SOME OF THE PROMINENT MEMBERS OF SESSION.
James Dodson
CHAPTER X.
AMONG the elders of the Congregation there have been an unusually large number of men of eminent piety, and our historical sketch might be thought incomplete, if it did not contain some notice of a few of those among them who were pre-eminently useful.
About the beginning of the present century two men, John Thomson and Daniel Carse, stood far above any of their fellows, in influence, and esteem.
JOHN THOMSON, descended from an old covenanting ancestry, was born at Pitpotts in the Parish of Shotts, on 17th September, 1739. He remembered having in his boyhood seen the first John M‘Millan, who patted him on the head, and gave him a halfpenny. In 1752, he was apprenticed to a weaver in Glasgow. Before he left
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home his father set apart a day as a family fast, and with much solemnity transferred to the lad, the obligation of the baptismal vows which had been undertaken on his behalf at his baptism. The ceremony made an indelible impression on the lad’s mind, and deepened the religious convictions under which he had already come. He had not been long in Glasgow, till he was summoned home to his father’s death-bed. His mother shortly thereafter removed to Glasgow, and John Thomson provided a home for her till her death, in 1788. Although all his life only a handloom weaver, he was a man of unusual intelligence, and an ardent student in various branches of learning. He never allowed himself more than five hours’ sleep, and not only was he a voluminous reader at night, and in the early morning, but even when at his loom he had a book fastened upon it, which he read when the work did not require all his attention. His reading had a wide range, and he accumulated a library of five hundred volumes which he greatly prized. But his chief study was the Bible. Not only did he read a portion of Scripture night and morning, he also found time for reading and prayer after every meal. He was elected an elder in 1776, but did not accept office till two years later, when he and his life-long friend
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Daniel Carse, were ordained together. During the long vacancy which occurred after the death of Mr M‘Millan in 1808, these two men laboured unweariedly to keep the members together, and to maintain the spiritual life of the Congregation. They were examples to the people in every good work. After the settlement of Mr Armstrong, they greatly helped him in his pastoral labours.
John Thomson was never married. For many years after his mother’s death he lived in a small house alone; and by unremitting industry, and the strictest frugality, he accumulated a modest competency which supported him in his declining years, when he also enjoyed the company and attention of some kind relatives. He was long Treasurer of the Congregation, and was preses for at least twenty years, till failing strength obliged him in 1819 to retire from further service. He was then elected an honorary member of the committee of management for life. To the duties of every office to which he was appointed he gave unwearied attention, and the regularity of his attendance at the business meetings of the Congregation, even when he had attained a great age, was very remarkable. He continued to work at his loom, more or less, till he was eighty years of age, when failing strength, and failing sight, compelled him to take that rest to which he was
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so well entitled. But during those years of leisure a heavy cloud rested on him, for the weakness of sight increased so much, as to cut him off entirely from communion with his well-beloved books. His memory was fortunately well stored, and he found it equally pleasant and profitable to spend much of his time, in quiet communion with God. For several years before his death he was unable to walk without help, and seldom left home except to go to Church, from which he was never absent. In the autumn of 1824, he heard that his old friend and fellow office-bearer, Daniel Carse, appeared to be dying, and he went to visit him. Daniel had been a widower for about half a century; and was now looking forward with joyful hope, to meeting once more his long-lost partner. “She’ll be wondering,” he said, “what has keepit me sae lang.” He spoke of her singular piety, and of her sore conflicts with doubts, and the wicked one, adding, “But she faucht it stoutly wi’ him.” Daniel asked his friend to “tak the Buik.” They sang together part of the twenty-third Psalm, and read the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions.” “I will come to take you unto myself.” John Thomson poured out his heart in
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prayer for both. After worship, Daniel Carse gave a short account of his religious history. He had been early taught to pray, and could look back more than eighty years to the time when as a boy, he had sweet seasons of prayer while in the fields, herding the sheep. He was throughout life eminently a man of prayer, and was often called upon to lead the devotions of the congregational prayer meetings. His prayers, particularly those offered in connection with a Communion season, were never forgotten by those privileged to join in them. He died a few days after this meeting, in his eighty-eighth year.
John Thomson did not long survive his friend. He felt his end approaching, and having wisely arranged his worldly affairs, he calmly and hopefully prepared himself to die. Shortly before his death he repeated in a very clear but feeble voice, two questions, with their answers, from the Shorter Catechism. The last was, “What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection? At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.” After repeating these beautifully appropriate words he hardly spoke, and shortly after expired, while sitting on his chair. “Thus
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lived, and thus died one, who to a remarkable degree, succeeded through grace in walking as Christ also walked.”
During his last illness, John Thomson was attended with loving assiduity by his nephew, Robert Walker “the doorkeeper,” who treasured his words in a singularly retentive memory, and afterwards prepared a short memoir of his uncle, to which we are indebted for the information contained in this short notice of an eminently useful man.
