Sacramental Address

(IV.)

BY THE LATE REV. JONATHAN R. ANDERSON, GLASGOW.

THE service, intending communicants, in which you are about to engage, though very simple, is most instructive and edifying. In it is set forth a memorial of your guilt and wretchedness. For why should a Redeemer be appointed, and salvation procured, if you had not been by nature, and by wicked works, depraved and perishing? In it there is a commemoration of your wondrous deliverance by the obedience unto death of the incarnate Son of the Highest; for why was it that blood was shed on calvary, but that life might flow to the dying children of men? In it there is a representation of the manner in which the redemption that is purchased by Christ is made available to the soul; for why is Christ offered in the Gospel, and set forth in the supper, but that you may receive and feed upon Him by faith? And yet there is a need be for divine light to perceive the nature and design of the simple service; there is a need be for divine strength to engage in it, and observe it with acceptance and profit; there is a need be for divine blessing to render it effectual for the ends for which it was instituted. We trust there are many of you who know and feel this necessity, and who therefore are now waiting upon God, that He may bless you with the light, and strength, and consolation you require. Some perhaps at this moment are impressed with the necessity of divine power, because they feel in themselves utterly weak and helpless. The darkness which encompasses them is too thick for them to pierce; the coldness that enervates their hearts is too great for them to remove; the corruptions that rage within them are too strong for them to control; it is well then that you have come to seek Jesus, for in Him “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” To find Him is to obtain a treasure which shall enrich your souls; a light which shall guide you into the way of peace; a righteousness which shall meet the accusations of conscience, and stand the fiery ordeal of the judgment day; a strength which shall sustain you in the fiercest struggle with the enemy; a glory which shall bless you for ever more. But where, you will perhaps ask, is this glorious One to be found? At His table. In what character, you may farther enquire? In that of Him “who died, the just for the unjust, that He might bring men to God.” In the holy ordinance of the supper to which you have come it is Christ crucified that is all and in all. And is not this just such a Saviour as you desire, and feel you need. You dread the wrath of God. Behold it expending its fury upon Him who was wounded, bruised, and slain. You tremble before the fiery law, behold it magnified and made honourable by Him who was obedient even unto death. You apprehend the power of sin,

behold it vanquished by Him who, though He knew no sin, was made sin for His people that they might be made the righteousness of God in Him. You fear the allurements of the world, behold it led captive by Him who gave Himself for His people’s sins, that He might deliver them from this present evil world. You shrink from the approach of death, behold it abolished and stripped of its sting by Him who died and rose again. “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” What is it of spiritual evil which you dread that is not done away in Christ? What is there of spiritual good you desire that is not procured by Christ? And what is the unworthiness which he cannot remove? What is the guilt which He cannot cleanse? To question His all-sufficiency to meet every case of poor sinners is to rob Him of His glory, and yourselves of your peace and joy. Let the eye of faith be towards Him while you handle and taste the bread and cup of communion.

Have you, communicants, been permitted to hold fellowship with the exalted Saviour, and do you feel refreshed and strengthened by it? Why is it, let me ask you, that He has admitted you to this distinction? Is it not that you may go forth to the world, and by the purity of your lives testify that God hath made Him both Lord and Christ? Why is it that your dark minds have been illumined, but that, as the lights of the world, you may invite others to come and walk in the light of the Lord? Why is it that your hearts have been quickened and enlarged, but that you may run in the way of God’s commandments, and induce others to follow you as you follow Christ? Why is it that you have received a foretaste of the pleasures which are at God’s right hand, but that you may say to others, “Come with us, and we will do you good, for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel?” O beware, communicants, of expending the strength of the meat which you have now received in self-gratification, or in the service of sin. This were indeed a fearful desecration of holy things. But “As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, see that you walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and ‘stablished in the faith, abounding therein with thanksgiving, abounding in the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the praise and glory of God.” You have this day avouched the Lord to be your God, Christ to be your leader, the Holy Spirit to be your comforter, the saints to be your brethren in Christ. Be careful to maintain a walk suitable to this profession. Abstain from every appearance of evil. Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Set your affection on the things that are above. The world, communicants, and the fashions thereof pass away. What is life itself but a vapour which appeareth for a little and then vanisheth? And where is that life to be spent wisely and profitably but in the service of

