Rev. K.D. Macleod
Continued from page 119 of the April issue
Banished in 1606, for the sake of the gospel, from Scotland to France by the Scottish Privy Council, at the command of the King, Welsh landed in Bordeaux. Eventually, a door was opened for him to preach the gospel regularly in France, when he was appointed the minister of Jonsac, a small town near Bordeaux, at the end of 1608. He removed to Nerac about 1614.
10. Ministry in St Jean d’Angely
IN 1617 John Welsh still had important work to do for his Master. He was to spend four further years as minister of the more important town of St Jean d’Angely, just more than 30 miles south east of La Rochelle. It was probably in that year that he was called to be one of the two pastors of the large charge there. It was the last place to benefit from his devoted and gracious ministry. But, though he still suffered from poor health, his preaching there, Robert Fleming tells us, “was much blessed with success”.
During their time in St Jean d’Angely the Welshes sometimes had Scottish students staying with them. One of them, a relation of Mrs Welsh, became seriously ill and, to all appearances, died. Welsh was very fond of this young man and was convinced that he was not actually dead. With difficulty he managed for 48 hours to prevent the body being put in a coffin, in spite of the fact that the weather was extremely hot. Then, to convince him, doctors were called, who tried to prove that the young man was dead by twisting his flesh with pincers. Everybody except Welsh was only more convinced than ever, but he asked for a further delay and prayed earnestly. And after some time the young man did indeed regain consciousness. One recognises the danger of such a story gaining further dramatic details in the telling, but the incident illustrates again Welsh’s fervency in prayer. He also had on this occasion a gracious confidence that his cries would be heard in heaven, a confidence granted to very few of God’s children in this degree.
May 1621 saw St Jean d’Angely under siege by the French army, King Louis XIII himself arriving at the end of the month to take command. St Jean d’Angely was one of the towns of France which some time earlier had been assigned to the Huguenots, but in 1620 the French Government had made unconstitutional demands on these Protestants, demands to which an Assembly held in La Rochelle refused to submit. St Jean d’Angely was among the towns which supported this decision – hence the siege, for the attitude of the town was completely unacceptable to the Government. The
town should have had no reasonable hope of holding out indefinitely, but they did at least get better terms when they surrendered than they would otherwise have obtained. During the siege Welsh himself narrowly escaped death when a musket ball passed through the bed he was lying on. And, while the townspeople held out, Welsh gave them all the encouragement he could, even on one occasion using his hat to supply a gunner with gunpowder.
After the surrender some of his friends tried to persuade Welsh that he should not appear in public on the Sabbath; to hold public Protestant worship so near the King and his court would give offence, it might even put his life in danger. Welsh was not in the habit of deferring so easily to earthly kings and went on with the service. In due course the Duke of Espernon appeared along with some soldiers, all sent by the King. Recognising from his clothes that the Duke was a man of some rank, he asked the people to make way for them and give them seats so that they might listen to the Word of God. Whether they were overwhelmed by Welsh’s authority or whether they felt it unwise to risk a disturbance by arresting Welsh there and then, they all sat down and listened, before leading him away at the end of the service to answer to the King.
The King angrily demanded why Welsh dared to preach heresy when he himself was so near at hand. “Sir,” replied Welsh, not in the slightest overawed, “if you did right, you yourself would come and hear me preach, and you would make all France hear me likewise, for I preach not as those men whom you are accustomed to hearing. My preaching differs from theirs in these two points: first, I preach that you must be saved by the death and merits of Jesus Christ and not your own, and I am sure your conscience tells you that your good works will never merit heaven for you; next, I preach that as you are King of France you are under the authority and command of no man on earth. Those men whom you usually hear subject you to the Pope of Rome, which I will never do.”
No doubt Welsh’s last point was highly attractive to the monarch’s ears, and he told Welsh, “Well, well, you will be my minister”. The more is the pity that he was not more serious in making the statement. And although, contrary to the terms of surrender, Louis commanded St Jean d’Angely to be razed to the ground, he yet instructed his captain to look after “his minister” and to provide wagons to carry his stuff to La Rochelle if he wanted. This reminded Samuel Rutherford of the time when the King of Babylon gave orders about Jeremiah, “Take him and look well unto him, and do him no harm”.
To La Rochelle Welsh did indeed go, but in these disturbed days he could not think of staying there for long. He toyed with the idea of going to the newly-founded colony of Nova Scotia, but that was quite impractical because no vessel would be sailing there from France in the foreseeable future. Then, like many another Scottish refugee, he decided to make for Holland. Welsh landed in Holland on the island of Walcheren, for he wished once more to see his former companion in travail, John Forbes, who had settled in the town of Middelburg. Unwell as Welsh was, it must have been an enjoyable time which he spent with his old friend.
To be continued