My Dear Mr. Beaton,—At a recent meeting of the Southern Presbytery it was remarked that fifty years had passed since the day you were licensed to preach the Gospel at Inverness. The exact date was the 6th of July, 1896, as you will no doubt recall. In grateful remembrance of the occasion I was instructed to send you a letter of brotherly greeting; and I have much pleasure in carrying out these instructions.
So far as the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland is concerned, the year 1896 brings us back to the early beginning of things: the Declaratory Act; earnest contentions for the Faith once delivered to the saints; the conservation of the 1843 Constitution, etc. Some of the ministers and men directly concerned in these things have gone to their reward—D. MacFarlane, D. MacDonald, N. Cameron, J. S. Sinclair and others—but their memories are held in loving honour among us still.
Many present-day Free Presbyterians are not old enough to have any distinct remembrance of these days, but we have heard of them, and our fathers have told us of them; and the inheritance they have bequeathed to us gives us deep and constant reason for thankfulness to God. The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland stands now, as it stood then, for a Bible of Divine and Infallible Authority; for the Fundamental Doctrines of Holy Scripture—Ruim by the Fall, Redemption by the Blood of Christ, and Regeneration by the Holy Spirit; for the Westminster Confession of Faith; and for the Presbyterian Form of Church Government. Verily, we have entered into possession of a goodly heritage; a heritage all the more to be esteemed and safeguarded because of the evil days in which our lot is cast; a heritage which we are solemnly bound to hand down inviolate and unimpaired to our sons. In dangerous waters, to sever the chain which anchors the ship to the rock were madness of the most inexcusable and criminal kind.
It is with a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation the Presbytery remembers the outstanding contribution which, under God, you have so willingly given to the building up of the church which has become so dear to us all. Throughout those fifty years, your ministry in the Gospel, and your unflinching loyalty to all that the Church stood for, have been of no small comfort and encouragement to many, at home and abroad. As Theological Tutor you have passed through your hands all the ministers presently serving in the Church, with one or two exceptions. As Clerk of the Synod for many years, you have given to the Supreme Court of the Church the benefit of your ripe experience, wisdom and judgment, and by means of the Church Magazines a wide congregation has had the benefit of your Editorial labours. On more than one occasion during those fifty years, the Church has suffered the painful shock of parting company with ministers who, from one cause or another ceased to walk in her fellowship. So far from being the cause of such grief and disappointment, you have, at all times proved yourself to be an unfailing source of strength and stability to your brethren. On this, the occasion of your Ministerial Jubilee, we remember these things with sincere thankfulness to the Divine Giver of all good gifts.
It is our earnest hope and prayer that the Lord has yet many years of usefulness for you in His vineyard, and that restored health and strength may be given you for that purpose. Above all, we trust that the Gospel, which many have rejoiced to hear from your lips, may be an abiding strength, comfort, and joy to your own soul.
In the name of your Brethren of the Southern Presbytery.
Yours in the Service of the Gospel,
JAS. A. TALLACH, Presbytery Clerk.
Acknowledgment.
—The Editor would take this opportunity of acknowledging the kind felicitations of his brethren in the Southern Presbytery who have, by their encouragement, often lessened the burden of his labours and whose fellowship in the work of our beloved Church was an inspiration to him not only in times of peace and calm, but in the more trying times of stress and strain when the reality of friendship and comradeship in the service of the best of all Masters was tested. I take this opportunity of thanking brethren and friends who sent me their felicitations on my attaining the 50th year of my licensure as a preacher of the Gospel. I will say no more meantime, except, that the cause I espoused in 1893 as a student, and in 1896 as a licentiate, is as dear to me to-day as over fifty years ago. And I feel as needful to-day to be kept by His grace as ever for the remaining part of the journey.
D. BEATON.