“The Papal Conquest:” A Review.[^1]

THE Rev. Dr. Robertson, of Venice, is already well known as the author of a remarkable book, entitled The Roman Catholic Church in Italy. His new work, The Papal Conquest, comes as an appropriate sequel to the former. Dr. Robertson has been for many years a minister of the gospel in one of the chief towns in Italy, and has had every opportunity of studying the workings of Popery at its headquarters. As an earnest and able witness for Protestant truth, he has fully availed himself of his opportunities, and during these years, by books and articles in papers, has been constantly keeping his fellow-countrymen at home informed of the plots and doings of the Vatican in Italy and on the continent in general. In this manner he has done a great service to the cause of Christ and truth. His previous book tells us what the Roman Catholic Church has done in the past for Italy—and the record is a very black and terrible one—and what Italy, by divine help, has been enabled to do for herself in recent times, in throwing off the Papal yoke.

His new volume informs us of Italy’s warning as to what the same Church (so called) purposes to do for Great Britain, if her emissaries are allowed to pour in, without restraint, and take possession of the field. Dr. Robertson’s Papal Conquest is a trumpet call to this country to awake out of sleep and to realise the immediate murderous designs of the Papacy on its welfare and prosperity. “The Philistines be upon thee, Samson.”

Let no one suppose, not the most liberal-minded of our readers, that this is an imaginary danger—the dream of hysterical fanatics—no; it is a dark and tremendous reality which will sooner or later make itself felt in a manner and degree not experienced since Reformation times. It has long been very plain to us that Popery was working its way towards ascendancy in these kingdoms, but we have never had a more vivid conviction than at the present moment, after reading Dr. Robertson’s eloquent book, of the remarkable nearness of that ascendancy, if things are permitted to proceed as they are doing at present. Let lukewarm Protestants, blinded by a false charity, take care lest they may know it to their cost sooner than they expect that “the black Pope,” with a sword in his hand, is standing at the door!

Dr. Robertson in his “Preface” reminds us of the friendly relations that have ever subsisted between Italy and Great Britain, and points out at the same time that both countries are “objects of the most implacable hatred on the part of the Roman Catholic Church.” When the Pope lost his temporal power in Italy in 1870, Britain befriended the Italian nation as against the Pope. The loss of the temporal power is a wound which the Papacy is ever striving to get healed, and its only hope of obtaining this is the subjugation of our country. “Old England and Young Italy” will stand or fall together on this matter. The voice of Italy is resistance to the Papal Church with all its designs, political and religious, and Dr. Robertson has written with the earnest desire to make the voice of Italy heard in England to purpose. If our legislators had the wisdom to take to heart the contents of his book, we would see another attitude shown towards Rome and its agents than that which is now common.

