ECCLESIASTICAL MOVEMENTS. 21$ 



with its abundant and fleeting literature his collection of 

 pamphlets and books then issued on the subject being 

 unusually large, especially for a poor man. 



Along with his friend Charles Hunter, the shoemaker, 

 a strong non-intrusionist like himself, he walked through 

 deep snow all the way to Marnock in Strathbogie, in the 

 severe winter of 1841, when the suspended seven of that 

 famous presbytery inducted Mr. Edwards, on the 2 1st of 

 January, at the point of the bayonet. He long preserved a 

 copy of the supplement to the Aberdeen Banner y which 

 contained an extended account of the case, and which he 

 often used to read to others, to show the untenableness of 

 the position of the intrusionists. He also went north to 

 the famous induction at Culsalmond, where the minister 

 was settled with the aid of policemen and other guardians 

 of the peace. 



The controversies in the weaver's and shoemaker's shops 

 at Netherton now became hotter than ever, and the contests 

 between the opposing parties, especially between the 

 weaver and the eloquent tailor, Sandy Cameron, the 

 representatives of the contending factions, more vehement 

 than before. John's advocacy of non-intrusion principles, 

 even at Whitehouse, was so earnest and continuous that 

 Charles Black, who belonged to the moderate party, had 

 great difficulty in withstanding his persistency, from pure 

 sympathy, in spite of his convictions. At first he tried to 

 reply to John's arguments, but in vain. Then he resorted to 

 banter to win him to silence, by quoting some of the doggerel 

 rhymes born of the excitements of the day, such as : 



" Free Kirkers neither curse nor ban ; 

 But cheat and lee vvi' ony man," 



