MACGILL,
surname of, see OXFURD, Viscount.
MACGILL, STEVENSON, D.D.,
an eminent and learned divine, the son of a pious Methodist, of the
name of Thomas Macgill, a master shipbuilder at Port Glasgow, was
born there on 19th January 1765. His mother, who was also
distinguished for her religious character, was Frances, a daughter
of Mr. Welsh of Lochharet in East Lothian, and connected with the
Maxwells of Newark Castle at Port Glasgow, and the family of
Kilmahew at Cardross, on the opposite side of the firth of Clyde. He
received the rudiments of his education in his native town, and
being intended for the ministry in the Church of Scotland, in 1775,
when little more than ten years old, he was sent to the university
of Glasgow, where he continued during nine sessions, obtaining many
literary honours, and distinguishing himself while at the divinity
hall, particularly in biblical criticism and elocution, in both of
which departments he continued to excel. From several of the
professors he received much kindness and attention, particularly
from Professor Young, so celebrated for his attainments in the
literature of Greece, Professor Jardine, whose success as a teacher
of logic was unrivalled, and Dr. Findlay, who, at that time,
occupied the chair of divinity.
After being a private tutor in several gentlemen’s families,
he was, in 1790, by the presbytery of Paisley, licensed to preach
the gospel. soon after, through the interest of the Hon. Henry
Erskine, he had the offer of the chair of civil history in the
university of St. Andrews, in connexion with the pastoral charge of
a small country parish. Being, however, opposed to pluralities, he
declined the offer. He was ordained minister of the parish of
Eastwood, in the presbytery of Paisley, on September 8th,
1791. There, for six years, he discharged the duties of a parochial
clergyman with zeal and success, labouring in every way faithfully
to promote the temporal and spiritual welfare of his people, being
particularly attentive to the religious and moral education of the
young. While at Eastwood the infidel and republican principles
developed by the first French revolution, began to show themselves
among his parishioners, and, for their guidance, he published a
letter under the title of ‘The Spirit of the Times,’ which is
believed to have had a beneficial effect, and which his biographer
characterizes as “exceedingly creditable to his intelligence and his
judgment, at this early period of his life.”
On October 12th, 1797, Mr. Macgill was translated
to the Tron church of Glasgow, as successor to Mr. M’Call. In this
new sphere of labour, he regularly visited his parish and the
members of his congregation, and proved himself, in all respects, a
faithful and laborious minister. In 1800 he took a leading part in
forming the Glasgow Literary and Theological Society. Several of the
essays which he read in that society, afterwards grew into important
publications, and they were all eminently practical. Whilst in this
parish, he began those exertions in behalf of prisons, the
infirmary, the lunatic asylum, and other benevolent institutions of
Glasgow, for which the rest of his life was so honourably
distinguished. In 1807 the public prison of that city was built, on
a greatly enlarged scale, in immediate contact with his parish. He
established a library in it, and in 1809 he published his ‘Thoughts
on Prison Discipline,’ which did honour to his character as a
philanthropist, but which met the fate of many other works of a
similar kind. The suggestions he made for the amelioration of the
jails of our country were praised at the time, but were soon
forgotten. In the same year appeared ‘considerations addressed to a
Young Clergyman,’ a work which was reprinted in America, and which
his biographer regards as one of the most valuable works in the
department of pastoral theology. The first conception of it is
thought to have been a contribution, entitled ‘The Student’s Dream,’
containing an allegorical representation of ministerial duty, which
he sent, while a student of divinity, to a publication of the day.
It was about this time also that he made an effort, in the way of
church extension, to meet the spiritual wants of the city of
Glasgow, which had then begun very much to increase both in
population and extent. The presbytery of Glasgow took up the matter
and pressed on the municipal authorities of the city the necessity
of building three additional churches, but only one was erected, and
that in 1817, eight years after.
In August 1814, he was appointed professor of divinity in the
university of Glasgow, in the room of Dr. Findlay, being himself
succeeded in the Tron church by Dr. Chalmers. During the long course
of years in which he held this important chair, he discharged its
duties with a fidelity and success unequalled. His zealous and pious
labours had no insignificant share in bringing about that wonderful
revival of evangelical religion within the Church of Scotland, which
ultimately led to the disruption in 1843. As a professor, he was
particularly distinguished by the soundness of his views upon the
great truths of religion, and the importance which he attached to
them in his public prelections, as well as by a deep insight into
human character, and by his practical sagacity; qualities which he
exerted with the happiest effect in the improvement of his students,
while his private character was adorned by fervent piety, liberality
and gentleness, coupled with a stern sense of justice, from which
nothing could make him swerve. Dr. Burns remarks – “While the
theological lectures of Dr. Macgill abounded in sound information,
and enlarged views of evangelical truth; and while the practical
tendency of the whole was highly favourable to the culture of the
Christian graces, and the formation of pastoral habits, there can be
no doubt that the fame of our revered friend, as a teacher of
theology, belonged to him mainly in his character of a critic on the
discourses of the students. In this department he stood pre-eminent.
