened, cannot be better illustrated than from
the sentiments entertained, so late as the early part of the
eighteenth century, by Colonel Blackader, a Scotch officer, who
was also an educated man, who had seen much of the world, and
might, to some degree, be called a man of the world. In December
1714, he went to a wedding, and, on his return home, he writes: 'I
was cheerful, and perhaps gave too great a swing to raillery, but
I hope not light or vain in conversation. I desire always to have
my speech seasoned with salt, and ministering profit to the
hearers. Sitting up late, and merry enough, though I hope
innocent; but I will not justify myself.' _The Life and Diary of
Lieut.-Col. J. Blackader, by Andrew Crichton_, p. 453. On another
occasion (p. 511), in 1720, he was at an evening party. 'The young
people were merry. I laid a restraint upon myself for fear of
going too far, and joined but little, only so as not to show
moroseness or ill-breeding. We sat late, but the conversation was
innocent, and no drinking but as we pleased. However, much time is
spent; which I dare not justify. _In all things we offend._' At p.
159, he writes, 'I should always be mixing something that may
edify in my discourse;' and, says his biographer (p. 437),
'Conversation, when it ceased to accomplish this object, he
regarded as _degenerating into idle entertainment_, which ought to
be checked rather than encouraged.'

[548] 'Frequent the gravest company, and the fellowship of those that are
sorrowfull.' _Abernethy's Physicke for the Soule_, p. 416. Compare
the attacks on 'too much carnal mirth and laughter,' in _Durham's
Law Unsealed_, p. 323; in _Fleming's Fulfilling of the Scripture_,
p. 226; and in _Fergusson's Exposition of the Epistles of Paul_,
p. 227. See also _Gray's Spiritual Warfare_, p. 42. Cowper says,
'Woe be unto them that now laugh, for assuredly they shall weepe,
the end of their joy shall be endleese mourning and gnashing of
teeth, they shall shed tears abundantly with Esau, but shall find
no place for mercy.' _Cowper's Heaven Opened_, p. 271. Hutcheson,
in a train of unusual liberality, permits occasional laughter. He
says, 'There is a faculty of laughing given to men, which
certainly is given for use, at least at sometimes; and diversions
are sometime needfull for men who are serious and employed in
weighty affairs.' ... 'And particularly, laughter is sometimes
lawful for magistrates and others in publick charge, not only that
they may recreate themselves, but that, thereby, and by the like
insinuating carriage, they may gain the affection of the people.'
_Hutcheson's Exposition of the Book of Job_, edit. folio, 1669,
pp. 389, 390.

[549] In 1650, when Charles II. was in Scotland, 'the clergy reprehended
him very sharply, if he smiled on those days' (Sundays).
_Clarendon's History of the Rebellion_, book xiii. p. 747, edit.
Oxford, 1843.

[550] It is said of Donald Cargill, that, 'his very countenance was
edifying to beholders; often sighing with deep groans.' _A Cloud
of Witnesses for the Royal Prerogatives of Jesus Christ_, p. 423.
The celebrated James Durham was 'a person of the utmost gravity,
and scarce smiled at anything.' _Howie's Biographia Scoticana_, p.
226. Of Livingston, we are told 'that he was a very affectionate
person, and weeped much; that it was his ordinary way, and might
be observed almost every Sabbath, that when he came into the
pulpite he sate doun a litle, and looked first to the one end of
the kirk, and then to the other; and then, ordinarly, the tear
shott in his eye, and he weeped, and oftimes he began his preface
and his work weeping.' _Wodrow's Analecta_, vol. ii. p. 249. James
Alexander 'used to weep much in prayer and preaching; he was every
way most savoury.' _Ibid._, vol. iii. p. 39. As to the Rev. John
Carstairs, 'his band in the Sabbath would have been all wett, as
if it had been douked, with tears, before he was done with his
first prayer.' p. 48. Aird, minister of Dalserf, 'weeping much'
(_Ibid._, vol. iii. p. 56), 'Mr. James Stirling tells me he was a
most fervent, affectionat, weeping preacher.' p. 172; and the Rev.
Alexander Dunlop was noted for what was termed 'a holy groan,'
vol. iii. p. 21. See also, on weeping as a mark of religion,
_Wast's Memoirs_, pp. 83, 84; and _Robe's Narrative of the
Extraordinary Work of the Spirit of God_, pp. 21, 31, 75, 150. One
passage from the most popular of the Scotch preachers, I hesitate
as to the propriety of quoting; but it is essential that their
ideas should be known, if the history of Scotland is to be
understood. Rutherford, after stating whom it is that we should
seek to imitate, adds: 'Christ did never laugh on earth that we
read of, but he wept.' _Rutherford's Christ Dying_, 1647, 4to, p.
525. I publish this with no irreverent spirit; God forbid that I
should. But I will not be deterred from letting this age see the
real character of a system which aimed at destroying all human
happiness, exciting slavish and abject fear, and turning this
glorious world into one vast theatre of woe.

