John Macgowan (26 October 1726 – 25 November 1780) was a Scottish

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

minister and author. John Macgowan 1825

Life

Macgowan was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, received an education, and was apprenticed to a weaver. He subsequently settled in Bridge Street,

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, as a baker. He had early become a Wesleyan; he now joined the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

movement as a preacher. At a later period he was attracted by the Independents, but finally joined the Particular Baptists. He ministered at the old baptist chapel at Hill Cliff, near Warrington, and then at

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the United Kingd ...

. In September 1766 Macgowan became pastor of the old Baptist meeting-house in Devonshire Square,

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate's name is traditionally attributed to Earconwald, who was Bishop of London in the 7th century. It was first built in Roman times and marked the beginning o ...

, London, opened by William Kiffin in 1687. Here he remained until his death. His preaching, despite its

Calvinistic Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

tone, became popular. Macgowan's congregation were typically artisans. On its behalf he signed the petition of the Protestant Association of London, in the prelude to the

Gordon Riots The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days' rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British ...

. In failing health, Macgowan administered the sacrament for the last time on 12 November 1780, and died 25 November. He was buried in

Bunhill Fields Bunhill Fields is a former burial ground in central London, in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London. What remains is about in extent and the bulk of the site is a public garden maintained by the City of London Cor ...

. He left a widow and children.

Works

Macgowan was a caustic controversial writer, who used

allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...

in devotional works. His books went through many editions in London, the North of England, and America. Several were published under pseudonyms such as "The Shaver" and "Pasquin Shaveblock". His major work, ''Infernal Conferences, or Dialogues of Devils, by the Listener'', London, 1772, 2 vols. may have been suggested by ''The Dialogues of the Dead'' (London, 1760) of

George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton, (17 January 1709 – 22 August 1773), known between 1751 and 1756 as Sir George Lyttelton, 5th Baronet, was a British Politician, statesman. As an author himself, he was also a supporter of other writers a ...

. Macgowan's other works included: * ''Letter to an Arian'', dated 28 April 1761, printed in John Allen's ''Crown of Crowns'', 3rd edit. 1816. * ''The Arians' and Socinians' Monitor, being a Vision that a young Socinian lately had'', London, 1761; 3rd edit. 1795; 12th edit. 1883. * ''Death: a Vision, or the Solemn Departure of Saints and Sinners, represented under the Similitude of a Dream'', London, 1766; 2nd edit. 1768; 7th edit. 1780; other editions, Leeds, 1805; Edinb. 1844, &c. * ''Priestcraft Defended; a Sermon occasioned by the Expulsion of Six Young Gentlemen from the University of Oxford, for praying, reading, and expounding the Scriptures; humbly dedicated to the Vice-Chancellor and the Heads of Houses, by the Shaver''. This pamphlet, written in a satirical vein upon a text taken from the "St. James's Chronicle" of Thursday, 17 March 1768, relating to the expulsion of Erasmus Middleton and other "preaching tradesmen" from Oxford, ran through eleven editions in eight months. It was followed by ''A Further Defence of Priestcraft, being a Practical Improvement of the Shaver's Sermon on the Expulsion of Six Students, &c., occasioned by a Vindication of that pious act, by a Member of the University'', 5th edit. 1768. This was answered by ''The Shaver Shaved by a Matriculated Barber'', London, 1769. ''The Shaver's New Sermon for the Fast Day, by Pasquin Shaveblock'', 5th edit. 1795, appears to be by Macgowan, although the preface to this edition is dated "Barbers' Hall, 17 Feb. 1795", five years after his death. * ''Familiar Epistles to the Rev. Dr. Priestley, by the Author of "The Shaver's Sermon"'', London, 1771. * ''The Life of Joseph, the Son of Israel'', in eight books, London, 1771; in ten books, with a frontispiece, dedicated to the Rev. Dr. Honywood, 1799. This has been frequently reprinted, and was translated into Gaelic by Patrick Macfarlane, Glasgow, 1831. * ''Socinianism brought to the Test, &c., in a series of Twenty Letters to Dr. Priestley''. An answer to ''A Free Address to Protestant Dissenters'' (1768), London, 1773. * ''A curious Letter to the Rev. S. B. Blacket, occasioned by his Sermon preached before the Bishop of Exeter at the Consecration of St. Aubin's Church, Plymouth''.’ * ''The Foundry Budget opened, or the Arcanum of Wesleyanism disclosed'', a reply to Walter Sellon's ''Defence of God's Sovereignty against the Aspersions cast upon it'', by Elisha Coles, London, 1780; another edition Manchester. This work relates to the Calvinist controversy within Methodism, the title referring to the Windmill Hill Foundry, a Wesleyan headquarters. It has been called "flippant and abusive".Richard Green, ''Anti-Methodist Publications Issued During the Eighteenth Century'' (1902) p. 137
archive.org.
/ref> * ''Discourses on the Book of Ruth, and other Important Subjects'', edited and prefaced by the Rev. J. Reynolds, 1781. A collected edition, consisting of ''Infernal Conferences'' and four other of Macgowan's works, with portrait and illustrations, was published soon after his death, London, no date. Another, containing nine of the above, was published in 2 vols. London, 1825. ''Church and King'', a thanksgiving sermon for 29 May, by Pasquin Shaveblock, London, 1795, although attributed to Macgowan, seems unlikely to be his. Macgowan also edited, with notes, ''Night, a Satire upon the Manners of the Rich and Great'', by Charles Churchill, probably about 1768.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Macgowan, John 1726 births 1780 deaths Scottish Baptists Scottish satirists Clergy from Edinburgh Burials at Bunhill Fields Writers from Edinburgh