BY THE REV. D. BEATON, WICK.
(Continued from page 108.)
MRS. JOHN CARSTARES.
MRS. CARSTARES was the eldest daughter of William Mure of Glanderston, by his second wife. She was married to Mr. John Carstares in 1647 or 1648, minister of Cathcart and afterwards minister of the High Church, Glasgow. Mr. Carstares was one of the most pious of the Covenanting ministers and there are many anecdotes recording the depth and sincerity of his piety. In his wife he found a true helpmeet, as he himself bears testimony in a letter written in 1662:—”I desire to bless Him that ever He was pleased to cast our lot to be together, and that he found you out a helpmeet for me: you were never a temptation to me, nor an obstruction to me, either in my ministerial or Christian course, though you have been little furthered and much obstructed by me; but He can make up out of the riches of His grace to you what you have been now these fifteen years at a loss by me.” In another letter written two years later, he says:—”I desire to bless the Lord for you; you have been to me, indeed, a meet and faithful help, and, if I had more improved your fellowship and counsel, your discreet and wise counsel, I am not ashamed to say it to you, I might have thriven better as a man, as a Christian, and as a minister. He might very justly, for my sins, deprive me of such a wife, such a mother, such a friend, such a counsellor, yea, of all relations, sweetly centred in such a one.” When persecution broke out over the land Mrs. Carstares showed the true steadfastness of her religious principles by remaining true to the cause of Christ. In 1662, Mr. Carstares received a summons to appear before the Privy Council, which he announces to her, as follows:—”I hope, my dear, you can bear, through the grace that hath often strengthened you in difficulties that have occurred about me since we came together, to hear without vexation of mind, that I have this day got a charge to compar before the Council this same day fourteen days, a double whereof I have sent you. It may be He will pity me and help me. The cause is good, and nothing at all disgraceful. O, to have a suitable frame every way, pray for it, and for sinless and inoffensive through-bearing. . . . Now, my heart, let me beseech you to take courage in the Lord, who hath given you a room in His heart, and will in due time give you a room amongst them that stand by the throne. Resolve to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. We may see this storm blow over, if kept faithful, and meet with higher and holier things.”
In 1664 he was again summoned before the Privy Council in
connection with the dying testimony in favour of Presbyterianism, which Mr. James Wood, Professor of Divinity at St. Andrews, had left behind him. Knowing the implacable hatred of Sharpe, Carstares thought it advisable to put himself beyond his reach for a time, so he fled to Ireland. It is supposed that it was during this period that the following letter was addressed by Mrs. Carstares to her husband:—”My dearest and most kind Friend,—It was refreshing to me to have a line from you, but it troubled me to find you so heavy. He doeth well who hath found it meet to put us in heaviness for a season, finding there was need of it. It did wound me when I read that in yours, your not being adverse to come here, which is thought by your friends very unmeet and unreasonable; for though you be very clear as to the cause, yet to cast yourself in such imminent hazard is a wrong, and I am persuaded you are not called to it, nay, you are called to the contrary; so hide yourself as well as you can, and if it please the Lord so to order you be found out—which I wish may not be—I hope He shall glorify Himself in you, and carry you honourably through. Put not yourself to it while [until] the Lord bring you to it. I hope my request, which is so reasonable, shall prevail with you. My dear, weary not in wandering; it has been the lot of many of His worthies to wander in caves and dens of the earth; and although your accommodation should be very bad, so that you cannot go about duties as you would, He counts your wandering better service to Him than your preaching. My dear, a little while will put an end to all our troubles; as for myself, I had reason always to bless the Lord that ever I knew you, and this day I desire to bless Him more than ever that ever I was so nearly related to you, and that I have a husband wandering and suffering for the truth. Let us both bless Him together for this. He might have given me one that was persecuting the truth. The Lord strengthen and confirm you! That commodity you desired cannot be gotten for the present, though they be most willing to give it. I hope the Lord shall provide another way; the bearer will show you all other things. The Lord’s blessing and protection be with you, and may He be near your soul with the consolation of His Spirit! Farewell, my dear, I am your own.—J. C.”
In 1667, Mr. Carstares was denounced as a rebel and outlawed, and it is probably at this date that the following letter was addressed to him by his wife:—”My dearest Friend,—The bearer will show how all matters here go. The west-country gentlemen and ministers, who were declared rebels, are now forfaulted. I bless the Lord it nothing troubles me. A smile from God and the lifting up the light of His countenance can make up, and even doth make up, all the injuries men can do, so that the lines are fallen to me in a most pleasant place, and I have a goodly heritage! I think my lot very far above the lot of my adversaries! Blessed be God who made the difference; there being no cause, but even
so, because it pleased Him. My dear, let us willingly cleave to Him and suffer for Him. We owe Him much. How much are we in His debt, who hath added this mercy to all the former mercies, that He has counted us worthy to suffer for His name’s sake? O for grace to be steadfast to the end, and that He would graciously pardon our unfaithfulness to Him and to His cause and people! Alas! Zion’s condition lieth not near my heart as it should.—J. C.” Mrs. Carstares was not called to die at the stake or seal the truth with her blood, but she had the spirit which martyrs had when they counted not their lives dear unto them. Her son, afterwards the famous Principal Carstares, though not like his parents in deep piety and steadfastness of principle, became one of the most notable ecclesiastical leaders the Scottish Church ever had.
(To be Continued.)
The late Angus MacLeod, Jun., Strathy Point, Sutherlandshire.
THOUGH the subject of this sketch was one of Christ’s hidden ones, the writer hopes that some account of his short but interesting spiritual career will not be without profit to the readers of the Magazine.
