Chalmers had been instrumental in founding. Here he commenced to form a museum, and lectured vigorously. In 1831 the royal commission recommended the change of the lectureship into a chair. Subsequently he was engaged as assistant to Dr. Candlish [q. v.] in St. George's parish, Edinburgh. In 1839 he became pastor of a newly established branch of the Scottish church in Ceylon. He came home on furlough in 1852, and in July 1853 was inducted into the parish of Moffat, Dumfriesshire, on the presentation of John James Hope Johnstone of Annandale. There he died on 12 Feb. 1884. On 2 Jan. 1840 he married Miss J. R. Macdonald of Kinlochmoidart, Inverness-shire, granddaughter of Dr. William Robertson the historian. She survived him, together with a large family. He was D.D. of Edinburgh and LL.D. of St. Andrews.
While a student at Edinburgh Macvicar contributed a paper 'On the Germination of Ferns' to vol. x. of the 'Transactions of the Edinburgh Philosophical Society,' and a description of 'A Double-stroke Completely Exhausting Air-pump' to the 'Edinburgh Philosophical Journal,' In 1828 he was appointed editor of the 'Quarterly Journal of Agriculture,' started under the auspices of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. He also issued:
- 'Elements of the Economy of Nature; or the Principles of Physics, Chemistry, and Physiology,' 8vo, Edinburgh, 1830; 2nd edit. 8vo, London, 1856.
- 'Inquiries concerning the Medium of light and the Form of its Molecules,' 8vo, Edinburgh, 1833.
- 'On the Beautiful, the Picturesque, and the Sublime,' London, 8vo, 1837; reproduced as 'The Philosophy of the Beautiful With Illustrations,' 8vo, Edinburgh, 1855.
- 'The Catholic Spirit of True Religion,' 1840.
- 'An Inquiry into Human Nature,' 8vo, Edinburgh, 1853, his best-known work, written in Ceylon.
- 'The First Lines of Science Simplified, and the Structure of Molecules Attempted,' 8vo, Edinburgh, 1860.
- 'A Sketch of a Philosophy,' four parts, 8vo, London, 1868–74.
- 'A Science Primer. On the Nature of Things With Illustrations,' 8vo, Edinburgh, 1878;
afterwards embodied in
- 'A Supplement to "A Sketch of a Philosophy,"' 8vo, London, 1881.
[Scotsman, 13 Feb. 1884, p. 9; Athenæum, 16 Feb. 1884, p. 220.]
MACWARD or MACUARD, ROBERT (1633?–1687), covenanting minister, appears to have studied at the university of St. Andrews, where he was for some time regent of humanity (Robert Baillie, Letters and Journals, iii. 240). In 1654 he was appointed one of the regents of Glasgow University without competition (ib. p. 314), but resigned the appointment from ill-health, and on 8 Sept. was ordained to the collegiate charge of the Outer High Church, Glasgow, the usual ordination trials being dispensed with (ib.) From 1656 to 1659 he had charge of the south district of the parish, in 1660 of the west, and in 1661 of the east. In 1659 he was named for the vice-chancellorship of the university, but the proposal, which was opposed by Robert Baillie, who seems always to have borne him a grudge, was unsuccessful (ib. p. 397).
After the Restoration Macward in February 1661 preached a sermon in which he was reported to have said: 'I humbly offer my dissent to all acts which are or shall be passed against the covenants and work of Reformation in Scotland; and secondly, protest that I am desirous to be free of the guilt thereof, and pray that God may put it upon record in heaven' (Wodbow, Sufferings of the Kirk of Scotland, i. 207). On this account he was brought under a guard to Edinburgh, and imprisoned in the Tolbooth; and having been indicted by the king's advocate for treasonable teaching, he was on 6 June called before the parliament, where he made a speech in his defence (ib. pp. 207–12). It was agreed to delay final disposal of his case; but ultimately sentence of banishment was passed against him, with permission to remain for six months in Scotland, but only one of these months in Glasgow, power also being granted to him to receive the following year's stipend on his departure (ib. p. 214). He went to Holland, where on 23 June 1676 he was admitted minister of the second charge of Rotterdam; but at the instance of Charles II he was removed by order of the States-General, 27 Feb. 1677. For a time he retired to Utrecht, but in 1678 he returned to Rotterdam, where he died in December 1687. He married the widow of John Graham, merchant in Holland, and formerly provost of Glasgow, but left no issue.
Macward was the author of:
- 'The True Nonconformity,' 1671.
- 'The English Ballance, weighing the Reasons of England's present Conjunction with France against the Dutch,' 1672.
- 'The Poor Man's Cup of Cold Water ministred to the Saints and Sufferers for Christ in Scotland, who are amid the Scorching Flames of the Fiery Tryal,' printed in 1678, and reprinted 1709.
- 'Έπαγωνισμοι: or Earnest Contendings for the Faith, being the Answers written to Mr. Robert Fleming's First and Second Papers of Proposals for Union with the Indulged; the First Paper written anno 1681; where-
