HEUGH, HUGH, D.D.,
an eminent divine of the United Presbyterian Church, son of Rev.
John Heugh, minister of the General Associate congregation, Stirling,
was born in that town on 12th August, 1782. His paternal
grandfather was minister of the parish of Kingoldrum, Forfarshire.
His great-grandfather was also a minister. He was the youngest
except one of ten children. Educated at the grammar school of his
native town, in his 15th year he was sent to the
university of Edinburgh, where he studied logic and moral
philosophy, while his theological studies were conducted at Whitburn
under the superintendence of Professor Bruce. On 22d February 1804,
he was licensed to preach by the General Associate presbytery of
Stirling, when he was only 22 years of age. Soon after he received
calls from Greenloaning, Hawick, and Stirling, the latter to be
colleague to his father. The ecclesiastical court, which then
decided on competing calls, gave the preference to Stirling, and he
was ordained on 14th August 1806.
His
ministry was very successful, being a working as well as a preaching
minister. “With more than the ordinary vivacity of youth,” says Dr.
Brown, in his Funeral Sermon, “he had much of the sagacity of age,
and so conducted himself, both in public and private life, that no
man could despise his youth. He was a diligent student, and a
faithful laborious minister. The congregation in every sense of the
word, flourished under him; and his ministry was fruitful as well as
acceptable.” He remained 15 years in Stirling, and long before the
close of his pastorate there, had established for himself a high
standing in the denomination to which he belonged. After the union
of the two sections of the Secession church, the Regent Place
congregation, Glasgow, gave him a unanimous call in July 1821, being
the third that they had sent to him within two years. Another call
was presented to him at the same time from Nicolson Street
congregation, Edinburgh. The Synod decided in favour of Glasgow, and
his induction to his new charge took place on 9th October
1821.
From the
outset of his residence in that city, he ranked high as a preacher,
and in 1831, the college of Jefferson, Pennsylvania, conferred upon
him the degree of D.D. He took a prominent part in the management of
all matters connected with the Secession church, and in the
discussion of the various public questions of the day. On account of
his health, he spent the summer of 1834 in Geneva, and after his
return, a colleague to him was chosen by his congregation. Dr. Heugh
died 10th June 1846, in his 64th year. His
Life, with a Selection from his Discourses, by his son-in-law,
Hamilton M. MacGill, minister of the United Presbyterian Church,
Glasgow, and a portrait, was published in 1850, in 2 large volumes
8vo. – Dr. Heugh was the author of:
Christian
Beneficence, a Sermon. Stirling. 1815. Published at the request of
the Stirling Female Society for relieving aged and indigent women,
for whose benefit it was preached.
Sermon to
the Young. Glasgow, 1852.
Considerations
of Civil Establishments of Religion; with an Appendix, containing
Remarks on Dr. Inglis’ ‘Vindication.’ 3d edit. Glasgow, 1833, 12mo.
Civil
Establishments of Religion Unjust in their Principle, and Injurious
in their Effects. Glasgow, 1835, 12mo.
Friendly
Reply to Friendly Address to Dissenters by Ministers of the
Established Church. 1841.
Statement
of Principles held by the Associate Synod; on the Controversy as to
the extent of the Atonement, in the case of the Rev. J. Morrison of
Kilmarnock. 1841.
Notices of
the State of Religion in Geneva and Belgium. Glasgow, 1844, 16mo.
Irenicum.
Glasgow, 1846.
