BY THE REV. DONALD MACLEOD, MISSIONARY.
THE following is the report which was read by the Clerk at the Meeting of Synod on 6th July:—
My letter to the Rev. Mr. Cameron, which appeared in the February issue of the Magazine, contained a summary of my labours from the middle of October to the end of December, and as it comprised all that was necessary for me to say in regard to that period, it will serve as a supplement to my first report to the Synod.
The first Sabbath of January was spent at Brucefield, and the second and third at Newton. The services at the latter place were held in a new hall, which is more suitable and comfortable than the one we used to have, and the attendance was much better than on previous visits. After visiting the people during my stay there I went to Lochalsh, where I remained for a month. The attendance all the time, notwithstanding that the weather on two of the Sabbaths was cold and stormy, was very good, although not so large as on former occasions when the weather was more favourable. For the first time I managed to visit all our people there.
From Lochalsh I went to the town of Kincardine, where, for two Sabbaths, we met for worship in the Temperance Hall, as the Church at the North Line could not very conveniently be used at that time of the year. The services on both days were well attended. Before leaving I paid a hurried visit to the North Line to see the friends there.
After resting a few days at Brucefield, on my way from Kincardine, I went to East Williams, where I stayed for the whole month of March. The attendance at the service on Sabbath and at the weekly prayer meetings was, considering everything, as good as could be expected at that time of the year. I again visited the friends at Sable, Lobo, Ailsa Craig, and Nairn, as well as the families where there was sickness at East Williams. While there I had, for the first time, to perform the ceremony of marriage in the case of Miss Mary, youngest daughter of Mr. Duncan McMillan, who was married to Mr. David Cluness, West Williams. From there I returned to Brucefield, where I was for two Sabbaths. The services were held in the forenoon in the Methodist Church, and in the evening in Mr. Forrest’s house, principally for Mr. Forrest’s own sake, as he was not able to go out so late. The attendance on the second Sabbath was rather encouraging. The Annual Meeting was held there on Friday the 9th April, but I didn’t take part in the proceedings further than to open and close it, as it was chiefly occupied with finance, and as I considered it better that those present from the different stations of the Mission should be free to discuss matters without my presence.
After Brucefield I went back again to Newton for other two Sabbaths. The services were kept in the same hall that we had on the former visit, and the gatherings on both days were by far the best that I have had there yet. We, however, very much missed Mr. John Mackenzie and his family, who had, since my last visit, gone to live in Saskatchewan, and their leaving is a great loss to our Newton congregation. At the close of the forenoon service on the second Sabbath I baptised the infant son of Mr. David Williams.
Instead of going from there to Lochalsh, as formerly, I went first to Kincardine. We again met for worship on two consecutive Sabbaths in the Temperance Hall, but the weather happening to be exceedingly wet, the attendance was smaller than otherwise it would have been. I very much regret to have to say that the matter of our getting a place of worship of our own in the town has not yet been settled either way.
After Kincardine I went to Lochalsh, where I stayed for a month. The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was observed in that congregation on the last Sabbath of May. The usual week-day services were held in connection therewith, and the weather being all that could be desired, we had fine gatherings and regular attendance all through. Friends were forward from all the other stations, and from Detroit and Milwaukee. Miss R. F. was admitted to the Lord’s Table for the first time. Mr. William Matheson, student, gave assistance during the week days. The Communion, which I earnestly hope will be blessed to many, was celebrated under a thick cloud of mourning, caused by the sudden removal, by death, of the late Mr. William Matheson, elder, who died on Monday the 24th May, after a little more than a week’s illness. I scarcely need to refer to the great loss the Mission has suffered by his death at this particular time when he was so much needed, and the painful and only too evident blank his death has made in the congregation of Lochalsh, which is now, for the first time since it was first organised, left without an elder, and must remain so for some time to come. In the circumstances we say with Isaiah—”The earth mourneth and languisheth; Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down; Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.” As the Communion was preceded by the death of Mr. Matheson, so it was immediately followed by the death of Widow Mackenzie, the mother of Mr. Donald and Mr. Allan Mackenzie, New York, who are well known to some of our ministers. They both attended the funeral, and are in good health. Thus the solemn remembrance of Christ’s death was in the midst of death, and whatever will be its fruits, I must confess that from its beginning to its close I was never under a heavier burden.
I came back to Brucefield on Monday, and I am leaving again on Friday for East Williams, where the Communion is to be, God willing, on the 20th of this month. The Communion is to
be at Brucefield on the 18th July. After that I intend to visit Wardsville and Detroit, giving a Sabbath to each place.
My year’s engagement has now almost expired. At the meeting at Brucefield already referred to, I was asked to remain for another year on the same conditions as last year, but after long and serious consideration I have decided to go, and if spared and well, I shall be leaving for Scotland early in August. I feel deeply having to leave without another being first on the ground to take up and carry on the work, and I most earnestly hope the Church will be able to arrange for some one to come with as little delay as possible. I also feel very sorry that owing to circumstances which I need not here relate, I shall not be able to again visit the friends in Manitoba, but Mr. William Matheson, student, has gone to Winnipeg this week, and will remain there for two or three months. I hope the Most High will go with him and prosper his work. He gave three Sabbaths to East Williams when I was at Kincardine and Lochalsh.
Some of our people in Ontario have passed through severe illness since my last report, but they are all better again. The winter has been more open, changeable, and milder than usual, and, consequently, I was able to carry on the work of the Mission without interruption. The spring was for the most part very wet with some cold days. We are now having delightful weather, and the growth after the cold and wet is very rapid. My health all along has been good.
In again humbly asking your kind acceptance of this brief account of my work since the beginning of the year, I feel as never before the truth of Christ’s saying:—”Without me ye can do nothing,” and looking to Him who is the forgiver of sins, and the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, I bring this report to a close with the desire:—”Thy kingdom come; thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.”
Stupid Reviewing.—For a piece of downright stupidity in reviewing, no better example could be found than a recent notice in the Glasgow Herald of the recently issued work Religious Life in Ross. We could understand a thorough-going Moderate or a strong United Free Churchman being angry at certain statements in the book, but to hold up to ridicule, a book of this kind, as a whole, shows a contemptible spirit. The Rev. D. Maclean’s short memoir of Rev. John Noble is described as “pharasaic and bombastic.” The reviewer evidently merely dipped into the book—he speaks of it as dealing with the Presbyteries of Sutherland and Ross, whereas it only deals with the Presbyteries of Eastern Ross. This Philistine, unfortunately, instead of confining himself to certain palpable defects of the book, makes sport for the uncircumcised hosts by ridiculing much that bears the stamp of heaven.