Robert MacWard (ca. 1633-1681)
James Dodson
ROBERT MACWARD was a native of Glenluce in the south of Galloway. The time of his birth, and the condition of his parents, have unfortunately not been recorded with any degree of certainty. His circumstances, however, were such as enabled him to prosecute, without interruption, those preparatory studies, which his chosen profession as a minister of the everlasting gospel required him to pursue. Samuel Rutherford was professor of theology at St. Andrew’s, when MacWard was enrolled there as a student of divinity in 1643; and by that eminent scholar and divine he was greatly beloved. He accompanied Rutherford in the capacity of private secretary, when the latter proceeded to London, as one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly.
At this period it was no unusual thing for talented young men, before entering upon the stated exercise of their holy vocation, to be employed as regents in our universities. In the year 1650, MacWard was appointed regent or professor of Humanity in the ancient seminary of learning, of which his distinguished friend and patron, Rutherford, was Principal. This chair he occupied for a short period; for, in 1656 he succeeded the celebrated Mr. Andrew Gray as minister of the Outer High Church in Glasgow. It says much for the piety and talents of MacWard that he was, when yet so young, considered worthy to occupy that important charge. In this extensive sphere of usefulness he laboured with apostolic zeal for the space of five years; and by a conscientious discharge of his official engagements, gained an imperishable name for pastoral fidelity. While thus employed, he incurred the marked displeasure and hatred of the prelatic party, whose influence at court was now daily on the ascendant. A mind like that of MacWard, deeply imbued with Christianity, and strongly attached to Presbyterianism in all its simplicity, could ill brook the imperious dictates which were incessantly issuing, with the insidious design of depriving Scotland of its ecclesiastical polity. He timely and loudly raised his voice against those inroads which were making, under the sanction of the king, and which threatened, not merely the annihilation of presbytery, but the extinction of the religion of the land. For a sermon, preached in the Tron Church of Glasgow, February 1661, in which he bore public testimony to the “glaring defections of the times,” he was arrested, carried to Edinburgh, thrown into prison, and indicted by his majesty’s advocate “for sedition and treasonable preaching.” The historian Wodrow has preserved the speech delivered by MacWard, when he answered the citation of parliament on the 6th of the following June. Before this tribunal he triumphantly defended his conduct. But he spoke to prejudiced judges, who, it is to be feared, regarded more the wish of their sovereign, than the unspeakable satisfaction and honour of passing an impartial verdict. By those invested with power, he was looked upon as a very dangerous person. This was quite sufficient to sway the justiciary lords, who passed what they doubtless thought a lenient sentence; decreeing, that he should leave the kingdom within half a year; be permitted to sojourn one month in Glasgow, and be entitled to the following year’s stipend. Getting his matters settled as best he could, MacWard and his family embarked for Holland, and arrived at Rotterdam, where he met with a hearty reception. In his correspondence, much of which has happily been preserved, MacWard speaks in warm and grateful strains of the sympathy and attention shown him abroad. To lady Kenmure, relict of John Viscount Kenmure, with whom he seems to have kept frequent intercourse by letter, he says, “If your ladyship be desirous to have any account concerning my condition, know that I have met with much undeserved kindness. I am ashamed to call my lot a suffering lot, for He hath rather hid me from the storm than exposed me to trouble. I have occasion now and then to preach at Rotterdam, where we have one old Scots minister who is dissatisfied with the times.” [WODROW MSS. Adv. Lib. Edinb. Vol. lviii. No. 53.]