[551] 'Walk with a sober pace, not "tinkling with your feet."' _Memoirs
of the Rev. James Fraser, written by Himself_, in _Select
Biographies_, vol. ii. p. 280. 'It is somewhat like this, or less
than this, which the Lord condemneth, _Isa._ iii. 16, 'Walking
and mincing, or tripping and making a tinkling with their feet.'
What is that but disdaining the grave way of walking, to affect
an art in it? as many do now in our days; and shall this be
displeasing to the Lord, and not the other? seeing he loveth, and
is best pleased with, the native way of carrying the body.'
_Durham's Law Unsealed_, p. 324. 'The believer hath, or at least
ought to have, and, if he be like himself, will have, a well
ordered walk, and will be in his carriage stately and princely.'
_Durham's Exposition of the Song of Solomon_, p. 365.

[552] 'At home, writing letters to a friend. My vein is inclined to jest
and humour. The letter was too comical and jocose; and after I had
sent it away, I had a check that it was too light, and jesting
foolishly. I sent and got it back, and destroyed it. My temper
goes too far that way, and I ought to check it, and be more on my
guard, and study edification in every thing.' _Crichton's Life and
Diary of Blackader_, pp. 536, 537. Even amongst young children,
from eight years old and upwards, toys and games were bad; and it
was a good sign when they were discarded. 'Some very young, of
eight and nine years of age, some twelve and thirteen. They still
inclined more and more to their duty, so that they meet three
times a day, in the morning, at night, and at noon. Also they have
forsaken all their childish fancies and plays; so these that have
been awakened are known by their countenance and conversation,
their walk and behaviour.' _Robe's Narratives of the Extraordinary
Work of the Spirit of God_, pp. 79, 80.

It was, moreover, wrong to take pleasure in beautiful scenery; for a pious man had no concern with such matters, which were beneath him, and the admiration of which should be left to the unconverted.[553] The unregenerate might delight in these vanities, but they who were properly instructed, saw Nature as she really was, and knew that as she, for about five thousand years, had been constantly on the move, her vigour was well-nigh spent, and her pristine energy had departed.[554] To the eye of ignorance, she still seemed fair and fresh; the fact, however, was, that she was worn out and decrepit; she was suffering from extreme old age; her frame, no longer elastic, was leaning on one side, and she soon would perish.[555] Owing to the sin of man, all things were getting worse, and nature was degenerating so fast, that already the lilies were losing their whiteness, and the roses their smell.[556] The heavens were waxing old;[557] the very sun, which lighted the earth, was becoming feeble.[558] This universal degeneracy was sad to think of; but the profane knew it not. Their ungodly eyes were still pleased by what they saw. Such was the result of their obstinate determination to indulge the senses, all of which were evil; the eye being, beyond comparison, the most wicked. Hence, it was especially marked out for divine punishment; and, being constantly sinning, it was afflicted with fifty-two different diseases, that is, one disease for each week in the year.[559]

[553] 'To the unmortified man, the world smelleth like the garden of
God' ... 'the world is not to him an ill-smelled stinking corps.'
_Rutherford's Christ Dying_, p. 498. But those who were properly
mortified, knew that 'the earth is but a potter's house' (_Ibid._,
p. 286); 'an old thred-bare-worn case' (_Ibid._, p. 530); a 'smoky
house' (_Rutherford's Religious Letters_, p. 100); a 'plaistered,
rotten world' (_Ibid._, p. 132); and 'an ashy and dirty earth'
(_Ibid._, p. 169). 'The earth also is spotted (like the face of a
woman once beautifull, but now deformed with scabs of leprosie)
with thistles, thornes, and much barren wilderness.' _Cowper's
Heaven Opened_, p. 255.

[554] 'Wearinesse and motion is laid on Moon and Sunne, and all
creatures on this side of the Moon. Seas ebbe and flow, and that's
trouble; winds blow, rivers move, heavens and stars these five
thousand yeares, except one time, have not had sixe minutes rest.'
... 'The Sunne that never rests, but moves as swiftly in the night
as in the day.' _Rutherford's Christ Dying_, pp. 12, 157. 'This is
the world's old age; it is declining; albeit it seem a fair and
beautiful thing in the eyes of them who know no better, and unto
them who are of yesterday and know nothing, it looks as if it had
been created yesterday; yet the truth is, and a believer knows, it
is near the grave.' _Binning's Sermons_, vol. iii. p. 372.

[555] 'This, then, I say, is the state all things ye see are in,--it is
their old age. The creation now is an old rotten house that is all
dropping through and leaning to the one side.' _Binning's
Sermons_, vol. iii. p. 398.

