|
 WELLWOOD,
(SIR) HENRY MONCRIEFF, BARONET, D.D., an eminent divine, was born at
Blackford, near Stirling, in February, 1750. He was the eldest son of
Sir William Moncrieff, Bart., minister of the parish just named; a man of
singular merits and virtues, and who possessed an influence over his
parishoners, and in the surrounding country, which these alone could bestow.
The subject of this memoir
was destined from an early age, as well by his own choice, as the desire of
his father, to the clerical profession; and, with this view, he repaired to
the university of Glasgow, after completing an initiatory course of
education at the parochial school of Blackford. Having given a due
attendance on the literary and philosophical classes in the university, Sir
Henry entered on the study of theology, in which he made a progress that
raised the highest hopes of his future eminence; and these hopes were not
disappointed. About this period, he had the misfortune to lose his venerable
father, who sank into a premature grave but the esteem in which that good
man was held did not die with him. All those who had any influence in the
appointment of a successor to his charge, unanimously resolved that his son
should be that person; and, further, that, as he had not yet attained the
age at which he could, according to the rules of the church, be licensed and
ordained, the vacancy should be supplied by an assistant, until that period
arrived. On the completion of this arrangement, which took place in 1768,
Sir Henry removed to Edinburgh, where he prosecuted his studies to their
close, distinguishing himself among his fellow students by the superiority
of his talents, and continuing to inspire his friends with the most sanguine
hopes of the success of his future ministry.
Having attained the
prescribed age, he was licensed to preach the gospel, although he had not
yet completed the required term of attendance at the divinity hall; and
immediately after, was ordained, 15th August, 1771, to the church of his
native parish. The singular talents of the young preacher, however, did not
permit of his remaining long in so obscure a charge as that of Blackford. On
the occurrence of a vacancy in the extensive and populous parish of St
Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh, Sir Henry Moncrieff, whose personal worth and
extraordinary abilities were already known and appreciated in the capital,
was called upon to supply it. Into this charge he was inducted in October,
1775, about four years after his ordination and settlement at Blackford. The
subsequent life of Sir Henry Moncrieff, though remarkable for an exemplary
and unwearied diligence in the discharge of the laborious duties of his
office, and for a continued display, on his part, of every excellence and
virtue which can adorn the human character, presents little of which the
biographer can avail himself. Holding on the "even tenor of his way," and
neither turning to the right nor to the left, but still anxiously promoting
the interests of religion by his eloquence, and of morality by his example,
Sir Henry Moncrieff was one of those great and good men, who are content to
confine the exercise of their talents—of talents which, if they had been
directed by ambition, might have procured them a more dazzling fame—to the
immediate duties of their calling; and who think that the high intellectual
powers with which they have been gifted, cannot be more usefully, or more
appropriately employed, than in extending the knowledge and promoting the
happiness of those within the immediate sphere of their personal influence.
The talents of Sir Henry Moncrieff could easily have procured him, had he
chosen it, a wider and a more brilliant reputation than is now attached to
his name; but he conceived, and he did so justly and wisely, that the end
for which these talents were bestowed on him, was fully and amply attained,
by devoting them to the task of instructing those over whose spiritual
welfare Providence had called him to preside; and who, as he well knew, must
have lost in proportion to what others might have gained by a dissipation of
his exertions.
