Communions.
Gairloch, second Sabbath of this month; Wick and Edinburgh, fourth Sabbath; Oban, first Sabbath of November; St. Jude’s, Glasgow, second; and John Knox’s, third.
Obituary Notice.
We regret to record this month the death of William Sutherland, catechist, Lochinver, which took place at Scouriemore on 4th September. We hope to have a sketch of this esteemed catechist in next issue. He had reached the ripe age of 82 years.
A Free Presbyterian Minister from Australia.
At a meeting of the Southern Presbytery on the 17th September, the Rev. Neil Cameron presiding, the Rev. Walter Scott, one of the ministers of the Free Presbyterian Church in New South Wales, Australia, presented a commission from the Church there to ours in Scotland. Mr. Scott, who presides over the Grafton Brush-grove charge, Clarence River, was commissioned to represent the Free Presbyterian Synod of Eastern Australia in this country, and especially to convey fraternal greetings to any of the Church courts or congregations in connection with the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The Presbytery expressed their great pleasure at meeting with Mr. Scott as a representative of the Free Presbyterian Church in that far-off country, and the Moderator, in the name of the Presbytery, desired Mr. Scott to convey to the Synod of Eastern Australia their warmest thanks for the kindly fraternal greetings transmitted to the Church at home. Mr. Scott, who is accompanied by his wife, has got several months’ leave of absence owing to ill-health, and hopes to benefit by the change. A letter of Mr. Scott’s appeared in our issue for January last. The editor has been for a number of years in friendly correspondence with Mr. Scott, who is well and favourably known to other friends in his native country.
The General Election.
The country is at present passing through the fever of a general election. As yet the excitement is moderate. The main themes discoursed by candidates are views of South African policy and schemes of Army Reform.
In England the Ritualistic Controversy is a factor in the situation, and some interest is shown in the Church Discipline Bill, which proposes a more direct method of dealing with the excesses of traitorous Romanisers. In general, however, between the apathy of one set of politicians and the hostility of another, the Protestant cause is a thing forlorn, and its friends are trembling for its fate as if it were another Moses abandoned to the dangers of the Nile.
The following questions are from a leaflet issued by the Scottish Reformation Society, and will be useful to test the Protestantism of aspirants after Parliamentary honours. Question second touches on the Hon. A. J. Balfour’s pernicious scheme to appease the ravenous maw of Irish Popery. We trust the Lord will, in this matter, defeat the counsel of that risky politician:—
(1) Will you support a Church Discipline Bill which would propose to abolish the Bishops’ Veto, and to reduce the penalty for Ritualistic practices from imprisonment to loss of office?
(2) Will you oppose the setting up of a Roman Catholic University in Ireland?
(3) Will you give your countenance to any well considered scheme for securing the inspection of convents?
(4) Do you disapprove of the Roman Catholic Removal Disabilities Bill, 1900, and will you vote against a similar Bill, if introduced next Parliament?
A Step in the Right Direction.
The following newspaper extract will be read with pleasure by friends of the Sabbath:—Edinburgh, Tuesday, 18th September, the Town Council had before them a letter from the Secretary of the Scottish National Sabbath School Union dealing with the question of Sabbath trading, and asking the Magistrates and Council to support the Convention of Royal Burghs in their efforts to deal with the matter. Bailie Brown said it was not generally known that Edinburgh was the first city that had obtained powers to deal with ice-cream shops, the result being that on 1st November, all the ice-cream shops in the city would be closed on Sabbath, and also at eleven o’clock each evening.
The Plague in Glasgow.
Bubonic plague, the dreaded scourge of India, has broken out to a limited extent in Glasgow. At date, eleven deaths have resulted. The locality chiefly affected is a part of the southern district inhabited by the poorer classes. The outbreak is a direct result of a hideous custom still surviving among the more degraded Irish population, viz., that of “Waking” the dead. The corpse of a victim of the plague was “Waked” in due form by drinking and frolic in his chamber of death, and in ten days thereafter the plague broke out amongst these ghastly revellers. Such a heathenish practice should be vigorously stamped out. Although this scourge even in its mildest form is serious, still there seems no reason for panic at present, as the sanitary measures taken have, under providence, resulted in apparently arresting the progress of the epidemic.
The Impending Union.
The approach of the day so long desired by Principal Rainy is being signalised by scenes and commotions in various places.
The Moderator of the Free Presbytery of Glasgow (Dr. Reith) kindled a flame in his Congregation on Sabbath, 16th September, by a pulpit reference to the Church Defence Tract which had, that day, been distributed at the door of his Church. He characterised the distribution of the tract as a gross impertinence, and proceeded to defend the Union as a most constitutional affair, whereupon an influential member audibly said “That’s not true.” Dr. Reith called upon his session to eject the bold dissenter, and three elders approached to expostulate with him. Eventually the gentleman rose and left the Church accompanied by his family, and his example was followed by two other seatholders and their households, so that from this incident the headlong Union party have received a reminder of the risks that attend their rash scheme.
On Friday, 21st September, the Church Defence Association held a meeting in Stornoway. The attendance was large, and the proceedings lively. The newspaper heads the report of the meeting thus:—”Church Union—Turbulent Meeting in Stornoway.—The Police in Attendance.” The explosive nature of the proceedings may be briefly explained by stating that the Rev. Murdo Macaskill was there, accompanied by Rev. A. Macdonald, F.C. Minister of Stornoway. The Chairman was the Rev. Mr. M’Culloch of Glasgow, and his speech was not long under way when he was interrupted by Mr. Macdonald in an angry mood. “The scene which followed,” says the reporter, “almost baffles description.” Mr. Macaskill asserted that they were there to uphold the Church, and were members of the Church Defence Association! The uproar was such that Superintendent Smith of the local police was called upon to restore order. Mr. Macdonald eventually left the hall, and the meeting went on in comparative quiet.
There are a number of things in Mr. Macaskill’s conduct which we do not understand, and one puzzle certainly is, what he means by presenting himself at Free Church anti-Union meetings. Does he wish totally to sacrifice his reputation for common sense and discretion? Of course the affair is not ours at all; we only occupy the spectator’s gallery, but cannot forbear remarking on what we see.