[556] 'The lilies and roses, which, no doubt, had more sweetnesse of
beauty and smell, before the sin of man made them vanity-sick.'
_Rutherford's Christ Dying_, p. 185.

[557] 'The heavens that are supposed to be incorruptible, yet they wax
old as doth a garment.' _Binning's Sermons_, vol. i. p. 95.

[558] 'The neerer the sun drawes to the end of his daily course, the
lesse is his strength, for we see the Sunne in the evening decayes
in heat; so it is, the longer by reuolution he turnes about in his
sphere, he waxes alway the weaker; and, to vse the similitude of
the holy spirit, as a garment the older it groweth becomes the
lesse beautifull.' _Cowper's Heaven Opened_, p. 255.

[559] 'It is so delicate by nature, that since it was the first sense
that offended, it is, aboue all the rest, made subject (as a
condigne punishment) to as many maladies, as there are weekes in a
yeere.' _Abernethy's Physicke for the Soule_, p. 501. The Scotch
divines were extremely displeased with our eyes. Rutherford
contemptuously calls them 'two clay windows.' _Rutherford's Christ
Dying_, p. 570. Gray, going still further, says, 'these cursed
eyes of ours.' _Gray's Great and Precious Promises_, p. 53.

On this account, it was improper to care for beauty of any kind; or, to speak more accurately, there was no real beauty. The world afforded nothing worth looking at, save and except the Scotch Kirk, which was incomparably the most beautiful thing under heaven.[560] To look at that was a lawful enjoyment, but every other pleasure was sinful. To write poetry, for instance, was a grievous offence, and worthy of especial condemnation.[561] To listen to music was equally wrong; for men had no right to disport themselves in such idle recreation. Hence the clergy forbade music to be introduced even during the festivities of a marriage;[562] neither would they permit, on any occasion, the national entertainment of pipers.[563] Indeed, it was sinful to look at any exhibition in the streets, even though you only looked at it from your own window.[564] Dancing was so extremely sinful, that an edict, expressly prohibiting it, was enacted by the General Assembly, and read in every church in Edinburgh.[565] New Year's Eve had long been a period of rejoicing in Scotland, as in other parts of Europe. The Church laid her hands on this also, and ordered that no one should sing the songs usual on that day, or should admit such singers into his own private house.[566]

[560] 'The true visible Kirk where God's ordinances are set up, as he
hath appointed, where his word is purely preached, is the most
beautifull thing under heaven.' _Dickson's Explication of the
First Fifty Psalms_, p. 341.

[561] I have one very late, and, on that account, very curious, instance
of the diffusion of this feeling in Scotland. In 1767, a vacancy
occurred in the mastership of the grammar-school of Greenock. It
was offered to John Wilson, the author of 'Clyde.' But, says his
biographer, 'the magistrates and minister of Greenock thought fit,
before they would admit Mr. Wilson to the superintendance of the
grammar school, to stipulate that he should abandon "the profane
and unprofitable art of poem-making."' _Lives of Eminent Scotsmen
by the Society of Ancient Scots_, 1821, vol. v. p. 169.

[562] 'Sept. 22. 1649.--The quhilk day the Sessioune caused mak this
act, that ther sould be no pypers at brydels, and who ever sould
have a pyper playing at their brydell on their mariage day, sall
loose their consigned money, and be farder punisched as the
Sessioune thinks fitt.' _Extracts from the Registers of the
Presbytery of Glasgow, and of the Kirk Sessions of the Parishes of
Cambusnethan Humbie and Stirling_, p. 34. This curious volume is a
quarto, and without date; unless, indeed, one of the title-pages
is wanting in my copy.

[563] See the Minutes of the Kirk Session of Glasgow, in _Wodrow's
Collections upon the Lives of Ministers_, vol. ii. part ii. p. 76;
also the case of 'Mure, pyper,' in _Selections from the Minutes of
the Presbyteries of Saint Andrews and Cupar_, p. 72.

[564] This notion lingered on, probably to the beginning of this
century; certainly to late in the last. In a work published in
Scotland in 1836, it is stated, that a clergyman was still alive,
who was 'severely censured,' merely because, when Punch was
performing, 'the servant was sent out to the showman to request
him to come below the windows of her master's house, that the
clergyman and his wife might enjoy the sight.' _Traditions of
Perth by George Penny_, Perth, 1836, p. 124.

[565] '17 Feb. 1650. Ane act of the commissioun of the Generall Assemblie
wes red in all the churches of Edinburgh dischargeing promiscuous
dansing.' _Nicoll's Diary_, p. 3. See also _Acts of the General
Assembly of the Church of Scotland_, 1638-1842, p. 201; _Register
of the Kirk Session of Cambusnethan_, p. 35; _Minutes of the
Presbyteries of St. Andrews and Cupar_, pp. 55, 181; _Minutes of
the Synod of Fife_, pp. 150, 169, 175; and a choice passage in _A
Collection of Sermons by Eminent Divines_, p. 51.