The title of Dr. Robertson’s first chapter is “Conquest Determined Upon,” and he shows not only that it is the mind of Italy that the Roman Catholic Church has determined upon the conquest of England, but that there are abundant evidences of the truth of this in England itself. Ever since the Catholic Disabilities Act of 1829 was passed, Popery has been rising in England, and it is certain that the scheme of conquest has “formed part of the fixed policy of the Church” since 1850. In October of that year Pope Pius IX. had the audacity to issue a bull ordering the establishment in Britain of a hierarchy of bishops and dividing up our country into Roman Catholic dioceses. He appointed one Archbishop, one Cardinal, and twelve Bishops. This interference was correctly interpreted by Lord John Russell as “a pretension of supremacy over the realm of England,” “inconsistent with the spiritual independence of the nation as asserted even in the Roman Catholic times.” And what are the facts at the present moment? Great Britain has actually been dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and christened “Our Lady’s Dowry”; “and a Jesuit Association of lay members, male and female, exists for the express purpose of making over this gift. This association is called ‘The Sodality of the Children of Mary,’ and it has guilds in scores of places in Great Britain, each presided over by the local priest.” Still further, the Jesuit Association has adopted as its patron saint Pope Pius V., who carried on the struggle between Rome and England in Queen Elizabeth’s time. Pius V. was one of the most cruel and blood-thirsty popes that ever occupied the chair at Rome. Before he became Pontiff he was identified “with the Inquisition, being at one time Inquisitor-General, and bore the bad pre-eminence of being its most cruel and blood-thirsty member, so that during his rule as Bishop, Cardinal, and Pope, its atrocities were greater than during any other period of its history.” “He it was who blessed Mary Stuart, condoned all her crimes, and helped her in every intrigue and rebellion set on foot throughout England for the assassination of Queen Elizabeth, and the setting of his Catholic protégée on the throne.” Measures of his they were which “prepared the way and led up to the massacre of St. Bartholomew,” in France, in August, 1572, though he died in the previous May. And this is the patron saint of the Jesuits in England and Scotland to-day, who, we may add, have drawn up the following prayer in his honour for the furtherance of their pernicious objects, which prayer clearly shows that they are animated by the same spirit, and are seeking the same ends as Pope Pius V., as well as prepared to adopt the same methods of violence to accomplish their purposes: “O God, Who, for crushing the enemies of Thy Church, and for the reparation of Divine worship, didst deign to choose blessed Pius as Pope, grant that we may be defended by his protection, and may so follow Thy commands, that we may vanquish the treachery of all our enemies, and rejoice with Thee in everlasting peace, through our Lord.” This prayer has been circulated in thousands at home and abroad. Can anything be too dreadful to expect, as the result of this blasphemous crusade? Towards the close of this chapter, Dr. Robertson recalls a similar prayer which was “concocted by the Jacobite Roman Catholic hierarchy in 1690, for the dethronement of William and Mary, the destruction of Protestantism, and the restoration of James II. and the Roman faith, copies of which were also scattered broadcast throughout the land,” and in regard to which Lord Macaulay wrote that the Jacobin prayer “did not attract general notice till the appearance of a foreign armament on our coast had roused the national spirit.” Our author well adds in conclusion: “Let us not wait ’till the appearance of a foreign armament on our coast’ rouses the national spirit! Let that spirit arouse itself now! Our peril is as imminent and as great as it was in 1690! . . . The Philistines be upon thee, John Bull! Wake up, England!”

In the next three chapters, Dr. Robertson shows, with full information, that the “Church’s Bankruptcy” in Italy and on the continent is one of the great impelling causes of the movement Britain-wards. The bankruptcy is moral and financial. The third chapter is devoted to “The Church Bankrupt in Italy;” the fourth to “The Church Bankrupt in France and in other Continental Nations.” It is impossible for us to give as large extracts from these valuable chapters as we would desire. In regard to Italy, Dr. Robertson states that “in Parliament and in the Press she (the Papal Church) is constantly spoken of as ‘the enemy in the citadel,’ and as ‘the eternal enemy’; and I have heard the Pope denounced, not personally, but officially, as ‘the assassin of the country.’ It is calculated that of Italy’s thirty-three millions of inhabitants, over twenty millions refuse, on principle, to cross the threshold of a church door, which twenty odd millions include nearly all the industry, intelligence, morality, and religion in the land.” Even the occasional large attendances of people that may be seen in city and country churches do not necessarily imply any real fellowship with the so-called Church. Many enter places of worship “who have no link of any kind with the officiating priests, who never confess to them, or ever take the sacrament at their hands.” It used to be the case that those who in general shunned the priest, sent for him on important occasions “such as at times of marriage, baptism, sickness, and approaching death,” but it is not so now. “Marriage has been taken entirely out of the hands of the Church. No priest, not even the Pope himself, can now legally marry a couple. Marriage is a civil contract, only legal when performed by the Mayor of the place in which the couple live, or by his assessor . . . If people are silly enough to obey the Pope and rest content with a religious marriage, then their children are registered as illegitimate, and on the death of their parents they cannot inherit real property. The Pope’s marriage Encyclical is, of course, a document in favour of illegality and immorality. After a couple have been married civilly and legally, then they may go, if they choose, to a church and get what is called the Church’s benediction on their union. But the number of those who do this is steadily declining.” In some places ninetenths of the people refuse to take the sacrament at death, and give orders that no priest be called to their funerals. “At the same time, crosses are generally carried” at these funerals “to show that those who died were Christians.” Dr. Robertson’s concluding sentence to this chapter is “Italy is lost to the Roman Catholic Church.”