Angus MacLeod was the third son of Mr. Angus MacLeod, elder, Strathy Point, and nephew of the late godly Jessie MacLeod, a notice of whom appeared in these pages. Young Angus, as he was usually named, was a bright and shining light, although his light was only seen by a small circle of friends. This was due partly to the fact that he was of a shy, reticent disposition, and partly to the circumstance that he was more or less an invalid since the great change in his life took place. He was naturally a very wise young man—quite above the average in intelligence. He followed closely the various movements which took place in the Churches during the last eighteen years, and it is not too much to say that many of his friends were indebted to him for light on these matters. It was hardly possible to meet anyone who saw better through ecclesiastical subtleties than he did.
Angus was the subject of religious impressions from his youth. He told privately, a few weeks before he died, that when a young lad, under the preaching of the late godly Mr. Munro of Strathy, he used to be riveted to his seat in the Strathy Church under the searching eye of Mr. Munro, and to feel within himself that he was the man. He had been asked if Mr. Munro “preached to sinners,” and the above was his answer. He had a profound regard for Mr. Munro’s memory, and used often to remark that it was a wonderful thing that the people of Strathy should go astray as they did after having so lately enjoyed the services of such a
godly minister as Mr. Munro. Angus was a long time labouring in the dark. The writer remembers going in his company, about nine years ago, to Portsherra—a village three miles distant from Strathy—and on the way Angus began such a powerful discourse upon the vanity of life, and the necessity of knowing God, that his companion was affected very much by his arguments. When afterwards spoken to about this discourse, he said “That was all head knowledge.” And so it was, for he was then “without God and without hope in the world.” He was, however, like Samson, moved “at times” in the camp of the enemy by the Spirit of the Lord. The writer often conversed with him before the change about spiritual matters, and he always seemed so pleased to have such conversation; in fact, it was an easy matter to do so, as he almost invariably introduced the subject himself. One often felt cheered by the hope that he was “not far from the Kingdom.” To his poor, benighted soul, however, matters were only becoming darker and darker, until at last he found out that man, by wisdom, cannot know God, and he ceased to look any more to himself for salvation. Like Paul, he could now say, “The commandment came, sin revived, and I died.”
It was an autumn evening, about four years ago, when he first spoke about the great change which then took place. We were both sitting alone in his father’s house, and there was an unusual solemn expression on his countenance as he said, “I have had a wonderful experience lately.” Being asked if he could describe his experience, he replied, that he had not been so well some days before then, and that on one of these days, as he lay in bed, a most wonderful light shone into his mind which gave him quite a different conception of the Almighty; that he had seen such a view of the goodness and blessedness of God that he was for the time being powerless. “I was so overpowered,” he said, “by the glory of God, that when my mother brought me some milk to drink, I could not ask a blessing on it—I felt everything was blessed.” Being asked further if the light came through any portion of Scripture opened up to his mind, he said that it was not through any particular passage the light had come, but that when the light came, everything seemed to open up to his mind; and that that verse in the fifth chapter of Romans, which says, “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us,” was opened up in a wonderful way. He said, “I saw the wonderful love of God to sinful creatures; I saw that he had done everything and was overpowered by the revelation.” Still further questioned as to whether he now apprehended Christ as the only ground of acceptance with God, he replied that he now understood so well how everything was through Christ, but that it was not so much the glory of Christ which so much affected him as the glory of God the Father who had given His Son to die for sinful men, and who was commending His love to them in such a glorious manner. This
conversation was the occasion of much joy, and left the distinct conviction that Angus had experienced what it was to be born again. All things had become indeed new to him, and the more one saw of him afterwards the more attractive he became.
For two or three weeks before he died the writer had the privilege of conversing with him almost every day. It was clearly seen that he was fast ripening for the garner. Being asked if he now thought he was converted, he replied, that if he would say he was not, he would be guilty of denying the Lord’s work. He used to speak often about head knowledge in his last illness, and to remark, “Head knowledge can go very far.” Reminded how well he could speak himself about religion before he knew the Lord, he would answer, “Isn’t that how I know it so well?” i.e., concerning head knowledge. But, to do him justice, although he would speak about religion in his former days, he would always end by saying, “I am ignorant myself, although I speak in this manner.” With all his head knowledge he was not a hypocrite, but, on the contrary, seemed to be an earnest searcher after a true foundation upon which to build his hopes for an endless eternity.
Although his faith was strong to the end, yet he was no stranger to the corruption of his heart. There was, however, a rare beauty about his disposition, afflicted as he often was by bodily weakness and mental darkness. One could not but envy his trust in the Lord, one afternoon, as he talked about the awful corruption of the human mind, and remarked as follows, “Many a night I go to bed thinking I will never see the morning, and my mind will be troubled with all the folly imaginable, so that I cannot think of anything good; but I leave myself in the hand of the Lord, knowing that there can be no fear, although I should die during the night, for He can do all things.” Such was the faith and hope of our beloved friend. He also spoke often about the freeness of the Gospel, and had learnt in a remarkable manner the lesson that salvation is altogether of free grace. He would say, “If sinners would only come to the Lord, making use of the means He has set up and blessed to others, He would do everything for them.”
He followed the interests of our Church with a zealous regard from the very beginning, and in his last illness he used to speak in a very encouraging manner of the future prospects of the Church, and, unlike many who speak about these things, he did not speak at random, but spoke by faith.
His health broke down about five years ago, and latterly his trouble developed into a consumption which ended his brief, but bright, career on Sabbath morning, the 20th June, at the comparatively early age of 42 years. The deepest sympathy is felt for his aged parents and their family in their sore bereavement. Parents could not have a more dutiful son than Angus, but their loss is his gain.
“He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder” (Psalm cvii. 14).
A. M.