BROWNLOW NORTH:
THE STORY
OF
HIS LIFE AND WORK.
BY THE REV.
KENNETH MOODY-STUART, MA.,
MOFFAT.
POPULAR EDITION.

London:
HODDER AND STOUGHTON,
27, PATERNOSTER ROW.

MDCCCLXXIX.

XI.
HARVEST-WORK IN VARIOUS FIELDS.
“Should e’er Thy wonder-working grace
Triumph by our weak arm,
Let not our sinful fancy trace	
Aught human in the charm;
To our own nets ne’er bow we down,
Lest on the eternal shore
The angels, while our draught they own,
Reject us evermore!”	KEBLE.
I
N the course of this memoir we have already given numerous evidences of the fruits of Mr. North’s labours, and the reader will probably have formed a not inaccurate general conception of the widespread results of his ministry during its whole course in widely separated districts and cities of Scotland, England, and Ireland. It may, however, prove both interesting and useful to present distinct testimonies, written by those who were well qualified to form an accurate and sound judgment from their own observation of the effects of his labours in their own neighbourhood. Some of these testimonies were written soon after his visit to the locality, others after an interval of five or six years, while others are reminiscences of his work after an interval of fifteen or twenty years. The first letter is from the much-respected Free Church minister of the first charge in Thurso, and refers to his visit to that town in 1858, which was one of the years in which he reaped his greatest number of sheaves. He had gone there at the pressing request of his friend, the esteemed Sir George Sinclair.
VISIT TO THURSO IN 1858.
“THURSO, Dec. 8th, 1858.
“MY DEAR BROTHER,—Ever since you left I had in view writing to you, and was putting off from time to time that I might be able to speak more decidedly as to the state of matters in this place; and now I am sure you will rejoice to know that the expectations raised at the time of your visit have not been disappointed. Since you left, my time has been chiefly occupied in conversing with individuals on the state of their souls. Of these, many were impressed or brought to the knowledge of the truth when you and Mr. Grant were here. I am thankful to say that the interest in Divine things is not abating. The young converts continue steadfast, and some of them manifest a sweet gospel spirit in a way that interests and refreshes me much. At our communion in the end of October, which was but four months after the preceding one, there were twenty-five new communicants, of whom about half received the truth when you and Mr. Grant were among us. Besides these, several young people who received the truth at the same time did not apply for admission; but I have almost the whole of them, in company with a good many others, under instruction at a Bible-class, and I am thankful to see them holding fast, and, so far as I can learn, walking in the truth. A very pleasing change has taken place in a class that used to be rather a careless one here, that of female house-servants. It is interesting to hear these girls tell in their own way the particular manner in which an impression was first made on them.
“One said, ‘I neglected prayer, and I was impressed by hearing Mr. North tell how he got up to pray when his servant was present, and now I pray.’
“Another said to me, ‘What impressed me was Mr. North’s praying for you the last time he preached in your church, that you might have many seals to your ministry, and so it became a question with me if I was to be one of them.’
“Another was impressed on the communion Sabbath, in church, by her companion rising from her side, and going to the communion table, so that she could not rest till she too became a Christian. And so on. On the whole I do feel deeply grateful to the Lord that He has sent you to us this year again, and also your dear friend Mr. Grant. I earnestly pray that the Lord may continue to bless your labours abundantly, and may cause you in all things to prosper, and be in health, even as your soul prospereth.
“Yours very affectionately in the Lord,
“ W. Ross TAYLOR.”
The last two cases particularised in this letter will show that it was a time when the Lord’s Spirit was very abundantly poured out, and when souls were, under His sovereign grace, awakened and brought to the Lord by means or words the most simple, and the most unlikely in ordinary seasons to accomplish such great results. As another instance of the same character, we may mention the case of a cabman who came to Mr. North in deep distress. When he asked him what part of the sermon had been the means of arousing him to such concern about his soul, he said that it was no part of the sermon, but a sentence in his prayer; and on his asking what the sentence was, he replied, “Oh, sir, it was when you said, ‘We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and have done those things which we ought not to have done,’ and I felt that was just my case.”

VISIT TO ROTHESAY IN 1858.
In regard to the results of the evangelist’s visit to this busy coast town and watering-place, we are able to give the valuable testimony of the Rev. Robert Elder, D.D., one whose experience in dealing with souls, and soundness of judgment, must command the respect of all.
