Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 2.djvu/233

Rh ledgments by a letter, and, immediately after arriving in England, renewed his appointment as chaplain for Scotland. The last considerable duty upon which the Principal was engaged, was a mission from the Scottish church to congratulate the first prince of the house of Brunswick upon his accession. He did not long survive this period. In August, 1715, he was seized with an apoplectic fit, which carried him off about the end of the December following, in the 67th year of his age. His body lies interred in the Greyfriars' church- yard, where a monument is erected to his memory, with a suitable inscription in Latin. The university, the clergy, and the nation at large, united in lamenting the loss of one of their brightest ornaments, and most distinguished benefactors.

Carstairs was one of the most remarkable men ever produced by this country. He appears to have been born with a genius for managing great political undertakings; his father, in one of his letters, expresses a fear lest his "boy Willie " should become too much of a public political man, and get himself into scrapes. His first move in public life was for the emancipation of his country from tyrannical misrule; and nothing could well equal the sagacity with which he conducted some of the most delicate and hazardous enterprises for that purpose. In consequence of the triumph of the principles which he then advocated, he became possessed of more real influence in the state than has fallen to the lot of many responsible ministers; so that the later part of his life presented the strangest contrast to the earlier part. What is strangest of all, he preserved through these vicissitudes of fortune the same humble spirit and simple worth, the same zealous and sincere piety, the same amiable and affectionate heart. It fell to the lot of Carstairs to have it in his power to do much good; and nothing could be said more emphatically in his praise, than that he improved every opportunity. The home and heart of Carstairs were constantly alike open. The former was the resort of all orders of good men; the latter was alive to every beneficent and kindly feeling. It is related of him, that, although perhaps the most efficient enemy which the episcopal church of Scotland ever had, he exercised perpetual deeds of charity towards the unfortunate ministers of that communion who were displaced at the revolution. The effect of his generosity to them in overcoming prejudice and conciliating affection, appeared strongly at his funeral. When his body was laid in the dust, two men were observed to turn aside from the rest of the company, and, bursting into tears, bewailed their mutual loss. Upon inquiry, it was found that these were two non-jurant clergymen, whose families had been supported for a considerable time by his benefactions.

In the midst of all his greatness, Carstairs never forgot the charities of domestic life. His sister, who had been married to a clergyman in Fife, lost her husband a few days before her brother arrived from London on matters of great importance to the nation. Hearing of his arrival, she came to Edinburgh to see him. Upon calling at his lodgings in the forenoon, she was told he was not at leisure, as several of the nobility and officers of state were gone in to see him. She then bid the servant only whisper to him, that she desired to know when it would be convenient for him to see her. He returned for answer immediately; and, leaving the company, ran to her and embraced her in the most affectionate manner. Upon her attempting to make some apology for her unseasonable interruption to business, "Make yourself easy," said he, "these gentlemen are come hither, not on my account, but their own. They will wait with patience till I return. You know I never pray long," and, after a short, but fervent prayer, adapted to her melancholy circumstances, he fixed the time when he could see her more at leisure; and returned in tears to his company. The close attention which he must have paid to politics does not appear to