It was not inconsistent,
however, with his duties as a minister of the establishment, that he should
take an active interest in the business of the church courts. At the period
when he entered public life, the moderate party, headed by Drs Robertson and
Drysdale, had attained a complete and hardly resisted supremacy in the
Scottish church. Sir Henry, however, instead of joining with a party with
which his secular rank might have been expected to inspire him with many
sympathies, took a decided part on the opposite course; and soon rose, by
the force of talent and character, assisted, but in no great degree, by his
rank, to the situation of a leader in the more zealous party, over whom he
ultimately acquired a control, not more useful to their interests than, as
the result of a tacit acknowledgment of his deserts, it was honourable to
himself. In 1780, he was proposed as moderator of the General Assembly, in
opposition to Dr Spens, of Wemyss; the competition was keen, Dr Spens being
elected by a majority of only six votes: but in 1785, Sir Henry, being again
a member of the General Assembly, was unanimously chosen moderator. Dr
Andrew Thomson, to whom in latter life he yielded much of his influence in
the church, has thus spoken, in his funeral sermon, of the public character
of Sir Henry:—
"It was in early life
that he began to take an active part in the government of our national
church. The principles of ecclesiastical polity, which he adopted as soon as
he entered on his public career, he adopted from full and firm conviction;
and he maintained, and cherished, and avowed them to the very last. They
were the very same principles for which our forefathers had contended so
nobly, which they at length succeeded in establishing, and which they
bequeathed as a sacred and blood-bought legacy to their descendants. But
though that circumstance gave a deep and solemn interest to them in his
regard, he was attached to them on more rational and enlightened grounds. He
viewed them as founded on the word of God, as essential to the rights and
liberties of the Christian people, as identified with the prosperity of
genuine religion, and with the real welfare and efficiency of the
establishment. And, therefore, he embraced every opportunity of inculcating
and upholding them; resisted all the attempts that were made to discredit
them in theory, or to violate them in practice; rejoiced when they obtained
even a partial triumph over the opposition they had to encounter; and clung
to them, and struggled for them, long after they were borne down by a system
of force and oppression; and when, instead of the numerous and determined
host that fought by his side in happier times, few and feeble,
comparatively, were those who seconded his manly efforts, and held fast
their own confidence: but he lived to see a better spirit returning. This
revival cheered and consoled him. Fervently did he long and pray for its
continuance and its spread. Nor did he neglect to employ his influence, in
order to introduce pastors who would give themselves conscientiously to
their Master’s work, preaching to their flocks the truth as it is in Jesus,
watching for souls, as those that must give an account; and faithfully and
fearlessly performing all the duties incumbent on them, both as ministers,
and as rulers in the church."
Sir Henry made a more
successful opposition, especially towards the end of his life, to the
dominant faction in the church, than had been made for upwards of half a
century before; and, in more instances than one, he left their leader,
principal Hill, in a minority: but it was, in the latter respect, adverted
to by Dr A. Thomson, that his efforts were most eminently useful, and were
followed with the most beneficial effect. To his efforts, indeed, are to be
ascribed, in a great measure, the introduction of evangelical doctrines into
parts of the country from which they had for many years been excluded, the
preponderance of evangelical ministers and elders in the church courts, and
the consequent ascendency of the popular party. Young men of piety and
promise were always sure of his assistance and encouragement. In this
respect many had reason to bless him; while the church at large has had
reason to rejoice in his fidelity and wisdom. In the management of the
Widows’ Fund, established by act of parliament in the year 1744, Sir Henry
took a deep interest, and acted as its collector for upwards of forty years.
He was also one of the original members of the society of the Sons of the
Clergy, and, by his influence and his exertions, contributed largely to its
success. He was, besides, a warm friend to every reasonably adjusted scheme,
that had for its object the amelioration of the moral and physical condition
of mankind. In the year 1826, he was bereaved of his wife, (Susan, daughter
to Mr James Robertson Barclay, of Keavil, W.S., to whom he had been married
in 1773, and who was his cousin;) while his own health, which had been
generally good, was also undergoing a decline. In the month of August of the
following year, 1827, Sir Henry himself died, after an illness of
considerable duration. At the time of his death, he was in the
seventy-eighth year of his age, and the fifty-sixth of his ministry.
The personal character of Sir
Henry Moncrieff was, in the highest degree, respectable, and his conduct, in
every relation of life, most exemplary. He had thoroughly studied the whole
scheme of the gospel; and, from full and deliberate conviction, as well as
from its experimental application to his own personal need, he threw
himself, without pretension and without reserve, upon the peculiar doctrines
of the church to which he belonged, as those which could alone insure his
eternal interests.
