REV. JOHN MUNRO, HALKIRK.
AMONG the noted preachers whose preaching brought joy and gladness to many in the far north of Scotland Mr. Munro, Halkirk, occupies a very honoured place. He was born at Kiltearn, 28th October, 1768, and was the son of Alexander Munro and Janet Munro. In an interesting letter which was reprinted in the Free Presbyterian Magazine (vii. 333) Mr. Munro, in writing to his nephew, gives a number of interesting biographical notes concerning his forbears, of which the following may be quoted:—”I trust you and John keep worship in the family, and that you pray time about with your dear mother. She will tell you that the Lord was pleased to remove our father from us when we were very young. It is now sixty-two years in July last since the Lord was pleased to take him to his rest. I, who was the eldest of the children, wanted four months of being nine years of age at the time. The Lord took care of us in His great mercy. My brother and sister, who both died in hope, are now removed—my sister in February, 1789, and my brother, who in age was next to me, in February or March, 1805. Your mother can tell you how her mother and mine took her leave of us on a Sabbath evening, at Alness—her last Sabbath on earth, for she died on the Tuesday night of that week. Her parting words to us were:—’I have been told that your father’s grandmother said that the Lord had given her four sons and two daughters, none of whom the enemy, Satan, should ever see at his fireside. I am not without the same hope concerning you. Follow you the way of the Lord.’ The last words of my grandaunt, who died at Catwell, in, I think, 1801, about this time of the year, were:—’Nach d’ thainig am Buachaille gloirmhoir? Nach d’ thainig am Buachaille gloirmhoir?’ (Has not the glorious Shepherd come?) She died last of the six, and was the youngest of them. I was credibly informed that her mother, Helen Munro, alias Macgillechriosde, said that as a mark that what she had said of her children would be verified—they would leave the world in the order in which they came into it, which actually came to pass, and thus died the youngest above alluded to.” His great-grandfather on his father’s side was the noted John Munro or Caird, Kiltearn, who is mentioned in the memoir of Rev. Thomas Hog, Kiltearn, and in Dr. Kennedy’s Days of the Fathers in Ross-shire. On his mother’s side he was descended from Andrew Sutherland, one of the outstanding Ross-shire men, and whose son, the Rev. John Sutherland, had for a number of years been minister of Halkirk.
The Lord began to deal very early with John Munro. While at play he was unexpectedly called to attend a catechising, and his young heart rose in rebellion against the event that cut short, for the time being, that in which his delight was, but the rebelliousness went further, and he felt horrified to find such a spirit in him against God and all that pertained to Him. He entered the meeting in this state of mind. When his turn came to be questioned he was asked, “What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?” and he returned the answer, as it is given in the Shorter Catechism, “At the resurrection believers, being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.” The repetition of the words brought vividly home to him the great contrast between his own miserable state of mind and the blessedness of God’s people who had entered their rest. A longing was awakened in his heart that he too might one day enter into that state of perfect blessedness.
After receiving at the parish school an elementary education, he went to serve his apprenticeship as a joiner, and on its completion he went to Aberdeen to follow his trade. His spare hours were occupied in study, and ultimately he entered the University and passed through the Arts and Divinity classes. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Tain, and came to Caithness in 1806 to take charge of the Achrenie or Dirlot Mission. This mission was supported by the Church of Scotland Committee for managing the Royal Bounty, and the ministers were paid by the Committee, and also appointed by them with the consent of the people of the district. The missionaries officiated at three preaching stations—Dirlot, Halsary, and Strathhalladale. It was an exceptionally favoured mission, having enjoyed in close succession the ministrations of such pious servants of Christ as Rev. Hugh Mackay (afterwards of Moy), Rev. John Robertson (afterwards of Kingussie), Rev. John Macdonald (afterwards of Ferintosh), Rev. John Munro (afterwards of Halkirk), Rev. Finlay Cook (afterwards of Reay), and Rev. Peter Davidson (afterwards of Stoer and of the Free Church, Shiskine, Arran).