The minister here alluded to is Mr. Alexander Petrie, the ecclesiastical historian, who had been translated by the General Assembly in 1643, from the parish of Rhynd, to be the first pastor of the Scottish Church in Rotterdam. Besides having the use of Mr. Petrie’s pulpit, MacWard’s time was occupied in collecting and arranging the papers of his honoured preceptor Rutherford,—the first edition of whose “Religious Letters” was printed abroad under MacWard’s editorship. After this our Worthy took up his abode at Utrecht. At that seat of learning, resorted to by students from distant kingdoms, more especially from Scotland, he made himself most useful to his young countrymen. With several of the professors, particularly Voetius and Nethenus, eminent theologians, he was on an intimate footing. In the English church of Utrecht he frequently preached; and its sessional records pleasingly show the consistent spirit of this Covenanter, in his noncompliance with some ecclesiastical forms, which he conceived Scripture did not enjoin, and which Presbytery, in its purest days, did not tolerate. MacWard, ever anxious to do good, complied with a request of the session to preach every Wednesday morning. This practice he continued till some of the elders complained that he did not, like Mr. Best the regular pastor, introduce the Lord’s prayer in public worship, as also the liturgical forms translated into English, peculiar to the Dutch reformed church. The session, then composed of natives of England, Scotland, and Holland, were divided in opinion on the subject, and often had they “a large and earnest discourse about the use of the liturgy.” In 1667, by plurality of voices, the elders, their pastor being absent, had “concluded and resolved, that henceforth no minister shall be admitted to preach in this congregation, that refuseth to say the Lord’s prayer, and to use the forms of liturgy in the administration of baptism, the Lord’s supper, confirmation of elders and deacons, and solemnization of marriage, according to the orders of the church.” All this was clearly levelled at MacWard. As his name does not appear in the records of the Consistory, it is presumed that the captious elders carried their point, and that the English congregation in Utrecht was no longer edified by the searching discourses of this worthy man.
In the year 1668, he brought under the notice of Nethenus, professor of theology at Utrecht, the MS. of Rutherford against the Arminians. Nethenus undertook to superintend the printing, and, in the preface, he handsomely acknowledges his obligations to Messrs. MacWard and Livingstone, for the valuable assistance which they afforded him in his capacity of editor of this masterly refutation, which, it may be observed, for circulation among the learned, was written in the Latin language. MacWard was in London in 1668, but he returned to Holland without visiting Scotland. In 1669, he came to Scotland, and was united in marriage to the widow of provost Graham of Glasgow. On the demise of his friend Mr. John Livingstone in 1672, he once more visited his native country; and he finally left it for Holland in 1674, followed a short while afterwards by his wife, and her son. MacWard, on settling at Rotterdam, enjoyed the society of a greater number of banished Scottish ministers than was to be found at any other town in Holland. This may be accounted for from the circumstance of there being a vast concourse of presbyterians who had resorted thither, with the view of engaging in commercial pursuits, then most lucrative, which enabled them to enjoy the high satisfaction of relieving those of their countrymen who had left home for conscience’ sake. Into the midst of this interesting society MacWard was now introduced; and daily converse with kindred spirits was refreshing to him in the extreme. In the year 1676, he was admitted one of the ministers of the Scottish Church in Rotterdam, as colleague to Mr. John Hogg. The particulars respecting this appointment we have already recorded in the Life of John Brown. That he should have been named to supply the newly created place of second minister, when men of such talent were numerous in Rotterdam, speaks volumes in his praise; and the selection was most honourable to the Scottish Consistory.
MacWard effected many important improvements. At his suggestion, a sessional meeting was held every Monday morning for religious purposes, and prayer for the success of the gospel at home and abroad. With him, also, originated the proposal to levy a small gratuity for the poor of the congregation, from every Scottish vessel arriving at Rotterdam. He successfully arranged matters, and got the owners and masters of ships readily to enter into his benevolent views. For this acceptable offering, which has been uninterruptedly and cheerfully continued to the present day, free church accommodation is granted to captains, mates, and sailors, who have distinct pews.
