Rev. Thomas Hog, Kiltlearn.
WHILE the Northern Highlands did not play such a prominent part in the great Covenanting struggle as did the Lowlands, yet there were not wanting witnesses from the North who took their place nobly in that great struggle which has ever since been regarded as one of the bright spots in Scottish Church history by all those who love the truths which were witnessed for even to death. Among these northern witnesses, the Rev. Thomas Hog, Kiltlearn, occupies a very honoured place. His piety as a Christian, his whole-hearted devotion as a minister, and his unswerving loyalty to the Truth as a witness of Jesus Christ in a dark and cloudy day, have given him a place in that honoured list of men and women to whom it was given not only to believe on, but also to suffer, for the Lord Jesus.
Thomas Hog was born about the beginning of 1628. His parents, who lived in Tain, were in fairly good circumstances, and were able to give their son a liberal education. The young lad soon showed that he was possessed of more than ordinary gifts. On the completion of his school education, he proceeded to Aberdeen, and at the end of his Arts course received his Master’s degree. As a young man he lived a chaste and beautiful life, and was extremely conscientious in the exercise of religious duties, but in after years he confessed that notwithstanding all this he was without God and without hope in the world. It was during the spiritual awakening that commenced in 1638 that Thomas Hog came to the knowledge of the truth. “His convictions and subsequent conversion,” says his biographer, “were the more endearing to him, that the innocence and apparent sanctity of his former life tended to exclude any suspicion of a bad state, and thus strengthen him in a fatal mistake.” Prior to his conversion, his biographer enumerates certain attainments he had made concerning which Thomas Hog afterwards said that if he was then in a state of grace and salvation, he was not in that state afterwards; for the whole of the following work, which by the Spirit and Word of God was wrought in his heart, was founded upon a strong, clear, and pointed conviction of his having been at that time out of Christ.
These attainments may be briefly summarised:—(1) His conversion was strictly moral; whatever is ordinarily termed vice he detested, and kept from it; (2) He attended prayer meetings and took part in the same, and was esteemed by those attending as a godly young man, possessed of knowledge and capable of expressing himself to the edification of those present; (3) He sincerely sought the Lord, and was diligent in the use of the means; (4) In regard to the public cause of Christ, he was not only sound and strict, but willing to suffer to the utmost in its defence; (5) In straits he acknowledged the Lord, and brought his difficulties before Him in prayer, to which he received, at times, remarkable answers. (Memoirs of the Life of Mr Thomas Hog, pp. 71, 72).
When it was said to Mr Hog that such a disposition and character must have been the outcome of saving grace, he replied that such was not the case, as there was nothing in all the above-mentioned attainments beyond a reformation that was legal—the convincing work of the Holy Spirit as set forth in John xvi., 8, 9, being yet absent. It would appear from what Mr Hog said to the Rev. James Hog, minister of Carnock, that he underwent a very deep and thorough work of conviction, which lasted for a considerable time, during which, at times, he was almost in despair. It was during the trying period of his experience that he acted as chaplain to the Earl of Sutherland. The Countess was an eminent Christian lady. She was the instrument in the hands of God of diverting Mr Hog’s thoughts from a dark and vile suggestion of the devil to do away with himself, and so get rid of the mental agony through which he was passing. While Mr Hog was brooding over the devil’s terrible suggestion, the Countess knocked at his door, and asked him to join her in partaking of a gift of fruit which she had received. She spoke very kindly to the young chaplain, and on his return to his room the spell of the temptation was broken. When at length in God’s good time, the light shone, it was with overwhelming power, and he received the word, “in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.” The special passage that came as the message of heaven to him while pleading with God in prayer was the words:—”I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” He was so overjoyed in this great deliverance that he thought it was always to be so, but he was soon to learn that the believer is not to have his joy uninterrupted here. On being called to conduct family worship, and fully expecting he would enjoy the same liberty in approaching God as he had done when the light shone into his heart, he was painfully disappointed when he found it was with the greatest difficulty that he could utter only a few words in prayer. When going to his room, the Countess whispered to him:— “Mr Thomas, be not discouraged; the Lord is trying your submission to His sovereign pleasure.” Mr Hog, from the lesson he learned at this time, was wont to remark that submission to the sovereign will of God under desertion, afflictions, and trials, is preferable to the strongest consolations, because consolation pleases us, but submission pleases God. It was while acting as chaplain to the house of Sutherland that Mr Hog was made the instrument in the conversion of a young gentleman of the name of Munro, and who was related to the family. The chaplain was grieved at the idle conversation indulged in by the young gentleman, and seriously admonished him. The rebuke was taken kindly, and from the issue it is evident it was taken to heart. The reproof was used by God for the direction of the young man’s mind to the things of Eternity, and he showed by his after conduct that the things of the kingdom of heaven were uppermost in his mind.
