1780 JOHN ERSKINE. Erskine Attempts to Persuade a Young Evangelical Divine to Take Over His Former Parish.

An excellent 1780 manuscript letter in which Dr. John Erskine [1721-1803], one of the principal leaders of the Evangelical party in Edinburgh and minister of Old Greyfriars, attempts to settle his previous parish with an excellent young minister. 

The church in question, at Carnock, had been Erskine’s very first parish ministry, where he was ordained in 1744 and served until 1753. Carnock was also deeply tied to the origins of the Relief Church, one of the main eighteenth-century Scottish secession movements. It had been the former parish of Thomas Gillespie, who was deposed by the General Assembly in 1752 over lay patronage issues right around the time Erskine was ministering nearby. 

The recipient, Rev. Mr. Moody of Perth, was the Reverend Robert Moody, who was ordained as minister of the Chapel of Ease in Perth in 1772. As a young evangelical minister in Perth, Moody was moving within the advisory circle of older Edinburgh leaders like Erskine, who regularly counseled rising ministers on pastoral calls, patronage appointments, and parish transfers. It seems Erskine was anxious that an Evangelical take over his former Charge. Moody has declined, but Erskine writes, imploring him to again reconsider before he replies to Rev. Mr. Howison, i.e. Reverend William Howison. 

During the 1780s, Dr. John Erskine was at the height of his international influence. From his pulpit at Greyfriars, he maintained an extraordinarily vast correspondence across Europe and North America, most notably exchanging letters with Jonathan Edwards and supporting early American evangelicalism. Erskine was famed for his warm, conciliatory nature and his dedication to placing evangelical, gospel-focused ministers into Scottish parishes. A private letter like this, wherein Erskine is doing just this provides a direct glimpse into his influence. 

On a half bifolium, mounted to a small sheet. A very nice example.