Christ? But remember that it is not in the strength of present resolutions, however sincere, or the fervour of present feelings, however strong, or the vigour of present faith, however lively, that you are to pursue your heavenly course. “I will go,” says the psalmist, “in the strength of the Lord God,” and nothing less will do for you. This may appear a simple lesson, and easily received, but you will find in your sad experience that few are more difficult of acquisition. By slow steps, and after many rebukes, does a believer begin to know experimentally that his strength is not in himself but in Christ. And how should you rejoice, communicants, in the assurance of this fact. For were the strength of your spiritual life entrusted to you it would soon be squandered away in very vanity. But He whose love is as faithful as it is tender has hid your life with Christ in God, and there are you to find it. Be strong then in the Lord, and in the power of His might, and prove by the steadfastness of your principles, by the consistency of your walk, and the spirituality of your conversation, that He that is in you is greater than he that is in the world. Hasten forward through the wilderness to the land of pure delights and perfect peace. Sit loose to all which meets you in the way of earthly good, and beware of resting in it to the neglect of your heavenly home. Have the hearts of strangers, maintain the character of pilgrims, and cherish the hopes of those who look for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

The Moderator-Elect of the Free Assembly.

THE following letter, signed “F.C. Minister,” recently appeared in The Scotsman. It informs us of the unsatisfactory character of the religious views and conduct of Dr. Macmillan, Greenock, the coming Moderator. One is disposed, however, to express astonishment that “F.C. Minister” can, with a good conscience, hold office in a church that puts a premium on unsoundness in the faith and exalts to the highest honour in her power a man who disrespects the Sabbath, and is otherwise blameworthy:—

“THE MODERATORSHIP OF THE FREE ASSEMBLY.

23rd December, 1896.

SIR,—It appears from a paragraph in to-day’s Scotsman that Dr. Macmillan, Greenock, has been elected Moderator of the Free Church General Assembly. That honour used to be reserved for those who had manifested outstanding evangelical power in their ministry and the service of the Gospel. How has the Free Church changed in all her lines of action! Like the foolish woman, she has been now long at the work of pulling down her own house. She seems to have put a premium on Broad Churchism, ‘the spirit of the age,’ unsoundness in the faith, and

a diluted Gospel! If a man gains notoriety in any of those fields, he is promoted to honour, amid the clamour of his brother-ministers shouting ‘These be thy gods!’

Dr. Macmillan has never shown pronounced evangelical sympathies, and he scouts the idea of attending Assemblies, and some other things besides. When he goes to the country he may honour a church with his presence in the forenoon, but in the evening he will sit at home or go with his family to botanise in the fields. He is advertised to propose the toast of the ‘Immortal memory of Burns’ at a Burns Club festival shortly. That speech will serve as his Moderator’s address! If Burns himself were in the flesh he would be the next Moderator.—I am, &c.,

F.C. MINISTER.”

Latha na Sabaid.

BY REV. NEIL CAMERON, ST. JUDE’S, GLASGOW.

CUIMHNICH latha na Sabaid a choimhead naomh. Co labhair na briathran so? Labhair Dia iad, air bein Shinai, a mach as an teine, ann an eisdeachd Israel uile. Thug Criosd an lagh sgriobhte seachad an sin leis an tabhair e breth air na h-uile air an latha dheirinneach. “Is eigin duinn uile bhi air ar taisbeanadh an lathair cathair breitheanais Chriosd.”

Tha cuid de’n bheachd nach eil e ‘na chionta cho mòr, latha na Sabaid a mhi-naomhachadh, ri mort, gadachd, adhaltranas a ghniomhachadh. Cha ‘n eil an sin ach mealladh mòr: Bu choir a cheart urad ghrain a bhi aig daoine de luchd-mi-naomhachaidh na Sabaid’s a bhiodh aca de luchd mortaidh, adhaltranais, agus an leithide sin de pheacaibh. Bha na h-atrichean agus na mattrichean diadhaidh a seachnad briseadh latha Dhe, mur a bha iad a sheachnad mort. Car son? A chionn gum be aithne Dhe a bh’annta le cheile. “Oir ge b’e neach a choimheadas an lagh uile, agus a thuislicheas ann an aon aithne, tha e ciontach de’n iomlan. Oir an ti a thubhairt na dean adhaltranas, thubhairt e mar an ceudna na dean mortadh,” agus thubhairt e mar an ceudna. “Cuihnich latha na Sabaid a choimhid naomha.” Bithidh staid fear mi-naomhachaidh na Sabaid, air latha bhreitheanais, cho truagh agus cho ciontach ri staid a mhortair. Tha e ‘na ni mi-reusanta do dhaoibh a bhi smuaineachadh nach eil am peacadh cho mhòr a chionn gu’m bheil am mor-sluagh ciontach dheth. Bha Noah eadar-dhealaichte bho shluagh an t-seann t-saoghail; oir an uair a bha iadsan ag itheadh agus ag òl, a posadh agus air an tabhairt ann am posadh, chaidh Noah, a reir aithne Dhe, Steach do’n airce a rinn e, agus chaidh cach uile a sgrios. Is ann mar sin a bhios sgrios naimhdean Dhe agus a lagh naomha, agus tearnadh na muintir air am bi eagal Dhe agus a choimheadas aitheantan. Ann a bhi tarruinn ar naire a dhiunsuidh caochladh

