Clephane, George

Clephane, George, a Scotch clergyman, took his degree at Edinburgh University in 1683; was licensed to preach in 1697, and ordained minister at Newtyle in 1698. The former minister, who had been deprived for not praying for the king and queen, opened a meeting-house, and nearly all the families in the parish sympathized with him and attended his ministry. The newly appointed minister, therefore, could not get many hearers, nor could he hold a kirk session, nor administer the Lord's Supper with decency, and at length, during the rebellion in October, 1715, he was stopped on the way to church by the army, and had to flee for safety. He subsequently, returned when order was restored, the former incumbent having left the parish; the people gathered round him, and, by prudence and patience, he won their confidence and became to them a useful, efficient, and faithful minister. He died Jan. 27,1730, aged about sixty-six years. See Fasti Eccles. Scoticance, 3:757, 758.