In his ministerial capacity,
he but rarely indulged in what is termed the pathetic; yet there was often,
particularly towards the close of his life, a tenderness in his modes of
expression, as well as in the accents of his voice, which came home to the
heart, with the energy of pathos itself. As an author, Sir Henry was well
known, and highly esteemed. The works which give him a claim to this title,
are, "A Life of Dr John Erskine;" three volumes of sermons, and a small work
on the constitution of the church of Scotland, which, as well as one of the
volumes of sermous, was published posthumously. The first is an interesting
record of the life of a most excellent and public-spirited minister, and
contains much valuable information respecting ecclesiastical affairs in
Scotland. The sermons abound with luminous expositions and practical
applications of divine truth. All of these publications were well received
by the public. That Sir Henry was admitted by all parties to be no ordinary
man, is sufficiently evinced by the following character of him, drawn up at
the unanimous request of the General Assembly of the church of Scotland, by
the Rev. Dr Macgill, professor of divinity in the college of Glasgow, their
moderator at the time, and inserted in the records of court; an honour which
has been bestowed on but few individuals in the Scottish church. Having
enjoyed the friendship and the confidence of Sir Henry from his earliest
years, as well as from kindred habits of thought and feeling, no man could
be better qualified than the reverend doctor to do justice to the subject.
"The Rev. Sir Henry Moncrieff
Wellwood, whose death and character have been brought before the Assembly,
was elected to be the general collector of the fund for the widows and
children of this church, in 1784, and continued to discharge, till his
death, the duties of that important office. During the long period of
forty-three years, he received annually the thanks of the General Assembly,
for the able, faithful, and affectionate manner in which he fulfilled the
trust reposed in him; and never were thanks bestowed more deservedly, and
with more full or heartfelt approbation. In the discharge of the difficult,
and often delicate duties of his office, he united the highest honour and
fidelity, with the most consummate prudence, and the greatest tenderness and
forbearance; so that it is stated of him, by those who were connected with
him in the trust, and who long and intimately knew him, that his vigour of
mind, and the caution with which he deliberated, enabled him to form such
decided opinions, as saved them in many cases from much perplexity; that
even the minutest details of the management were never regarded by him as
unworthy the attention of his powerful mind; that for the period during
which he administered the concerns of the fund, not a single instance
occurred of any embarrassment being occasioned to them, by any mistake or
inadvertency on his part, and on the other hand, so great was the confidence
reposed in him, that they never heard of a single complaint of severity in
the exercise of the powers with which he was intrusted.
But while the General
Assembly thus gratefully record their sense of the public services of Sir
Henry Moncrieff Wellwood in that office to which their attention has been
specially directed, it is impossible not also to remember what he was in a
higher character, and in the discharge of higher duties. Endowed with great
talents for the business of life, he was fitted for rising to high
distinction in the secular departments of society; but with a strong
attachment, which increased with his years, he devoted himself to the
ministry of Christ in the church of Scotland. The church of Scotland was
dear to him from his earliest predilections, and these were confirmed by his
maturest judgments and long experience and observation of human life. The
character of a minister of the gospel he valued above all others, and though
of too just an understanding not to estimate the advantages of his
hereditary rank, he never forgot, or allowed others to forget, that he held
a sacred character, by which it was of chief importance that he should be
known and considered. The doctrines of Christ were the objects of his
firmest faith and warmest attachment, and to preach them to his people he
considered to be his first duty, and highest honour. With a peculiar energy
and power he presented them to the minds of his hearers, and made them the
principles from which he enforced all the virtues and graces of a holy life;
while with fearlessness and freedom, and great discernment of human
character, he unfolded and exposed the besetting sins of men of every
condition. As a member of the General Assembly he will long be remembered.