Twenty years have now elapsed since these services, and Dr. Elder has kindly written to us his estimate and retrospect of the character of the work.
“ROTHESAY, Feb. 7th, 1878.
“MY DEAR FRIEND, —I have too long delayed writing to you; but I was anxious before writing to see a few of those who were impressed at the time referred to, and who have maintained a consistent profession, and to get some information regarding others who have dropped out of my view. One of those referred to in my old letter died several years ago in great hope, indeed I may say in ‘the full assurance of hope,’ and her sister has held fast her profession, and is still one of our most earnest and consistent Christian workers.
“Mr. North’s visit to this place was at a very early stage of his evangelistic work; he had then no ‘inquiry meetings’ in the now ordinary sense of that expression, nor did he separate those whom he counted ‘converts’ from the rest. He was here only for four or five days, and on the second occasion of his addressing the people, seeing some apparently impressed, he asked if I would give him leave to ask any who might wish to speak with him to come next day to my house, where he stayed. I think twenty-four came, and after conversing with them he gave me their names. Both in private and in his public addresses he very earnestly urged all who felt concern to wait on the regular ministrations of their pastors, and to attend the Bible-classes.
“I remember that a great many came immediately after to my own class, and I believe to the classes of the other congregations interested. There were also several fellowship and prayer-meetings kept up for a considerable time, especially among the young women, one of these having been in existence before Mr. North’s visit, but having a larger attendance afterwards.
“Referring to my notes of that period, an interesting and instructive fact has been recalled to my mind. Our Communion came on in June, about four months after Mr. North was here, and while I was frequently conversing with those under concern. The great proportion of those impressed preferred to remain back, and comparatively few on that occasion became communicants, although I would have had great pleasure in admitting them. I found that the best of them, after a good deal of emotion and warm feeling, were led after a time to far deeper views of sin and helplessness and a lost condition than they had at first, and were afraid to make a profession of their faith. But on the next occasion, in January following, I had, I think, the largest number of young communicants I have ever had here, and many of these I admitted with the greatest comfort. In June of the following year also I had the same experience. I have kept short notes regarding sixty-two persons who conversed with me in 1858, 1859, under more or less concern. Of many of these I can now find no trace. A considerable number, I grieve to say, went back from their impressions, and some lapsed into open wickedness. But a large proportion turned out well, giving hopeful evidence of a saving change. A few I have attended on their deathbeds, and have been cheered by the hope that they have gone to be with Christ. A good many are away from this place, and settled elsewhere; but many are still living here, and are earnest and consistent members of my congregation, some of them being active and earnest workers on the Lord’s side.
“I remain, yours affectionately, ROBERT ELDER.”

ADDRESSES TO STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITIES.
Mr. North at different times made special efforts to reach young men, and these efforts were largely blessed. During the whole of his ministry, he made it a practice occasionally to intimate a special service for young men, or for men only, and in this way many were induced to go and hear the gospel at his lips who would never have dreamed of attending an ordinary evangelistic service. The writer vividly recalls, after an interval of twenty years, the deep solemnity that seemed to overhang and overawe the vast crowds of men, principally young men, who thronged to the services specially designed for them in Free St. Luke’s, Edinburgh, in the winters of 1858-59-60; and from other parts of this volume it will be seen that to the last, in the great cities of England, he drew thousands of young men to hear him, and that a rich blessing from the great Master of assemblies still accompanied these efforts to arrest and save those who were in the height of their health and youth, and were, like the prodigal, living upon husks fit only for swine, in a country that was far from their heavenly Father’s house. Through the earnest and pointed appeals of the preacher, many a spendthrift, fast young man, and lapsing drunkard, was led to exclaim, “I will arise and go to my Father.”
The Young Men’s Christian Associations in our cities, and even in small towns, were often the agency which invited him to come and hold a series of meetings in their districts, and it is both a touching and a striking proof of the abiding character of his work upon those impressed, that in perusing the letters from the secretaries of these associations, the eye from time to time is attracted to a P.S., marked private, in which, after conveying the official invitation of the society over which he presided, the writer adds some such words as these, “Though I have never met you, it may interest you to know that you were the means of bringing me to the knowledge of Christ in such a place, so many years ago.”
