A Generous Soul - Part 9

John Watson (3 November 1850 – 6 May 1907), was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He is remembered as an author of fiction, known by his pen name Ian Maclaren. I'm currently reading his short story collection "St Jude", but am also fascinated by his life. Here was a man who stood out against a narrowness in his creed, and who was indeed "a generous soul".

The Life of The Rev. John Watson, D.D. "Ian Maclaren"
A Generous Soul
By W. Robertson Nicoll


Much of his time and strength were given to consultation, and this he ever considered a primary department of his work. His Roman Catholic affinities partly fitted and prepared him for this.

It is the custom (he said) of Protestants to denounce the confessional, and not without reason for the claim of a priest to hear confessions and absolve is a profane interference between the soul and Christ but it would be wise to remember that there are times and moods and circumstances when every person desires to open his heart to some brother-man, when some persons cannot otherwise get relief. 

To whom are these persons to go? What they want is one who has a wide experience of life, who is versed in human nature, who is accustomed to keep secrets, who has faith in God and man, whose office invites and sanctions confidence. Who fulfils those conditions so perfectly as the minister of Christ? and is it not good that there is within reach one ordained to be a friend unto every one who is lonely and in distress of mind?

His rules for consultation were well thought out and strictly adhered to. He only received such confidences as were freely offered. He hated anything like prying into people's private affairs and pursuing a clue to the end. Curiosity and meddlesomeness were forbidden to a true pastor. Neither should he encourage the revelation of anything more than was necessary to enable him to give his advice. 

For example, if a woman states that she has a heavy sin on her conscience, and indicates that her husband has no idea of it, then the pastor should suggest that they should speak of the matter in general terms, and, if he knows the goodness of her husband, that she ought to confess the sin, whatever it may be, to him. Afterwards the pastor advises her how to meet and overcome this sin if it should rise again, and so this human soul has not been put to shame, but has gained help without losing self-respect. 

The pastor, though he has taken no oath of secrecy, must regard every confidence as absolutely sacred, and will on no account, except at the command of the law, reveal what has been told him in consultation.

This was a rule on which Watson specially insisted, and to which he most closely adhered. It may be safely said that he never broke a confidence. The very thought of such treason seemed to fill him with horror. 

He betrayed, I remember, considerable excitement when he heard that many of the letters addressed to Henry Drummond by those in straits had been preserved. Drummond, like Watson, was one to whom men laid bare their hearts and their lives, and he was. ready to give himself to their help without stint. Drummond, too, was never known to break a secret of the confessional.

Watson was careful to destroy at once any letter recording the sad secrets of humanity. He did not fear so much that pastors might be consciously dishonourable. What he dreaded was mere leakiness. " The pastor does not consider his own wife a privileged person in this matter, for though she might be the most prudent and reticent of women, yet it would embarrass his people to know that their secrets were shared with her. The high honour of doctors, who carry in their breasts so many social tragedies, is an example to be followed by the clerical profession."

The pastor should direct all those who consult him to accept Christ as Saviour and Friend, giving also such practical counsel as he can, especially urging restitution, reformation, watchfulness, as the case might be. I know that very many who were in trouble went to him. I know that as time passed scarcely any phase of suffering and anxiety and sin was unfamiliar to him. He found many precedents as he grew older, and was furnished with many aids for emergency. But sometimes he was overwhelmed by the misery of it all.

Watson had many who consulted him about the difficulties of faith. Here his quick insight served him well. He could distinguish between the earnest sceptic and the man who was playing with doubt. He had fought his own way and knew the conditions of the struggle. There was no trouble he would not take for those whose perplexities were real. His large and liberal conception of Christianity, his sharp discrimination between the essential and the non-essential, his vivid belief in Christ as the centre of his creed, all came out in such dealings.

But for those who were merely trying to puzzle him he had small tolerance, and on occasion, though rarely, he would use his wit and sarcasm on their vanity. The result of it all may be summed up in his favourite motto, " Be kind, for every one is fighting a hard battle."

He was never meddlesome, censorious, unsympathetic. Every year he saw more of the temptations of life and the goodness of human nature. For the innocent gaiety and lighter follies of youth he had a vast toleration, for the sudden disasters of manhood an unfailing charity, for the unredeemed tragedies of age a great sorrow. 

Life was a hard fight for every one, and it was not his to judge or condemn; his it was to understand, to help, to comfort, for these people were his children, his pupils, his patients ; they were the sheep Christ has given him, for whom Christ died.