de nithibh air a phuinc chudthromaich so, bheir sinn iad fa bhrur comhair anns an ordugh a leanas:—

1. Tha an t-Sabaid air a briseadh le sraid-imeachd, ge be air bith an leithsgeul a chleachdas daoine air son a bhi’ ga dheanamh, ach a mhain air gnothichibh trocair. Tha mòran ‘g a cleachdadh ‘n a latha gu bhi dol a dhamharc an cairdean, agus a cheilidh, agus mar sin tha iad a spuineadh Dhe dhe ghloir, a toirt call agus truaighe air an anama fein, agus a deanamh na tha ‘n an comas gu anamibh eile sgrios mar an ceudna. Coidlidh cuid air latha na Sabaid cho fada anns a mhaduinn ‘s nach urrainn iad a dhol do’n Eaglais agus air laithibh na seachduinn bidh iad air an cosan gle thrath. Bheir iad oidhirp air dicioll a dheanamh air son gnothaichean a chuirp, ach air son an anam neo-bhasbhor chan eil aon smuain ciod a d’heireas dà. Tha t-anam caillte, agus latha na Sabaid, le meodhainean nan gràs, tuilleadh us luachmhor gu bhi ‘gan leigeadh seachad air an doigh bhruideil sin. Dhoibhsan a tha a caitheamh an latha phriseil a thug Dia ‘na throcail dhoibh air an doigh so tha e na sgios mòr, agus uairean cho fada. Anam cia mur a burrainn thu bhi sona ann an ghloir a gleidhadh Sabaid Shiòrruidh? Tha e soilleir gu’m feum do nadur a bhi air athnuadhachadh no chan urrainn thu dol ach a dhuinnsaidh ionad a bhroin bhith-bhuain. Tha comhradh mu nithean aimsireil, agus mu nithibh diomhain ‘n am pairt mhòr de mhi-naomhachadh latha Dhe. Bu choir do ‘na h-uile na nithean so a sheachnad, agus mur cum daoine eile bho ‘na nithean sin, seachuin an cuideachd, agus bi coma coid a shaoileas iad dhiot air son sin. Leughadh leabhraichean faoine, agus an leite sin, ri ‘n seachnad. Cha ‘n eil leabhar anns an t-saoghal anns am bheil nithean air an cur sios, air son tiom fein, coltach ris a Bhiobul. “Ma philleas tu air falbh do chos o’n t-Sabaid, o do thoil fein a dheanamh air mo latha naomha-sa; agus gu’n abair thu ris an t-Sabaid, Toilintinn; ri latha naomh an Tighearna, Urramach; agus gu’n tabhair thu onair dhi, gun a bhi leantuin do shlighean fein, no’ labhairt do bhriathran fein; an sin gabhaidh tu tlachd anns an Tighearna; agus bheir mise ort marcachd air ionadaibh arda na talmhuinn; agus beathaichidh mi thu le oighreachd Jacob d’athar; oir labhair beul an Tighearna e.”—(Isaiah lviii. 13.)