As we intend, if well, having a second extended notice of this remarkable and stirring volume, we break off at this point. Suffice it to say meantime that the book is most tastefully got up, print and paper being excellent, and is illustrated with several striking cartoon pictures taken from an able Italian Protestant paper, the Asino, which exhibit in a graphic form, not easily forgot, the character and workings of the Papacy. Every Protestant household that can afford the money should have this book on its table. If any friend is looking about for a suitable gift-book to a young man or woman, such can hardly do better than purchase this. It is a book opportune for the times, when there are such falsely charitable views of the Roman Church abroad. The enemy comes in like a flood. May the Spirit of the Lord make use of Dr. Robertson’s wisely timed message as a standard against him!

A Sermon.

BY THE LATE REV. CHRISTOPHER MUNRO.

Preached at Strathy, 16th August, 1873.

“And the Holy One of Israel is our King.”—PSALM lxxxix. 18.

HERE we read one of the numerous confessions of the Church concerning her God, and as in every one of such confessions there is a declaration of some of the relations which He sustains towards her, so here likewise we have one or two of these declared.

He is said to be “the Holy One of Israel.” His holiness may be known from the manner in which it is described in His Word. He is of purer eyes than to behold sin, which statement we have elsewhere in these terms: “Do not commit that abominable thing which I hate.” Holiness is that property in God by which He is necessitated to abominate and hate sin. There are some objects which, when presented, give rise to that feeling that is characterised as abominating. If putrid food were laid before a man of a tender stomach, this feeling would at once arise and render it impossible for him to partake of it. Hatred is combined with this feeling to teach us how the Supreme One regards sin. The sinner hates the good man, and would have him cut off. God, who is love, hates not as man hates. He hates sin, but has no pleasure in the death of him who dies. In the sinner there is malevolence, but of this God is altogether free. He is angry at the sinner, but His anger is holy and pure. There is no unrighteousness with Him in being angry; no malevolence when He punishes sin, when He casts out the sinner from His presence and renders unto him according to his doings. He is unchangeably holy—eternally and gloriously holy.

The Holy One of Israel (of the Redeemed)

He is “the Holy One of Israel”—of His redeemed people, to whom He says, “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” “Without holiness, none,” no, not one, of Israel, whom He loves with an everlasting love, whom He has redeemed with His blood, whom He freely pardons and brings into His family, and to none of whom His promise shall be broken—without holiness none of them shall see the Lord. But He not only assures them of the necessity of being holy, and exhorts them to be holy, but He has purposed to make them so, and Christ, whose petitions or intercessions for them are always heard, prays for their sanctification, and the Holy Spirit is given them, and He dwells in them and works mightily for accomplishing this change.

The Holy One is their “King.” The human race has, from an early stage of its history, been divided into different tribes and nations, who found it necessary to appoint a ruler over them, to administer the laws of the community. He was called the chief, or their king, which title God in His Word, assumes to Himself, in order to teach men, naturally ignorant, some important truths concerning Himself.

In considering this topic we may confine our observations to the person of the Son, on whose shoulders is the government, and who is called King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the eternal Son, the Father’s equal, and all power in heaven and on earth is given Him. To Him belongs the exercise of all power. He is, as King, a lawgiver, one jot or tittle of whose laws shall not fall to the ground. To Him all judgment is given. All responsible beings are, therefore, to be judged and rewarded according to their doings by Him alone.