The services of MacWard were highly valued by the whole congregation, and by those trading to the port. He was, indeed, no ordinary man. His pious and becoming deportment, his anxiety to promote personal and family religion, endeared him to his flock; and from ship to ship, as well as from house to house, he statedly went, speaking of the things that pertained to the everlasting peace of his hearers. As might be expected, his addresses from the pulpit, energetic and truly affectionate, could not be heard with cold indifference, by a people for whose welfare he showed such concern. From the particulars given in the life of Col. Wallace and in that of Mr. Brown, our readers have already seen how MacWard was compelled to leave his people, through the influence of the English government, and also how honourably the Dutch authorities acted in this matter, even whilst they mildly enjoined our countrymen to withdraw from Holland for a season. The Scottish church in Rotterdam had the greatest cause to lament this constrained decision of the States, as they were thus to lose the justly appreciated services of three excellent men. The mournful intelligence was communicated at a meeting of the Consistory, held on the 1st of February, 1677, as thus appears from the records:—“It was there signified to them by Mr. Robert MacWard, minister, that there was come an order from the States-General, that he, Mr. John Brown, and Mr. Wallace, behoved to remove from this place, and out of the Seven Provinces belonging to the said States, with all possible diligence; which ordinance so resolved, was imposed upon them, doubtless from the court of England. At which the session being very much grieved, thereby to be deprived of their faithful, painful, and pious preacher, and of such another also, who every Lord’s day was an helper in the work of the Lord, and likewise of the most painful and useful elder they had amongst them; which sad and dreadful stroake they could not look upon, but as a signal and eminent token of the Lord’s high displeasure against this congregation, for the manifold sins and grievous provocations thereof; but especially for their unfruitfulness and barrenness under the many waterings and powerful means of grace not only of them, but of many other faithful, able, and painful ministers of the gospel, formerly removed by death, whose labours in the gospel had been very successful elsewhere; so that by the very heavy stroake, added to all the former, they could not but foresee, in all probability, that the Lord hereby intended to forsake this place, and to extinguish utterly the light of the gospel therein; which, taking to their consideration, they judged it their duty to be deeply humbled before the Lord, in deprecating the fierceness of his wrath, and earnestly to plead with him for mercy and pardon, and not utterly leave and forsake some small remnant in this place, and to continue with the congregation, the other faithful and painful minister, till the Lord in his mercy and good providence should reduce and bring back these others, now unjustly banished from them. The which Mr. MacWard, they do still own and avouch to be their minister, and the said Mr. Wallace their elder, notwithstanding of any Act or Ordinance now past out against them, as aforesaid, procured by the means of wicked and malicious instruments and enemies to the truth and power of godliness in the court of England, so as they are bound before God, and hold as a duty incumbent upon them, to receive and embrace them with all cordial affection, and brotherly affection in the work of the Lord, whensoever he, in his providence, shall be pleased to take off this restraint, and bring them back to this place again.” Mr. MacWard promised to use his best efforts that the Scottish congregation should continue to enjoy its full complement of ministers, and that his place should be filled as speedily as possible, with an able and a zealous labourer in the vineyard. At this meeting, the last at which he presided, MacWard had the satisfaction of congratulating the Session on the establishment—principally effected by his own exertions—of an English school under their auspices, and of formally introducing the newly elected teacher. This school exists to the present day, under the immediate patronage of the Scottish Consistory, who have had many gratifying proofs of its utility; and it has afforded gratuitous instruction to several who have remarkably prospered in life, and have attributed their success, under a gracious Providence, to the benefits which they derived from an attendance at this little seminary. Before leaving MacWard partook of the Lord’s Supper with his people, and addressed them on this unusually solemn occasion. On the morning of Sabbath, February 25th, 1677, he preached a farewell discourse, “being to remove the 27th instant, as he did, to the great grief of all truly godly in the place.” The letters written by MacWard, at Utrecht, in reference to the supply of the vacancy at Rotterdam, breathe an excellent spirit, and evince an uncommon degree of real piety. The Session had empowered him to fix upon any minister belonging to the Church of Scotland, whom he might regard qualified to succeed him; and agreed, besides, to abide by his decision. Mr. John Carstares (father of Principal Carstares), and Mr. James Kirkton, the ecclesiastical historian, were pressingly invited in succession; but they having declined, Mr. Robert Fleming, who had been minister of Cambuslang, accepted the letter of nomination. Mr. MacWard instantly made the Session acquainted with the happy result of the application. Mr. Fleming, a person of tried worth, and of great Christian experience, was admitted as the colleague of Mr. John Hogg, on the 30th December, 1677. The Scottish church in Rotterdam flourished under Fleming and his son; and, in passing, we may be allowed to observe, that as the oldest branch of the Church of Scotland, on the Continent of Europe, it still flourishes, both in point of numbers and respectability.