Judiciousness of remark, accurate discrimination, and strict
impartiality, combined with the most friendly feelings towards the
students, were his prominent features.” When he came to the chair
matters were in a sad state among the students. The reading of
newspapers in the class-room, during the professor’s lecture, was
quite common; and studiousness and piety in a student were equally
laughed at by his class fellows. The introduction of a mild, but
firm and dignified discipline, soon put an end to this. “A change
was quickly apparent in the hall. Its moral atmosphere was purified;
and under the associated influences of sound theology and
enlightened piety, many young men were trained to the service of the
sanctuary, who were among the most faithful and useful ministers of
the Church of Scotland.”
The subject of pluralities having begun to attract the
attention of the church, in the assembly of 1817, an overture was
passed, that a chair in any of the universities could not be held
along with a country charge. The union of such offices in large
towns was, however, still left open to debate, and, when in 1828,
Dr. Macfarlane was appointed by the Crown principal in the
university of Glasgow, and immediately thereafter received a crown
presentation to the charge of the Inner High Church or St. Mungo’s
parish of that city, Dr. Macgill recorded his objections in the
minutes of the faculty, and took a leading part in opposing the
induction in the presbytery, the synod, and the general assembly. In
the two former courts the opposition was successful, and the
presentation set aside, but in the latter their sentence was
reversed, and the induction allowed. In all the discussions which
took place in the church courts, in his time, on the subject of
pluralities, he took a leading part. But he did not live to see the
overture against such unions carried; for it was not till the
assembly of 1842 that this much agitated question was finally
disposed of.
It was chiefly through the exertions of Dr. Macgill, that, in
1824, a monument was erected in Glasgow to John Knox. It stands on
the brow of the hill overlooking the High Church, now the Necropolis
of that city. In 1826, and subsequent years, Dr. Macgill devoted
much of his time to the subject of reform in the universities; his
evidence before two royal commissions being admitted to be among the
most valuable parts of the information and suggestions communicated.
In 1828, he filled the office of moderator of the General Assembly
of the Church of Scotland. In 1834, he was one of those who were
examined before a committee of the House of Commons on the subject
of patronage, which he condemned in the most emphatic manner. In the
following year he was appointed one of the deans of the chapel
royal, in room of Dr. Inglis. As neither the deanery nor the
chaplainship usually conjoined with it, involve any duty, but are
merely honorary appointments in reward of distinguished merit, the
fact of his having accepted of such a nomination was in no wise
inconsistent with his sentiments on t he subject of pluralities. The
salary was only Ł50; and, small as it was, it would have been an
appropriate aid to the Doctor – for, through misdirected benevolence
of feeling, he had, for many years before his death, become deeply
involved in pecuniary difficulties. The government of the day,
however, were bent on economy; the salary was diverted to another
purpose; and he consequently never enjoyed any of the emoluments of
the deanery. Of his generosity, it is enough to say that he lived
and laboured wholly for others, to whom his exertions and resources
were equally devoted.
In 1838, he was occupied with a plan for the erection of a
house of refuge in Glasgow, which was afterwards accomplished on a
large scale; and one of the last public meetings which he attended
was in connexion with the building of one of the extension churches.
In the same year and in 1839 he published two volumes from his
manuscripts, one of them on theological literature, and the other a
volume of sermons.
Dr. Macgill’s father died in 1804. His mother survived till
1829. He was then sixty-four years of age. As he himself never
married, he had a sister living with him. The winter of 1839-40,
though suffering from illness, he spent in the usual duties of his
class, but by the end of the session he was laid up under fever,
from over-exertion. During the following summer his health was so
far restored that he projected a new edition of his ‘Letters to a
Young Clergyman,’ but weakness gained upon him. He died on the
morning of 18th August 1840, aged 75, and was buried in
the College churchyard, Glasgow, where a monumental tablet of
statuary marble, with a suitable inscription, has been erected to
his memory. In 1842 appeared a memoir of him, by Robert Burns, D.D.,
formerly of Paisley, afterwards of Canada.
Dr. Macgill’s works are:
The spirit of the Times. 1794.
The Connection of Situation with Character considered, with a
view to the Ministers of Religion. A Sermon. 1796.
Thoughts on Prisons. 1809.
Considerations addressed to a Young Clergyman, on some trials
of Principles and Character which may arise in the course of his
Ministry. 1809, 12mo.
Discourse on Elementary Education. 1811. 8vo.
A Collection of Sacred Translations, Paraphrases, and Hymns.
1813. 12mo.
Discourses and Essays. Edin., 1819. 12mo.
Lectures on Rhetoric and Criticism, and on subjects
introductory to the Critical Study of the Scriptures. Edinburgh,
1838, 8vo.
A volume of Sermons. 1839.
A Lecture on the Jews, which he delivered at Glasgow in 1839,
was published with the other Lectures, by several of the ministers
of that city, on the same subject.
