DR. COLQUHOUN was one of the most noted of the preachers of the gospel in the first half of last century, and his preaching was highly appreciated by the most experienced of the Lord’s people. He found himself at times, as the following anecdote shows, in deep waters, and this may explain how he was so helpful to others in their times of trouble:—He was at one time under a heavy temptation as to the certainty of the existence of the Divine Being, God’s omnipresence and omnipotence, and especially His omniscience, were to him mysteries, which the more he tried to think of them the more impossible and the more incomprehensible they seemed to become. One evening he was in such a dejected state of mind that he felt quite unable to prepare the usual portion for his congregation on the following Sabbath. He was walking to and fro in his study, thinking that such an unbeliever as he was ought not to stand up and declare to others truths that he did not receive himself, when the door opened and the servant maid announced that a woman of the congregation wanted to see him. Glad to be drawn aside from his own thoughts, he asked the woman to be shown in. On being seated, she disclosed to him that she was in great agony of mind on account of blasphemous thoughts regarding God—that she could not believe that He was or that He was not what the Scriptures said He was, and that she feared every hour of the day that the Lord would punish her for what she knew was sin against Him. The Doctor heard her complaints with amazement, seeing her case to be so similar to his own, although he did not mention that to her, but quoted passages of the Word and also the words of Christ Himself, which were fitted to give her relief. Then he took another course. It was a winter night, and the blinds were drawn and the shutters closed, so he rose and opened the shutters and drew the blind. The moon was shining brightly, and turning to the woman he said, “Come here, woman! Can you doubt the being and power of Him who created and sustains that beautiful ball of light, which lights up the entire surrounding darkness? Look, also, at these innumerable stars. How are they upheld in the firmament if not by an Almighty Hand?” This did not give her any relief, and she made no reply. After the Doctor engaged in prayer she left. There was a small garden in front of the house, to the gate of which Dr. Colquhoun usually accompanied his visitors, and he did so at this time also. On her getting outside the gate, the woman, instead of proceeding on the highway, flung herself into the ditch by the side of the road, and exclaimed in a voice of despair, “Oh! wilt Thou not give me to believe that Thou art. Oh! give me to believe that Thou art.” The Doctor, who was fastening the gate inside, stood transfixed, and looking upward he repeated mentally the woman’s petition. Suddenly his bonds were loosed, and on re-opening the gate he said, “Oh! woman, blessed be the Lord. The power that accompanied and followed your cry has been the means of loosing my bonds. Come back! come back! and help me to praise Him for His mercy.” They returned to the study, and, kneeling together, adoring and weeping, they praised the Lord—the everlasting God.
* This anecdote was sent us by an esteemed friend who heard it from the lips of Rev. Archibald Cook.—EDITOR.
C. R. A.