It may be interesting to relate something of the addresses  which by special invitation he delivered to the students of our universities on more than one occasion. Mr. North is the only layman, and one of the very few preachers, whether clerical or lay, who have enjoyed the great opportunity of addressing on the subject of their soul’s eternal interests, at the most critical and important period of their lives, the young men who were preparing to fill the various learned professions of the land.
In Glasgow, during the revival of 1859-60, arrangements were made for a series of meetings, specially intended for students; and Mr. North was asked to address several of these. The Rev. Alexander Andrew, of Glasgow, has kindly communicated to us his recollection of these addresses.
“The meetings were largely attended, and the impressions made upon many were most wholesome. I can recall some of the earnest utterances of the good man at this hour, how he told us to beware of becoming cumberers of the ground, for such we would certainly be, if we ventured forward to the holy ministry unconverted. With great vividness he pictured the case of a man occupying some pulpit and some corner of the vineyard, who knew not the Lord, and preached not His gospel, how he not only failed himself to bring light and blessing into the hearts of his people, but prevented, by his presence there, some one from coming in who would be a means of blessing. ‘Oh, beware,’ he said, ‘of being cumberers of the ground!’
“Then I think I still see the flashes of indignation that came from him as he spoke of such as only sought to enter the gospel ministry for the sake of social position and a comfortable stipend. He seemed specially anxious that we, as students and aspirants to such a sacred office, should guard against a worldly spirit.
“It was faithful dealing, and when followed and wound up as it generally was with rare touches of pathos, expressed in the yearning and tremulous tones of his voice, and sometimes too in his tears, hardly any one seemed to leave without being more or less impressed with this, that the man was really in downright earnest for the conversion of souls, and particularly for the conversion of those who might largely be the means of converting others.
“The great day alone will fully declare the good that was done among the alumni of our Glasgow University by the burning words of Mr. Brownlow North.”
It was several years after this that Mr. North was asked to address the students of the Edinburgh University. During the session already referred to as having been remarkable for a spiritual movement in the Glasgow College, a movement of a similar character, and perhaps still more extensive, had taken place among the students in Aberdeen, under the simple and loving presentation of the gospel by Mr. Reginald Radcliffe, of Liverpool. As the result of this awakening, the students there who had been led to Christ formed a prayer-meeting among themselves in the spring of 1859; and at the opening of the following winter session, if we recollect aright, they sent to the students of the Edinburgh University a very winning and faithful brotherly address, which was printed and circulated largely among us, urging those who were undecided to come to the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world, and suggesting to those who were on the Lord’s side that they should organize prayer-meetings among themselves for the maintenance of their spiritual life, and for the conversion of their fellow-students. Accordingly, a few of us met together, and resolved at once to begin a meeting strictly for prayer and reading of the Scriptures among ourselves. It was begun with much fear and trembling. Most of us were junior students, and had never spoken to one another on the subject of religion at all, far less had we ever engaged in public prayer. We asked Professor Campbell Swinton for the use of the Civil Law class-room, as it was one of the smallest and most suitable for our purpose, and it was at once granted in the kindest manner. The meeting which was held weekly, on Saturday mornings, became a rallying-place for those who were seeking to follow the Lord, and was very helpful to us in the Christian life. Among those who most regularly attended it, and who have since been called to the church of the firstborn above, were such bright and beautiful Christians as Arthur R. W. Rainey, Andrew Moody-Stuart, and Thomas M. Mure; who  were followers of the Lamb, of that pure, healthy, winning, and at the same time decided and manly type of piety which has such a stimulating and helpful influence upon others. Occasionally we asked one of the Professors or one of the ministers in the town to address us.
