Duncan Dunbar

Front matter

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A SKETCH

LIFE OF THE LATE PASTOE

Chapter I. Page

Birthplace — Boyish Sports — Narrow Escape from Death — First Religious Impressions — Seeking Ghosts in the Gaick Mountains — State of Religion in the Highlands, 3

CHAPTEE II.

Lachlin Mcintosh — Persecution for Christ's Sake — Peter Grant — Seeking after God — The Laird of Grant — His Justice and Generosity — The Awakened Soul — A Blind Leader — Temptation to Suicide — The Deposed Schoolmaster — Led to the Cross — Peace in Believing, . 10

CHAPTER HI.

Aspirations for a Military Life — Residence in Aberdeen — Marriage — Labors as a Layman — Thoughts on Christian Baptism — Desires for wider Usefulness — Sails for America — Low State of Evangelical Religion in the British Provinces — His Labors in New Brunswick and their Results — Call to Ordination by an Independent Church — Increased Trials on the Mode and Subjects of Baptism — Immersion and Ordination — Settlement in St. George —Labors for the Blacks and Indians — Journal, 21

CHAPTER IV.

Formation of the New Brunswick Evangelical Society — Sails for Great Britain — Journal — Arrival in Glasgow — Hindrance in his Work — Kind Reception and Sympathy from Dr. Chalmers, &c. — Journal — Letter, 29

CHAPTER V.

Returns to Scotland — Black Harry — Embarks with his Family for America — Labors on Shipboard — Provisions Fail — His Faith in God — A Birth in the Steerage — Visit from a Whale — Sufferings from Hunger — God in the Storm, . 41

Vlll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI.

Land Ahead — Wrecked on the Coast of Bermuda — Kind Reception — Letters — Preaching on the Island, 51

CHAPTER VII.

Voyage from Bermuda to St. John — St. George — Renewal of Pastoral "Work — Preaching in " Gaelic " — Home-trials in the New World — His Generosity — Letter — Crossing the Bay, 57

CHAPTER VIII.

Visit to Maine — Preaches at the Bowdoinham Association — Warm Reception there — Criticism of the " Fathers," 67

CHAPTER IX.

Providential Detention in Nobleboro' — Strong Faith in God — A Dead Church — A Great Awakening — Resigns his Charge in St. George, and Accepts a Call from the Second Nobleboro* Church — Arduous Labors there — Results, ... 72

CHAPTER X.

Removes his Family to Nobleboro* — A Minister's Wife in the Almshouse — The Horse Sermon — Goes to South Berwick, on Exchange — A Great Revival — Letter to Frederickton — Resigns his Charge in Nobleboro' — Is Recalled — Letters pressing his Return, 77

CHAPTER XL

Removes to Portsmouth, N. H. — Previous Efforts to Establish a Baptist Church there — Strong Doctrinal Preaching — Opposition from " Christians," and Calvinist Baptist Church Formed — Independent Congregational Church embraces Baptist Yiews — Invite him and his People to unite with them — Helpers raised up — Resigns his Charge — Removes to Chester, N. H. — A Perilous Adventure — Yisits New York —Called to the First Brooklyn and the North Beriah (Yandam Street, New York) Churches, 8c

CHAPTER XII.

Takes Charge of the Yandam Street Church — Tribute of Mr. W. Seton — Labors in Destitute parts of the City — Formation of the Sixteenth Church — Befriending Strangers — Preaching Christ in the Prison — Efforts for Convicts, . . 93

CONTENTS. IX

CHAPTER XIII.

The Cholera Summer — Letter of Dr. Dowling — Lahors with the Sick and Dying

— Is Prostrated with the Disease — Returns to his Work — Careful to Entertain Strangers — Second Cholera Summer — God's Wing over the People of his Charge, . .... 106

CHAPTER XIV.

Voyage to Europe — Tisits his Old Home on the Spey — His Intercourse with the People — Labors Publicly and from House to House — Interest in Scotch Baptists — A Highland Missionary Meeting — Giving to the Poor Lending to the Lord — A Search for Hidden Baptists — Desire to Labor in his Native Land. . 112

CHAPTER XV.