He is in a peculiar manner the King of Israel, or of the redeemed—of the saved. He is called the King of Righteousness, by which we are to understand that He is not only righteous in Himself and in His government, but that He is their righteousness: “the end of the law for righteousness”—“the Sun of righteousness.” “In the Lord Jehovah have I righteousness and strength.” In this relation He is King, and as a king is, or should be, rich, generous, and royally liberal, so is He as their righteousness. Angels and all holy creatures have no righteousness but what they need for themselves, and therefore cannot give to another. The wise virgins said to the foolish, “Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you; but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.” He brought in an everlasting righteousness, not for Himself, but for others who had none, who were poor and naked and miserable. There was a people given to the Son to reign over them, and when given they were in the condition just mentioned—poor, naked, and miserable, and while in this state, He could have no honour and glory in connection with them. An earthly king can have no glory from poor and miserable subjects living in poverty, rags, and deep wretchedness, and still less if they continue in this state, and if he makes no effort and adopts no means to raise them up and make them prosperous and happy. Earthly kings have in all ages many subjects of this sort, and it is to be feared that they are little concerned about them. This is not, however, the case with Christ as King of Israel. All His people shall be righteous, for His infinite righteousness is sufficient to cover them all. The King’s daughter is clothed in garments wrought in gold, and shall be brought to the King in raiment of needlework. And hereby we may see His riches in being able to clothe them in this manner. All the riches of the world could not have bought the garment and robes in which Christ’s people are clothed before God, however poor they may be in the eyes of those who are rich among men. In thus clothing them He acts as a King who is holy and pure, for He takes off their filthy garments and washes them with the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, and commands, with royal bountifulness, kindness, and dignity, to put on them this robe of needlework. It is a royal garment, to be worn by none but one who is a willing subject. All His people are made willing in a day of power, and therefore are clothed so that they are made perfect in Him; and when inspected, so to speak, by the pure eye of God, in this garment, He sees no spot, He sees no iniquity, in Jacob, nor perverseness in Israel. He is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake.

King of Peace

He is King of peace. There is by nature a breach of the peace between God and man, and no creature can make it up. He has made peace, and made it like a King. He is our peace, and as it is in Him it passeth all knowledge. It is like a rich storehouse that can never be emptied; and so this royal treasure can never be emptied. He bestows it also like a King. “My peace I give you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me.” Hear how He gives peace, and this peace He will not break. “I will not suffer the covenant of my peace to be broken.” “I will keep him in perfect peace.” The riches of this peace are known in part by those whose consciences have been awakened to a sense of sin and of God’s anger against sin, and who, on believing, can say, “We have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.” It is experienced too in after life, but especially in the fact that is written—”Behold and see that the latter end of the righteous is peace”—peace in departing to meet with their God, to judge them. Simeon understood that one seeing the salvation of God could depart in peace. The Psalmist clearly saw the same thing when he sang, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.” And at the great day of judgment, when the wicked shall cry unto the mountains, “Fall on us,” they shall lift up their heads with joy, because the day of their salvation is near.

Peace During His Reign

There shall be peace during His reign. His gospel is the gospel of peace, wherein peace is declared and the effect of which is to produce peace—to make His people lovers and doers of peace. “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.”

The King of Glory

He is again called the King of Glory. His own personal and immanent glory is that of the Son of God—”the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of his person.” But who can search and find out this glory, for it is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable? He dwells in glory, and this makes His dwelling place glorious; this constitutes heaven. Wherever He makes Himself known and satisfies with His likeness, there is heaven. He bestows glory on His people. When He shines into any heart, by nature dark, and reveals Himself there, there He begins to bestow glory on them; and as this light is increased, the more glory He bestows, for they are “changed from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord.” “The glory thou hast given me, I have given them.” This is a most marvellous saying. He has received it from the Father inasmuch as He was appointed by the Father as Mediator, as Prophet, Priest, and King, to glorify the Father. He was glorified by being thus put in a position where He had to shew forth His infinite and varied riches of grace, power, love, pity, truth, justice, and holiness in redeeming, saving, teaching, training, comforting, and sanctifying His own people. When they see this glory so as to change them from darkness to light, they are, as already said, made to share it, and this participation of it shall be complete when He will bring them where He is, that they may see it, not darkly as in a glass, but with undimmed eyes, as He sits on His throne, around which is a rainbow in colour like an emerald; not to become as if dead by its eternal weight; not to be terrified and overwhelmed; oh, no; but to be filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Here He bestows like a King of Glory, bestows richly and upbraids not, but rejoices in all His works, rejoices that they are washed in His blood, that they are delivered from all their iniquities, that they are holy, filled with peace, and with love; their cup overflowing at the table in His Father’s house, and their hearts full of gratitude that will never cease to flow forth in songs of praise to God. “To him that loved us and gave himself for us.” Thus they shall see His glory in all His works in which He rejoices. What was dark in this world is becoming clearer and clearer. What puzzled and perplexed them shall be seen in such light as will effectually remove all difficulties, and all risings of heart, and all murmurings of spirit. There will be none there saying, like Jacob, “All things are against me;” none like Heman mourning all day long; none saying, “Why hast thou cast us off?” “O how long wilt thou hide thyself?” or, “O that I knew where to find him!” none saying, “I pine with thy blow,” or, “Take thy stroke from me;” none asking, “Why does the wicked prosper, and the righteous are afflicted?” All shall with one mouth proclaim in the gates of Zion above, “He hath done all things well. Well, when He redeemed us and when He saved us from death; well, when He afflicted and chastened us and put us in the furnace; well, when he pruned us and plucked away darling idols, and when He made us feel to be in a dry barren wilderness. The Lord has done great things for me; blessed and holy is His name.”