2. Tha moran a mi-naomhachadh latha na Sabaid le bhi saltairt tigh Dhe fo ‘an cosaibh; le bhi ‘g aoradh do Dhia le dealbhaibh no doigh sam bith eile nach ordaichte ‘na fhocal. Tha mhor-roinn ag aoradh dhoibh fein ‘s chan ann do Dhia. Chan e a cheist a tha orra ciod a thaitneas ris-san, ach ciod a tholecheas an fheoil? Uime sin thiundaidh iad tigh Dhe gu bhi na thigh-cluich. Orgain gan cluich; Laoidhean, air an deanamh le daoinibh gan seinn an aite Salm Dhaibhidh. Tha mar sin intinnean an luchd-aoraidh a fàs nis truailidh, an cogaishbean a fàs nis cruaidhe agus a codal nis truine. “Naomh-aich iad troimh ‘n fhirinn; ‘s e t-focal-sa an fhirinn.” Chuir

laoidhean, agus orgain an fhirinn a mach as na cubaidean, agus as na haiteachan suidhe. “Is lochran t-fhocal do m’ chois, agus solus do m’ cheum.” Agus, “Biodh agaibh gràs leis an dean sibh Sheirbhis thaitneach do Dhia, le h-urram agus eagal diadhaidh : Oir tha an Dia-ne ‘na theine dian-loisgeach.”

1. Tha na roidean-iaruinn, eich agus carabadan a dol a mach air son toileachas-intinn, no gu hhi giulan litirichan, daoine dol mun cuairt an gnothichean saoghalta, ceannach agus reic na mhi-naomhachadh air latha na Sabaid a chuireas an tir so fàs. Leubh Leviticus xxvi. 27 gu croich na caibdeil.

2. Tha sluagh na Galteachd air an truaileadh gu mòr, le coigrich as an taobh deas a cur droch-eis-amplair rompa air latha Dhe. Tha muinntir a tha gabhail orra fein a bhi ‘n an luchd-aidich air Criosd—ministirean, eilderean, agus buill choithionalan a giulan na plaigh so do’n taobh tuath. Bu choir do ‘na Gadhail a chuíneachadh gun dubhairt Chriosd, “Ma’s toigh libh mise, coimhidibh m’ aitheantan,” agus “Air an toradh ailnichidh sibh iad.” Tha e sgrìobhta, “Na lean a mhòr-chuideachd a chum an uilc.” Bha na h-athraichean, agus na mathrichean diadhaidh cur an gnothaichean saoghalta ann an rian air feasgar Di-sathairn a chum nach biodh an t-Sabaid air a mi-naomhachadh. “Is mise an Tighearna ‘ur Dia; gluaisibh ann am reachdaibh, agus coimhidibh mo bhreitheanais, agus deanaibh iad: agus naomh-aichibh mo Shabaidean; agus bithidh iad ‘nan comharadh eadar mise agus sibhse, a chum gu’m bi fios agaibh gur mise an Tighearna bhur Dia.” Bha duine mòr anns an Fhraing da ‘m b’ ainm Malan, agus air do aon de dhaoine mòra na rioghachd so a bhi air chuairt an sin bha e fuireach an tigh. Mhalan, agus thug e fainear an rian agus an t-sith iongantach a bha san tigh. Dh’ fhiosraich e dheth cia mar a bha na huile nithe cho siochail agus ordail na thigh? agus thubhairt Malan ris gun do chuir e roimhe latha na Sabaid a choimhead naomh agus gun obair de gne sam bith a cheadachadh na thigh air an latha sin; agus gun do bheannaich Dia a thigh agus a theaghlach n’ uair a bha luchd-mi-naomhaichidh na Sabaid ann an troimb-cheile air gach taobh dheth. “Is beannaichte an duine a ni so, agus mac an duine a ni greim air; a choimhdeas an t-Sabaid gun a mi-naomhachadh, agus a choimhdeas a lamh o aon olc a dheanamh. . . . Oir mar so deir an Tighearna, Do na caillteanaich a choimhdeas mo shabaidean, agus a ròghnaicheas an ni a thaitneas rium, agus a ni greim air mo choimhcheangal; dhoibh sin bheir mi ann am thigh, agus an taobh a stigh do m’ bhallachan, ait agus ainn n’i’s fearr na ainn mhac agus nighean; ainn siorruidh bheir mi dhoibh, nach gearr as.”

