the Lord would send faithful men into his
vineyard. These new churches were to be like cisterns--ready to catch
the shower when it should fall, just as his own did in the day of the
Lord's power.

His views on this subject were summed up in the following lines,
written one day as he sat in company with some of his zealous brethren
who were deeply engaged in the scheme:

Give me a man of God the truth to preach,
A house of prayer within convenient reach,
Seat-rents the poorest of the poor can pay,
A spot so small one pastor can survey:
Give these--and give the Spirit's genial shower,
Scotland shall be a garden all in flower!

Another public duty to which, during all the years of his ministry, he
gave constant attention, was attendance at the meetings of presbytery.
His candor, and uprightness, and Christian generosity, were felt by
all his brethren; and his opinion, though the opinion of so young a
man, was regarded with more than common respect. In regard to the
great public questions that were then shaking the Church of Scotland,
his views were decided and unhesitating. No policy, in his view, could
be more ruinous to true Christianity, or more fitted to blight vital
godliness, than that of Moderatism. He wrote once to a friend in
Ireland: "You don't know what Moderatism is. It is a plant that our
heavenly Father never planted, and I trust it is now to be rooted up."
The great question of the Church's independence of the Civil Power in
all matters spiritual, and the right of the Christian people to judge
if the pastor appointed over them had the Shepherd's voice, he
invariably held to be part of Scripture truth, which, therefore, must
be preached and carried into practice, at all hazards. In like manner
he rejoiced exceedingly in the settlements of faithful ministers. The
appointments of Mr. Baxter to Hilltown, Mr. Lewis to St. David's, and
Mr. Miller to Wallacetown at a later period, are all noticed by him
with expressions of thankfulness and joy; and it occasioned the same
feelings if he heard of the destitution of any parish in any part of
the country supplied. He writes, _Sept. 20, 1838_: "Present at A.B.'s
ordination at Collace with great joy. Blessed be God for the gift of
this pastor. Give testimony to the word of thy grace."

Busy at home, he nevertheless always had a keenly evangelistic spirit.
He might have written much and have gained a name by his writings; but
he