Ah! yes, this shall be the language of those who are now for the most part complaining of their poverty and cannot believe that He hath done great things for them. They feel themselves so ignorant, so graceless, so poor and miserable that they fear there is not the least likelihood of His showing any mercy to them.

Is He your king then? Have you made choice of Him? Have you kissed the Son? Trust in Him; commit yourself to Him. Make known all your wants, all your requests; come near, and touch His sceptre. Hear Him say, “What is thy request and prayer and it will be given?” He has gone to receive a Kingdom; He has received it and is coming again and now making a willing people. What message do you send after Him? All must be sending some message or other. Whether then dost thou say, “Come, Lord Jesus, take Thy great power with Thee and reign in my heart, reign in Thy house, in Thy kingdom”; or do you send this daring, rebellious, and blasphemous message after Him, “We will not have this man to reign over us, ‘Not this man, but Barabas;’ we shall have no king but Cæsar, the world, the devil, and the flesh. These we obey and follow, but will not obey Thee.” Consider, poor sinners, what must be the end of this. Hear it from His own lips. “Bring hither mine enemies who would not that I should reign over them, and slay them before me. Bind them hand and foot.”

Revivals of Religion in the Isle of Skye.[^2]

IN 1805, Mr. Farquharson, an itinerant preacher in the Independent connexion, first appeared in Skye. He was from Perthshire, where his ministrations had been much acknowledged, as, indeed, they were wherever he proceeded in his labour of love. It is probable that the “truth as it is in Jesus” had never before been publicly proclaimed in the island which he now visited. From the parochial pulpits, there is too much reason to fear, it did not go forth; and the remoteness of the district had hitherto precluded the visits of those not connected with the Church, who, towards the close of last century and beginning of the present, travelled over the country promulgating sound doctrine and, we believe, sincerely seeking the salvation of souls.

When Mr. Farquharson appeared in Skye there is reason to believe the state of religion was as unfavourable as it had ever been. The novelty of field-preaching on week-days, as well as Sabbaths, by one who held no communion with the clergy, attracted the notice of the people, and they flocked in crowds to hear him. His sermons consisted of powerful and faithful testimonies against the abounding sins of the country, clear and energetic illustrations of evangelical truth, solemn protests against the soul-destroying doctrine of justification by human merit, with affectionate and solemn warnings and invitations addressed to his hearers as lost sinners. His appeals excited great attention, and produced no small inquiry among the people. But their external disadvantages were many—few could read, and scarcely any copies of the Sacred Volume were in their possession. In a population of many thousands, not above five or six New Testaments could be numbered, and their value had never been appreciated. Still the preaching of the Gospel continued. In Portree and Snizort, Kilmuir, Diurinish, and Bracadale, Mr. Farquharson itinerated for a considerable time; the people heard, and deep seriousness marked their whole demeanour under the word of life.