In the hope of influencing some of the more careless of our fellow-students, Mr. North was asked and agreed to address us on the first Saturday in March 1862; and as we foresaw that the Civil Law class-room might prove too small, we applied to Professor Miller for the use of his Surgery class-room, which he at once gladly granted to us. Our modest weekly notice of our meeting, this time with the name of Brownlow North on it, attracted attention, and was once or twice torn down. Understanding that opposition was brewing, we sent a deputation to the learned Principal, Sir David Brewster, asking his sanction for the use of the Surgery class-room, which he at once accorded, at the same time warning us that if the matter were brought up in the Senatus, he could not secure us possession of the room, as he had only a casting vote. One or two of the Professors determined to oppose and put down the meeting, and a very hot and acrimonious discussion was held in the Senatus on the subject, some of the members of that grave body being very hostile to the proposed service. The result was, that the defenders of the interests of the students’ prayer-meeting were overborne, and the meeting, which had been intimated with Professor Miller’s sanction and the Principal’s approval, was interdicted. The lecturers of the Royal College of Surgeons, close to the University, hearing of our repulse, sent over on Thursday, and kindly placed their largest class-room at our disposal. Their offer was most thankfully accepted, and accordingly we assembled there at the appointed hour. We had feared that the meeting after all might be a small one, as the number of really earnest students was few, but the opposition had acted as the best of advertisements, and the class-room was choked to its utmost capacity, many students being unable to gain admittance. In consequence of this, we were obliged once more to adjourn to a neighbouring church (Free Roxburgh), which was opened for us. It had been feared that the speaker’s voice might be drowned by such unseemly disturbances of cheering, hooting, and pea-throwing, as often interrupted the Principal in delivering the very valuable and interesting addresses which then graced the opening and the close of each academical session. But even during the impatient interval of waiting in the class-room, there were only one or two faint attempts made to “ruff in” the speaker, which were promptly suppressed by a general hush, and after the address began in the church, the silence and solemnity were complete.
Professor (afterwards Sir James) Simpson took the chair, and in a few earnest and thoughtful sentences introduced the preacher. “Why have you asked Mr. Brownlow North to address you? I believe the simple answer to that question is this, that many of you are aware that by God’s grace, and under God’s hand, Mr. North has been the happy instrument of arousing the attention of many to the important matter of religion; and you students must ever remember that of all truths you have to consider, that is the most tremendous, because it bears not only on the concerns of this life, but on your joy or misery, your salvation or ruin, through eternity. Mr. North has been blessed in an extraordinary manner, in expounding the doctrine of our redemption by Jesus Christ, a doctrine, which is perhaps rejected by many because it is in itself so essentially simple. Let me add, that Mr. North, as a lay-preacher, has perhaps some advantages over more professional preachers; for we do know that a kind of conventional language is sometimes employed by the regular clergy, which perhaps injures the efficacy of their preaching.” He then read a passage from Dr. Chalmers’ Lectures on Divinity, in which he quoted with assent a remark of his departed friend Robert Hall, that the majority of evangelical ministers do not know how to lay down the gospel so that a man of plain and ordinary understanding should know how to take it up.
After prayer by the Rev. Dr. Guthrie, Mr. North rose and gave an account of his own conversion, in the words in which it has been recorded in our opening chapter, and then delivered a very impressive address from Psalm cxix. 9, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word.” The impression produced was deep and solemn, and we cannot doubt, bore lasting fruit. Certainly many students found great help from his clear and decided teaching, during that and other winters in Edinburgh, and could give testimony similar to that of the Rev. Robert Howie, so prominent in the great work of Church extension in Glasgow, who writes, “I remember well how deeply I was impressed when as a student I heard him for the first time. He made me feel as if I were moving among unseen realities, and on each successive occasion as I listened to his appeals I derived a similar benefit to my own soul.”
Ten years later, in May 1893, he addressed the undergraduates of Cambridge University. None but University men were admitted, and it was said that about a fourth of the whole University attended. There was every evidence of a deep impression, and he gave away to the students one hundred copies of his “Earnest Words,” and about twenty copies of “Ourselves,” which were all that he had with him.
We shall now turn from reviewing his addresses to crowded meetings of University men, and record the results of a visit to one of our most esteemed Scotch noble families, that of the Earl of Aberdeen.
The recollections are kindly given by the Dowager-Countess of Aberdeen in a letter to Mr. James Balfour.
VISIT TO HADDO HOUSE IN 1863.
“17, CROMWELL ROAD, S.W., Jan. 22nd, 1878.
