MRS. Cameron, of Lundavra, passed away in peace at her house, Argyle Square, Oban, on the 20th December, 1916, in her 78th year. Her removal has left a blank in our congregation, which is very keenly felt.
Mrs. Cameron was the daughter of the late Mr. Donald Cameron, a manager for a long time to Mr. Campbell of Monzie, Inverness-shire. Her husband was the late Mr. Donald Cameron, farmer, Lundavra, Lochaber. In her youth she not only saw and experienced true piety, but she received a liberal education which, combined with grace, made her a lady of a loving, broadminded, gentle deportment. From the way in which she often spoke of the late Rev. Francis M’Bean, of Fort-Augustus, we gathered that he had been the instrument in God’s hand of establishing her in the faith—if not in her conversion.
Mrs. Cameron began life in an age when the rampant delusions in religious matters so common in our day were unknown, except, perhaps, in the discredited theories of the schoolmen. The Sabbath was kept: there was very little, if any, cry about non-church-going then, because sound doctrine was the rule and not the exception, as in our day, in the pulpits of Scotland. Many eminent ministers and men used to frequent her father’s house: she had pleasant memories of these, among whom were the two Rev. Messrs. Cook. Dr. Kennedy, in later days, was her personal friend. When the late Rev. C. H. Spurgeon visited the Western Highlands, she was one of a deputation who went out from Fort-William pier in a small boat to meet Mr. Spurgeon’s yacht with a request to that great man to preach to the people of Lochaber. It was delightful to hear her talk of that incident in her life. Mr. Spurgeon’s sermon, and his lively conversation afterwards, left an indelible impression on her refined intellect.
When errors began to gain the ascendancy in her beloved Free Church, Mrs. Cameron felt the seriousness of the situation, and especially when many, who were making a great noise about what they were going to do for Christ and His cause, drew back in the “day of battle.” But when a stand was made by our Church for the cause of Christ alone, she, along with many others of “the salt of the earth,” saw the path of duty, not only in the light of a way in which as Christians they were bound to walk, but as a way of escape from the errors, hypocrisy, and snares, by which they had been at that time encompassed. She never regretted the step she then took. Her heart was in the testimony of the Free Presbyterian Church, and it was her delight to commend to others a Church which was true in her practice to what she professed in her creed. On her death-bed she blessed God for the Free Presbyterian Church, and left her blessing with the congregation here. The Oban congregation and the Church at large have lost in her a staunch and prayerful supporter.
Mrs. Cameron came to Oban shortly after we left the then Free Church. She realized the force of the truth “In the world ye shall have tribulation” for, after the death of her husband, she met with severe trials in providence, but she knew the Hand that guided her lot, and like another, could say, “What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” The Lord, however, counterbalanced the troubles of her pilgrimage with goodness and mercy, and raised up many friends for her, when He removed others by death. The late lamented Mr. Crawford, and Mr. MacDougall, Oban, were to her sympathetic and helpful friends, and she always spoke of them with admiration and affection.
In this congregation she was looked up to as one of its most conspicuous members, and wherever trouble was, in the congregation, or outside its circle, she would be there a source of comfort and strength by her presence and counsel. She had many friends among rich and poor, and she was equally at home among both classes, and we believe she never omitted to commend “the way of life” to all with whom she came in contact.
When Mrs. Cameron came to the end of her wilderness journey the midnight cry did not find her slumbering and sleeping. She had her lamp trimmed, and was eagerly watching and longing for the coming of the Bridegroom. She had everything ready, as far as setting the earthly house in order was concerned, and she literally “gave commandment” concerning her “bones.” Her son, John, was privileged to be with her in her last illness, and he did everything in his power for her, and she lacked nothing. The night she passed away she asked her son to read the twelfth chapter of Isaiah and the hundred and third Psalm in Gaelic. Then she herself prayed, and in about two hours afterwards “the Bridegroom came,” and she went in with Him into the Father’s house, to resume His worship without interruption.
We regret very much that our sketch is so imperfect and short, but we trust her friends will be glad to have even this meagre account of their worthy friend, and that others also may not find it unprofitable to peruse it.
The Lord is calling home His loyal witnesses, and our sky is very overcast, but the Master who saw His disciples toiling in rowing and the wind contrary, on that dark night on the Sea of Galilee, still sees and remembers His tempest-tossed people, and He will assuredly come—as He did of old—and command deliverance for them. Meanwhile, it is their duty to emulate the disciples and carry out the commands of the Master, whatever wind and waves may be contrary; and when He comes then will be fulfilled what the Church of old sang in anticipation:—
“Then are they glad, because at rest
And quiet now they be:
So to the haven He them brings,
Which they desired to see.”
Mrs. Cameron is survived by four sons and a daughter. Two of her sons are in the Army—one in France and the other on home defence duty in this country. To them all we extend our deepest sympathy, and pray that, instead of the fathers, God would be pleased to take the children and make them noble princes in the land.
A. M’K.
THE Rev. John Brown, of Haddington, in a letter of paternal counsels and cautions to one of his pupils newly ordained over a small congregation, wrote thus:—”I know the vanity of your heart, and that you will feel mortified that your congregation is very small, in comparison with those of your brethren around you; but assure yourself, on the word of an old man, that when you come to give an account of them to the Lord Christ, at His judgment-seat, you will think you have had enough.”