The desolation that now reigns around Achrenie was unknown in Mr. Munro’s time. And within the bounds of his mission were to be found some of the salt of the earth. Mr. Munro’s warm and loving proclamation of the great truths of salvation deeply touched the hearts of his hearers, and when he left them to take up his new charge in Edinburgh it is said there was not a dry eye in the Halladale meeting-house as he bade farewell to his people after being ten years ministering to them.
In 1816 he received a call to Edinburgh Gaelic Chapel, where he remained until 1825, when he was presented to the parish of Halkirk through the influence of the pious Lady Colquhoun. The coming of Mr. Munro to Halkirk was hailed with delight by the Lord’s people, as they had for fifty years the ministry of a man who knew not the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Rev. Alexander Auld, in his Ministers and Men in the Far North, gives an interesting pen sketch of this noted minister, which we cannot refrain from quoting:—”Mr. Munro,” he says, “in personal appearance was not above the middle height, but of portly figure, fair complexioned, and his countenance beaming with benevolence. That his mental power—although not his predominant feature—was uncommon was evident from the position, weight, and influence he attained in the ministerial office. One that knew him well—the late Mr. Sinclair, Thurso, wrote of him, ‘that he knew no man who, without premeditation, could so edifyingly enlarge on any portion of Scripture,’ a power which could not have been possessed by one of mediocre gifts, although equally gracious. The facility also with which he used to clothe his thoughts in the garb of verse, which at times rose into the region of true poetry, evidenced a mind of unusual capacity. His memory was a rich storehouse, whence were readily reproduced those facts and truths that he felt an interest in. Surviving friends doubtless remember what a flow of anecdote and interesting reminiscence enriched his godly conversation; and they will also remember that though he did not hesitate to repeat these whenever occasion suggested them, yet that his heartiness and delight in them, on account of the principles they embodied, perfectly preserved them from the staleness of a tale often told” (pp. 51, 52).
Mr. Munro’s bright and happy disposition laid him open to be seriously misjudged at times. On one occasion, when in the Reay Country, he visited one of the mothers in Israel—Mrs. Catherine Mackay—and as he went on telling her anecdotes about some of the noted Christians of Ross-shire whom he knew, he became very animated, and laughed so heartily in the exuberance of his spirits that the worthy woman thought it was time to check the hilarity of the minister. “My dear Mr. Munro,” was the gentle rebuke, “I am afraid you did not get enough of the ‘law.'” “Kate,” was the quick reply, “my father is in heaven, and my grandfather is in heaven, and I got more of the ‘law’ than them both.” “Well, well, my dear,” she said, “I’ll say nothing more to you as to that.” While it is true that Mr. Munro faithfully preached the law, so that every mouth might be closed before God, yet he took a special delight in declaring the rich fulness of God’s salvation, and his whole heart went out with the message of the glad tidings of that salvation. The suitability of Christ as a Saviour to the lost was a theme of which he never wearied, and which never failed to stir up the fervour of his loving heart. Dr. Taylor, Thurso, says of him:—”His Christian walk was eminently holy and heavenly. What was spiritual was his constant element; and at the same time, his piety was of the most cheerful and engaging character. He was, indeed, a delightful companion, and never failed to enliven, in the most edifying and agreeable manner, the domestic and social circle. Happy himself in the enjoyments of the consolations of the Gospel, he diffused gladness wherever he went. His store of unpublished anecdotes respecting the worthies of Ross-shire and the other Northern counties during the last century and a half was remarkably choice and extensive, and his happy manner of introducing and telling these can never be forgotten by those who had the privilege of being much in his society. At Communion seasons his presence was much sought, and on these occasions he was most of all in his element, whether in the public services or unbosoming himself among his brethren and other friends, when the labours of the sanctuary were concluded. He was always particularly happy in his addresses at the communion tables, entering with his whole heart into his subject, and speaking with much fulness and feeling of the Saviour’s death and love, and of the hopes and fears and encouragements of His people.” The mention of Dr. Taylor’s name in connection with Mr. Munro recalls to memory an interesting remark made by the latter after these two worthies had a friendly debate on the nature of saving faith. Dr. Taylor was the abler theologian of the two, and had the best of the argument. And Mr. Munro, recognising this, turned to the Doctor, saying:—”Well, you may be able to define faith better than I, but I can believe as good as you.”
(To be continued.)