[566] See _Selections from the Records of the Kirk Session, Presbytery,
and Synod of Aberdeen_, pp. 77, 78, forbidding any one to 'giwe
ony meatt or drink to these sangsteris or lat thame within thair
houss.' The singers were to be 'put in prisoun.'

At the christening of a child, the Scotch were accustomed to assemble their relations, including their distant cousins, in whom, then as now, they much abounded. But this caused pleasure, and pleasure was sinful. It was, therefore, forbidden; the number of guests was limited; and the strictest supervision was exercised by the clergy, to prevent the possibility of any one being improperly happy on such occasions.[567]

[567] In 1643 the Presbytery of St. Andrews ordered that 'because of the
great abuse that is likewayes among them by conveening multitudes
at baptismes and contracts, the ministers and sessions are
appointed to take strict order for restraineing these abuses, that
in number they exceid not sixe or seven. As also ordaines that the
hostlers quho mak such feists salbe censured by the sessions.'
_Minutes of the Presbyteries of St. Andrews and Cupar_, p. 11. See
also _Records of the Kirk Session, Presbytery, and Synod of
Aberdeen_, pp. 109, 110, complaining of the custom 'that everie
base servile man in the towne, when he has a barne to be baptesed,
invitis tuelff or sextene persones to be his gossopes and
godfatheris to his barne,' &c.; and enacting 'that it shall not be
lesume to any inhabitant within this burt quhasoever, to invite
any ma persones to be godfatheris to thair barne in ony tyme
cumming bot tua or four at the most, lyk as the Kirk officier is
expresslie commandit and prohibitt that from hence furth he tak vp
no ma names to be godfatheris, nor giwe any ma vp to the redar bot
four at the most, vnder all hiest censure he may incur be the
contrairie, and this ordinance to be intimat out of pulpitt, that
the people pretend no ignorance thairof.'

Not only at baptisms, but also at marriages, the same spirit was displayed. In every country, it has been usual to make merry at marriages; partly from a natural feeling, and partly, perhaps, from a notion that a contract so often productive of misery, might, at all events, begin with mirth. The Scotch clergy, however, thought otherwise. At the weddings of the poor, they would allow no rejoicing;[568] and at the weddings of the rich, it was the custom for one of them to go for the express purpose of preventing an excess of gaiety. A better precaution could hardly be devised; but they did not trust exclusively to it. To check the lusts of the flesh, they, furthermore, took into account the cookery, the choice of the meats, and the number of the dishes. They were, in fact, so solicitous on these points, and so anxious that the nuptial feast should not be too attractive that they fixed its cost, and would not allow any person to exceed the sum which they thought proper to name.[569]

[568] They forbade music and dancing; and they ordered that not more
than twenty-four persons should be present. See the enactment, in
1647, respecting 'Pennie bryddells,' in _Minutes of the
Presbyteries of St. Andrews and Cupar_, p. 117. In 1650, 'The
Presbyterie being sadly weghted with the report of the
continwance, and exhorbitant and unnecessarly numerous confluences
of people at pennie brydles, and of inexpedient and wnlawfull
pypeing and dancing at the same, so scandalous and sinfull in this
tyme of our Churches lamentable conditioun; and being apprehensive
that ministers and Kirk Sessiouns have not bein so vigilant and
active (as neid werre), for repressing of these disorders, doe
therfor most seriously recommend to ministers and Kirk Sessiouns
to represse the same.' _Ibid._ pp. 169, 170. See, further,
_Registers of the Presbytery of Lanark_, p. 29; and _Extracts from
the Presbytery Book of Strathbogie_, pp. 4, 144.

[569] See two curious instances of limitation of price, in _Irving's
History of Dumbartonshire_, p. 567; and in _Wodrow's Collections
upon the Lives of Ministers_, vol. ii. part ii. p. 34.

Nothing escaped their vigilance. For, in their opinion, even the best man was, at his best time, so full of turpitude, that his actions could not fail to be wicked.[570] He never passed a day without sinning, and the smallest sin deserved eternal wrath.[571] Indeed, every thing he did was sinful, no matter how pure his motives.[572] Man had been gradually falling lower and lower, and had now sunk to a point of debasement, which made him inferior to the beasts that perish.[573] Even before he was born, and while he was yet in his mother's womb, his guilt began.[574] And when he grew up, his crimes multiplied thick and fast; one of the most heinous of them being the practice of teaching children new words,--a horrible custom, justly visited by divine wrath.[575] This, however, was but one of a series of innumerable and incessant offences; so that the only wonder was, that the earth could restrain herself at the hideous spectacle which man presented, and that she did not open her mouth, as of old, and swallow him even in the midst of his wickedness.[576] For, it was certain, that in the whole creation, there was nothing so deformed and monstrous as he.[577]

[570] 'What a vile, haughty, and base creature he is--how defiled and
desperately wicked his nature--how abominable his actions; in a
word, what a compound of darkness and wickedness he is--a heap of
defiled dust, and a mass of confusion--a sink of impiety and
iniquity, _even the best of mankind_, those of the rarest and most
refined extraction, _take them at their best estate_.' _Binning's
Sermons_, vol. ii. p. 302. Compare _Boston's Human Nature in its
Four-fold State_, pp. 26, 27.

