3. Spiritual Growth in Ettrick
F R Daubney
1The previous part, last month, of this Theological Conference paper spoke of Boston being settled in the small parish of Simprin in the Scottish Borders, and the success, under God, of his ministry there. The article closed with Boston’s induction to the parish of Ettrick.
Ettrick parish was approximately 10 miles long by 10 miles broad, surrounded by mountains and deep glens – the church has a mountain rising up at the very back of it. The Statistical Account of 1792 says the parish possessed no advantages, and the roads were impassable and often obstructed by snow, with insufficient bridges to cross the streams to gain access to the various villages.
The parish had been without a minister for four years and there had been no regular public services in that time. Boston recorded that he “did not find the people’s appetite for ordinances to have been sharpened by the long fast they had had; on the contrary, they were cold and indifferent about divine things, but keen about worldly gains to a proverb”. He was deeply shocked at the behaviour of the people during divine worship. It was necessary for him to appoint two of the elders to watch against offenders both inside and outside the church during worship. There was much of what he described as “profane swearing” and “gross sins of impurity”.
Another trial to him was the presence of a group of dissenters, followers of John Macmillan, a deposed minister and leader of the Cameronians2. In Boston’s early years in Ettrick they were a constant source of attacks because of points of difference. Malcontents in the congregation and those fleeing from discipline would go over to the Macmillan camp. In all of this he never regretted going to Ettrick though, when he thought of Simprin, he sometimes felt like “a bird shaken out of its nest, or an owl in the desert”.
During his first year in Ettrick, the Bostons lost an infant son, two years old, called Ebenezer (“Hitherto hath the Lord helped us”). This was a great sorrow and shock to Boston, who had called the boy by that name as an act of gratitude and dedication. When another son was born, after much heart searching by Boston, he was called Ebenezer too. Sadly, this child also died, after only two months, and the further bereavement pierced the gentle father’s heart and caused him a great struggle of faith.
In church Boston delivered rousing sermons on the method of salvation and preached through the whole of The Shorter Catechism from beginning to end. In his second year he began to see fruit, with some reporting that he had destroyed their assumptions and discovered the secrets of their hearts. Boston quickly put in place godly elders; men of whom he thought very highly. With their experience and friendly counsel, they helped and supported him in his early struggles.
In July 1710, three years after he went to Ettrick, the first celebration of the Lord’s Supper was held. The minister felt obliged to interview all the communicants personally and, as he did this, he began to feel that he had not been, as he recorded, “altogether useless”. The sermons on the fourfold state of man, especially, had done good. There were 57 people from his own parish at the Lord’s table on that communion Sabbath. “Few indeed”, he said, “but more than I expected”.
Early in 1712 the British Parliament under Queen Anne passed an Act which re-imposed patronage and required all the ministers of Scotland to take an Oath of Abjuration (abjuring the claims of the Stuart Pretenders to the throne). Refusal would incur a fine of £500 sterling, a ruinous amount, and persistent refusal would result in a minister being compelled to vacate his pastoral charge. This created alarm throughout the whole Church of Scotland. Why was it necessary, they asked, for men to sign this Oath of Abjuration who, on their entrance to the ministry, had taken an oath of allegiance to the crown? Another purpose of the oath was to protect the Protestant Church, but in the Episcopal form of government and worship used in the Church of England. How could Presbyterian ministers pledge themselves to uphold Episcopacy?
The controversy about this Act almost caused a disruption in the Church. Some signed without scruple but approximately 300 faithful ministers, including the minister of Ettrick, refused to take the oath. Boston took steps to pass his worldly goods to his family to prevent the possibility of them being taken by the Government. When, finally, the deadline for signing arrived, the penalties were not implemented for fear of the consequences of such cruel and crippling punishments. Later the oath was watered down, but Boston still refused to sign and was prepared to lose all. He compared the oath to the house of the leper, which could not be cleansed but needed to be taken down. Some in Ettrick gossiped that their minister would not stand firm and waited for him to fall in with the authorities; this talk hurt him deeply. They clearly did not know their minister; Thomas Boston might have come across as a timorous man, but he was solid as a rock when it came to matters of principle. Once again, his diary reveals him agonising in prayer throughout this period. He never did sign the oath.
At a time when Boston was beginning to see some signs of deepening religious life in Ettrick, another trouble arose. In September 1715 the Earl of Mar raised the Jacobite standard at Braemar, instigating a rising against the Protestant, Hanoverian monarch. With other Highland chiefs, the Earl began to march south to Perth. Here the army divided with the intention of taking different routes to England. One contingent was to pass through the Ettrick area, and this brought total panic to the whole region. For several weeks the people of Ettrick were in fear of their lives and property, as the army of Highlanders passed through, sustaining themselves by confiscating whatever was available.
This was a great distress to Boston and, to make matters worse, the Government required ministers to produce a roll of able-bodied men aged from 16 to 60 to appear in Selkirk and be enrolled in a temporary militia to defend their parish. The men of Ettrick refused to enrol and they became even more resolute when a tax was levied to pay the expense of the expected conflict, as they believed the authorities already had sufficient resources to repel the invaders. It grieved Boston that he was compelled to read these edicts, and it was he, rather than the authorities, who bore the brunt of the people’s resentment. Eventually the Jacobites moved on to meet their English counterparts at Kelso, and together they marched south to Preston, where the rebellion was defeated.
In September 1716, Boston was called to the parish of Closeburn, in Dumfries-shire. The commissioners from Closeburn, and its presbytery, urged him to accept the invitation. Boston was deeply upset by the call, because he had given no indication that his desire was anything other than to stay with his people in Ettrick. As always, he was driven to prayer. He felt sure that to leave the parish at this time would undo much of what he had done. The people of Ettrick noticed the visitors to the manse from Closeburn and quickly realised they were at risk of losing their minister. Concern about his possible removal brought them to appreciate the excellence of their pastor. One woman wept as he walked by, for fear of him leaving. One of the wealthy heritors in the parish, who until that time had shown no interest in Boston’s ministry, began to attend church regularly and continued to do so for the rest of his life. Many came to plead tearfully with him not to leave them. The elders of the congregation announced a fast and many gathered, desiring that through confession of sins and prayer they might avert the loss of their minister.
The process dragged on for almost a year before it came before the Commission of the General Assembly in 1717, where the majority seemed to favour his translation to Closeburn. Boston asked for permission to speak and, despite his natural timidity, he spoke powerfully and persuasively. His fear of being separated from the people he had come to love added urgency to what he had to say. He recorded afterwards: “I must say the Lord was with me, giving me in that hour what to speak and courage to speak it, and even when I ran, He left me not to stumble”. Finally, by a vast majority, it was agreed that Boston should stay in Ettrick. On the following Sabbath, there was room in the church for only a fraction of those who came. He had won the hearts of his people and had shown his love to them and they to him. He was now preaching to a united and appreciative congregation.
2Those who did not accept the Revolution Settlement of the Scottish Church in 1689; they went on to become the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland.