The Poet Cowper.
So often are the poet Cowper’s attacks of insanity (says the “English Churchman”), unjustly attributed to his Evangelicalism and his Calvinism that there is a generally prevailing impression that such was actually the case. We were therefore particularly pleased to see “The Times” in a recent leader setting the true facts plainly forth. “Of the many who know that Cowper was sometimes mad, most perhaps believe that he was driven mad by a harsh and cruel form of religion, and that that religion was chiefly forced upon him by Newton. But when Cowper first lost his reason, in his thirty-second year, he had not found that form of religion. When it came to him first, it cured him: his first experience of it, in the doctor’s house at St. Albans, was all joy and hope. And though it seems inevitable that the iron of Newton must crush the porcelain of Cowper, it cannot be said for certain that, without Newton, Cowper would not have gone mad again, as he did when he was forty-two. . . . What can be said for certain is that when, in his fifty-third year, madness seized Cowper never to let him go, the access had no definitely religious occasion.”
Worshipping the God of Luck.
Such is the cross-heading which appeared over a newspaper article on the Derby. The annual gambling frenzy that takes hold of the English-speaking world on Derby day is almost incredible. The fact that the race is a popular event seems to be the only justification multitudes seek for trying their chances with the “god of luck.” If any of our young people have thoughtlessly fallen into the snare and indulged in betting we would affectionately warn them to shun the temptation which may lead them further on the wrong road than they are aware of. The presence of their Majesties, the King and Queen, is a bad example to their subjects.
“Interfering with the Domestic Politics of a British Colony.”
A Blue Book was issued on 4th June containing the correspondence between the Foreign Office and the Vatican in connection with the Malta crisis. It is gratifying to read the British replies to the Vatican scheming. There is a firmness of tone that is usually lacking in documents that pass between the Foreign Office and the Vatican. The papal authorities are plainly told that they have failed to implement their promises and that their interference in Malta state affairs is regarded by the British Government as “interfering with the domestic politics of a British colony.”
New Volume of Rev. Lachlan Mackenzie’s Writings.
Mr. James Campbell who issued the first volume of Mr. Lachlan’s Writings last year has now ready at the time of writing a second volume. This volume contains lectures of the famous Lochcarron preacher which are printed for the first time. We trust Mr. Campbell will get a ready sale for the book. He is willingly taking considerable financial risk in issuing these works as a token of respect for the memory of Mr. Lachlan.
Sermons by Famous Highland Ministers.
In the order slips issued in connection with the publication of Some Noted Ministers of the Northern Highlands it was intimated that if sufficient encouragement were given a volume of sermons by a number of the famous preachers of the Northern Highlands would be published. While the response was not all that could be desired yet it was sufficiently widespread to encourage the Editor to see the present volume (Sermons by Noted Ministers of the Northern Highlands edited, with Biographical Notes, by the Rev. D. Beaton. Price 5s. Post Free 5s 4d.) through the press and he hopes his readers will appreciate his efforts to place before them some of the sermons that moved the hearts of thousands while they listened to the sent messengers of the Most High God. The book contains sermons by the following:—Rev. James Fraser, Alness; Rev. Lachlan Mackenzie, Lochcarron; Rev. Alexander Fraser, D.D., Kirkhill; Rev. Alexander Stewart, D.D., Dingwall; Rev. Alexander Gunn, Watten; Rev. John Macdonald, D.D., Ferintosh; Rev. Alexander Stewart, Cromarty; Rev. Alexander Macleod, Rogart; Rev. Charles C. Mackintosh, D.D., Tain; Rev. Finlay Cook, Reay; Rev. Archibald Cook, Daviot; Rev. John Kennedy, D.D., Dingwall. In editing this volume we enjoyed goodly fellowship with these able ministers of the New Testament as we read their sermons, for, though dead, we felt them speaking. They were not standing on shifting sand but beneath them as their sure foundation was the Rock of Ages; they stood upon His merits, they knew no other stand. It would be invidious to make a selection here but we cannot help referring to the noble sermons of Rev. Alexander Macleod, Rogart (Casting our Burden on the Lord); Rev. Alexander Stewart, Cromarty (Man’s Redemption the Chosen Study of Angels), and Dr. Kennedy, D.D., Dingwall (The White Robed Multitude). The latter was preached in Pulteneytown (Wick), in 1862, on the Monday of the autumn communion, and was printed in the Free Presbyterian Magazine, viii., 405, for the first time. The great preacher in the sermon deals with a noble theme as only he could deal with it. One feels in reading it as if the Doctor were looking through the golden gates and had received a glimpse of the glories of heaven and a foretaste of the joys of the Lord’s redeemed. The book has been sent to all who ordered copies. Parcels have been sent out to our ministers and missionaries from whom copies may be had by intending purchasers.
The Utopia of Unity.
“Since the days of Babel,” says The Presbyterian (Philadelphia), “men have been obsessed with the delusion that by uniting they could get to heaven. Since Babel, these efforts have led to confusion of tongues, dissipation of energy, some vast ruins standing on the plains of time, and a greater disunity than ever. Nor are the motives essentially different to-day from of yore. The resulting confusion is certainly no less confounded, and the net result not altogether unlike the Biblical prototype of all ‘mergers.’
Activities of the Knights of St. Columba.
This Roman Catholic organization had a rally at the Monastery, Kinnoull, Perth, some time ago. An altar was erected in the grounds and High Mass was celebrated. Rome is organizing her forces and is determined to capture Scotland by hook or by crook. Unfortunately her success is all too manifest in certain directions.
The Mad Craze for Speed.
The tragedy that overtook Sir H. Segrave and his companions on Lake Windermere raises the question—what is the purpose of such extraordinary efforts made on sea and land to break all records? Sir Henry had given up thought of breaking his own motor record but the mania for speed seized him and he turned his attention to the water with the sad result referred to above. There are many ways of tempting Providence but surely the gratification of the mania for speed is one of them. While the tragic end of Sir Henry occasions this note it applies to others whose ambitions lie in the same direction.