There passed away at the end of September, at a venerable age, Dr. W. C. Smith, who, in his day, was a troubler of the peace of the Free Church. His fame rests chiefly on his poetic gifts. He has been highly praised by men eminent in the world of letters, but whatever merit his poetry had as poetry, the teaching of some of it was most pernicious, as witness the following lines :—
Shall God be wroth because we love them still,
And call upon His love to shield from ill,
Our dearest best ;
And bring them home and recompense their pain,
And cleanse their sin, if any sin remain,
And give them rest ;
Nay : I will not believe it, I will pray
As for the living, for the dead each day.
There is such a thing as poetic license, but in these lines we have undiluted Romanism expressed in rhythmic sentences by a minister professedly belonging to a Presbyterian Church.