[571] 'The least sin cannot but deserve God's wrath and curse eternally.'
_Dickson's Truth's Victory over Error_, p. 71. 'All men, even the
regenerate, sin daily.' _Ibid._ p. 153.

[572] 'Our best works have such a mixture of corruption and sin in them,
that they deserve his curse and wrath.' _Ibid._ p. 130.

[573] 'But now, falling away from God, hee hath also so farre degenerated
from his owne kind, that he is become inferiour to the beasts.'
_Cowper's Heaven Opened_, p. 251. 'O! is not man become so brutish
and ignorant, that he may be sent unto the beasts of the field to
be instructed of that which is his duty?' _Gray's Spiritual
Warfare_, p. 28. 'Men are naturally more bruitish than beasts
themselves.' _Boston's Human Nature in its Four-fold State_,
p. 58. 'Worse than the beast of the field.' _Halyburton's Great
Concern of Salvation_, p. 71.

[574] 'Infants, even in their mother's belly, have in themselves
sufficient guilt to deserve such judgments;' _i.e._ when women
with child are 'ript up.' _Hutcheson's Exposition on the Minor
Prophets_, vol. i. p. 255.

[575] 'And in our speech, our Scripture and old Scots names are gone out
of request; instead of _Father_ and _Mother_, _Mamma_ and _Papa_,
training children to speak nonsense, and what they do not
understand. These few instances, amongst many that might be given,
are additional causes of God's wrath.' _The Life and Death of Mr.
Alexander Peden, late Minister of the Gospel at New Glenluce, in
Galloway_, in _Walker's Biographia Presbyteriana_, vol. i. p. 140.

[576] 'Yea, if the Lord did not restraine her, shee would open her mouth
and swallow the wicked, as she did Corah, Dathan, and Abiram.'
_Cowper's Heaven Opened_, p. 257. Compare _Hutcheson's Exposition
on the Minor Prophets_, vol. i. p. 507.

[577] 'There is nothing so monstrous, so deformed in the world, as man.'
_Binning's Sermons_, vol. i. p. 234. 'There is not in all the
creation such a miserable creature as man.' _Ibid._ vol. iii. p.
321. 'Nothing so miserable.' _Abernethy's Physicke for the Soule_,
p. 37.

Such being the case, it behoved the clergy to come forward, and to guard men against their own vices, by controlling their daily actions, and forcing them to a right conduct. This they did vigorously. Aided by the elders, who were their tools and the creatures of their power, they, all over Scotland, organized themselves into legislative bodies, and, in the midst of their little senate, they enacted laws which the people were bound to obey. If they refused, woe be to them. They became unruly sons of the Church, and were liable to be imprisoned, to be fined, or to be whipped,[578] or to be branded with a hot iron,[579] or to do penance before the whole congregation, humbling themselves, bare-footed, and with their hair cut on one side,[580] while the minister, under pretence of rebuking them, enjoyed his triumph.[581] All this was natural enough. For the clergy were the delegates of heaven, and the interpreters of its will. They, therefore, were the best judges of what men ought to do; and any one whom they censured was bound to submit with humility and repentance.[582]

[578] 'December 17th, 1635. Mention made of a correction house, which
the Session ordeans persons to be taken to, both men and women,
and appoints them to be whipt every day during the Session's
will.' _Wodrow's Collections upon the Lives of Ministers_, vol.
ii. part ii. p. 67.

[579] On the 22nd October 1648, the Kirk Session of Dunfermline ordered
that a certain Janet Robertson 'shall be cartit and scourged
through the town, and markit with an hot iron.' _Chalmers' History
of Dunfermline_, p. 437.

[580] 'As they punish by pecuniary fines, so corporally too, by
imprisoning the persons of the delinquents, using them
disgracefully, carting them through cities, making them stand in
logges, as they call them, pillaries (which in the country
churches are fixed to the two sides of the main door of the Parish
Church), cutting the halfe of their hair, shaving their beards,
&c., and it is more than ordinary, by their "original" and "proper
power," to banish them out of the bounds and limits of the parish,
or presbytery, as they list to order it.' _Presbytery Displayd_,
p. 4.

