EV, OSEPH VAWSON PETER MACKENZIE HIS LIFE AND LABOURS " BY THE SAME AUTHOR. Jicst Puhlislied. (1) THE FACE OF A SOUL. A Story of Art and Life. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s. [Readers of "Peter Mackenzie: His Life and Labours," will be interested to know that in this story—though written three years ago, and before the author had any idea of be- coming his biographer—Mr. Mackenzie figures as a preacher, and (chaps, vi. and ix.) his style and manner are most \ividly reproduced.] — Scotsman. "An interesting tale. , . Well written, and embodies a good vein of thoughtfulness." Neivcasth Daily Leader. — " A wholesome and entertaining storj'." (2) TFIE SOUL OF THE SERMON (Including The Minister's Monday and the Personality of the Preacher). Third Edition, cloth gilt, is. net. Christian World. — "Most stimulating reading. Mr. Dawson is a prophet of his time. Methodist Times. —"We predict for Mr. Dawson a wider sphere in the literature of to-morrow." Methodist RecordcT. —" Essays from a gifted pen. New Age. — " Full of good things." LONDON: ^t ft^c olixixorn JU'cas, 26 PATERNOSTER SQUARE AND 211 GRAY's INN ROAD. FrC'ii a j\'i^'aih-e by G. Ridsdalc CUare. Cia/'ioii, Lo>ido7i. N. •/ i'YOA' ,,\RLF.S H KEi LV : PETER MACKENZIE HIS LIFE AND LABOURS Rev. JOSEPH DAWSON AUTHOR nF 'the face of a Soul." AND "tHE SOUL OF THE SERMON " ETC. FIFTH EDITION |i'onii0n CHARLES H. KELLY 2, CASTLE ST., CITY RD. ; AND 66, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.a i8g6 ^^ 01.. I 16 K 3 — PREFACE rpniS biography was begun on December 16, 1895, J- and completed on March 21, 1896,—a period of three months and five days. Ordinarily such haste is greatly to be deprecated, but in this case urgency of cir- cumstance rendered it unavoidable. To have delayed the pubUcation of the book until the autumn would have seriously jeopardised its success. The forced speed at which it has been written will perhaps be accepted in explanation, if not excuse, of such defects as may be discernible in its style and contents. Every endeavour has been made to ensure accuracy and fulness of detail, and to furnish a satisfactory presentation of Mr. Mackenzie's personality and work. Grateful acknowledgments are hereby tendered to the many friends who have kindly supplied information, granted the use of letters, or in any way assisted in the preparation of the work. The names of such have, as far as practicable, been noted in connection with their several contributions. Two persons, not so named, Mr. E. J. Phalp of Haswell, and Bailie Doig of Dundee,—demand special thanks for valuable infor- ; vi PREFACE mation relating to Mr. Mackenzie's earlier life and surroundings. It only remains to be added, that the aim of the writer has been to portray the hero of these pages ia that larger outline clear to those who knew him best and his gratification will be abundant if what has been to him a labour of love should succeed in securing for Mr. Mackenzie ampler appreciation as a man of genius, a friend of the people, and a servant of Jesus Christ. Bradford, March 2-3, 18 CO^^TENTS CHAPTER I Bir.THPLACE Childhood —1S24-1S36 AND ... 1 CHAPTER II Waxing into Manhood— 1836-1844 .... 12 CHAPTER III FeO-M the 1844-1845 . Faem to the Mine— . .22 CHAPTER IV - Entrance on Married Life— 1845-1847 . 32 CHAPTER Y Decision for Chri.st—1847-1849 . .41 CHAPTER A'l Getting under "Way— 1849-1850 ... .51 CHAPTER YII Fir.st Attempts at Preaching— 1850-1852 . ... 59 CHAPTER VIII . ExTEItlENCES AS A LoCAL PREACHER— 1850-1852 , 69 viii CONTENTS CHAPTER IX PAGE Geowing Popularity — Emigration Th'warted — 1S50- 1854 .79 CHAPTEK X Bishop Auckland anh Regions Beyond— 1854-1858 . 87 CHAPTER XI Proposed for the Ministry—1858 . 100 CHAPTER XII The Year at Didseury—1858-1859 . .111 CHAPTER XIII His First Circuit—Buiixley—1859-1860 . , .123 CHAPTER XIV Monmouth, Ross, and Forest of Dean—1860-1862 . 135 CHAPTER XV Among the Wiltshire Villages—1862-1865 . 147 CHAPTER XVI — . Back to the North Gateshead— 1865-1868 . 157 CHAPTER XVII — . Sunderland Sans Street—1868-1871 . 167 CHAPTER XVIII — Newcastle-on-Tyne Blenheim Street—1871-1874 . 173 CHAPTER XIX Leeds—St. Peter's—1874-1877 . .180 CHAPTER XX Leeds—Wesley Cikouit—1877-1880 . .194 CONTENTS CHAPTER \XI pahh; Bradford— Shipley Circuit 1880-lss.S . — , , 2(13 CHAPTER XXII Dewxihtey Ciruuit— 1SS3-1886 214 CHAPTER XXIII Retirement from Circuit 1886-1895 Work— . 222 CHAPTER XXIV The Last Days ..,., 210 CHAPTER XXV Rest at Last ....:. 248 CHAPTER XXVI The Man— His Courtesy' ..... 2.f)6 CHAPTER XXVII The Max—His Joyousness ..... 269 CHAPTER XXVIII His . The Man— Generosity . 277 CHAPTER XXIX — The Man Diyers Traits and Incidents . 