Those who remember Great Hamilton Street half a century ago, will not have forgotten the venerable figure of DUGALD CAMPBELL. As he entered the church every one saluted him with marked respect, and while he sat in his accustomed place at the minister’s left hand, listening with fixed attention to every word that was spoken, his long and snowy white hair seemed to form a halo round his singularly reverent, and expressive face.
He was born at Ardnamen, Luing, on 1st August, 1763. Of his early life we know little, but it is undoubted that he came of a race of deeply religious men. His mother, Hannah like, dedicated her children to the Lord from the womb; and his eldest sister Janet, is believed to have been largely instrumental in bringing about a
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remarkable revival of religion in the Lorn district, about a hundred years ago. Mr Campbell went to Glasgow when he was about seventeen years of age, and worked for a time as a joiner, but his health suffering, he opened a grocer’s shop in Well Street, Calton, where he continued to reside till his death. He married in 1798 Margaret Hill, who died childless in 1820. In 1821 he married Mary Binnie, a sister of Mr Thomas Binnie, who proved in the fullest sense of the term an help meet for him. It is believed that Mr Campbell became a member of the Congregation while it worshipped at Sandhills, and he was ordained an elder in 1812. He had a warm personal friendship for Mr Armstrong; and the troublous times which resulted in the formation of the West Campbell Street congregation, were times of great trial to him. Violent party feeling was impossible to Mr Campbell, and his recognition of the good that was in each of the parties in the congregation, gave great umbrage to the keen partizans of both. On many with whom he came in contact, the beauty of the Christian life which Mr Campbell led, made a deep impression. He was honoured of God to be the means of bringing to decision, a young man destined in after years to become a prince in the Reformed Presbyterian
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Church. This is alluded to in the following extract from a short Autobiography, which Dr William Symington left. “In the month of August, 1812, I went to Laurieston, in the vicinity of Falkirk, with a Christian friend, Mr D. Campbell, who waited on the celebration of Christ’s death. His conversation was suitable, and his example instructive. From this time I think may date the commencement of my serious impressions about divine things.” As the minister of Great Hamilton Street, thirty years afterwards, Dr Symington had fuller opportunity of learning the worth of his early friend.
A constant attender at all diets of worship, frequently walking long distances to the various yearly Communions, never failing to be present at all congregational, sessional, and fellowship meetings, “instant in season, out of season” in his visitation of his district, and the afflicted in his neighbourhood, Mr Campbell was a wonderful power for good. He exercised hospitality to all, but especially to the ministers and students of the Church. During the seven years’ vacancy, 1808-1815, the preachers supplying the pulpit resided in his house. A few sentences from a letter written by Dr Inglis, late of Aneityum, will best show the light in which he was regarded by the students. Our venerable missionary writes,
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“I became acquainted with Mr Campbell fifty-five years ago, in 1833, when I came to Glasgow to attend College. For the first two months I was at College, I was a member of the fellowship meeting that assembled weekly in Great Hamilton Street Session house. Mr Campbell, Mr Thomas Binnie, and Mr Robert Walker, were leading members of that fellowship society. Mr Campbell was an elder, and I think the senior one of the congregation at that time. He was trusted and beloved by everybody. He was a wise, steady, peace-loving man: I never heard of him having an enemy. He was greatly liked by all the students. In my eyes at least, for age and Christian character the most outstanding and representative man in the congregation.”
Mr Campbell was, without his knowledge, elected a Councillor for the Burgh of Calton, and though he would not as a Reformed Presbyterian take the oaths of office then required, he was permitted to take his seat and to hold office for the three years, 1829-31, for which he had been elected. Always a very temperate man, he became a total abstainer at the rise of the Temperance movement. While “more bent to raise the wretched, than to rise,” Mr Campbell proved himself to be far richer than many who had more of this world’s goods. To the poor he
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gave his time, his sympathy, and his prayers. People of all creeds, and shades of opinion, flocked to him in trouble. All who have heard Mr Campbell lead in devotional exercises, speak of the extraordinary power and beauty of his prayers. His last illness was long and very trying, but his strong faith never faltered. To a friend, who was commenting on his emaciation, he said, smiling, “the natural man waxeth weaker, but the spiritual man waxeth stronger; and in my sickness my God has made all my bed.” He died on the 22nd December, 1843, and was buried in the Calton Burying Ground. His funeral, a public one, was attended by a very great company. The shops in the neighbourhood were shut, for it was a day of general mourning. The following Sabbath, Dr Symington preached from the text, “He died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years.” Genesis xxv. 8.
THOMAS BINNIE was born at Lauchope, near Holytown, on Mid-summer day, 1792. His father was David Binnie, or Binning, and his mother, Margaret Rodger, was a daughter of a well known covenanting family. He began life very early as a farm servant, but before he attained to manhood he became a mason, and as a journeyman worked in various parts of the
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West of Scotland, and North of England. In 1815, he settled in Glasgow, and became a member of the Congregation in Calton in June, 1816. Shortly thereafter he married Jean Menzies, daughter of William Menzies, farmer in Avenue end, a much respected elder of the Congregation.