[581] The Scotch clergy of the seventeenth century were not much given
to joking; but on one of these occasions a preacher is said to
have hazarded a pun. A woman, named Ann Cantly, being made to do
penance, 'Here' (said the minister), 'Here is one upon the stool
of repentance, they call her _Cantly_; she saith herself, she is
an honest woman, but I trow _scantly_.' _Scotch Presbyterian
Eloquence_, p. 125. From what I have read of Scotch theology, I
can bear testimony to the accuracy of this book, so far as its
general character is concerned. Indeed, the author, through fear
of being entirely discredited, has often rather understated his
case.

[582] As Durham says, in his _Exposition of the Song of Solomon_,
p. 451, 'It is no burden to an honest believer to acknowledge
Christ's ministers, to obey their doctrine, and submit to their
censures.'

The arbitrary and irresponsible tribunals, which now sprung up all over Scotland, united the executive authority with the legislative, and exercised both functions at the same time. Declaring that certain acts ought not to be committed, they took the law into their own hands, and punished those who had committed them. According to the principles of this new jurisprudence, of which the clergy were the authors, it became a sin for any Scotchman to travel in a Catholic country.[583] It was a sin for any Scotch innkeeper to admit a Catholic into his inn.[584] It was a sin for any Scotch town to hold a market either on Saturday or on Monday, because both days were near Sunday.[585] It was a sin for a Scotch woman to wait at a tavern;[586] it was a sin for her to live alone;[587] it was also a sin for her to live with unmarried sisters.[588] It was a sin to go from one town to another on Sunday, however pressing the business might be.[589] It was a sin to visit your friend on Sunday;[590] it was likewise sinful either to have your garden watered,[591] or your beard shaved.[592] Such things were not to be tolerated in a Christian land. No one, on Sunday, should pay attention to his health, or think of his body at all. On that day, horse-exercise was sinful;[593] so was walking in the fields, or in the meadows, or in the streets, or enjoying the fine weather by sitting at the door of your house.[594] To go to sleep on Sunday, before the duties of the day were over, was also sinful, and deserved church censure.[595] Bathing, being pleasant as well as wholesome, was a particularly grievous offence; and no man could be allowed to swim on Sunday.[596] It was, in fact, doubtful whether swimming was lawful for a Christian at any time, even on week-days, and it was certain that God had, on one occasion, shown His disapproval, by taking away the life of a boy while he was indulging in that carnal practice.[597]

[583] A man, named Alexander Laurie, was brought before the Kirk Session
of Perth, 'and being inquired by the minister if, in his last
being out of this country, he had been in Spain, answered that he
was in Portugal, but was never present at mass, neither gave
reverence to any procession, and that he was never demanded by any
concerning his religion. The said Alexander being removed and
censured, it was thought good by the (Kirk) Session that he should
be admonished not to travel in these parts again, except that they
were otherwise reformed in religion.' _Extracts from the
Kirk-Session Register of Perth_, in _The Spottiswoode Miscellany_,
vol. ii. p. 274. Still earlier, that is, in 1592, the clergy
attempted to interfere even with commerce, 'allegeing that the
marchands could not mak vayage in Spayne without danger of their
sawlis, and tharefore willit thayme in the nayme of God to
absteyne.' _The Historie of King James the Sext_, p. 254.

[584] See the case of Patrick Stewart, and Mr. Lawson's note upon it, in
_Lawson's Book of Perth_, p. 238. In this instance, the 'Roman
Catholic gentleman' had been excommunicated, which made matters
still worse.

[585] The Presbytery of Edinburgh, 'by their transcendent sole
authority, discharged any market to be kept on Monday; the reason
was, because it occasioned the travelling of men and horse the
Lord's-day before, which prophaned the Sabbath.' _Presbytery
Displayd_, p. 10. In 1650, Saturday was also taken in by another
ecclesiastical senate. 'The Presbyterie doe appoint the severall
brethren in burghes, to deale with such as have not changed ther
Mondayes and Satterdayes mercats to other dayes of the weeke, that
they may doe the same _primo quoque tempore_.' _Minutes of the
Presbyteries of St. Andrews and Cupar_, p. 53.

[586] In 1650, 'For "the down-bearing of sin," women were not allowed to
act as waiters in taverns, but "allenarly men-servands and boys."'
_Chambers' Annals_, vol. ii. p. 196. This order 'wes red and
publictlie intimat in all the kirkis of Edinburgh.' _Nicoll's
Diary_, p. 5.

[587] 'Forsameikle as dilatation being made, that Janet Watson holds an
house by herself where _she may give occasion of slander_,
therefore Patrick Pitcairn, elder, is ordained to admonish her in
the session's name, either to marry, or then pass to service,
otherwise that she will not be suffered to dwell by herself.'
_Kirk-Session Records of Perth_, in _The Chronicle of Perth_,
p. 86.