At this time there lived in the parish of Portree a person named Donald Munro. In childhood he had been the victim of small-pox, by which he had lost his sight. To gain a livelihood he had learned to play the violin; and being naturally of a pleasant disposition, this quality, with his musical talent, made him a general favourite. The calamity of his blindness engaged the sympathy of all, and his other qualifications secured their patronage. It was thought that the office of Catechist in the parish, to which a small salary was attached, might be superadded to his professional character with advantage to his circumstances. The inconsistency, if observed, was overlooked, and the benevolence implied in making a provision for Donald, concealed the incongruity of a blind fiddler being also a parochial catechist. The minister favoured him, the people were pleased with the arrangement, and a retentive memory, enabling him to master the questions of the Shorter Catechism and a few chapters in the New Testament, his qualifications for the office to which he was promoted were held to be complete. How often are we made to know, as the sequel of this man’s history will illustrate, that “God’s ways are not our ways,” that they are “past finding out,” “for he giveth not account of any of his matters!”

Donald’s official character led him to hear Mr. Farquharson, for where religious exercises—extra-ministerial—were held, there he conceived it his duty to be. Hundreds and hundreds had come to listen to the word of salvation; but although serious attention was given, the preacher seemed to have “run in vain and laboured in vain.” The Spirit was not poured out from on high, and no “blade” of heavenly growth was yet discoverable in that dry place. Nevertheless, God had sent him; and, although he was not, himself, to be the direct instrument of an abundant harvest, like the prophets of old, he was made the medium of the “unction from the Holy One,” to another who was raised up to show how “the weak things of the world are made to confound the mighty, and base things of the world, and things that are despised, yea, and things which are not, chosen to bring to nought things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.” “To me he was a messenger from God,” declared Donald Munro many years after; and although in his Christian charity he expressed an opinion, that one or two besides were converted by his means, no evidence exists that faithful Farquharson’s mission had any other direct fruit than that of the conversion of this remarkable man. He soon after emigrated to America, and his ministrations had no further connexion with the revival which took place in Skye.

The Catechist of Portree was no longer a pluralist. He had “got new views,” to use his own language, of “Scripture truths, of himself, and of the practices of the inhabitants of his island,” and the light which had been given to him he did not put “under a bushel.” His official situation afforded him opportunities of speaking in the name of Jesus; and, before he had been himself a convert for a year, he was made the instrument of turning three or four from the error of their ways to the faith and obedience of the glorious Gospel.

But the great awakening did not take place now, nor for a few years after this; nevertheless, as the events which follow were connected with that manifestation of divine grace and power, and as they illustrate the ways of God’s providence in promoting his purposes of love towards sinners, they are here recorded.

In the first place, a prayer-meeting was established. This was in Snizort, the neighbouring parish of Portree. A very few only attended at its establishment; but, in course of time, the numbers increased. The prejudice against it was strong; for nothing of the kind had ever before been heard of in the country, and an innovation of so marked a character was not readily tolerated. But it grew in popularity; and by its means many were induced to attempt to call on the name of the Lord. For two years it flourished. At the end of that time a Baptist preacher appeared in the country. The members of the meeting heard, and some were drawn after him. Eleven were baptized by him—division ensued, and the prayer-meeting was in a short time finally dissolved.

In the next place, soon after the institution of this meeting, it pleased the Lord to bring “out of darkness into marvellous light” one of the ministers in the neighbourhood. The gentleman referred to was the late Mr. Martin, then of Kilmuir, and latterly of the parish of Abernethy. The change in his doctrine, as well as life and conversation, soon attracted notice, and he was sought unto by those in the country who, by this time, had themselves tasted that the Lord is gracious. The cause of the prayer-meeting was espoused by him; and as even men who knew not the saving power of the Gospel in their own experience, esteemed him for his virtues, his countenance given it, secured either their neutrality or favour. As a minister, he was instant in season and out of season; reproving, rebuking, exhorting with all long-suffering and doctrine. The usual result followed—a desire among his parishioners to search the Scriptures, to see that the things which he declared were so. But the Sacred Volume was awanting—and no supply was at hand to meet the demand which the preaching of Christ crucified by this good man had produced. What might have followed so prosperous a state of outward privilege no one can say. A very few, it is believed, were during the short period of Mr. Martin’s living ministry, savingly impressed; but as he removed from the island in about two years after the change in his own character, and the Gospel ceased to be proclaimed—although he left a pious Catechist behind him—no further additions of such as “were ordained to eternal life,” were at that time made to the “Church of the living God.”

