Page:A new and general biographical dictionary; containing an historical and critical account of the lives and writings of the most eminent persons in every nation v1.djvu/61

 A B E R N E T II Y. 25 his father being obliged to attend fome pullic affairs in Lon- don ; and his mother, to avoid the tumult of tin- Itifh infur- rection, withdrawing to Derry. He was at this time with a relation, who in that Central contuliun determined to remove to Scotland ; and having no opportunity of conveying the child to his mother, carried him along with him. By this means he efcaped the haidlhipsof the liege ol Derry, in which Mrs. Abernethy loft all her other children. Having fpent Come years at a grammar fchool, he was removed to Glalgow college, vla-re he continued till he took the deo;rc:e of M. A. His own inclination led him to the ftudy of phylic, but he was diverted from this by the advice of his fiends, and turned to that of divinity ; in purfnance of which he went to Edinburgh, and was fome time under the care of the celebrated profelTor Campbeil. At his return home, he proceeded in his ftudies with great fuccefs, and was licenfed to preach by the prefby- tery before he was 21 years of age. In 1708, having a call by the diflcnting congregation at Antrim, he was ordained. H;s congregation was large, and he applied himfelf to the pai!oral work with great diligence. His preaching w^s much admired ; and as his heart was fet upon the acquiiuion of knowledge, he was very induitrious in reading. In 1716, he attempted to remove the prejudices of the native Irifh in the neighbourhood of Antrim, who were of (he popifu perfuafion, and bring them over to the Proteftant faith. His labours were not without fuccefs, for teveral were prevailed upon to re- nounce their errors. About the time that the Bangorian controverfy was on foot in England, and a fpirit of Chiiftian liberty prevailed, a con- fulerable number of minifters and others, in the north of Ire- land, formed themlclves in r o a fociety, in order to their im- provement in uicful knowledge ; and for this purpofe, to bring things to the reft of r^afon and fcripture, wi.-huut a fervile re- <2;>rd to any human authority. Abernethy went into this dc- lign witii much zeal, Ltid coiilrantly attended their meetings at Belf '{f, whence it was called the relfaft fociety. Debates foot) grew warm, and diiTcnhons high among ti'.cm, on the fi.il jcct of requiring fubfcriptions to the Weftmlnfter confeflim. This controverly, on the negative fide' of which Aberreihy was one of the principal leaders, w-is brought into the gene- ral fynod, and ended in a rupture in 1726. The fynod de- termined, that thofe minifters, who at the time of this rup- ture, and for fome years before, were known by the name of pon-fubfcribers, Ihould be no longer of their budy : the con- fequence