MacWard returned to Rotterdam in 1678. Colonel Wallace died in his arms; and he was likewise called upon to witness the departure “to a better country,” of many of his expatriated brethren. Yet he bore these trials with the composure and resignation of a Christian. He repined not at the doings of his heavenly Father, but patiently awaited the solemn hour when he too should be ushered into their blissful society. Nor did Providence design that he should tarry long behind them. In his last illness, he requested to be carried out, that he might see a comet which then appeared. On beholding this “sign in the heavens,” which in those days was generally regarded as a sure presage of the “distress of nations,” MacWard, it is said, blessed the Lord, that he was about to close his eyes, and was not to witness what was threatening to befall his native country. It has been well remarked, that few were then aware, that the revolutions of a comet are as regular as those of the moon, though its orbit may be so large as to admit of its appearance only once in hundreds of years.
MacWard died at Rotterdam in the month of December, 1681. A half-length original portrait of him (from which the print in our work is accurately taken), has been preserved in the session-house of the Scottish Church in Rotterdam. His eyes were hazel coloured; his complexion was ruddy; and his long auburn hair fell in natural ringlets on his shoulder. MacWard left a widow, who resided alternately at Utrecht and Rotterdam. He had a son, of whose subsequent history, however, we are unable to furnish any notice. Among the Wodrow MSS. in the Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh, no fewer than seventy original letters addressed by MacWard to various eminent persons have been preserved. Into these precious documents we have occasionally dipped; and, whilst we have been much gratified by the perusal, we have regretted that some of the epistles, breathing such a heavenly spirit, should not, long ere now, have been brought before the Christian public. Several of MacWard’s works were given to the world during his lifetime, and some were printed long after his decease. Condensation is no distinguishing feature in his style. With a heart full of his subject, and earnestly desirous to impress every reader with the vast importance of salvation, he seems fearful lest, in his direct appeals to the conscience, he may have omitted any consideration which might happily induce even a solitary individual immediately to choose God as his portion. This is one of the causes, we apprehend, which gives to the writings of MacWard, and many of our old divines, much of that verbosity, which the present generation so loudly deprecates. But whilst we declaim against a vitiated taste, and with some reason denounce the unnecessary subdivisions, and involved sentences of a former age, there is, it is to be feared, ground for suspecting that we run into an opposite extreme. The searching simplicity of gospel statement is too frequently sacrificed at the shrine of taste. Those touching remonstrances with the sinner; that apt scriptural quotation and allusion, which carried conviction to the understanding, and powerfully affected the heart, are not now so often met with; and it may be, are sometimes purposely kept back in order to secure the short-lived approbation of the world. MacWard sought not the applause of men. Like every conscientious minister, he hesitated not to publish, whether from the pulpit or the press, the whole counsel of God. He knew that this might bring upon him the sneer of the profane, but derision and persecution he was willing to endure, and did endure without a murmur in the cause of his Divine Master.
When Koelman was engaged rendering into the language of Holland the works of John Brown, Hugh Binning, and other Scottish authors, MacWard usually furnished him with a preliminary essay, or a biographical notice. MacWard’s “Alarm to Preachers in Times of Defection,” a small work which was never published in English, but was translated into Dutch by his friend Koelman, was an awakening address. His “Poor Man’s Cup of Cold Water, ministered to the Saints and Sufferers for Christ in Scotland,” was received with avidity, and was esteemed as a timely and consoling draught by the Presbyterians, “who were amidst the scorching flames of the fiery tryal.” To these may be added, “Banders Disbanded,” and the “True Nonconformist,” an acute controversial work, written in reply to bishop Burnet. He has been, by some, erroneously represented as the author of “Naphtali;” which was written by Mr. James Stirling, minister of Paisley, assisted by Sir James Stewart of Good-trees.
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