In January, 1818, he was elected one of the managers, and subsequently he was for some years Preses of the Congregation, and for many years he acted as treasurer of the Sessional poors fund. In 1818, he contracted for the mason work of the present church. On the opening day, he selected the seat which he so regularly occupied for forty-eight years thereafter.
During the latter years of Mr Armstrong’s ministry, he abstained from any active participation in the management of the congregational business. Although himself warmly attached to Mr Armstrong and his ministry, he strongly supported the application of those who desired a disjunction, believing with Matthew Henry, that “for brethren to dwell together in unity, it is sometimes necessary that they should dwell apart.”
As an elder of the congregation, he was conscientious in visiting the people under his charge; and his visits were specially prized by widows and others in affliction. By such persons his
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advice and sympathy were much sought, and they were ever ungrudgingly given.
And it was not advice only that was given. Many a deserving widow, and fatherless child, received substantial aid in days of sorrow and want. He used to say that he owed all his prosperity in the world to the fact, that he always kept half a dozen widows praying for him.
He prospered in business far beyond his early expectations, and gave liberally as the Lord prospered him. He introduced a more liberal scale of contribution to the congregational funds than had previously been known; and did not a little, both by example and precept, to extricate the congregation from the financial difficulties in which it was for a time involved.
His influence was felt throughout the whole of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. He enjoyed the friendship of a large majority of the ministers, many of whom made his house their home when they came to Glasgow, and resorted to him as a wise counsellor in cases of difficulty. He prepared plans for, and superintended the erection of, not fewer than ten of the Reformed Presbyterian Churches; and generally he added a handsome contribution to the labour which he freely gave.
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Soon after connecting himself with the Congregation, he became a member of the Tuesday Evening Fellowship Meeting, a meeting which had met weekly from the second reformation days. It was the same society which met in the Goosedubs, during the times of the persecution. For many years he was chairman of that meeting, and permitted no other engagement to interfere with his regular attendance. He owed much to it, and many of its members owed much to him.
He took a great interest in the Mission in Green Street, and was seen at his best when addressing a meeting in the mission hall. Few could excel him in speaking to plain people, on a religious or social subject, when he was so much alone with them, as to be entirely at his ease.
After fifty-one years’ connection with the Congregation, he died suddenly, early on the morning of Monday, the 14th January, 1867. He had attended church twice on the previous day, apparently in his ordinary health.
JAMES REID, Esquire of Calderbank, was the eldest son of the Rev. James Reid, long the much respected minister of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Galloway. He was born at Newton-Stewart in March, 1796. In
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his fifteenth or sixteenth year he came to Glasgow, and entered the employment of his brother-in-law, Mr John Stewart, Ironmonger, and Iron merchant. Mr Stewart ere long assumed Mr Reid as a partner; and the early death of Mr Stewart soon devolved the whole charge of the business upon him. Mr Reid was not long in showing a very remarkable business capacity. The business of the firm extended rapidly, till it occupied the leading place in the malleable iron trade in the West of Scotland. He was afterwards one of the principal partners of the Glasgow Iron Company, and of the Provanhall Coal Company. In these enterprises he amassed a large fortune. In the early days of iron shipbuilding he largely aided some of the more enterprising shipbuilders, and was thus instrumental, to a very considerable extent, in establishing that industry on the Clyde.
In February, 1825, Mr Reid married Marion Symington, daughter of Mr William Symington of Paisley; and thus became brother-in-law to Dr Andrew Symington of Paisley, and Dr William Symington, then of Stranraer, but afterwards of Great Hamilton Street, Glasgow. Thus by descent, and marriage, as well as by conviction, Mr Reid was closely connected with the old
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Cameronians, whose principles he held tenaciously to the end of his life.
He was long an elder, and from 1821 he was constantly serving the Congregation in some official capacity, at various times filling the offices of Manager, Clerk, Treasurer, and Preses. He was a wise counsellor, prudent, and conciliatory, both in manner and action. He spoke seldom, but when he did speak his words were weighty, and were listened to with most respectful attention.
He was known and highly respected throughout the whole Church, and was always confidently appealed to for assistance, when any of the Congregations were engaged in church or manse building, or in the payment of debt.
He was a large contributor to the funds of the Congregation, and a considerate and kind friend to many of the poorer members. When settling his affairs, he did not forget the Congregation of which he was so long a member, but left to it a handsome legacy, with which the balance of the old congregational debt was paid, and the schools and mission premises in Green Street very greatly improved.
Mr Reid bought the estate of Calderbank, near Baillieston, and resided in the old mansion-house there for a number of years before his death.
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He was seized with a fatal illness when visiting his well-beloved Galloway, and died at Stranraer on the 14th of October, 1870.
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Many other venerable forms pass in review before our memory, as we look back half-a-century over the roll of Congregational Worthies; but our space forbids the mention even of their names. “Seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus.”