Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 7.djvu/318

454 Among the first duties which Mr Welch imposed upon himself after his settlement at Ayr, was to correct this ruthless, and ferocious spirit, and the method he took to accomplish his good work was a singular but, as it proved, effectual one. Regardless of the consequences to himself, he rushed in between the infuriated combatants, wholly unarmed, and no otherwise protected from any accidental stroke of their weapons than by a steel cap which he previously placed on his head on such occasions. When he had, by this fearless and determined proceeding, succeeded in staying the strife, he ordered a table to be covered in the street, and prevailed upon the hostile parties to sit down and eat and drink together, and to profess themselves friends. This ceremony he concluded with prayer and a psalm, in which all joined. The novelty of this proceeding, the intrepidity of its originator, and above all the kind and christian-like spirit which it breathed, soon had the most beneficial effects. The evil which Mr Welch thus aimed at correcting gradually disappeared, and he himself was received into high favour by the inhabitants of the town, who now began to reverence his piety and respect his worth. While in Ayr Mr Welch not only adhered to the arduous course of devotional exercise which he had laid down for himself at Selkirk, but increased its severity, by adopting a practice of spending whole nights in prayer in the church of Ayr, which was situated at some distance from the town, and to which he was in the habit of repairing alone for this pious purpose. Among the other objects of pastoral solicitude which particularly engaged Mr Welch's attention during his ministry at Ayr, was the profanation of the Sabbath, one of the most prominent sins of the place. This lie also succeeded in remedying to a great extent by a similarly judicious conduct with that he observed in the case of feuds and quarrels. This career of usefulness Mr Welch pursued with unwearied diligence and unabated zeal till the year 1605, when on an attempt on the part of the king (James VI.,) to suppress General Assemblies, and on that of the clergy to maintain them, he, with several more of his brethren, was thrown into prison for holding a diet, in opposition to the wishes of the court of delegates of synods, of which Mr Welch was one, at Aberdeen. For this offence they were summoned before the privy council, but, declining the jurisdiction of that court in their particular case, they were indicted to stand trial for high treason at Linlithgow. By a series of the most unjust, illegal, and arbitrary proceedings on the part of the officers of the crown, a verdict of guilty was obtained against them, and they were sentenced to suffer the death of traitors. The conduct of the wives of the condemned clergymen, and amongst those of Mrs Welch in particular, on this melancholy occasion, was worthy of the brightest page in Spartan story. They left their families and hastened to Linlithgow to be present at the trial of their husbands, that they might share in their joy if the result was favourable, and that they might inspire them with courage if it were otherwise. On being informed of the sentence of the court, "these heroines," says Dr M'Crie, "instead of lamenting their fate, praised God who had given their husbands courage to stand to the cause of their Master, adding, that, like Him, they had been judged and condemned under the covert of night." If spirit be hereditary, this magnanimous conduct, on the part of Mrs Welch at any rate, may be considered accounted for by the circumstance of her having been the daughter of John Knox. She was the third daughter of that celebrated person. Either deterred by the popularity of the prisoners, and the cause for which they suffered, or satisfied with the power which the sentence of the court had given him over their persons, James, instead of bringing that sentence to a fatal issue, contented himself with commuting it into banishment; and on the 7th November, 1606, Mr Welch, accompanied by his wife,