" But with this sorte of people at this present I
have not to doe, but onlie with you who obey from the hart
unto that form of doctrine whereunto ye were delivered. Whilk
ye know has ever bene according to the foresaid groundes:
For the better keeping in memorie whereof, I have thought
good to put them in writ in divers formes, and set them to
printing for your use as ye see, that nothing bee wanting
that maye further the sounde grounding of you according to
your meane capacitie, in the true Christian religion, so farre
as in me lyeth.
" Therefore it rests, that yee bee not slothful in exercising
your selves, and your families, in reading and practising
hereof. Fare-well in Christ.
l6th November 1602. "
Our admiration for this great good man would have caused us
to go on quoting, quoting, quoting; for his works are not
only many, but far superior in ability to many who have had
"great stones" raised to hand their names down to
ages yet to come, but the line had to be drawn somewhere.
But will the name of John Davidson, of Prestonpans, ever be
allowed to die out? We think not! Had he elected to remain
at Holyrood instead of coming to this "sea-coaste village,
" the name and fame of John Davidson as a reformer would
have stood upon a very different pinnacle at the present day,
and his would certainly have been one of the great monuments
of the city.
THE MANSE.
The old Manse, as Davidson built it, stands in line with the
church. Davidson, the minister, was of course the first to
occupy it, but his residence there was of short duration.
Mr John Ker, successor to Davidson, along with his mother,
widow of John Knox, were the next to occupy the manse.
Within the manse or adjoining church, Knox's daughter Margaret
was married to Mr Zachary Pont, minister of Bower. Rev. Robert
Ker, son and successor to John Ker, Oswald, Moneypenny, Buchan,
Ramsay, Moncrief, Andrews, Horsburgh, and Carlyle, father
to the famous Dr Alexander Carlyle of Inveresk, all in succession
occupied the old manse. It is said that Carlyle of Inveresk,
when a youth, cut his initials in some of the woodwork within
the house, and that it remains there to this day. That may
be so, but the oldest inhabitant there never saw nor heard
of it, and we have looked in vain for the initials of the
famous "Jupiter. " Roy, Reid, M'Cormick, and Trotter
also lived there, but during the latter's incumbency in 1783
the present or new manse was partially built, and he and his
successors occupied it.
After the desertion of the old manse by the ministers, it
being too large for one house, the lower or ground floor was
made suitable for occupancy by workmen's families. For several
years the upper flat was used as an infant school. At the
present time three families occupy the whole building.
ELIZABETH WAST.
An exceedingly curious and interesting little volume, entitled
"Memoirs or Spiritual Exercises of Elizabeth Wast, "
recently fell into our hands. She resided in Edinburgh, was
very religious, and accustomed to attend " Communion"
all round the district. Twice she visited Prestonpans. On
the first occasion the weather was bad, she was suffering
severely, and her people tried to dissuade her from coming,
but she "turned a deaf ear to them. " She set out
on the Saturday morning. She says "the way was pleasant
to me, though otherwise unpleasant, when I met the poor women
with their burthens of coals and salt on their back, coming
to the market at Edinburgh. Then I thought the badness of
the weather does not hinder these from going to their earthly
market: O, what fool would I been if anything should have
hindered me from the heavenly market. When I came to the place,
O, how sweet!" Mr John Moncrief preached that day (Saturday).
" He told us of four ways that Christ was coming to keep
trist with His people. First, He was coming as a merchant
to see what his poor people wanted with all the wares of heaven:
And now, O communicants, what will ye buy the day, "
&c. " On the Sabbath morning about an hour before
sermon began, Mr George Andrew, then minister, came to the
kirk in his gown, and seeing but two persons at the first
table, he uttered this lamentable expression. Will our
Lord Jesus get but two brides to-day? Woes our heart, we have
enough of weights on us tho' ye add not this to the rest.
The words were scarcely out of his mouth when the table
was full, and I was among the rest.
" Written and subscrived at Prestonpans, 9th October
1697,
"Buz. WAST. "
In 1698 she paid her second visit to "communion"
at
Prestonpans. " On the Saturday Mr Mathew Selkirk preached,
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