“DEAR MR. BALFOUR,—Our first acquaintance with Mr. North was at Keith Hall, in December 1862. My husband and I went from Haddo House to spend the day with Lord and Lady Kintore, and I well remember how they and Mr. North united with us in prayer for our eldest son, who had just come of age. Mr. North came to stay on a visit to us about the end of the month. My husband was anxious to promote his usefulness in the neighbourhood, and did all he could to arrange meetings in the district as well as in the house. The most notable of these was one held at the Free Church, Methlic, on the last night of the year. He spoke with great earnestness and power, and at the close, when all left the church, those who wished for special prayer on their behalf, that they might then decide for God, were invited to return. You may suppose how anxiously we waited, and with what joy we saw our sons come back into the church. Their hearts had been previously touched and their consciences awakened by the words spoken both in public and private by their cousin, Walter Scott, and this evening seemed to be the turning-point. The following morning we all met in Mr. North’s sitting-room, when he read Isa. lv., and spoke in a very affecting, solemn manner, and then he and each of them prayed in turn. There was at that time a great interest in religious subjects, a sort of ‘revival’ throughout the whole household; but whether the impression was permanent in any case except in our own family, I cannot say.
“Mr. North returned at the end of January, to be present at the marriage of our eldest daughter and her cousin, Walter Scott (now Lord Polwarth), and afterwards visited us again during that year, the last of my husband’s life. My husband had a very sincere regard, and I may say a warm affection for him, and, as you know, joined most heartily in the plan for providing him with a place of repose to which he might occasionally retire from his laborious work, which was afterwards carried out in the purchase of the ‘Knoll.’ At the same time he saw very clearly, and deeply regretted, some weaknesses in his character which he thought injured his usefulness, and did not hesitate to tell him his opinion; but he did this so gently and tenderly, that Mr. North, far from taking his faithfulness amiss, expressed his gratitude to him for having spoken so plainly, and their friendship continued unaltered to the last. I once, with my daughter, spent some days at the ‘Knoll,’ with Mr. and Mrs. North, who received us with warm-hearted hospitality. Of late years I saw but little of Mr. North; but on the occasion of his last visit to Haddo House, in the autumn of 1873, I was struck with the mellowed, subdued, and very spiritual tone of his mind. He seemed both more heavenly-minded and more humble than ever before, and though in weak health, and suffering from other causes of depression, he was still full of sympathy for the sorrows and trials of his friends, and I feel sure that he never failed to remember them in prayer.
“In speaking of his first visit, I might have mentioned an example of the way in which he turned the subject of common conversation to advantage. He had been asking about Egypt, where we had recently spent some months, and inquiring what the effect on our minds was of seeing those remains of so remote an antiquity. He then said, ‘How strange to think that Moses probably saw some of these very temples and palaces in all their glory, and how astonishing it must have seemed to the courtiers of Pharaoh when he declared himself, instead of being the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, to be one of the Hebrews, and announced his intention of casting in his lot with that despised race of slaves! They probably did not believe him at first, then thought him mad, and when they saw that he was firm in his resolution, they utterly scorned and hated him. Yet now there are only some ruins left—the very names of the kings who reigned there forgotten and lost for ever, while the name of Moses is known, and will be honoured as long as the world lasts. And why? Because “he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; for he had respect to the recompense of the reward.” He has been enjoying that reward now for nearly three thousand years, and it has only just begun.’  The way in which he spoke these words is distinctly present to my mind even now. I never heard anything more impressive, and yet it came in simply and naturally in the course of our conversation.
“Believe me, yours very truly,
“ M. ABERDEEN.”
The reader will recall the beautiful letter from one of the brothers here referred to, given [in ch. vi.]
Mr. North was in very many cases useful to those who have since in a public capacity proved a means of blessing to others. The Rev. Robert Howie says, “On making inquiry, I have been particularly struck by the numbers of those now taking a prominent part in evangelistic work who speak of Mr. North as the means, in the hand of the Divine Spirit, of their conversion.”
We have already seen that he was blessed among students, and we may also state that at least in several cases he was made the instrument of the conversion of ministers in the charge of souls, who had been preaching a Saviour of whom personally they had no knowledge.
WORK IN FREE ST. LUKE’S, EDINBURGH.
