BY THE REV. DONALD MACLEOD, MISSIONARY.
THE last report left the writer, about the middle of June, at Brucefield, on his way from Lochalsh to East Williams, where, as on former occasions, he remained for a whole month. The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was dispensed in that congregation on the second Sabbath, the 20th June. As usual, services were held from Thursday to Monday, and the attendance during the whole time of the Communion, though marked with some irregularity, was on an average very good, as was also the case on the preceding and subsequent Sabbaths. Friends were present from Lochalsh and Brucefield. I hope the Lord will abundantly bless that solemn season to all that in any way participated in it. Nothing of any special interest occurred besides the ordinary congregational work of weekly prayer meetings and visiting, which fully occupied my spare time.
Early in July I was again back to Brucefield, where I stayed for two Sabbaths; the second one, the 18th July, being the Sabbath of the Communion. The usual week-day services of preparation and thanksgiving were observed. The gatherings were not large, but what the Communion lacked in that respect was more than compensated for by so many of the friends having come such long distances in order to be present, and the harmony and warmth which prevailed all the days that they were together on the mount. It will give you some idea of the extent of territory from which that little representative congregation was gathered when I mention that they were present from Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburg, in the United States; and Wardsville, Simcoe, Lochalsh, Kincardine, and East Williams, in Ontario. When Monday came and the little flock was again scattered, it was my heart’s desire that the Lord would turn His hand upon the little ones.
From Brucefield I went along with Mr. Murdo Matheson, Lochalsh, to Detroit, U.S.A., for the last Sabbath of July. The
services were exactly the same as on my first visit, namely, two English services in the Jubilee Hall, and a Gaelic service in the Central Presbyterian Church. The English services were better attended than the first time, but the Gaelic service suffered a little through mismanagement and some opposition on the part of certain individuals who on the first occasion were exuberantly friendly. It was altogether providential and served a very good purpose in enabling me to obtain my wish from the very first that the Gaelic service should be held in the same hall as the English. The Central Presbyterian Church is not suitable for us as it is too far away from the hall, and having the services in two places is a little confusing. On that hot day I had, besides speaking three times, to walk something like ten miles. On any future occasion the services will be all in the same place. We stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Roderick S. Mackenzie for a whole week and were treated with the greatest kindness, and also by all the other friends that we were able to visit during the week. I kept a service on Monday night in Mr. Mackenzie’s parlour, which was intimated on Sabbath, and at the close baptised Mr. Mackenzie’s second daughter.
I came away much better pleased with the prospects in Detroit than before, and it will always be my ardent, prayerful desire, for the sake of the lovers of the old paths there, few or many as the case may be, that the Lord may say concerning them—”I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.”
We next visited Wardsville, and on Sabbath we met for worship in the Canada Presbyterian Church, at Crinan, lent for the occasion by the office-bearers. The day was very fine and warm, and a large congregation gathered which quite filled the Church. I do not desire to give you the impression that all present were Free Presbyterians. No. They were not. The Free Presbyterians formed but a small percentage of the audience. They were drawn together chiefly by a desire to hear an “old country” man, and the novelty of the thing. I cannot speak of the prospects there, but I must bear testimony to the worth and steadfastness of the sprinkling of adherents that our Church has in that district who deserve to be encouraged. We left Mr. and Mrs. MacLennan’s kind home on Tuesday forenoon, and returned to Brucefield, where I rested until Friday, when I again left for Newton.
I was at Newton for one Sabbath. The day happened to be very hot, and I found it very trying to speak. The attendance in the morning was not quite so good as it used to be, but in the evening it was about the usual. A prayer meeting, a visit to Linwood, and several visits in the vicinity, filled in the whole of the next week, until Saturday, when, along with Mr. Phineas Macdonald, Junr., I left for Chesley.
Chesley is a fine, clean town, of about 2,000 inhabitants, on the Grand Trunk Railway to Owen Sound, and quite a distance from Newton. It has several industries, is a busy little place, and
likely to go on growing. Our visit was in answer to a request from the congregation there, adhering to the Associate Synod of North America, and, until about two years ago, ministered to by the late worthy Rev. Mr. M’Neil, whose name you are familiar with from the fact of his having met and spent some time with Rev. Mr. Mackay, Inverness, when he was in Canada. Since his death, the church has been vacant, and the Associate Synod, having their hands more than full in the United States, have not through want of ministers been able to do much for them. There is not only a great scarcity of ministers, but a still greater scarcity of students in that body at present, which has compelled them in the meantime to close their Theological Hall, a fact to be much lamented by well-wishers of Christ’s cause in North America, in, as the illustrious author of the Fourfold State would say, “these dregs of time.” With the doctrines and principles of the Associate Synod you are already fully conversant. When we got there in the evening we were met by two of the elders, one of whom took us first to his own house, where we had supper, and afterwards to the house of a widow member of the congregation with whom I lodged during my visit.
On Sabbath I conducted both the morning and evening services, which were well attended by a sober, reverent and attentive people, and, the form of service being the same as in our own Church, I could almost fancy myself speaking to a Free Presbyterian Congregation. The day was dreadfully hot, and I suffered a great deal during the services, especially in the evening. They have a lovely, substantial new church, beautifully finished within and without, and built on one of the best sites in the town, which was opened only a short time before Mr. M’Neil’s death.
They have also a manse, with some acres of land adjoining, and are quite able to support a minister. They would gladly, I understand, welcome an evangelical minister to labour among them, and perhaps would not be averse to joining our own Mission if the Church could give them a minister. I was asked to give them three Sabbaths later on, and I regret that, as I was placed, it was not possible for me to do so. I found them all very kind, and felt much at home among them. May the Lord provide for them and prosper them in every way!