First Record of Interest in the Negro — Pro-Slavery Riots of 1834 — His Church formed on Anti-Slavery Principles — Associational Letters — The Triennial Convention at Richmond (1835) — A Pious Slaveholder — A Distracted Mother

— A Visitor from Florida — His Model Christian — Ned Dudley — Buying

Sally — The Rolls Slaves — John D ; how God rewarded his Humble

Hospitality, 120

CHAPTER XVI.

Call and Removal to South Boston — Return to New York — Compassion for the Stricken — Charity for the Starving Irish — Letter from Coolany — The Mission of a Word — Labors to make the Poor Independent — The Old Ballad-seller — A Street Acquaintance — A Charge against ; ' Blackwell's Island " — His Gratitude — ' : Uncle M." — Knowing the Heart of the Stranger — Removal to Philadelphia — to Trenton — Return to New York, 139

CHAPTER XVII.

Letter on Unwarranted Interference in Church Affairs, and on Minorities Resisting Majorities — Confessions of Injudicious Kindness — Extracts from Letters

— Heaping Coals of Fire — Advice to Young Ministers — A Solemn Providence, 163

CHAPTER XVIII.

Dark Days in McDougal Street — The Cloud Dispelled — A New Trial — Direct Answer to Prayer — Discouragement — A Joyful Surprise, .... 173

X CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIX.

Drafts on the Bank of Faith — Care for the Widow and the Fatherless — God's Approval of the Work — Mullers Life of Trust, 177

CHAPTER XX.

Characteristics of his Preaching — A Sleeping Christian Awakened — Style and Manner — Testimony of a Gifted Mind — Cultivation of Family-Feeling in the Church — A Dream — A Word in Season — Helping Weary Pastors — Letter from a Young Minister — Letter to the Association — Establishes a Weekly Baptist Newspaper in New York — Deep Interest in Missions — Successful Plan to Remove the Debt of the American Baptist Missionary Union — Letter from the Secretary, . 187

CHAPTER XXI.

Wise to Win Souls — Preaching at the Gaming-Table — The Children's Minister — Sympathy with the Little Ones — Playfulness — Incidents — Extracts from Letters, 207

CHAPTER XXII.

Changing Enemies to Friends — An Opposing Husband Won — An Angry Yisitor Converted — Making Peace — Comforting the Aged and Lonely — Regard for the Sensibility of the Poor — God's End of the Purse, 218

CHAPTER XXIII.

Letters of Sympathy, Condolence, and Friendship, to Mrs. Charles S. Stewart — to Deacon and Mrs. Dexter — to Mrs. D. — Letter Acknowledging a Present — to Rev. Dr. Kennard, 225

CHAPTER XXIV.

Tenderness as a Father — The Midnight Prayer — Family Letters, . . . 238

CHAPTER XXV.

Afflictions — God's Presence as the Comforter — His Mother's Death — A Great Sorrow at Home — At Evening-Time it is Light — The Pure in Heart see God — Letter after a Great Bereavement — Letters of Sympathy, 24S

CONTENTS. xi

CHAPTER XXYI.

Physical Constitution — Sails for Europe — Arrival — Sight of the Heather — First Sabbath in Scotland — The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper — His Interest in America — A Church in a Hotel — The Baptistery — Yisit to Arbroath, Brechin, and Aberdeen — The Memory of a Voice — Reaches Grantown — The Queen's Chamber — Her Majesty Scorned by a Highland Lass — Peter Grant — Sabbath Services — A Highland Welcome — Castle Grant — The Haunted Room — The Laird of Dalrey and his Scotch Paradise — Elgin — Inverness — Tour of the Caledonian Canal — Aban — S tafia — A Perilous Adventure — The Trosachs — Back to Edinburgh — York — London — Paris — Homeward Voyage — A Gale at Sea — Home Again — Fresh for Labor — Growing Meet for Heaven, . . . 255

CHAPTER XXVII.

Attends the Missionary Meetings in Philadelphia — A Silver Wedding — A Visit to Yonkers — Increase of Labor — A Last Parting, ....... 274

CHAPTER XXVIIL

His Last Sabbath — Illness — Only Christ — Anxiety for the Church and the Country — A Blessed Visit — Setting his House in Order — The Valley made Light — Visions of Glory — Safe at Home — Funeral and Burial — Funeral Sermon, 286

CHAPTER XXIX.

Letters from Early Friends — Tribute of Rev. Octavius Winslow, D. D. — of Rev. Howard Osgood — Mr. W. H. S. J. — Deacon Griffith, . . . . . .296

DUNCAN DOBAE.

RECORD OF AN EARNEST MINISTRY.

THE EEGORD OP AN EAENEST MINISTRY.

CHAPTER I.

Birthplace — Boyish Sports — Narrow Escape from Death — First Religious Impressions — Seeking Ghosts in the Guick Mountains — State of Religion in the Highlands.

JHE river Spey, in the northern Highlands of Scotland, is rapid and circuitous, and dotted at short intervals along its course by little islands. In the background rise high hills, making the region, Strathspey, so picturesquely beautiful, that one who looks upon it will never wonder that the heart of the Highland Scot is so tenderly wedded to the waters, hills, and moors of his native land. H«re is Castle Grant, the estate of Lord Seafield, and for many generations the home of the " Grants o J Grant."

Near this castle, on the banks of the Spey, the honored and lamented subject of this memoir was born, and here were passed the days of his childhood and early youth.

His father, Thomas Dunbar, occupied a farm on the domains of Grant, where he passed a quiet, blameless life, bringing his children up respectably, and giving them all the advantages of education which lay in his power.

The Highland costume and customs prevailed in this region in Mr. Dunbar's boyhood, and the old Gaelic was still the language of the household. Until he was twelve years old, he wore no other dress than the tartan kilt and plaid, still so dear to the heart of the clannish Scot, although now wholly superseded among civilians except as a sporting-garb or fancy-dress.

In his boyhood, Mr. Dunbar was very fond of violent out-door sports, and, by his skill and bold daring, made himself the head of the mirth-loving u laddies " round the Spey. " He was," says a minister, who, a few years since, visited Grantown and heard of him from the aged men who still remembered him, " as wild as the deer on his native hills, perfectly regardless of danger, and a stranger to fear. When quite a small boy, he used to go to the Spey, push off in a boat into the deepest water, and then plunge to the bottom, remaining there till his terrified companions thought he would never rise again. But ere long he would spring into his boat, shake off the water, and then dart again into the river. When he had had what he called ' a gude bathe/ he would run his boat ashore and ' gang ha me.'

" At other times, he would catch an unbroken colt and mount his back. The affrighted creature would bound over hill and dale until perfectly exhausted; then he would slacken his pace, and his persistent young rider, having thus become his master, could usually guide him at will. He used to mount any horse he could find, and ride standing erect on one foot, occasionally turning a somersault on his back as he was galloping off at full speed. The last surviving companion of those days says

NARROW ESCAPE FROM DEATH. 5

that he often rode in this way from Grantown to Abernethy, a distance of six miles.

" Another favorite amusement was to balance himself on his head on the 4 Bridge of Spey,' the foaming waters rolling beneath him. Old people, seeing these pranks, were heard to exclaim : ' Sure the laddie'll brak his banes! Wee Duncan will come to nae gude end ; and e'en, gif his life should be spared, he'll be gude for naething save a mountebank.' "

His equestrian tricks formed a bond of union between him and the young son of the then Laird of Grant ; and so agile and skilled was he in the Highland dances that he was often invited to the castle to take part in this amusement, where he drew forth great praise from the courtly guests. Thus his early years were passed in great frivolity and constant clanger.

He was naturally full of spirit, ambition, and love of adventure ; entering into his sports with the same energy and perseverance which characterized him in after life, when these traits were consecrated to a holy cause.

A circumstance occurred at this time, which nearly cost him his life, and to which he used in after years to refer with great solemnity.

In the middle of the Spey, near his old home, is a large rock, from which one can cast a stone into five counties. From this he used to leap when going to bathe. In one of these aquatic exploits, being alone, he was seized with cramp and found himself sinking. He knew there was no mortal helper near, and felt that all was over with him. The cold waters encircled him, and he soon found himself stretched helplessly on the river's bottom. Perfectly conscious and free from pain, his past life, with all its frivolity

and sin, rose before him, and he feared to meet God. He 1* gave up all hope. But in an instant, there appeared to his quickened vision a form, robed in dazzling white, coming down and floating over him. He felt the grasp of a hand in his hair, and found himself rising to the surface. He opened his eyes again near the rock alluded to, and grasped it eagerly for support. He now heard voices shouting that a hoj was drowned, and saw men at a distance, who, having found clothes but seeing no bather, were alarming the neighborhood, that search might be made in the river.

In relating this circumstance not long before his death, Mr. Dunbar said the picture of that white-robed form and the grasp of its hand were as distinct in his mind then as if he had really seen it, and added : "I have often thought of this passage in connection with it : c Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister unto them who are the heirs of salvation ? ' God was not done with me then. He had work for me to do on earth. And who can tell but he sent an angel from his courts to save me ? "

After this, he was troubled with fearful dreams and convictions of sin. Among his papers is the following with reference to this period : " The first religious impression I remember to have felt was at the age of twelve or thirteen years, when hearing a missionary preach near where my father lived. I was so inattentive to the discourse that I cannot remember his text nor any particular truth he advanced. But so it was, that on the way home my soul was filled with horror from a sense of guilt, which I got somewhat over by resolving to give up my play and to read the Scriptures. This I attended to when I reached home. I read that afternoon ; but in the night had dreadful thoughts of eternity. This was, however, of short duration ; and my mind soon became as

GHOSTS IN THE GAICK MOUNTAINS. 7

dead and insensible as ever. I do not recollect to have had one serious thought from that time during the space of three years, when I remember hearing one L — D — , a young minister, whose discourse left some impressions, which I think led me to pray for a day or two ; but this, too, was soon forgotten."

There was not a little superstition mingled with the sound, practical common-sense of the Highlanders of that day. With this he had no sympathy ; even in his boyhood taking great pleasure in showing that he was fearless of " bogles," " banshees," and the like terrific myths ; and he often amused himself by playing upon the fears of the timid and credulous.

There was a legend, — we know not whether there was any foundation whatever for it, — that in the days of " lang syne " a company of wild youths used to go to the Gaick mountains, in Badernock, about twenty-four miles from Grantown, every year, on hunting excursions. They would spend several days and nights there, sleeping in a stone lodge built for their shelter. On a certain night, while drinking and carousing, away from all restraint, there came up one of those terrific thunder-storms experienced only in mountainous regions. The lightning struck the lodge, scattering the stones of which it was built, and leaving only a blackened ruin. Every one of the revellers was killed. Their friends, after waiting in vain for their return, sought them in their retreat, but found only their disfigured remains.

Thenceforth this spot became a terror to the people of the region, many of whom firmly believed that on the anniversary of that night the ghosts of the doomed revellers came and danced round a fire among the ruins.

Young Dunbar had heard this stated as a fact from his earliest years, and when about sixteen or seventeen he resolved to prove the story a fiction. He induced two or three young companions to share with him the adventure and the glory ; for it took stout hearts to face ghosts m those days.

Taking their guns and plaids, and filling their knapsacks with provisions, they set off' amid the tears and entreaties of their friends, who feared they would be spirited away for their foolhardiness. After a long and weaiy tramp, " the bold laddies" reached the haunted ruin. They built a fire and ate their supper ; and after a merry evening spent in singing, and conversation spiced with jokes at the expense of the ghosts, they wrapped themselves in their plaids and lay down to sleep. Morning broke on the hills, and neither ghost nor goblin had disturbed them. After a few days' sport, they returned home, to the surprise as well as admiration of their friends, and exposed the fallacy of the time-honored legend.

Like excursions were made to the Cairngorm mountains, in search of the agates commonly called Scotch pebbles, many of which, after being polished, are of rare beauty. But it was the wildness and danger of the adventures, more than the ghosts or the pebbles, which gave them their peculiar charm.

It is very pleasant to find in these youthful sports no evidences of cruelty or ill-nature, but many proofs of the genial spirit and benevolent consideration of others which marked Mr. Dunbar's after life. He seems now to have been well satisfied with his religious state, and unconscious of the need of being " born again." Indeed, his birth in Bible-reading, Sabbath-keeping Scotland, and his " baptism " into the Kirk, were tantamount, in his mind, to the

RELIGION IN THE HIGHLANDS. 9

new birth spoken of in Scripture. The community around him were at that time in a state of spiritual death. All who had been " baptized " in infancy, who had learned the Assembly's Catechism, and who maintained outward morality, were, at the age of eighteen, admitted to the .Lord's Supper and received into full communion with the church. Thus every member of society, unless openly profane, impure, or dishonest, was a " Christian ; " indeed, it was an open reproach to stand outside the fold. Thousands who were tenacious of the tenets and forms of the church, and pharisaically strict in their religious observances, lived and died without experiencing the power of the gospel in their hearts. They loved the Kirk with the same patriotic fervor with which the Jews of old loved Zion, and resented any innovations upon her polity or doctrines as heresy meriting the severest punishment.

Chapter II

Lachlin Mcintosh — Persecution for Christ's Sake — Peter Grant — Seeking after God — The Laird of Grant — His Justice and Generosity — The Awakened Soul — A Blind Leader — Temptation to Suicide — The Deposed Schoolmaster — Led to the Cross — Peace in Believing.

BOUT this time, which has been termed u the midnight of the Church of Scotland," the brothers Robert and James Alexander Haldane experienced the great change from nature to grace. Henceforth they devoted their wealth and talents to the spread of evangelical religion, particularly in their native Scotland. For this purpose they took under their care pious young men, both Baptists and Independents, to train for missionary work. Among these was Mr. Lachlin Mcintosh, a friend and fellow-student of the late honored and beloved Rev. Dr. Maclay, of New York.

It was the custom of these godly men to make tours themselves, preaching Christ in the streets, the woods, or wherever men would listen. Their hearts were touched for Gran town and its vicinity, and they established Mr. Mcintosh there. He was not a Baptist, and therefore did not arouse the enmity of the Kirk as the Haldanes themselves might have done on some points. But he preached Christ crucified without asking either the consent or the patronage of the great. Therefore he was looked upon as a heretic, and his meetings were denounced as unlawful con-

PERSECUTION. 11

venticles. A course of systematic persecution was instituted against the good man and his little flock, and only the greater light of the age prevented their being hunted, like the Covenanters, over hill and muir.

The Laird of Grant was at that time absent on the continent, but there were not wanting men to acquaint him with the bold interference of the zealous missionary, and the disaffection of his few followers toward the Establishment. Of course he, as a good Presbyterian, could not countenance such disorderly proceedings, and forbade Mr. Mcintosh to preach in any building within his domains. This was enough for the bigoted partisans who had arrayed themselves against the evangelical movement, and they annoyed and worried this servant of God in ways the laird would never have countenanced. He was not only forbidden to preach in any building on the estate, but the people were threatened not to harbor him in their houses. One man in Grantown was actually fined heavily for giving a night's lodging to the blessed outcast.

The little band now chose a grove, close by the house of Mr. Thomas Dunbar, as their sanctuary ; and not a little mirth was spent on them and their worship. The boys of the region, hearing the minister and his views ridiculed at home, felt quite at liberty to make his meetings a place of merriment and rude sport ; and not unfrequently did the little grove resound at the same time with the song of praise and the laughter of fools. It w T as the custom of some of these graceless young " sons of the church " to pelt him with tufts of grass and other missiles while his eyes were closed in prayer. One such scene made a deep impression on the mind of Duncan Dunbar. While the man of God was praying, a lad, darting from behind a tree, threw an egg, which struck him in the forehead. Mr. Mcintosh raised his white handkerchief, and, manifesting not the slightest resentment, wiped away all traces of the insult without ever ceasing his fervent prayer.

Among the youths who came there from curiosity was one of no little importance among his fellows. He paid great attention to his personal appearance, and was looked up to as the leader of the " ton," among the striplings of Grantown. After the above-mentioned insulting attack on the unoffending servant of God, and his awfully impressive prayer, there was a great change in the mien of Peter Grant. Many of the little artifices and ornaments which had called forth the admiration of his associates were now missing. His merry face was marked with great solemnity, and his once mirthful tongue was so silent as to call forth the surprise of all who knew him. The spirit of God had touched him. From that day Peter Grant was an humble and devoted follower of Christ, and it was henceforth his glory to mingle in that lowly band as a brother in tribulation. At these services in the grove, Peter Grant and Duncan Dunbar first met. The former, several years the senior, still lives to mourn the loss of a brother beloved in the Lord. He is, and for long years has been, the pastor of the very church founded by Lachlin Mcintosh, in the care of which he is now assisted by his son, Rev. William Grant.

Among Mr. Dunbar's papers we find the following in a schoolboy hand : —

" I now removed to a friend's house far from my father's.

Being a favorite of the minister of H , I received

from him the loan of two books, ' The Spectator ' and a volume of Tracts, wherein were contained anecdotes of several who had been converted. Their experiences were

THE LAIRD OF GRANT. 13

interesting, I having never heard of the like before. I read this book until I grew in love with the peace and joy which seemed to possess their souls when they left their former course and turned to God. I now resolved to watch over my temper, and was so much in love with virtue that I sacrificed many of my pleasures ; but still I was uneasy. By and by thoughts of the being of a God occurred to my mind, and I began reading the Bible. I soon became convinced that I was a great sinner, and must immediately repent."

Then follow these imperfect notes, never meant for another's eye : —

" Sermon — watch and pray — great burden — overcome with sleep — increasing views of God's holiness — temptation that it is too late — call upon minister — call again — fears of losing my soul and wish that I had never been born — go home — -dreams of horror — see my great ignorance — know not what the gospel is — feel my hardness of heart — hear of my brother's illness, and wish his place were mine — go to see him — hear of Jesus' love — feel some wonder, and decide it is no use to try — read Pilgrim's Progress — no good."

But to return to Mr. Mcintosh. The Laird of Grant had come back to his Highland Castle, and, hearing such contradictory accounts of him, generously inquired into the merits of the case. While Kirk partisans painted his heresy in glowing colors, many, who had no sympathy with his view^s, gave him, in justice, a kindly word ; and his own adherents, who knew him better than either, spoke of his forbearance, his zeal, and his unfailing kindness to all parties, and pointed to many, who, through his 2 influence, had been drawn from open sin, and were now virtuous and godly men.

When the noble laird saw that Mr. Mcintosh had been a blessing to the community, rather than a curse, as had been represented, he resolved, in the spirit of a true Scottish gentleman, to make amends to him and his little flock for the persecution they had suffered. He therefore gave them land on which to build a chapel, where they might worship God in their own humble way, unmolested. The light that godly man then kindled on those Scottish hills has never been quenched. It has guided many souls to God, and still burns on brightly, showing the path to the celestial city.

Young Dunbar had long been, as we have seen, absent from home, and probably had heard nothing of the little band who had now forsaken the grove, by his father's house, for their own chapel. He still attended the Kirk service, as his parents were rigid adherents of its doctrines and forms. His mother, however, a woman of the tenderest sensibilities, had felt a strong sympathy for the persecuted Mcintosh, and he well remembered, after having himself at one time entertained the family by an account of " the sport in the grove," her taking him aside and warning him solemnly to have no part in it, saying, " This is a man of God, my son ; be very careful how you treat him."

He was now at home again and about eighteen years of age ; when, from what immediate cause we do not know, his attention was turned to the concerns of his soul. He grew suddenly sick of his former cherished amusements, and began to dread the faces of his old companions. He was restless and miserable. He knew not what ailed him, nor whither to fly for relief. His sins rose like mountains,

A BLIND LEADER. 15

and he felt the wrath of God abiding on him. He was at last brought to a complete stand. Praying, reading the Bible, and forsaking his pleasures gave no comfort. He formed a resolution bold for those days, — to la) 7 his case before the minister, believing that he, if any one, could heal diseases of the soul. Trembling with the awe which the Scottish minister of that time inspired, but over which the young of our day and country have more than triumphed, he presented himself at the manse, where, being a great favorite, he had so often been honored by a smile and the loan of a book. He was graciously received, and, after much fear and trembling, succeeded in confessing his burden of sin and portraying his anguish on account of it ; and implored the minister as a man of God to point him to the path of peace. It seems the worthy man was not taken wholly by surprise, for rumor had already brought to him the suspicion that the young leader in the village gayety was growing melancholy — perhaps losing his mind. So, after listening patiently for some time, he said soothingly, " This canna' be, Duncan ; ye are called by all one of the very best laddies in Grantown. Ye are ill, my young friend, and your mind has taken this melancholy turn."