Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 7.djvu/317

Rh In pursuance of this resolution he called, on his way homewards, on one of his aunts, who lived in Dumfries, with the view of making her a mediator between himself and his offended father, an office which she undertook and ac- complished in the course of an accidental visit which young Welch's father paid her whilst his son was still under her root; The former, however, had antici- pated a very different issue to his son's profligate courses, for, on a sort of trial question being put to him by the young man's aunt, previously to her producing him, whether lie had heard anything lately of John, he replied, "The first news I expect to hear of him is, that he is hanged for a thief." On the reconciliation with his father being effected, young Welch entreated him, with many protestations of future amendment, all of which he afterwards faithfully implemented, to send him to college. With this request his father complied, and the young convert gave him no reason to repent of his indulgence. He became a diligent student, and made such rapid progress in the learning of the times that he obtained a ministerial settlement at Selkirk before he had attained his twentieth year. His stay here, however, was but short, as, for some reason or another which has not been recorded, he seems to have been an ob- ject of dislike and jealousy both to the clergy and lay gentlemen of the district in which he resided. It is not improbable that his former life was recollected to his disadvantage, and that this was, at least in some measure, the cause of the enmity with which he was persecuted. But, whatever the cause was, it is certain that it is not to be found in his conduct, which was now exemplary, both in a moral and religious point of view. The latter, indeed, was of an extraordinary character. It was marked by an intensity and fervour, an unremitting and indefatigable zeal, which has been but rarely equalled in any other person, and never surpassed. He preached publicly once every day, prayed, besides, for seven or eight hours during the same period, and did not allow even the depth of the night to pass without witnessing the ardency and enthusiasm of his devotions. Every night, before going to bed, he threw a Scotch plaid above his bed-clothes, that, when he awoke to his midnight prayers, it might be in readiness to wrap around his shoulders. These devotional habits he commenced with his ministry at Selkirk, and continued to the end of his life. Finding his situation a very unpleasant one, Mr Welch readily obeyed a call which had been made to him from Kirkcudbright, and lost no time in removing thither. On this occasion a remarkable instance occurred of that unaccountable dislike with which he was viewed, and which neither his exemplary piety nor upright conduct seems to have been capable of diminishing. He could not find any one person in the whole town excepting one poor young man of the name of Ewart, who would lend him any assistance in transporting his furniture to his new destination. Shortly after his settlement at Kirkcudbright Mr Welch received a call from Ayr. This invitation he thought proper also to accept, and proceeded thither in 1590.

Some of the details of this period of Mr Welch's life afford a remarkably striking evidence of the then rude and barbarous state of the country. On his arrival at Ayr, so great was the aversion of the inhabitants to the ministerial character, and to the wholesome restraints which it ought always to impose, that he could find no one in the town who would let him have a house to live in and he was thus compelled to avail himself of the hospitality of a merchant of the name of Stewart, who offered him the shelter of his roof. At this period, too it appears that the streets of Ayr were constantly converted into scene of the most sanguinary combats between factious parties and so freque, and to such an extent was this murderous turbulence carried that no man could walk through the town with safety.