Duncan Matheson (1824–1869) 

Life and Labours

OF

DUNCAN MATHESON,

THE SCOTTISH EVANGELIST.

BY THE

REV. JOHN MACPHERSON.

“REALITY IS THE GREAT THING: I HAVE ALWAYS SOUGHT REALITY.”

New Edition.

LONDON: MORGAN AND SCOTT

(OFFICE of “The Christian.”)

12, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS. E.C.

And may be ordered by any bookseller.

1876.

PREFACE.

“DURING his last days on earth Duncan Matheson, in accordance with the wishes of his friends, set himself to write an account of his own life. The effort proved too much for his enfeebled health, and his autobiographic notes, stopping short at the beginning of his evangelistic course, were left in no fit state for publication. The facts recorded by his own hand have, however, been embodied in the present memoir; and the narrative of his conversion, by far the most valuable portion of his hastily written notes, has been given in his own words.

The cases of conversion described in illustration of the work of grace and the success of our evangelist are matters of fact of which I have the fullest knowledge, most of the individuals concerned being personally known to me; but I have deemed it best not to give their names. On similar grounds I have also in several instances withheld the names of localities.

Many of the incidents narrated I learned from the lips of my lamented friend; in fact, a great part of the volume has been derived from my recol­lection of the man and the work.

The best narrative of his evangelistic labours, I have reason to believe, was contained in his letters to his wife; but these have been destroyed. Vexed at the too hasty and too loud trumpeting of results on the part of some, and convinced that thereby the Holy Spirit was grieved and discredit cast upon the work, he set his face against even the appearance of what he regarded as a great evil, and for several years wrote at the foot of every letter giving account of his labours, “Destroy this.” The stern decree was only too faithfully obeyed. In this way, doubtless, he preserved a full consciousness of the purity of his motives—no light matter truly to a servant of Jesus Christ; and however we may regret the loss of the letters, we cannot but admire the self-denying spirit of the man who thus deliberately sacrificed his own name at the shrine of his Master’s glory.

This tribute to the memory of my truly noble friend I humbly commend to the Holy Spirit; at the same time earnestly entreating my Christian readers to pray that the book, as an echo of the evangelist’s voice, may prolong his extraordinary ministry, and be the means of saving many souls.”

PDF BOOK  (1.1mb) “Duncan Matheson, the Scottish Evangelist.

BIRTH AND BOYHOOD. (130k) pdf (48k) docx (44k) zip (12k)
HIS YOUTH AND CONVERSION. (69k) pdf (48k) docx (31k) zip (20k)
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE. (115k) pdf (66k) docx (38k) zip (24k)
HIS EVANGELISTIC APPRENTICESHIP. (99k) pdf (58k) docx (111k) zip (22k)
HIS MISSION TO THE CRIMEA. (375k) pdf (206k) docx (111k) zip (81k)
DAYS OF REVIVAL. (270k) pdf (78k) docx (57k) zip (44k)
THE DIOCESE OF OPEN-AIR. (482k) pdf (135k) docx (91k) zip (74k)
HIS MANNER OF LIVING AND MODE OF WORKING. (214k) pdf (131k) docx (55k) zip (39k)
SOME SHEAVES FROM THE HARVEST-FIELD. (147k) pdf (37k) docx (37k) zip (25k)
FROM THE FURNACE TO THE SEA OF GLASS MINGLED WITH FIRE. (361k) pdf (103k) docx (71k) zip (55k)
CHARACTERISTICS. (262k) pdf (148k) docx (70k) zip (48k)