On Monday afternoon I drove across country for ten miles to Paisley, another nice little town, on a visit to Mr. and Mrs. MacLennan, who are both members of our Church. Mrs. MacLennan was from home, having been called away owing to the illness of her married daughter who lives in Saskatchewan, but I was made very welcome and comfortable by himself and the family. Mr. MacLennan has completely lost his eyesight, and is very deaf, but otherwise possessing a fair measure of health. I enjoyed his company very much, and felt very pleased I went as I had not met him before. In the evening a few friends gathered and we had a nice little meeting in his house.
From Paisley I came direct to Kincardine, where we had three services on the following Sabbath in the Temperance Hall. The day was favourable, and the attendance exceptionally good, several of the Lochalsh people, some from Tiverton and Ripley, as well as our own people from the North Line, being present. After spending most of the week with friends in town, and another visit to the North line, I went to Lochalsh.
I remained at Lochalsh for three weeks. The weather was fine, and the attendance at all the services was splendid. The fact that there were no regular services in the Canada Presbyterian Church owing to the minister being on holidays no doubt helped our meetings a little. I again visited all our people, and friends near Ripley and Lucknow. I feel very much for the Lochalsh congregation having their church closed, and earnestly hope it will not remain so for long. They have, since my last visit, put up a new fence around the church and painted both the fence and the church white, which looks very neat indeed.
Along with Mrs. Matheson and her son, Donald Alick, I drove from Lochalsh to Goderich, which is about eighteen miles distant. In the evening after getting there we had a Gaelic meeting in the house of Mrs. Morrison, at which a number were present. Mrs. Morrison, after passing through a very severe illness, has been restored to a wonderful measure of health at her age. Next morning I visited some old and infirm people who left the Highlands of Scotland a long time ago. In the afternoon I left again for Brucefield.
From Brucefield I returned to East Williams, remaining there for three Sabbaths, during which the attendance at the different services was about the ordinary. I visited a number of the people but was not able to see them all. The congregation is at present quite holding its own, and is much better off than some of the other places in that they have a service in the church every Lord’s Day. My time for leaving then drawing near, I came back again to Brucefield where, after making a few visits, my last Sabbath was given on the 10th October, bringing my work to a close there as I had begun. The attendance that day was very good, the congregation being augmented by some from all the stations of the Mission. On Saturday the men had a special meeting relative to my leaving, and to what the Church in Scotland was likely to do for them next year.
In regard to the other part of the Mission Field, Manitoba, I have not much to say. The meetings begun by me when in Winnipeg have been carried on ever since, first by Mr. Ross, and since last June by Mr. William Matheson, student. I am glad that Mr. Matheson has resolved to remain there for the winter and spring, if not longer. Both Mr. Matheson and Mr. Ross speak very favourably of the prospects of the cause there. They report a steady increase in the number attending the meetings on Sabbath, and also at the weekly prayer meeting. They speak well
of the close attention given to the word preached. Financially they are doing well. Mr. Matheson has been twice at Carman, and on both Sabbaths the attendance was very encouraging. He was going to give other two Sabbaths there before the winter would set in, as it would not be possible then to go. Mr. Ross wishes me to state that as regards the future they leave themselves and the interests of the cause in Manitoba entirely in the hands of the Foreign Mission Committee, and are willing to meet, as far as possible for them, any demands the Committee may have to make upon them in supplying them with Gospel ordinances. He even expresses the hope that some day they will have a Communion in Winnipeg, and may his hope in that respect be not put to shame.
I wish here to mention the loss the Winnipeg congregation has sustained by the accidental death of the late Mr. Andrew Mackay, who in every way was a tower of strength to it, and is very much missed. All our people in Ontario and Manitoba are well. In this way I tried as circumstances would allow me, not without difficulties, to attend to the interests of the whole Mission Field, as I understood my ordination vows bound me to.
On Tuesday morning, the 12th October, I left Brucefield for Toronto, where I broke my journey homeward in order to visit the Niagara Falls. On Thursday night I reached Montreal, and on Friday I spent some time with Mrs. Alex. Campbell, 150 Colonial Avenue, whom I found exceedingly kind. They were all well, and she wished me to make it known that if any one of our ministers happened to be at any time the way of Montreal she would be expecting a visit from him, and he would be made very welcome to her home. We went on board the S.S. “Hesperian,” of the Allan Line, on Friday night, and left at 10 o’clock on Saturday morning. After a very cold and stormy voyage we arrived at Greenock, on Sabbath forenoon, the 24th inst. I was not sick, was well cared for, and shown much kindness by all on board the “Hesperian.”
And now with grateful remembrance of every little token of kindness received during my sojourn in Canada; with best wishes for the temporal, spiritual, and eternal welfare of the people first placed under my care; with fervent and prayerful desire that the Lord of the harvest may speedily provide them with a pastor whose labours will be much owned in quickening the dead and reviving the living; with shame and grief for my own shortcomings and unprofitableness in the Lord’s service, I commit the whole to the Lord until the eternal day break, and the shadows, mists, and clouds of time shall vanish for ever.
A martyr was asked whether he did not love his wife and children, who stood weeping by him. “Love them!” said he, “yes, if all the world were gold, and at my disposal, I would give it all for the satisfaction of living with them, though it were in prison; yet, in comparison with Christ, I love them not.”