His knowledge of business, his strong and masculine eloquence, the
distinctness and vigour with which he went forward to his subject, and the
simplicity and fire with which he stated his sentiments, secured to him at
all times the respectful attention of men of every description. Equally
distant from flattery and personal invective, he spoke with the freedom of
an independent but well regulated mind; nor amidst the collision of
sentiment and warmth of discussion did he ever forget the spirit which
should be maintained in an assembly met in the name of Christ and to promote
his kingdom. His life was devoted to active and general usefulness. He had
no taste for frivolous pursuits, and while his judgment led him to devote
himself chiefly to those peculiar departments of duty in which he believed
he would be most useful, he entered with deep interest into every scheme of
public utility, and rejoiced in the success of every well directed plan for
promoting the cause of religion and humanity. The young and the friendless
he delighted to take under his protection; and as his influence in society
was great, so many were the individuals in every department of life, besides
those who were within the reach of his private friends, whom he benefited by
his active services and by the wisdom of his counsels."
To this eulogium may be added
the following estimate of Sir H. Monerieff’s public character, by the late
lord Cockburn, in the Life of Francis Jeffrey:—"This eminent person was not
merely distinguished among his brethren of the church of Scotland, all of
whom leant upon him, but was in other respects one of the most remarkable
and admirable men of his age. Small gray eyes, an aquiline nose, vigorous
lips, a noble head, and the air of a plain hereditary gentleman, marked the
outward man. The prominent qualities of his mind were, strong integrity and
nervous sense. There never was a sounder understanding. Many men were more
learned, many more cultivated, and some more able. But who could match him
in sagacity and mental force? The opinions of Sir Harry Moncrieff might at
any time have been adopted with perfect safety, without knowing more about
them than that they were his. And he was so experienced in the conduct of
affairs, that he had acquired a power of forming his views with what seemed
to be instinctive acuteness, and with a decisiveness which raised them above
being slightly questioned. Nor was it the unerring judgment alone that the
public admired. It venerated the honourable heart still more. A thorough
gentleman in his feelings, and immoveably honest in his principles, his
whole character was elevated into moral majesty. He was sometimes described
as overbearing. And in one sense, to the amusement of his friends, perhaps,
he was so. Consulted by every body, and of course provoked by many, and with
very undisciplined followers to lead, his superiority gave him the usual
confidence of an oracle; and this operating on a little natural dogmatism,
made him sometimes seem positive, and even hard: an impression strengthened
by his manner. With a peremptory conclusiveness, a shrill defying voice, and
a firm concentrated air, he appeared far more absolute than he really was,
for he was ever candid and reasonable. But his real gentleness was often not
seen; for if his first clear exposition did not convince, he was not unapt
to take up a short disdainful refutation; which, however entertaining to the
spectator, was not always comfortable to the adversary. But all this was
mere manner. His opinions were uniformly liberal and charitable, and, when
not under the actual excitement of indignation at wickedness or dangerous
folly, his feelings were mild and benignant; and he liberalized his mind by
that respectable intercourse with society which improves the good clergyman,
and the rational man of the world. I was once walking with him in Queen
Street, within the last three years of his life. A person approached who had
long been an illiberal opponent of his, and for whom I understood that he
had no great regard. I expected them to pass without recognition on either
side. But instead of this, Sir Harry, apparently to the man’s own surprise,
stopped, and took him by the hand, and spoke kindly to him. When they
separated, I said to Sir Harry that I thought he had not liked that person.
‘Oh! no; he’s a foolish, intemperate creature. But to tell you the
truth, I dislike a man fewer every day that I live now.’" Lord Cockburn
adds that Sir Harry’s "great instrument of usefulness was his public
speaking;" that he often rose in the pulpit into "great views and
powerful declamation;" was "the noblest deliverer of prayers at striking
funerals;" and in debate "a fearful man to grapple with;" that "his writing,
though respectable, was feeble;" and that "had he not preferred his church
to every other object, there was no public honour to which he might not have
fought his way," as counsel, judge, head of public department, or
parliamentary leader. |