Mr Hog was licensed to preach the Gospel when he was in his twenty-sixth year. In 1654 or 1655 he was called to the Parish of Kiltearn. He at once entered with the greatest earnestness into his work. He visited his people, going from house to house, praying with them, exhorting them, and instructing them in the things of the kingdom of heaven. “His people,” says his successor, Mr Stuart, “were awakened to hear, and he was encouraged to preach Christ Jesus to them, so that the dry bones began to revive, and pleasant blossoms and hopeful appearances displayed themselves everywhere through the parish.” The preaching of Mr Hog was greatly relished by some of the most eminent Christians of the day, including noted ministers of the period. Among these may be mentioned James Nimmo, Katharine Collace (Mrs Ross), John Munro (Caird), Rev. Thomas Taylor, Rev. Angus Macbean, Rev. Thomas Ross, and Rev. John Welwood. The story of John Munro’s conversion is of the greatest interest as illustrative of Mr Hog’s faithful dealing with members of his congregation and the happy issue of the same. John Munro, better known as Caird (Gaelic ceaird, tinker), so called from his occupation, called on the minister for baptism. But owing to his ignorance he was refused the privilege until he could show some better attainments in knowledge. On his second appearance before Mr Hog, he resented being questioned on such subjects as sin and wrath, and peremptorily demanded of the minister whether he was to baptise his child or not. “The Lord’s time,” replied Mr Hog, “is the best time; when you are fitter to receive that privilege, I shall be more willing to grant it.” “Very well, sir,” said John, in a fit of temper, “Keep it to yourself, you’ll give me baptism when I ask it again.” The man went home, but not to rest, the work of conviction had begun, and he was soon in deep waters. With the heavy load of sin resting upon him, John Munro came to the church, and heard the Gospel for the first time in reality as the Gospel of his salvation. “Mr Thomas, O Mr Thomas,” was his joyful salutation to the minister, “turn your prayer to praises on my account, for this day salvation is come to my soul.” It was concerning him that the Rev. James Hog, Carnock, said:—”I had the happiness to see him twice or thrice, and to converse a considerable while with him by the means of the Rev. William Stuart, minister of Inverness, who interpreted for us both; and I must say, that except the great Mr Thomas Hog, no person ever tried me and went so much to the very bottom of my heart, as he was directed to do, both as to the ground-work and the most important concerns of a Christian life. He was then of great age, not many years under a hundred, and though very frail in body, yet fully ripe in understanding, memory, and other soul faculties, and advanced in saving grace to a prodigy. While conversing with him I thought I was, as it were, at the feet of one of the old prophets, for besides a wonderful penetrating reach, his aspect was full of majesty and gravity.”