3. Tha cuid a smuaineachadh nach eil an t-Sabaid ri bhi air a gleidheadh fo linn an Tiomnaidh Nuaidh. Tha Criosd ag radh, “Na measaibh gu’n d’ thainig mise a bhriseadh an lagha na nam faidhean cha’n ann a bhriseadh a thainig mi, ach a choimhlonadh. Oir tha mi ag radh ribh gu firinneach, gus an teid neamh

agus talmh thairis, cha teid aon lide no aon phung do’n lagh thairis, gus an coimhlonar gach aon ni.” Anns an athghionamhuinn tha lagh Dhe air a Sgriobhadh air a chridhe, agus a reachd air a chur air an intinn; agus mar sin tha tlachd aig an anam bheo ann an lagh Dhe. Feumaidh gu’m bheil a cheathramh aithne anns a chridhe air an do shaoithrich an Spiorad Naomh. Thug Criosd umhlachd agus riarachadh iomlan do lagh agus do cheartas Dhe an aite a shluaigh ionnas nach eil iad fo’n lagh mar chunanta, ach mar an riaghailt beatha. Bha an t-Abstol Eoin anns an Spiorad air latha an Tighearna; agus na mnathan naomh aig bàs agus adhlacadh Fear-Saoraidh; “Agus chunnaic iad an uaigh, agus cionnus a chuireadh a chorpa. Agus phill iad, agus dh’ulluich iad Spiosraidh agus oladh deadh fhaile; agus ghabh iad tamh air an t-Sabaid a reir na h-aithne.”

Moderator na h-Eaglaise Saoire.

S GRIOBH aon de mhinstirean na h-Eaglaise Saoire an litir a leanas ann an Scotsman, 23rd December, 1896:—

“SIR,—Tha e ri thuigsinn bho chunntas ailhghearr ann an Scotsman an latha ‘n diugh gu’m bheil Dr. Macillevoil, Ghrianaig, air a shonrachadh gu bhi na Mhoderator air Assembly na h-Eaglais Saoire. Babhaist an t-urran so a bhi air a ghleidheadh dhoibhsan, a mhain, a bha ‘n an teachdairean foghtainteach an Tionnaidh Nuaidh ann am ministearalachd agus saothair an t-soisgeul. Cia truagh a tha an Eaglais Shaor air a riaghailtean fein a threigsinn! Coltach ris a mhnaoi amaidich, tha i nis, bho cheann fada, spionadh a nuas a tighe fein. Tha e coltach gu’n d’ thug i a h-ard-urran do bheachdan ùra ‘Spiorad na h-aoise so’— neo-fhallaineachd ‘s a chreidimh agus soisgeul truailte. Ma gheibh duine ainm mòr anns na nithean sin, tha e air a thogail gu urram le cò-ghair a bhraithrean anns a mhinstirealachd a’ glaodhaich ‘So do dhiathan.’ Cha do nochd an Dr. Macillevoil riabh co-fhulangas diongmhalta air taobh an t-soisgeul, agus tha e fanoid air a bhi frithealadh aig an Assembly, maillle ri nithean eile de ‘n t-seorsa sin. Nuair a theid e do ‘n duthaich, theugamh gu’n d’ theid e do ‘n Eaglais toiseach latha na Sabaid, ach anns an fheasgar suidhidh e aig an tigh, no theid e do na h-achaidhean, maillle ri theaghlach, a chruinneachadh fhluirichean. Tha sanas air a thabhairt gur e esan, an uine ghearr, aig coinneamh cuideachd Robert Burns, a ghairmeas air a chuideachd, deochh Slainte Bhurns ol, leis na briathran “Cuimbne neo-bhasbhor Bhurns.” Ni an oraid a chleachdas e an sin an gnothach dha a ris aig fosgladh na h-Assembly. Na’m biodh Robert Burns fein beo ‘s e bhiodh ‘n a Mhoderator air an ath Assembly!

Is mise,

MINISTEIR DE ‘N EAGLAIS SHAOIR.”

Pastor Chiniquy Threatened by the Romanists.

WE had a strong impression that Pastor Chiniquy’s visit to this country would be the means of arousing the enmity and rage of the Romanists to a more than ordinary degree. This impression has been verified by the Oban challenge, Donlevy’s letter in The Scotsman, and a sermon preached by a Canon Maglione in Blackburn, of which we have some account in The Bulwark. It is still more fully verified by the following threatening notice which appeared in the Roman Catholic Times of 27th November:—

“A WARNING FOR CHINIQUY.—When one finds that an individual is not afraid or ashamed to indulge in blasphemy, the best rule to adopt with regard to him is to leave him severely alone. He is not a fit person to argue with or recognise in any way. If there are those who listen to him, they must be content to share his malodorous reputation, for men are still judged by the well-known rule, ‘Tell me your company and I shall tell you who you are.’ But we would remind this aged blasphemer that there are blasphemies and blasphemies, and whilst strongly deprecating violence, would warn him not to repeat again whilst in this country the horrible parody with regard to the Blessed Eucharist which drew imprecation on his head even at the Oban meeting. Catholics can stand a great deal from their opponents. That falsehoods—endless and wicked falsehoods—with regard to their practices, ceremonies, and clergy, should emanate from Protestant platforms is to them a matter of course. But there is one thing at which their blood boils, and which they cannot and will not stand, and that is the travesty of the sacred ceremony of the Last Supper at which our Lord instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist. If the law does not prevent it, then the person who indulges in this awful profanity does so at his peril.”