Winter after winter following on his first visit to Edinburgh in 1857, Mr. North preached in Free St. Luke’s Church, and was made the means of blessing to many souls within its walls. Many of those to whom he was blessed were regular adherents of the congregation, but many also belonged to different congregations and denominations in the city. The church, located in a central situation in the new town, and seating, when all the galleries are thrown open, nearly 1,500 people, was peculiarly well adapted for such audiences as Mr. North attracted to it; while the fact that the congregation contained a large number of very devoted and experienced Christian people, who gave themselves to earnest wrestling with the great Master of assemblies for a blessing on the word published by His servant, furnishes a key to explain the abundant blessing which descended upon this place of worship, which had previously, under the rich and searching ministrations of the stated pastor, Dr. Moody-Stuart, been made the birthplace of many souls. A lady, who has long carried on a good work in the Female Industrial Home at Corstorphine, had asked Mr. North to go out and address the inmates in the year 1863, when he was holding services in St. Luke’s. On the day and hour fixed, the coachman who had been sent to convey him there at two o’clock one Saturday returned with an empty carriage, and a message to say he was sorry to disappoint his friends, but the Lord had given him work in town, and there were so many anxious souls calling to converse with him, that he dared not come away and leave them. About seventy anxious inquirers had called to see him that Saturday forenoon. Next day he apologised to Miss Maitland for his failure to fulfil his engagement, and said, “I don’t know how it was, but it was something I had said on Friday evening about ‘grace and peace’ that broke them down. I had said, ‘You are all wanting peace, but you won’t humble yourselves to take grace; but remember, grace and peace are just like the steam-engine and the train, attached the one to the other; the engine must go first, and then the train follows: you must have grace, the forgiveness of sin, or you can never have true peace.’”
We shall here give in his own words the experience of one who received a blessing from the message of this preacher in this church. 
“I was a boy of about sixteen years of age when I heard Mr. North for the first time. Years have passed since then, but I remember distinctly his voice and appearance, and indeed almost all the circumstances of that summer evening service in Free St. Luke’s. His address was the most solemn I had ever heard, and it produced a deep impression upon me. Had he actually been within the pearly gates of the celestial city, had he seen with those solemn eyeballs the dread abode of the doomed, the pictures he drew could not have seemed more real, nor the earnestness of his appeals been greater. The language, which was unmistakably that of conviction, was rendered more forcible by his manner of delivery. Not only his voice, but every feature of his face, revealed the urgency of his message. I had never doubted that there were such places as heaven and hell, yet I had never so far believed in them as to let their existence affect my life. At the conclusion of that address, I believed that hell existed, and I further believed that I was in danger of going there. An aunt who was with me (she had persuaded me to go that evening) noticed that I did not look quite as usual, and asked if I should like to see Mr. North. I said, ‘Yes, I should;’ and it was arranged that I should see him the following day. If the evening before I had been awed by his solemnity, this time I was touched by his kindness and his solicitude about my soul. He seemed more anxious about it than I was myself. He spent some little time in explaining my difficulties, then he prayed with me, evincing at every stage such a sense of the preciousness of my soul, as was new and striking to me. The apprehension of the dangers and temptations he foresaw I should be exposed to, seemed to affect him much. When we rose from our knees, he embraced me tenderly, and I left him, thanking God for the opportunity He had given me.”
This gentleman is now engaged abroad in arduous and successful work for the Saviour.
VISITS TO DURIE HOUSE, FIFESHIRE.
Mr. North on several occasions visited the late Charles Christie, Esq., of Durie, and of these visits Miss Christie kindly sends the following recollections:—
“Mr. North on several occasions visited our country home, and preached in various places around. A brother of ours, who had been seeking the Lord for some time, received much blessing, and wrote to a friend that Mr. North ‘had helped him to a clear view of the imputed righteousness.’ A warm friendship followed between them. In grateful affection he used to call him ‘Bishop North.’
“A lady was much struck by his inquiring of her, ‘How many have you led to Jesus Christ since you were brought to Him yourself?’ And another, after hearing him preach, wrote thus, ‘I feel like a horse with the spur in his side ever since I heard Mr. North.’ More than one of our servants were seriously impressed; and we recall also how earnestly he sought to improve the occasion to us all, when a dear relative of ours was suddenly called away by death.