Mr Hog began his ministry when the controversy between the Protesters and Resolutioners was keen. As a spiritually taught Christian with keen discernment, he espoused the cause of the Protesters, and thus brought himself into line with the most discerning Christians of his time. Soon after the Restoration (in 1662) he was put out of his charge. For a time he ministered to those like-minded with himself in Moray, but in 1668 he was deputed by the Bishop of Moray for preaching in his own house and “keeping conventicles,” and imprisoned for a short time in Forres. On his release, through the good offices of the Earl of Tweeddale, Mr Hog continued to preach as usual. In 1677 the Privy Council ordered him, as a “noted keeper of conventicles,” to be transported from Moray to the Tolbooth, Edinburgh. From the Tolbooth he was sent to the Bass Rock, at Archbishop Sharp’s suggestion, and was there imprisoned in the lowest vault of that loathsome prison. The substance of Sharp’s speech, as given by Hog’s biographer, may be quoted as indication of the hatred the prelate bore to this worthy witness of Jesus Christ. “Archbishop Sharp,” he says, “taking up the argument, said that the prisoner did; and was in a capacity to do, more hurt to their interests, sitting in his elbow chair, than twenty others could do by travelling from this land to the other; and if the justice of God was pursuing him to take him off the stage, the clemency of the Government should not interfere to hinder it; and, therefore, it was his opinion, that if there were any place in the prison worse than another, he should be put there.” Mr Hog’s health at this time was very poor, and when his faithful servant, William Balloch, saw him consigned to the loathsome cell, he burst into tears, saying:—”Now, master, your death is unavoidable.” But instead of becoming worse, his health improved, and when others would be condemning Sharp, he would good-naturedly break in with the remark, “Commend him to me for a good physician!” In October 1677, Mr Hog was liberated from prison, but confined to the bounds of Kintyre under penalty of a thousand marks. Two years later he was again imprisoned, and shortly afterwards liberated. For a season he enjoyed liberty, but in 1683 he was brought before the Privy Council, and fined five thousand merks for keeping “house conventicles,” and ordered to remove forth of the kingdom within forty-eight hours. He was offered six weeks to get ready for his banishment, if he would give his bond not to exercise any part of his ministerial functions during that time. He told them that, “being under much frailty of body, it was not likely he would be able; but as he had his commission from God, he would not bind up himself one hour, if the Lord called him and gave him strength.” He retired to Berwick, and thence to London, where he had formed the intention of sailing to Carolina. While in London, owing to the spread of a report that the Presbyterians were plotting against the King and the Duke of York, Mr Hog as a suspected person, was again cast into prison, and remained there for some time. On his release he repaired to Holland, where he was introduced to the Prince of Orange, who honoured him by making him later on one of his chaplains. In 1688 the power of the oppressor was broken in Scotland and England, and happier days dawned for the oppressed. Mr Hog was restored to his former charge at Kiltearn in 1691, to the great joy of his former flock. He was now a broken man through the infirmities of age, accentuated by the sufferings which he had endured in the cause of truth. He only lived about a year among his beloved parishioners, when death came and removed him to his everlasting rest on the 4th day of January 1692. He suffered a great deal, and on being asked by a friend whether it was soul or bodily suffering he was passing through, he replied:—”No soul trouble, man, for a hundred and hundred times my Lord hath assured me that I shall be with Him for ever; but I am making moan for my body.” At another time he was heard to cry:—”Look, O my God, upon mine affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins.” On another occasion he remarked to Mr Stuart, his successor at Kiltearn—”Never did the sun in the firmament shine more brightly to the eyes of my body than Christ the Sun of Righteousness hath shined on my soul.” The last words he was heard to utter were—”Now He is come. He is come, my Lord is come! Praises to Him for evermore. Amen!” With these words Thomas Hog passed into the presence of his God and Redeemer, whom he sought to serve through good report and evil report, going without the camp bearing His reproach. He was laid to rest amidst the weeping of his affectionate flock, who had so lately welcomed back their beloved pastor. It is said that he gave a charge on his death-bed to dig his grave at the threshold of the church, that his people might regard him as a sentinel against an unworthy minister being intruded to the charge. His tombstone bore the following inscription:—
THIS STONE SHALL BEAR WITNESS
AGAINST THE PARISHIONERS OF KILTEARN
IF THEY BRING ANE UNGODLY MINISTER
IN HERE
THE CUP OF AFFLICTION.—O believer, you need not shudder or be grieved at the cup of affliction which your Father gives you to drink, for though it be bitter at the top, yet the sugar is at the bottom of the cup. “What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.” How little cause hath a believer to be discontented at outward trials. What! are you discontented at that out of which God is bringing a song of praise in time, and a weight of glory through eternity?—R. Erskine.