This warning plainly reveals that Rome is the same fierce persecutor as ever, and if she had the power as she has the will, she would pursue Protestants to death to-day in the same manner as she did in past ages. It appears that Pastor Chiniquy’s faithful exposure of the monstrous figment, Transubstantiation, coming as it did from one who formerly was a Romish priest, greatly stirred the wrath of the Papists, who could not, unmoved, see their idol broken in pieces. The above paragraph was the result, and it should be the means of opening the eyes of many Protestants who fondly imagine that Rome has changed her principles of deadly persecution.

The late Mr. John Campbell.

IT is recorded of old Alexander Peden that when he came to see the resting place of what was mortal of Richard Cameron, and sat down on his grave, he exclaimed “O to be with Ritchie.” In this dark and cloudy day somewhat of the same desire creeps over the minds of some while thinking of those who died in the faith, kept their garments clean, and of whom it can truly be said, “Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” We feel much the loss, and must acknowledge that many of our thoughts and affections (such as they are) have gone after them to eternity. The small tribute that follows, we feel to be very inadequate to give our readers a glimpse of the life, faithfulness, experiences, and true piety of a great man.

John Campbell, one of the elders of St. Jude’s congregation, Glasgow, entered into his everlasting rest on the 14th January, 1897. He was born in the parish of Snizort, in the island of Skye, in the year 1824. About the age of 20 years he was, along with many others, brought to the saving knowledge of Christ under the ministry of that renowned servant of Christ—the Rev. Roderick M’Leod. From his knowledge of the depravity of man’s nature, his convictions must have been very deep. At that time he, and five other young men, built a hut in the hills where, far from their fellow-creatures, they used to spend much of their time in prayer and reading the Word of God. He came south to Glasgow about the year 1847, and except at short intervals, he lived in Glasgow till the end of his earthly journey. After he came to Glasgow, he attended successively the ministry of the Rev. Messrs. Gordon and Logan of the M’Donald Church. He continued till the day of his death to hold these servants of Christ in great veneration. It seems that, after they were gone, poor John Campbell found himself forsaken, much like the pelican in the wilderness. Hymns, soirees, &c., kept him from finding a resting place. Like the captives in Babylon the spoilers called for mirth, but he wept thinking on Zion:—

“By Babel’s streams we sat and wept,
When Sion we thought on.
In midst thereof we hang’d our harps
The willow-trees upon.
For there a song required they,
Who did us captive bring:
Our spoilers call’d for mirth, and said,
A song of Sion sing.
O how the Lord’s song shall we sing
Within a foreign land?
If thee Jerus’lem, I forget,
Skill part from my right hand.

My tongue to my mouth’s roof let cleave,
If I do thee forget,
Jerusalem, and thee above
My chief joy do not set.”

He never gave up going to church, but continued to go from the one to the other of the Gaelic churches until, at last, relief came. During this period of his life he, and a few others, held private meetings to read the Word of God, sing the songs of Zion, and to “pray to him who heareth in secret.” These meetings were the means by which the Lord strengthened a few to contend against the flood of the enemy coming in upon the Church. They continued these meetings for many years. In June of 1893 he conducted the first prayer meeting held in Glasgow in connection with the Free Presbyterian Church. The departures of the Free Church from her own creed and principles caused him much grief, and when in 1893 a few in Glasgow, as well as in other places, refused to be duped any longer by Dr. Rainy and his party, or by other spire-cocks which face the way the wind blows at the time, he heartily joined them. To the end he continued a most ardent supporter of the same.

