BELIEVERS are Christ’s witnesses that He is the God-man exalted at the Father’s right hand, a Prince and a Saviour. Their prayers and good works ascend to heaven and bring down mercies upon the community and nation. To this choice company belonged the subject of this brief obituary. John Fraser was born at Achnabat at the west end of Loch Duntelchaig in 1860. He was the elder of the two sons of Alexander Fraser, of Erchitt, of the Balnain branch of the clan Fraser, and his wife, Elizabeth MacLeod. The parents brought up their boys in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and their teaching and example were early rewarded. In his tender years John experienced the strivings of the Holy Spirit, and at the age of twelve, he came under conviction of sin. As the shadows of night give place to the morning, so the dayspring from on high visited his soul, banishing spiritual darkness, and bringing life and peace. Henceforth his path was as “the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”
Soon after leaving school he became a clerk with Messrs. W. R. & F. Grant, Solicitors and County Collectors, Inverness. His advancement was rapid. Ability, diligence and a pleasant manner smoothed the way, and in due time he was appointed Chief Clerk. During the frequent and sometimes prolonged absence of Mr. F. Grant, he conducted the County Collector’s work with such marked ability that, at length, Mr. Grant took him into partnership, and when Mr. Grant died, the County Council continued Mr. Fraser as Collector.
When he first came to Inverness, he attended the ministry of Dr. MacKay. He often heard Dr. Kennedy preach, and he greatly admired him as a man and a preacher. The warnings given by these discerning ministers against the evils which were creeping into the Free Church, deeply impressed John Fraser’s mind, so that he took a lively interest in the Constitutional question as well as the worshipping side of church life.
Those who wanted change worked for it subtly. Their main attack was directed against the doctrine of election. To gain their end they knew they must disguise their attack. Accordingly, they bewailed the loss of usefulness to the Church of certain choice young men who found difficulty in understanding, and, therefore, had conscientious scruples against accepting, the statement on election contained in the Confession of Faith. The Assembly, the party of change maintained, must clarify that statement to meet the scruples of these choice young men. There followed a process of sapping and mining, the outcome of which was the Declaratory Act of 1892. By this Act the Assembly authoritatively declared how it interpreted the aforesaid statement. The Act (or declaration) gave an unscriptural and Arminian interpretation to the scriptural and Calvinistic statement of the doctrine of election contained in the Confession, and thereby destroyed the Constitution of the Church.
As the Act had been passed, ostensibly, to relieve the scruples of a few young men, many maintained that they were not affected by it, but the Assembly of May, 1893, made short work of that view. By a large majority, that Assembly decided and authoritatively declared, that every office-bearer and member in the Church was bound by the Act. Even after this pronouncement some pretended that they were not under the Act. Mr. Fraser’s knowledge of law taught him that that assumption was valueless or worse; it would simply be laughed out of Court. For those who would hold entire the Confession and the Constitution, there was but one course open—they must separate! Integrity required it; the performance of vows demanded it; and Mr. Fraser took it. He had bought the truth and would not sell it (Prov. xxiii. 23). He adhered to the Protest, tabled by Rev. D. Macfarlane at that Assembly, and thereby separated from the Confession-forsaking, Constitution-destroying majority, to continue unbroken the Constitution and testimony of the Free Church of 1843. “Come out from among them, and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
We of a later generation can but faintly understand the enlargement and joy experienced by those who took this step, and the power which now accompanied their public and private exercises of worship. The Holy Spirit was given abundantly. The Lord had brought back the captivity of Zion, and Mr. Fraser “rejoiced for joy with her.” The Lord gave His people “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” It was the fulfilment of the promise.
They went forth for the sake of truth, without church or manse, meeting-house or funds, to worship God wherever they might, as their fathers had done in 1843. Some in country districts worshipped on the bare hillside for a considerable period, amid sunshine and storm. They sat in the winter snows, at times wiping the snow flakes from their Bibles, as in the case of Rev. D. Macdonald and his congregation at Shieldaig. But the consolations of the Spirit and the testimony of a good conscience enabled them to make light of these things. John Fraser took his stand behind the leaders who organised the Inverness congregation of our Church, and, so far as the writer knows, he was the last survivor of those who took an active part in that work.
In 1932 he sustained the loss of his brother Alexander. Between them was the double bond of natural affection and grace. The writer was told the following note at the time of the incident referred to, by Alexander. The stranger-landlords, shooting tenants and their servants in Stratherrick have shown little regard for the fourth commandment. On a certain Sabbath in 1928, the servants of one of these landlords engaged in pleasure-sailing on Loch Garth. On the following morning as Alexander, on his way to his shop, approached the loch he was grieved in spirit as he thought of the Sabbath desecration by the proprietors, and especially because one of them had given his launch for pleasure-sailing on the previous day. Immediately the following words came to his mind with power: “The land will spue them out.” This is taking place. On his death-bed he gave eloquent testimony of the soul comfort which sustained him and commended Christ and His salvation to his wife and family.
John Fraser’s humility was marked. He was a good friend to the poor, and when he gave, his left hand did not know what his right hand did. He was a lover of good men. He had a fund of anecdotes which showed the vital godliness of the worthies of the past. These anecdotes he told in a delightful manner. In his public capacity as Collector he came in contact with all classes in the County. Occasionally, problems arose which required judgment and tact to solve. He had the rare faculty of always putting the best construction on a situation. Before sympathetic treatment, difficulties yielded. His helpfulness was recognised. This promoted confidence and cordiality and he was universally esteemed as a friend, with the result that he was a very successful Collector.
He was no stranger to the assaults of the great adversary, but with these he wisely went to the mercy-seat while he presented a pleasant countenance to the world. On retiring from office he returned to his native Stratherrick where he resided with his sister-in-law. Here he occasionally conducted public worship in the absence of supply. Latterly he suffered from chronic bronchitis. During the last weeks of his life, his ripe prayers showed that the time of the latter rain had come. On February 5th, 1946, at the ripe age of eighty-five, he passed away peacefully. His mortal remains were conveyed, in the presence of a large and representative gathering, to Dores burying-ground, and laid beside kindred dust.
On hearing of his death, a business man said to a friend. “I knew him many years. No one like him comes our way now. He did not leave his like behind him in the county,”—a noble tribute to his worth by the world. “And they overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.”—F. B.