“He took an interest in an old gentleman whom he met at this time. Perceiving that of him it might be said, ‘One thing thou lackest,’ Mr. North attempted first to reach him by faithful conversation in the family circle; this was highly resented, however: he next sent him one of his own tracts by a member of the family, for the old gentleman would scarce deign to speak to him. This was read, and afterwards he changed his tone, and became quite friendly with Mr. North. The grave offence he took at first at his outspoken faithfulness, and then the conviction that he was right, were truly a striking testimony. To a young lady, beautiful and fashionable, he said, ‘You must come out of the world with a crash!’ Other instances there were during his stay in our house, when with a rare faithfulness and courage he spoke just the word that his keen discernment told him was needed, whether to those older or younger than himself. Remarking on worldly conformity, he said, ‘People come and ask me, “Is it wrong to go to balls?” and so on. I look on the question another way, and ask, “Is this the way in which I can most profitably spend my time?” that is the question for the servants of the Lord.’ He spoke most warmly of the exceeding value of gospel teaching for the young, ‘that when the Spirit comes they may know what to do.’ ‘Where would I have been,’ he said, ‘when I became alarmed about my soul, but for my dear mother’s teaching? She always prayed for me, and always believed that I should be brought to the Lord.’ In our family circle his presence was so genial that he became a centre of attraction to young and old, sharing in the cheerful scenes of the Christmas season with a kindly warmth, riding out in the country with us, or joining in croquet on the lawn with a zest that added to our enjoyment.
“His faithfulness and fervour we cannot forget, and with this is entwined the recollection of a frank and cordial kindliness that must ever endear his memory.”
The narrative now given of his way of improving visits of a social and friendly kind is only a fair sample of Mr. North’s use and wont in redeeming the time. Another correspondent writes, “In private life I never saw him ‘off duty;’ he was always ready to say a word in season. Where his geniality opened the way, his watchful fidelity seized many an opportunity of winning a soul.” It may also be mentioned that not only did he never on any occasion omit family worship and exposition in his own house, whatever company he might have at dinner, but that when away from home, staying in hotels or lodgings, he always told the landlord or landlady that he had worship at a certain hour, and that he would be happy if they, their servants, or visitors, would join him in his room at that time. These invitations used to be gratefully accepted, and good was done in several instances through this instrumentality. Only a month or two before his death, his family worship was made a means of blessing to the family of his landlady in a sea-coast town, where he was staying in lodgings.
The partial or entire neglect of family worship is one of the most ominous symptoms of the low ebb to which religion has receded among many professors in our land. No means can be named which has been more blessed to produce saving impression among the young than the daily assemblings at the household altar to offer the sacrifices of praise and prayer, and to read together the Word of Life. It was as a family institution that the worship of God flourished in patriarchal days. It nursed the flame of piety in Scotland a century ago, when Moderatism held possession of our pulpits.
Multitudes of calls, and crowded halls and churches, never led Mr. North to neglect the simplest means of communicating the knowledge of Christ, such means as are within the reach of the humblest follower of the Lamb.
Regarding his manner of conducting family worship, Mr. Balfour says,—
“There were some who preferred Mr. North’s ministrations at family worship even to those in the pulpit. They thought him less excited. And certainly he was often tender, solemn, and striking in these small domestic gatherings. I remember once in a house where several had been asked to meet him, he began by opening the Bible and saying, ‘None of you know where I am going to read tonight, do you?’ There he paused. ‘No, you don’t, and you never will till I tell you. I am going to read in 1 Corinthians. But again you don’t know what chapter.’ A pause. ‘I am going to read the 1st chapter of 1 Corinthians. Now you know, because I have told you. You did not find it out of yourselves. There was not one of you clever enough to do this; you only know because I have told you. And this is the principle upon which the apostle’s argument in this chapter proceeds. He says, “The world by wisdom knew not God.” None of the princes of this world knew that Jesus was the Lord of glory, or they would not have crucified Him. God was determined that no man should find Him out by his own wisdom. A few, not many wise men did find Him out, but not by their own wisdom. They had to become babes first, and then it was revealed to them; “but God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God.”’ He then proceeded to expound the first two chapters of the epistle in a very interesting and lucid manner.”
Another friend writes:—
“His habit was to conduct our family worship in the evening. This was done in a manner singularly pleasant and profitable. His exposition of Scripture showed he was a man of genius, with deep knowledge of human nature, and who had made a study of the Bible. His application of the truth was remarkably direct, and his prayers were full, though simple; short, so as not to weary; direct, as if speaking to God. He repeated the same thought on different evenings, but with freshness and new illustrations.’”