At the Men’s Fellowship Meeting he, in our humble opinion, was the leading man of all the Gaelic speaking men in Glasgow. (That does not cast any slur upon these men, among whom are some of the finest in this land.) His knowledge of the Scriptures was most accurate and profound; his understanding of the subtleties of the human heart, with its deep attachment to the covenant of works, and man’s utter inability to look to Christ for salvation without the teaching of the Holy Ghost, would be expressed by him in the clearest possible terms. He brought these points before an audience in our hearing, from the following truths. “Men and brethren, what shall we do to be saved?” “You see,” he said, “they are looking for something which they could do themselves. Again, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved,” but the convinced sinner said, “I cannot believe.” “He has learned much who is convinced that he cannot believe, and that faith is the gift of God.” The infinite merit of the atonement of Christ before God, the Judge, and the accusing conscience of the sinner approaching it by faith, aroused his powerful eloquence to the highest pitch. The despicable weakness of the sinner, dead in trespasses and sins, of himself to embrace Christ in the free offer of the Gospel, and his infinite need of the Holy Ghost in His quickening, enlightening, and creating power, to enable him to close in with the proffered Saviour, caused every attentive listener to feel the need every sinner has of the Spirit. The freeness of the offer of the Gospel as a sovereign act of the beneficence of God, and the utter unworthiness of the sinner, were things he never lost sight of. These are a few of the expressions which fell from his lips upon such occasions:—”When a child is born into the world there is

in him naturally a crave after the mode of subsistence which God provided for him in his mother’s breast, so with the child ‘born from above,’ nothing but Christ in the Word of God, ‘the true bread which came down from heaven,’ can give him satisfaction. It is Christ or death with him. ‘As new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby.’ “Many a mountain the child of grace has to ascend and descend which he did not expect at the beginning of his race. His hope may fall so low as to cause him to conclude that he may leave goodbye with the Church of Christ, and wish her God-speed, and the presence of Christ and of His Spirit, but as for himself, that he will never win the crown of life. At such times he will be regretting that he ever professed Christ publicly, for fear of bringing His glorious name and cause into disgrace in the world. There is always something in the gracious soul that, at the lowest ebb of his hope and faith, wishes well unto the true church of God.” “Another mark of grace in the soul is that, however low he may be, he rejoices to hear both law and gospel declared in their proper relations to perishing sinners.”

In prayer he was a mighty prince, and might truly be called Israel. In public he was invariably concise, and most refreshing to the poor in spirit. His tenderness towards them that mourn in Zion appeared by his earnest solicitation in their behalf that their faith should not fail. He delighted to plead for them in connection with that most precious truth—”A Father to the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in His holy habitation.” His face beamed with joy when he expressed that those who were afraid to call God their Father, and therefore were often fatherless, were, in this truth, called God’s children in spite of their unbelief. His yearnings over the souls of the young of this generation, whom he often declared to be in imminent danger of being eternally lost, were conspicuous in all his prayers. They lost a true friend the day John Campbell’s voice was hushed on earth. His earnest pleading for an outpouring of the Spirit to quicken the dead, and to revive and comfort the living, refreshed the drooping spirits of not a few. Christ’s cause and truth; the peace and felicity of Jerusalem; and the efforts of hell and earth against them; but the sure victory of Christ and His followers, were both his consolations and fears in this valley of Baca. No language could be more vehement than his in describing the loathsomeness of sin in man’s nature; and none more sublime than his descriptions of the holiness and justice of God. Christ in His atoning death satisfying divine justice and holiness, as the sinner’s substitute and surety was his only hiding place. Latterly it was observed that his mind soared aloft to the throne of God and the Lamb in almost every prayer. The church triumphant seemed to be often before his mind.

As a friend he was both true and faithful, but was very cautious whom he chose as a friend. None ever heard him say that he was

a converted man; but none could be any time in his company without being thoroughly convinced that his conversation was not of this world. Often, after speaking at the fellowship meeting, or at public prayer, he would spend the whole night in restlessness fearing that he had wounded the Lord’s people. So great was his honest humility, that he often pled that he should be passed over, because of his inability and unsuitableness for such exercises. He said to a lady going home from church recently, “I have travelled north, south, east, and west, but I never met a sinner so black as myself.” The lady said, “Was Manasseh not as black?” “I have sinned against light, which Manasseh had not.” To another friend, a few Sabbaths before his death he said, “I am just waiting the summons to call me to His judgment seat, and it may come very soon.” To another friend who visited him on his death-bed he said, “Abel looked to Christ’s atonement on Calvary’s cross, and the last of the saved from among men will look back to the same atonement.” He was only three Sabbaths unable to go to church before the end came. “Help Lord because the godly man doth daily fade away.” “Mark thou the perfect, and behold the man of uprightness; because that surely of this man the latter end is peace.”

N. C.