Volume 3 > Half-Volume 5

10
the Burgher and Antiburgher Synods in 1820, under
the name of Protesters; and in 1830 his anxieties
were excited, and his pen employed, in endeavours
to promote a union between his own party, now
greatly increased, and the Associate Synod of Ori-
ginal Burghers. Many may smile at these divisions
as unnecessary and unmeaning, and many may won-
der that such a mind as that of Dr. M'Crie should
have been so intent in reconciling them. But reli-
gious dissension is no triviality, and the bond of
Christian unity is worth any sacrifice short of reli-
gious principle; and upon this subject, therefore, the
conscientious spirit of Dr. M'Crie was as anxious as
ever was statesman to combine jarring parties into
one, for the accomplishment of some great national
and common benefit. While thus employed, a heavy
public bereavement visited him with all the weight
of a personal affliction; this was the death of the
Rev. Dr. Andrew Thomson, who, in the full strength
and vigour of his days, suddenly fell down and ex-
pired upon the threshold of his home, which he was
just about to enter. By this event, which occurred
on the 9th of February, 1831, Dr. M'Crie was be-
reaved of a close affectionate intercourse which he
had for years enjoyed with a most congenial heart
and intellect, and saw himself fated to hold onward
in his course, and continue the "good fight," un-
cheered by the voice that had so often revived his
courage. After he had rallied from the unexpected
blow, Dr. M'Crie was employed in what was called
the "Marrow Controversy," which, notwithstanding
the uncouth title it bore, had for its object the vin-
dication of the important doctrine of justification by
faith from the perversions of Arminianism. This
was followed by the anti-patronage controversy in
1833, a subject which the Kirk of Scotland had never
lost sight of since the time when patronage was first
imposed upon it, and which was now fast ripening
into such important results as neither friend nor
enemy could anticipate. As might be expected Dr.
M'Crie was no mere onlooker. He belonged to a
body whose conscientious hope was a return to the
church of their fathers, when it was loosed from its
bonds and purified from its errors; but who saw no
prospect of the realization of that hope until the right
of pastoral election was conceded to the people.
Upon this question Dr. M'Crie published what
proved to be the last work he was to produce as an
author, in the form of an anonymous pamphlet, en-
titled, What ought the General Assembly to do at the
Present Crisis? His answer to the question was
express and brief: " Without delay petition the
legislature for the abolition of patronage." The
outcry in Scotland against patronage became so loud
�so  deafening�that statesmen saw they must be up
and doing, and a committee of the House of Com-
mons was appointed to hold an inquest upon the
alleged grievance. It was natural that the most
distinguished of Scotland's ecclesiastical historians
should be heard upon the subject, more especially
as his testimony was likely to be unbiassed either by
party feeling or self-interest; and accordingly, be-
sides the many eminent ministers of the Established
church who were summoned before the committee,
Dr. M 'Crie was called to give his statement upon
the effects of ecclesiastical patronage. He repaired
to London at this authoritative summons, although
with reluctance, and underwent two long examina-
tions before the committee, the one on the 2d, the
other on the 7th of May, 1834. It was not thus,
however, that the question was to be settled; and
he returned from London, wondering what would
be the result, but comforting himself with the con-
viction that an overruling wisdom predominated
over earthly counsels, and that all would be con-
trolled for the best.
Amidst these public cares and a debility in health
that was daily increasing, Dr. M'Crie now addressed
himself in earnest to accomplish what, in all likeli-
hood, would have proved the most laborious of his
literary undertakings. It was nothing less than a Life
of Calvin, to which his attention had been directed
during his studies upon the progress of the Reforma-
tion on the Continent, and for which he had collected
a considerable amount of materials. This, however,
was not enough, for he felt that, to accomplish such
a work in a satisfactory manner, it would be neces-
sary to consult the ancient records of Geneva, a step
which his ministerial duties prevented. His friends,
aware of his wishes on the subject, had offered to
send, at their own expense, a qualified person to
Geneva to transcribe the required documents; but
this kind offer, which was made in 1831, he declined.
In 1833, however, his son John, a young man of
high talent, who was studying for the church, had
repaired with two pupils on a travelling excursion to
Geneva, and to him the task was committed of
making the necessary extracts upon the subject. The
commission could not have been better bestowed.
"John has been so laborious in his researches," said
the affectionate father, "and sent me home so many
materials, that I found myself shut up to make an
attempt, if it were for no other reason than to show
that I was not altogether insensible to his exertions."
He felt more and more the growing lassitude that
was stealing upon him, and thus wrote, eight months
afterwards, about the materials that were pouring
in upon him from Geneva: "I have neither time
nor leisure to avail myself of them; and instead of
rejoicing, as I used to do, at the sight of such trea-
sures, I rather feel inclined to weep. Yet if I can
make nothing of them, some other may." Thus he
went on till the middle of the following year, his
attention to Calvin being in the meantime divided
by the great ecclesiastical events that were hastening
onward to the disruption of the Church of Scotland.
Of the life of the great reformer, however, he had
already written out and prepared for the press three
ample chapters, in which Calvin's career was traced
through the studies of his youth, onward to his
adoption of the reformed doctrines, his preface to
the Institution of the Christian Religion, and his
residence in Geneva. But here the historian's task
was to terminate, and terminate most unexpectedly
and abruptly. On the 4th of August, 1835, he was
suddenly taken unwell; a stupor succeeded, from
which it was impossible to rouse him; and on the
following day he breathed his last, without a groan
or struggle, but insensible to the presence of his
grieving friends who were assembled round his death-
bed. Thus died, in the sixty-third year of his age
and fortieth of his ministry, the Rev. Dr. M'Crie,
whose whole life had been a preparation for death,
and whom death, therefore, could not take at un-
awares. His remains were buried in the churchyard
of Grayfriars, and over the grave a simple monument
was erected by his congregation, with an inscription
commemorative of his worth and their regret. At
his death he left a widow, for he was twice married,
upon whom government, to show their sense of his
worth, settled a liberal pension. His children, who
were all by his first marriage, consisted of four sons,
of whom John, the third, his faithful assistant among
the archives of Geneva, died only two years after his
father. Besides these, he had one daughter, married
to Archibald Meikle, Esq., Flemington. It is
pleasing to add that of the family of such a man,
there is one who inherits not only his name and