We found the congregation already gathered, and that the very bad morning had failed to lessen their numbers. There were a few of the male parishioners keeping watch at the door, looking wistfully out through the fog and rain for their minister; and at his approach nearly twenty more came issuing from the place,--like carder bees from their nest of dried grass and moss,--to gather round him, and shake him by the hand. The islanders of Eigg are an active, middle-sized race, with well-developed heads, acute intellects, and singularly warm feelings. And on this occasion at least there could be no possibility of mistake respecting the feelings with which they regarded their minister. Rarely have I seen human countenances so eloquently vocal with veneration and love. The gospel message, which my friend had been the first effectually to bring home to their hearts,--the palpable fact of his sacrifice for the sake of the high principles which he has taught,--his own kindly disposition,--the many services which he has rendered them, for not only has he been the minister, but also the sole medical man, of the Small Isles, and the benefit of his practice they have enjoyed, in every instance, without fee or reward,--his new life of hardship and danger, maintained for their sakes amid sinking health and great privation,--their frequent fears for his safety when stormy nights close over the sea,--and they have seen his little vessel driven from her anchorage, just as the evening has fallen,--all these are circumstances that have concurred in giving him a strong hold on their affections.
The rude turf-building we found full from end to end, and all a-steam with a particularly wet congregation, some of whom, neither very robust nor young, had travelled in the soaking drizzle from the farther extremities of the island. And, judging from the serious attention with which they listened to the discourse, they must have deemed it full value for all it cost them. I have never yet seen a congregation more deeply impressed, or that seemed to follow the preacher more intelligently; and I was quite sure, though ignorant of the language in which my friend addressed them, that he preached to them neither heresy nor nonsense. There was as little of the reverence of externals in the place as can well be imagined: an uneven earthen floor,--turf-walls on every side, and a turf-roof above,--two little windows of four panes a-piece, adown which the rain-drops were coursing thick and fast,--a pulpit grotesquely rude, that had never employed the bred carpenter,--and a few ranges of seats of undressed deal, such were the mere materialisms of this lowly church of the people; and yet here, notwithstanding, was the living soul of a Christian community,--understandings convinced of the truth of the gospel, and hearts softened and impressed by its power.