[588] 'Ordains the two sisters, Elspith and Janet Stewart, that they be
not found in the house again with their sister, but every one of
them shall go to service, or where they may be best entertained
without slander, under the penalty of warding their persons and
banishment of the town.' _Kirk-Session Register_, in _Lawson's
Book of Perth_, p. 169.

[589] 'Compeirit William Kinneir, and confest his travelling on the
Sabbath day, which he declairit was out of meer necessitie,
haveing two watters to croce, and ane tempestuos day, quhilk
moowit him to fear that he wold not get the watters crost, and so
his credit might faill. He was sharpelie admonished, and promist
newer to doe the lyke again.' _Selections from the Records of the
Kirk-Session of Aberdeen_, p. 136.

[590] 'Compearit Thomas Gray, and confest that one Sunday in the
morning, he went to Culter to visit a friend, and stayed thair all
night. The sessioune warnit him, _apud acta_, to the next day, and
appointed Patrick Gray, his master, to be cited to the next day,
to give furder informatioune in the matter. (Sharply rebuked
before the pulpit.)' _Selections from the Records of the
Kirk-Session of Aberdeen_, p. 146.

[591] 'It was reported that Margaret Brotherstone did water her kaill
wpon the Sabbath day, and thairwpon was ordained to be cited.' ...
'Compeired Margaret Brotherstone, and confessed her breach of
Sabbath in watering of her kaill, and thairwpon ordained to give
evidence in publick of her repentance the next Lord's day.'
_Extracts from the Register of the Kirk-Session of Humbie_, p. 42.

[592] Even so late as the middle of the eighteenth century, 'clergymen
were sometimes libelled' ... 'for shaving' on Sunday. _Sinclair's
Statistical Account of Scotland_, vol. xvi. p. 34, Edinburgh,
1795. At an earlier period, no one might be shaved on that day.
See _The Spottiswoode Miscellany_, vol. ii. p. 276; and _Lawson's
Book of Perth_, pp. 224, 225.

[593] 'Compeired John Gordon of Avachie, and confessed that he had
transgressed in travailing on the Sabbath day with horse, going
for a milston. Referred to the session of Kinor for censure.'
_Extracts from the Presbytery Book of Strathbogie_, p. 236. See
also the case mentioned in _Letters from a Gentleman in the North
of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 172; 'This riding on horseback of a
Sunday was deemed a great scandal.'

[594] In 1647, the punishment was ordered of whoever was guilty of
'sitting or walking idle upon the streetes and feildes' on Sunday.
_Selections from the Minutes of the Synod of Fife_, p. 152. In
1742, 'sitting idle at their doors' and 'sitting about doors' was
profane. _Robe's Naratives of the Extraordinary Work of the Spirit
of God_, pp. 109, 110. In 1756, at Perth, 'to stroll about the
fields, or even to walk upon the inches, was looked upon as
extremely sinful, and an intolerable violation of the fourth
commandment.' _Penny's Traditions of Perth_, p. 36.

[595] In 1656, 'Cite Issobell Balfort, servand to William Gordone,
tailyeor, beeing found sleeping at the Loche side on the Lord's
day in tyme of Sermon.' _Selections from the Records of the
Kirk-Session of Aberdeen_. p. 137. It was a sin even for children
to feel tired of the interminable sermons which they were forced
to hear. Halyburton, addressing the young people of his
congregation, says, 'Have not you been glad when the Lord's day
was over; or, at least, _when the preaching was done_, that ye
might get your liberty. Has it not been a burden to you, to sit so
long in the church? Well, _this is a great sin_.' See this
noticeable passage, in _Halyburton's Great Concern of Salvation_,
p. 100.

[596] In 1719, the Presbytery of Edinburgh indignantly declares, 'Yea,
some have arrived at that height of impiety, as not to be ashamed
of washing in waters, and swimming in rivers upon the holy
Sabbath.' _Register of Presbytery of Edinburgh, 29th April 1719_,
in _Arnot's History of Edinburgh_, p. 204.

[597] So late as 1691, the Kirk-Session of Glasgow attempted to prevent
all boys from swimming, whatever the day might be. But as the
Church was then on the decline, it was necessary to appeal to the
civil authority for help. What the result was, I have not been
able to ascertain. There is, however, a curious notice, in
_Wodrow's Collections upon the Lives of Ministers_, vol. ii. part
ii. p. 77, stating that, on 'August 6th, 1691, the Session
recommends it to the magistrates to think on some overtures for
discharging boyes from swimming, in regard one was lately lost.' I
have met with other evidence respecting this; but I cannot
remember the passages.