285 CHAPTER XXX The Preacher— His Mental and Sitritital (^Utality 292 CHAPTER XXXI — — The Preacher Illltstraticn Huiiour— Delivery . 298 CHAPTER XXXII The Preacher— His Prayers ... 307 X CONTENTS CHAPTER XXXIII PACK The Lectueee—Ton, anp Ti;AVEr. ... 312 CHAPTER XXXIV — . The Lkctuiucr Deamatio Realisation , . 319 CHAPTER XXXV The Lectueee —His Humour .... 326 APPENDIX The Man and his Work ... 333 — LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS SriTTAL, Glex Siiek . Tay Feili;y Stk.ameu . NkaVI'CJKT FP.nM THE AVesT ir Mixer at Woi;k 24 JliNET AT Rest 26 " HAXD-ruTTEIl "... 2S Where the Wife-I'eateii was (.!itastiseti 33 Mai^kenzie's ILiuse \\iiex first JIakeieij 37 Poxy and Tub .... 42 Haswell Colliery 4.fi Has\yell ChAI'EL 18 AVhere JIai'Kexzie Liveh wiiex Chxvert :i) House on Right ^VITH Closei> Door .52 Chapel Laxe, Haswell 63 Main Street, Haswell 71 Mackexzie at Thirty 95 Little Dean Hill Chatel 130 We.sley Chapel, Cixderford 138 Mr. Mackenzie's DRAWiNo-RdOM 22.5 Me. Mackexzie's Sttdy 233 Rev. Petf.r Mahkexzie 257 — LIFE OF PETER MACKENZIE CHAPTEE I BIRTHPLACE AND CIIILDIIOOT) 1S24-1S36 ATito1nor;i'a]ihical Scraps— Bivthplace — Scenery of Olen Sliee E.ii'ly Influences—Journey to Dundee— Little Peter Lost — Links of Oomerton—Leucliars and Logic—Meagre Schooling —Lesson of the Cock-crowing. UNLIKE Eembrandt and other masters, among all the canvases he painted, Peter Mackenzie in- chided no portrait of himself. Ceaseless activities crowded out of his life all possibility of autobiography. What a story he might have written had leisure been allowed to nurse him in her lap awhile before death struck the pen for ever from his fingers ! He made a beginning, but it was a mere scrap ; covering only five pages of note-paper, hurried in style, and meagre in statement. Swiftly, indeed, must he hurry on, when in so brief a chronicle he travels from Glen Shee, in the north of Scotland, to Didsbury, on the skirts of Manchester, and covers a period of over thirty years. Yet, hurried and bare as the history is, like a half-clad beggar in too mucli haste to gather 2 LIFE OF PETER MACKENZIE alms, what interest it awakens, and how valuable, in the absence of other witnesses, are the few ragged, disjointed details it lets fall for us as it scurries onward ! I was liorn in Glen Sliee, North Highlands of Scotland on the 11th of Novemljer 1824. Glen Shee is a romantic valley, flanked on the east by Mount Blair, and on the west by Lamh Dearg, through which the road from Blairgowrie climbs patiently up towards Braemar, a distance of thirty- five miles. The road is designated the Eoyal Eoute, owing to its having been chosen by the Queen and Prince Albert as the way to Balmoral before the Deeside Eailway was constructed. The surrounding mountains rise to a height of from three to four thousand feet, and listen with haughty brows to the brawling of the river Shee in the valley below. Before the road enters the glen, it clambers up a steep hill, and beyond it hugs the shoulder of Cairnwall, until, having threaded a sharp zigzag, called the Devil's Elbow, and climbed to an elevation of two thousand feet, it reaches the summit of the pass, near where the small loch of Brotrachan sleeps quietly on the left. This is the watershed, from which the road rapidly descends, by Glenclunie, to Braemar. The inn at the head of the glen is known as Tlic S'pittal, a corruption of the word hospital, the name having its origin in the fact that a hospice of tlie monks or Hospitallers of St. John once stood here, and served as a refuge for travellers. Here, among these rugged mountains, the strength and largeness of which seem to have passed into him, — — : EA RL Y INFL UENCES 5 ricylioned by tlic free air, bi'iiwiii'd liy Llie uiihiiKk'rcd sua, luu'dcned by the wliolcsome faro coiiimoii t(i tlio household of the Scottish peasant, the man whose course we have to follow through these pages spent the 1irst three years of liis life, reminding us involun- tarily (if that other child, of whom Wordsworth sang Three years she grew in sun and shower. And the poetry that lay at the heart of all his thou^'ht and speech in after years would almost lead one to picture him saying of himself, in the words of the same writer Not in vain, By day or star-liglit, thus irom my lirst dawn Of childhood didst tliou intertwine for nie The passions that build up our human soul Not with the moan and vulgar works of Man ; But with high objects, witli enduring things, With life and nature. We catch the tone of our surroundings in childhood as readily as the lake at midnight takes the imprint of the stars, and it is hardly a freak of fancy to scent in the strong bright speech of Peter Mackenzie some of the breeziness and rugged vigour of liis early environment.