 Robert
Murray McCheyne (1813-1843), Scottish divine, youngest son of Adam
McCheyne, writer to the signet, was born in Edinburgh, 21 May 1813.
At the age of four he knew the characters of the Greek alphabet, and
was able to sing and recite fluently. He entered the high school in
his eighth year, and matriculated in November 1827 at Edinburgh University,
where he showed very versatile powers, and distinguished himself especially
in poetical exercises, being awarded a special prize by Professor Wilson
for a poem on 'The Covenanters.' In the winter of 1831 he commenced
his studies in the Divinity Hall, under Dr. Chalmers and Dr. Welsh;
and he was licensed as a preacher by the Annan presbytery on 1 July
1835. In the following November he was appointed assistant to the Rev.
John Bonar of Larbert and Dunipace, Stirlingshire. His health, which
had never been robust, broke down under the strain of his new office;
but his fame as a preacher spread through Scotland, and on 24 November
1836 he was ordained to the pastorate of St. Peter's Church, Dundee,
which had been erected into a quoad sacra parish in the preceding
May. The congregation numbered eleven hundred hearers, and McCheyne
addressed himself to the work of the ministry with so much ardour that
his health again gave way, and in December 1838 he was compelled to
desist from all public duty. At this time the general assembly of the
church of Scotland decided to send a committee to Palestine to collect
information respecting the Jews, and McCheyne was included in the number
who set sail on 12 April 1839. The record of this journey was written
jointly by McCheyne and his companion Andrew Bonar (died 1892), and
was published in 1842. After his return at the end of 1839 McCheyne
resumed his ministerial duties in Dundee with renewed energy. In the
autumn of 1842 he visited the north of England on an evangelical mission,
and made similar journeys to London and Aberdeenshire. On his return
from the latter place he was seized with sudden illness, and died on
Saturday, 25 March 1843. He was buried beside St. Peter's Church, Dundee,
where an imposing tombstone marks his grave.
McCheyne devoted all his energies to preaching; and although he was
an accomplished Hebrew scholar, he left few permanent proofs of his
erudition. He had refined musical taste, and was one of the first of
the Scottish ministers to take an active part in the improvement of
the congregational service of praise. Long after his death he was constantly
referred to as 'the saintly McCheyne.' Several hymns by him — notably
that entitled 'When this passing World is done' — are in constant
use in the Scottish churches. His principal works are:
1. 'Narrative of a Mission of Inquiry to the Jews' (jointly with Dr.
Andrew Bonar), Edinburgh, 1842.
2. 'Expositions of the Epistles to the Seven Churches of Asia,' Dundee,
1843.
3. 'The Eternal Inheritance: the Believer's Portion, and Vessels of Wrath fitted
to Destruction, two Discourses,' Dundee, 1843.
4. 'Memoirs and Remains' (published by Dr. Andrew Bonar), Edinburgh, 1843 (second
edition, with additional matter, Edinburgh, 1892).
5. 'Additional Remains, Sermons, and Lectures,' Edinburgh, 1844.
6. 'Basket of Fragments, the substance of Sermons,' Aberdeen, 1849.
References: Bonar's Memoirs; Jean L. Watson's Life of Robert Murray
McCheyne; Dundee Celebrities; Scott's Fasti, iii. 700.
Copied by Stephen Ross for WholesomeWords.org Dictionary
of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1893.
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