throughout all the country. To avoid the pursuit of enemies, he had to
travel in disguise, and often in the dark night, and to seek shelter in
caves, and rocks, and dens of the earth. Whenever he was engaged in his
ministerial work, friendly watches were placed around him, to give the
alarm on the approach of danger. When he preached, a fleet horse was
standing beside him saddled and bridled, by which he could speedily
distance the pursuit of enemies. He had, moreover, to suffer much from
disputes, contentions, and reproaches among those for whom he was
expending his energies, and for whom he was prepared to sacrifice his
life. On one occasion, when entering the cottage of John Brown of
Priesthill, he is said to have given momentary utterance to the pent-up
grief of his heart by exclaiming, "Reproach hath broke my heart." "From
an enemy," he added, "he could have borne it, but it was hard when it
came from those whom he loved as himself, and for whom he was undergoing
such privations and sufferings." From the Presbyterian ministers and
people, who had closed in with the Indulgence and James's toleration, he
received no kindly recognition, nor a single act of friendship. On the
contrary, they heaped on him every term in the vocabulary of abuse,
calling him "Jesuit," "devil," &c. They misrepresented his principles,
and sought to excite prejudice against him throughout the country and
among foreign churches, especially in Holland, where Renwick had many
attached sympathisers and friends. What was the ground of such dislike
and hostility? His life,--even his enemies being witnesses,--was
blameless. He preached fully and powerfully the glorious gospel. He
enforced a strict Scriptural discipline, and he was constantly careful
to promote practical godliness. His sole fault in the eyes of the
Indulged was that he strictly adhered to the great principles of the
Covenanted Reformation, when his opponents had plainly abandoned
them,--that he refused to accept a royal toleration which was designed
to establish Popery and absolute power, and that he disowned a