John Kay's caricature "Modern Moderation"Kay, page 356 shows how seriously Moodie took this responsibility. When some Sabbath School teachers asked him to visit them to reassure them and him that they were law-abiding, orthodox Christians, he turned up, and without giving a moment's attention to them, told the pupils to leave immediately and their parent's would answer any questions. Later, in 1805, he was part of a group of Edinburgh clergy who opposed the appointment of John Leslie as Professor of Mathematics at the university, for holding views "destructive of all religion". In his "Essay on Heat" he had seemed to approve of some aspect of the work of sceptical philosopher David Hume. They pursued him through the Presbytery and the Synod up to the General Assembly. There was a tumultuous debate, for which the public queued for hours to get in, after which the Assembly dismissed the complaint against Professor Leslie.The Scots Magazine; pp. 400-403 There is a letter from Robert Burns to Moodie, defending his friend James Clarke, schoolmaster at Moffat against a charge of cruelty to his pupils.Paterson, page 381
