Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 4.djvu/109

Rh gave positive orders to the commission to proceed against the Seceders with the censures of the church, took off, by a very curious act, the sentence of deposition that had been passed against Mr Glass. In this act he is stated to hold some peculiar views, which the Assembly do not think inconsistent with his being a minister. They accordingly restored him to the character of a minister of the gospel of Christ, but declared at the same time, he was not to be considered a minister of the Established church of Scotland, or capable of being called and settled therein, till he should renounce these peculiar views. This act, even among the anomalous acts of church courts, was certainly a very strange one. If Mr Glass, however, was satisfied on scriptural grounds that he was a minister of Christ, it could make little difference, whether he belonged to the church of Scotland or not. At the time of his deposition, Mr Glass had a large family, and when he was deprived of his stipend, had no visible means of supporting it. This, taken in connection with the persecutions of another kind which he was made to endure, affords sufficient evidence, whatever any may think of his principles, that he was sincere and conscientious in their profession. In this sacrifice of worldly interests, it is pleasing to learn that he had the cheerful concurrence of his excellent wife, Catharine Black, a daughter of the Rev. Mr Black of Perth. This worthy woman, persuaded that the cause in which he was engaged was the cause of God, encouraged him in his darkest moments to perseverance, and to a cheerful trust in Divine providence, even for such things as might be needful for this present frail and transitory life ; nor was his confidence in vain. In the death of their children (fifteen in number, all of whom he survived), their faith and patience were also severely tried, especially in the case of such of them as had arrived at the years of maturity. One of his sons was the occasion of much trouble to him, and left his house a disobedient son. Like the prodigal in the parable, however, he repented in his affliction, and returned a very different person. His son Thomas lived to become a respectable bookseller in Dundee, where he was settled in life, and was pastor to the congregation which his father had left in that place ; but he was cut off in the prime of life by a fever. Another of his sons, George, was a sea-captain, and known as the author of the History of the Canary Islands, published by Dodsley, in 1764. He afterwards went out for a London company to attempt forming a settlement on the coast of Africa, where he was seized by the Spaniards, and kept a prisoner for several years. The men whom he had conducted to Africa were in the meantime murdered, and his ship plundered. Having, by a pencil note inclosed in a loaf of bread, found means to make his case known to the British consul, the government interfered, and he was set at liberty. He took his passage with his wife and daughter for London, intending to revisit his native country. The ship in which he embarked was unfortunately loaded with specie, which, awakening the cupidity of a part of the crew, they conspired to murder the captain and secure the vessel. Captain Glass, hearing the disturbance on deck when the mutiny broke out, drew his sword, and hastening to the rescue, was stabbed in the back by one of the conspirators, who had been lurking below. Mrs Glass and her daughter clung to one another imploring mercy, but were thrown overboard locked in each other's arms. The murderers landed on the coast of Ireland, where they unshipped the money chests, which they hid in the sands, and went to an ale-house to refresh themselves. Here they were taken up on suspicion, confessed the atrocious crime, and were subsequently executed. Mr Glass and his friends in Perth had been apprised by letter that his son was on his voyage home, and were in daily expectation of his arrival, when intelligence of the fate of the ship and her crew reached Perth in a newspaper. Mr Glass sustained the shock with his wonted resignation and equanimity. He died in 1773, aged 78. The doctrines and practices of his