The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-06-23

in'er'a they heard preachers whose doctrines,
whose phraseology, and whose very Tone re-
minded them Of the happy days of youth. In
proportion to their former recklessness was
their terror, their contrition, and their zeal
Many who were we'll inclined, and in religious
community conducted themselves with propri-
ETY., found, when removed from the salutary in
huence of Christian association. that their pas
SONS were too strong for their conscientious
principle. Not without many twinges of con-
science they had pursued a wrong course. Now
that the Gospel was brought within their reach,
they embraced it with eagerness, and endeav-
ored, by renewed diligence, to make up for
past neglect.
others were so very ignorant, that If the
the simple truths of the Bible were only ex-
planned to them with sufficient clearness, the
very novelty of the ideas held them entranced
HE eagerness of the audience reacted on the
speaker and gave an unusual pathos to his APP
peals. In time, all this vivacity must wear OF,
"a the same manner as the buoyancy OF youth
gives way to the sedateness of age but, wher-
ever the gospel is preached in sincerity, it will
always bear its fruits in outward morality and
inward truth.
1t was the oppression of Charles / in Scot
land that FIRST drove a few intelligent and ear
nest men to Ireland. There they labored with
the success already mentioned. But they were
few, and the field was wide The scene of their
labors was like few green spots in the great
desert. The great mass of the Scotch colonists
were still without either law or gospel, turbu-
lent, profane, and oppressive. If Scotchman
happened to sympathize with the suffering Celt,
and spoke in his favor, he was generally rdi-
culed as Papist by his countrymen. By de-
grees, he would draw closer and closer to his
client Attending mass he would witness a
sample, earnest devotion in the humble Irish,
which would please him, till he or his children
would eventually return to the Roman Catho-
Inc worship. Thus, matters seemed to be in
such way, that infidelity and Popery might
soon divide the great majority of the Scotch
Irish.
Then came the terrible massacre of 174l.
The native Irish, encouraged as some saw by
the emssaries of Charles l. Justly incensed by
oppression, and stimulated to fury by their
priests, attempted to drive the strangers from
the soil. The Celt had long been restrained by
the fear of an armed force, and by personal
dread OF the naughty foreigner. Now, when he
made an effort, lie was surprised to find him
self an Overmatch for his hated foe, and rushed
on madly to plumber and to blood. The hoary
head of age, and the innocence Of tender in
fancy, were not spared, any more than the stall
IL
ing towards the Irish interest and the Roman
Catholic faith, was seldom distinguished from
his pref udiced countrymen. The cry of perse-
cutiOn reSounded through Scotland, England,
aud Germany and when Cromwell, a few years
later inflicted terrible retribution, he thought
that he avenged the blood Of martyrs. But it
is hardly correct to call that persecution, which
little manifestation of the spirit of the gospel
on the part OF the sufferers might have pre-
vented. 1t is notorious fact, that those neigh
borhoods where the Scotch preachers had la
bored with the greatest success were left com
paratively uninjured, not that the Infatuated
Irish exercised any discrimination, but simply
because there the inhabitants, having received
but little provocation, did not engage in the
rising.
During Cromwel's domination, fresh colony
from England and Scotland filled the balfde-
populated fields of Ulster Still, there were
but few preachers among the new comers, and
these were partly Independent, and partly Pres
byteran. When the accession of Charles III
drove both saints and hypocrites from power,
and the reign of licentiOusness was established,
the moral and spiritual condition of Ireland
was little better than 1t had been thirty years
before.
The persecution in Scotland which followed
to the Presbyterian interest in Ireland. The
Prelatists and Presbyterians, actuated by SINH.
lar fear and hatred with regard to the Papists,
were restrained from hostility towards one
another, so that ministers who were driven from
their hocks in Scotland were allowed to labor
In Ireland with bat little interruption. The
prosecuted refugees were generally men of the
truest steel, frightened by experience, and
sharpened by suffering. Some had spent
months and years on the mountains. Some
had borne the thumb screw till they tainted,
and some had buried the last Of their family,
dying with priyation aud sufferines Others,
closely pursued by the Dragons, had seen a
mist fall SO suddenly, that they imagined it was
an immediate answer to their prayers, so that
they almost looked up to see the angels, while
their pursuers passed by. Thus they had learn
ed to bear hunger and cold, to despise pain, and
to be sepsltlvely alive to the presence Of an an
seen power. When men suffer for any cause
good or bad, they cling to it with renewed ar.
dor. For centuries past, the Scotch hills have
produced men remarkable for energy, enter
prise, and frmness. On the field Of Waterloo,
under the burning sun of India, and in the
bowling forests of Africa, has their efficiency
for either good or evil been acknowledged 1t
may well be supposed that the ministers of
swelling Of Jordan. True blood hounds were
they, OF st. Hubert breed, keen of scent, strong
ct wind and limb, and ready for the hunt Life
to them was no longer desirable, except az it
afforded them an opportunity TO win souls
Had we history of their labors, it would no
doubt be interesting, but the material is want
ing. They lad little leisure to record any
thing themselves, and they labored among
people who committed little or nothing TO
writing.
Tradition informs about certain praying
barn thresber who came froW Scotland He is
described as a man with mild vet expressive
eye, and a cOuntenance at once sad and pleas
ing. He spoke but little, but when he spoke,
he manifested unusual Intelligence. He told
beautiful stories to the children, and old people
themselves delighted to hear them. He often
went alone to "a distant thicket, and he could
tell strange things which others knew nothing
about Some thought he was minister, and
others took him for wizard. We learn from
Howie's history of the Scots worthless, that
Alexander Peden came over to Ireland, and
hired himself out to farmer, where it was soon
found out that he was a minister, and he had
not to work any more, We are at no loss to
discover the identity between the praying barn
thresher and MIR. Peden. His superior ntelli-
gence, education, and extensive travels, would
impress the simple minded people with the idea
that he possessed supernatural knowledge,
which they would ascribe to divine inspiration,
or Internal suggestions, according to their feel
ings towards him. In those days there was
such a wide distance between the laboring class
and the professional, that for a common laborer
to manifest the intelligence of an educated man,
was counted far more extraordinary than for a
man to converse with spirits.
There was a song about "bould beggar."
1t must have been old indeed, for there was a
parody on it which my grandmother knew in
her young days. He was described as tall,
boz loA 10