That it was a sin to cleanse one's body, might, indeed, have been taken for granted; seeing that the Scotch clergy looked on all comforts as sinful in themselves, merely because they were comforts.[598] The great object of life was, to be in a state of constant affliction.[599] Whatever pleased the senses, was to be suspected.[600] A Christian must beware of enjoying his dinner; for none but the ungodly relished their food.[601] By a parity of reasoning, it was wrong for a man to wish to advance himself in life, or in any way to better his condition.[602] Either to make money, or to save it, was unsuited to Christians; and even to possess much of it was objectionable, because it not only ministered to human pleasures, but encouraged those habits of foresight and of provision for the future, which are incompatible with complete resignation to the Divine will. To wish for more than was necessary to keep oneself alive, was a sin as well as a folly, and was a violation of the subjection we owe to God.[603] That it was contrary to His desire, was, moreover, evident, from the fact that He bestowed wealth liberally upon misers and covetous men; a remarkable circumstance, which, in the opinion of Scotch divines, proved that He was no lover of riches, otherwise He would not give them to such base and sordid persons.[604]

[598] The Rev. James Fraser says, 'The world is a dangerous thing and a
great evil, and the comforts of it a hell.' _Select Biographies_,
vol. ii. p. 220. Compare _Gray's Spiritual Warfare_, p. 22.

[599] 'It is good to be continually afflicted here.' _Select
Biographies_, vol. ii. p. 220. Gray, advocating the same doctrine,
sums up his remarks by a suggestion, that, 'I think David had
never so sweet a time as then, when he was pursued as a partridge
by his son Absalom.' _Gray's Great and Precious Promises_, p. 14.

[600] 'Suspect that which pleaseth the senses.' _Abernethy's Physicke
for the Soule_, p. 63.

[601] Durham, in his long catalogue of sins, mentions as one, 'the
preparing of meat studiously, that is, when it is too riotously
dressed, for pleasing men's carnal appetite and taste, or palate,
by the fineness of it, and other curiosities of that kind.'
_Durham's Law Unsealed_, p. 333. See also p. 48, on
'palate-pleasers;' and Dickson's opinion of the 'rarest dishes and
best meats.' _Dickson's Explication of the Psalms_, p. 84.
According to another of the Scotch divines, whoever makes one good
meal and has enough left for a second, is in imminent peril. 'He
that is full, and hath enough to make him fuller, will easily deny
God, and be exalted against him: his table shall be a snare to his
body, and a snare to his soule.' _Abernethy's Physicke for the
Soule_, p. 421.

[602] For, says Abernethy (_Physicke for the Soule_, p. 488), 'men are
loth to lend their eare to the Word, when they abound in
prosperity.' So, too, Hutcheson, in his _Exposition of the Book of
Job_, p. 387: 'Such is the weakness even of godly men, that they
can hardly live in a prosperous condition, and not be overtaken
with some security, carnal confidence, or other miscarriage.'

[603] See this theory worked out in _Cockburn's Jacob's Vow, or Man's
Felicity and Duty_, pp. 71-75. He says, 'And certainly to crave
and be desirous of more than what is competent for the maintenance
and support of our lives, is both inconsistent with that
dependence and subjection we owe to God, and doth also bespeak a
great deal of vanity, folly, and inconsiderateness.' Boston,
striking at the very foundation of that practice of providing for
the future, which is the first and most important maxim in all
civil wisdom, and which peculiarly distinguishes civilized nations
from barbarians, asks his hearers, 'Why should men rack their
heads with cares how to provide for to-morrow, while they know not
if they shall then need anything?' _Boston's Human Nature in its
Four-fold State_, p. 300. Hutcheson thinks that those who are
guilty of such impious prudence, deserve to be starved. 'When men
are not content with food and rayment, but would still heap up
more, it is just with God to leave them not so much as bread; and
to suffer men to have an evil eye upon them, and to pluck at them,
even so long as they have meat.' _Hutcheson's Exposition of the
Book of Job_, p. 296. Binning, going still further, threatens
eternal ruin. 'Ye may have things necessary here,--food and
raiment; and if ye seek more, if ye will be rich, and will have
superfluities, then ye shall fall into many temptations, snares,
and hurtful lusts which shall drown you in perdition.' _Binning's
Sermons_, vol. iii. p. 355.

[604] 'If God loved riches well, do ye think he would give them so
liberally, and heap them up upon some base covetous wretches?
Surely no.' _Binning's Sermons_, vol. iii. p. 366. Gray, in his
zeal against wealth, propounds another doctrine, which I do not
remember to have seen elsewhere. He says, 'All that the owner of
riches hath, is, the seeing of them; which a man, who is a passer
by, may likeways have, though he be not possessor of them.'
_Gray's Spiritual Warfare_, p. 128. I hope that the reader will
not suspect me of having maliciously invented any of these
passages. The books from which they are quoted, are, with only two
or three exceptions, all in my library, and may be examined by
persons who are curious in such matters.