New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-04-26
SCOTCH THUNDER.

IN . scotch pulpit. IL tho minister, however,
ipdrIoos in n considerable latitude Of speech,
60. for that matter, does tho congregation treat
itseIf to criticism Gas the bread is served In
ootino-bouses. at discretion), and sometimes,
we should say, not little indiscreetly' saw
new is q born critic of preaching; and THIS
accounts for the trouble which has overtaken
the Rev. Robert Thomson, tho minister OF
Oueensferry, who has been hailed by his
lambs before the Presbytery OF Linlithg0w,
and charged with q variety of rhetorical
crimes. One count Of the indictment averred
that mon O certain occasion Mr.. Thomson was
entity Of using the expressions "The starry
Ghost which sweeps across the milky way"
in which fight Of tho fancy, logic sharp
ened by an oat-meal diet might doubt
less detect some reconcile but damnable
beresy. Moreover, in his prayers, Mr..
Robert Thomson was charged with addressing
Omnipotence in familiar not to say free
and easy way, as thus ENABLE mo to write
prearranged, premeditated, and written SER
"monsl" or thus: "Bless the poor, for whom
al have prayed twice to-day already" and it
was in evidence that upon one occasion the
Rev. Robert was guilty Of the blasphemy OF
praying specially for o man who had broken
his leg, and praying too in roaring, exclt-
"ing Manner whilo another Of the flock do
poned that the presentee's voice grated
"miserably upon the ear" at which the wit
ness was so Disguised that he wisely resolved
to abandon the Kirk altogether. Another
parishioner was offended at Dir. Thorn
sons way of praying for tho Royal
Family, for he prayed for Her Majesty at the
first onset, then he went on to the Princess
| "of Wales, and then be went back TO Her
Majesty, all in the same prayer'-thlnklng,
| as we may suggest, that the older sinner was
in double need of his sacred interposition;
and it must have been upon the same princi-
pie that "he prayed for the Provost five times
:" in one day. at which. it may be presumed,
| the Provost was exceedingly wroth. Nature
having given the parsOn of the parish OF
QueensferIy an extremely loud voice, like
unto that of the Great American Tragedian,
he did by no means mitigate his el0cution, but
"spoke in perfect roar, moro like theatrical
oman than man in the pulpit" This energy
was once, perhaps, more palatable to Scotch
congregation than now for we remember the
story Of Ell old woman who highly praised her
preacher because, in an incredibly short space
of time, he had banged the bowels out of
Give Bibles.n But it was when Mr.. Robert bad
been cited before the Presbytery of Linlith-
gov that he came out the strongest, praying
specially for that tribunal that cit might have
"the hearing ear end the understanding
"heartn-praying, as a witness said, with
"burst, Just the same as it were he had lot
| "of water on his stomach "a kind of minis
terial brash heretofore undescribed, though, IN
connection with sermons we have heard some
thing of milll-and-watcr and something OF that
tepid stuff, neither hot cold, which the
Apostle says is only tit to be ANONYMOUSLY
elected from tho mouth Of the recipient. Then,
too, this rather impOrtunate person prayed
b" for those in affection, and those that had dis
leased souls, and for the army, navy, and
volunteers" which gave great otlense to the
sheep, either because they thought themselves
entitled to a monopoly of the heavenly blcs-
sings, or because (Which is more reasonably
they believed the naval and military power of
the United Kingdom to be past praying for.
These were the major charges against poor
Robert; but there were minor ones. In an ex-
position of tha CIyth Psalm he talked "of
the fishes as fcllOw-creatures,' in which,
maybe, there was no great harm; for we re-
member that an excellent Saint, who stands
high in the calendar, once preached sermon
to the fnny tribe, and was not, to the best of
our knowledge, cited before n Presbytery for
doing SO; while it is Of record that another
Saint preached to the birds, and had congre-
CATION much moro easily managed than this
Scotch one at Queensferry. We can make all
due allowance for the 'cutaneOus irritation
of which Sydney Smith speaks; but perhaps
Mr.. Robert, by reason of too much 0at-pOr-
ridge, was suffering from cutane0us irritation
also.
The Presbytery adjourned for a week, beaten
out by the elamorous rhetoric Of the presentee,
and then came together again to finish their
work The two canny and argumentative
Gaels who stood for the parish had
TO fight their way through nusketO-
cloud of sarcastic Interruptions from tho
Rev. Robert. Mr. Macdonald alleged that the
peccant sermons contained grave errors in
photography cahgraphy, and grammar and
wero lamentably deficient in scrptural and
general knowledge. As an instance Of this he
quoted Mr.. ThomsOD's statement that "the
Romans and the Jews combined to write the
accusation against our Savior on tho cross
At this point the Rev. Robert dropped into
dialect and roared with terrific barr, "Did
aye never ken that before 7, The calm adyo
cate went Oh to state that the reverend pre-
sentee had run for Parliament In Kihnarnock,
greatly to the detriment of his clerical dignity,
upon which he exclaimed with energy that he
glOried i'll oil he did and said in that canvass
and his counsel quoted, as proof Of the
courtesy and elegance with which the
electoral fight was waged, this attic conplet Of
the reverend candidate: "Tho Bouverieites are