OUR readers would have observed that the Rev. Donald Macleod, in his “Report of the Canadian Mission,” published in last issue, made a brief reference to the loss sustained by the Winnipeg congregation in “the accidental death of the late Mr. Andrew Mackay, who,” he adds, and adds truly, “was a tower of strength to it, and is very much missed.” None of our readers, except a few acquainted with the circumstances, can realise how solemn and pathetic is the tale that lies behind this brief notice of an “accidental death.” Its equal in all respects has not been narrated in these pages in connection with the removal of any member or adherent of our Church. As the present writer was intimately acquainted with the deceased before he left the home country, and had correspondence with him since, he feels it his duty and privilege to pen the following narrative of one who, though dying in a sudden and tragic manner by a motor collision, gave every evidence that he died in the Lord. “Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh” (Matt. xxiv. 44).
Andrew Mackay was a native of the little village of Inver, near Tain, Ross-shire, where he was born on the 25th November, 1870. He was thus only in his thirty-ninth year. He came to Glasgow to work about fifteen years ago, and during this time he married Miss Margaret J. Gibson, but his wife died after a short period of married life, and left him with a little girl, who is now over five years of age, and has been staying at Inver with her paternal grandfather. Owing to scarcity of employment, Andrew went to Canada in 1907, and after some changes there, eventually settled in a good working situation in the flourishing city of Winnipeg.
It appears that the subject of this notice was under religious impressions from early years. Even as a boy he walked apart from others, and was given to meditation on divine things. These impressions and convictions continued with him to manhood, and when he came to Glasgow he was regarded by those who were intimate with him as one who feared the Most High. He was circumspect in his walk, and scrupulous to a degree in all his dealings with his fellow-men. He had a very keen and decided turn of mind, and was able to take a comprehensive grasp of any subject that he had thought about. From conversations with him, however, the writer gathered that he was almost constantly in doubt as to his spiritual standing in the sight of God. He was sometimes raised in soul, and very happy, in meditating upon some portion of God’s Word, but at other times—and these were many—he walked in darkness and had no light, and felt as if he should question altogether whether he ever possessed a spark of grace. It troubled him much that he could not recall any marked transition in his experience from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. His concern, however, was not that of “Pliable,” and so he continued a regular attender on the means of grace, with his face towards the Celestial City.
In this dark and doubtful frame of mind, he left his native country for Canada, and strange to say, the deliverance he did not get at home, he obtained in a distant land amid fewer outward advantages. In November, 1908, the writer had a letter from him in which he stated that one day while much cast down in mind, as if the Lord was never to remember him, these words occurred, “For the needy shall not always be forgotten,” from which for a few minutes he derived sweet comfort, but that the thought quickly came that these were the Lord’s needy, and what were his evidences that he was one of the number? This plunged him into darkness again. A second letter, received in April, 1909, gives a brief account of the manner in which he obtained the clear deliverance he had so long desired and prayed for. It seems that on Saturday, 20th March, “being wretched,” as he might say he had “always been,” “he purposed to devote the following week to seeking the Lord in prayer, reading the Word, and other books” that would be helpful. This resolution he carried out, and the Thursday of that week he observed as a fast-day from early morn to even. It proved to be “the greatest day of his life.” He began with prayer, and afterwards read the second chapter of Habakkuk. The third and fourth verses specially arrested his attention, and the fourth became “the battle ground.” “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.” And the struggle was “to get on the ground where the just lives”—faith on the Son, Jesus Christ. About nine in the evening he threw himself down on the bed in despair, but after a minute or two, he said within himself, “I cannot rest here, and where I shall go, or what I shall do, I know not.” It was then suggested to him that the Lord could give faith, he answered, “Yes; but He is sovereign.” Then it was said, “Ask and it shall be given you.” And with this, hope revived, and he betook himself anew to plead in words such as the following: “I have come to seek Thee these days, and what have I found? I have discovered that I was a devil. Thou mayest let me sink into perdition and have the glory of the justice. But Thou delightest in mercy, and I throw myself into Thy hands and shall wait there.” The Lord did not appear at once, and the tempter suggested that all was over now, this being his last chance; but he was enabled to silence him with the words, “Abraham’s only Isaac was called for, yet he hoped against hope, and so shall I hope against hope.” Andrew retired in hope for the evening, and the Lord graciously manifested Himself about three the following morning—he does not relate in what manner or words—and several times during the following day. He asks forgiveness at the end of his letter for devoting so much space to his own matters.
Upwards of five months after the above transpired, Andrew Mackay was called in an unexpected moment to enter eternity. It was Saturday evening, 4th September, and a young and intimate friend of his was walking along with him from his lodgings to the lodgings of the other. When they came to this house, Andrew took out his watch and said, “It is only half-past nine, and as our conversation is not unprofitable, you better come a little walk yet.” “So,” relates his companion, “we went that little walk which meant so much.” Andrew was telling his friend some of his spiritual experiences, and how “that lately he had never seen so clearly that Christ needed to be divine, so that sinners might be saved, though many in our day despised such doctrine, but that, the last few weeks, he seemed to feel worldly, not that he was anxious to make money,” or anything of that sort. “It was just when he had finished talking this,” his companion proceeds, “and we were crossing Broadway, when the next thing I knew was myself lying on the ground, and an automobile at my side, and when I rose, what did my eyes behold but my dear friend lying unconscious, and blood streaming from his nose!” Both were thrown a considerable distance, but Andrew’s companion, in the divine mercy, escaped with only a few scratches. Andrew never regained consciousness. He was taken to a city hospital in the motor, but in a quarter of an hour thereafter the doctor came and said he was gone. Gone, we believe, to be with Christ, which is far better! It would appear that those experiences which might seem to us to be fitting him for usefulness in this present life, were designed to prepare him for the enjoyment and service of God in heaven.
He was a loyal supporter of the little cause of truth in Winnipeg, and his removal is much lamented there. The deepest sympathy is also felt for his relatives and friends at home, who have lost one who was dutiful in all the relations of life. Truly the voice is very loud, solemn, and affecting. “The Lord’s voice crieth unto the city: “Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.” “Watch, therefore; for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matt. xxv. 13). J. S. S.
Calvin as a Theologian and Calvinism To-day.—The Hope Trustees have done an excellent work in printing these excellent addresses from the pen of Dr. Warfield, Princeton. They have issued them to all Protestant ministers in Scotland. The pamphlet consists of three addresses:—John Calvin as Theologian; The Theology of Calvin; The Present-Day Attitude toward Calvinism—Its Causes and Significance. These are all treated in a masterly way, and from Dr. Warfield’s unchallenged pre-eminence as a theologian we have the ripe fruit of his studies on the great themes treated in these papers.