And here we may be permitted to remark, how serious a consideration it may be for a minister of the Gospel to remove, under whatever solicitations, from a sphere where indications may be perceived of an incipient work of grace, such as a few years after distinguished this part of Skye. That Mr. Martin should be exposed to much that might harass his spirit, under his change of views and character, in the place where his lot was cast—that “living godly in Christ Jesus” he should suffer persecution—may be readily believed, as the experience of another, but more undaunted “fellow-servant” subsequently attested; but surely here was an opportunity to “endure the cross, and despise the shame,” connected with the prospect of honouring his Master and promoting his cause, such as does not often occur, and which, not being embraced, is seldom a second time offered to any man. It cannot be wondered that Mr. Martin, as we have heard, should in after years have felt and lamented his error.

It has been stated, that he left behind him, in the parish of Kilmuir, a pious Catechist. This individual also acted as school-master. But besides his services, the parish now enjoyed the benefit of those of Donald Munro, who had been discharged from his office in Portree, and was therefore not confined in his labours to that locality. Under their direction and conduct, meetings, subsequently to the dissolution of the prayer-meeting, were regularly held in the parish, attended by large multitudes; and much interest, apparently, was taken in the things which belonged to their souls. This state of matters, however, lasted not long. The new incumbent did not walk in the steps of his predecessor. The Catechist, disgusted with the new order of things, left the country; and Donald Munro stood single-handed without even the weight which his former official name afforded. He did not, however, cease his efforts; and, though under many inconveniences, this good man persevered in holding his meetings, encouraged by the great numbers who came desirous to listen to the word of life.

But the Lord raised up a new friend to the cause in the person of the late Mr. John Shaw, who, about this time, was appointed minister of Bracadale, a parish in the neighbourhood, and situated in the same district or country. He had previously been the assistant of the minister of Diurinish, a parish also in this district; but, acting there in an inferior capacity, his influence, until now, had not been efficiently exerted. He was a holy and humble man, little acquainted with the ways of the world, and naturally little qualified to withstand its opposition, directed, whether insidiously or in open violence, against the interests of Sion. But, whatever his failing in this, his heart trembled for the ark of the Lord; its safety was the object of his deepest solicitude, and the theme of his importunate and constant prayers. He was consequently the friend of the friends of Christ, and, few and despised as they were in Skye, he constituted a rallying point and counsellor, whose unwavering faithfulness, at least, seldom failed them in whatever emergency.

Mr. Shaw secured for his parish the benefit of society teachers, all of whom were godly men—one from the Society for propagating Christian Knowledge, another from the Gaelic School Society, and a third from the Inverness Education Society, by whose means a knowledge of the truths of the Scripture was extensively communicated. And not least in importance, as preparing the way for the work which the Lord was about to perform in this hitherto dark corner of the Church, the minister of Bracadale introduced to the country Mr. M’Donald of Urquhart, “whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches,” and whose rousing appeals to the assembled multitudes who congregated to hear him, caused “no small stir about that way.”

It was about the year 1812 that the awakening, properly so called, had its commencement—about seven years after Mr. Farquharson first preached in Skye. It began in the parish of Kilmuir, of which Mr. Martin had been minister, and where Donald Munro’s services had been most uniformly bestowed and best appreciated. As there can be no doubt that the meetings held under his management were the means especially employed in the work, it may be proper to state the mode in which the services on these occasions were conducted. We are not here to defend the regularity of these meetings, if this be impugned. It pleased the Lord to bless them, and, considering the circumstances which gave them birth and caused their continuance, he will be a bold man who maintains that they ought to have been suppressed or that they are now to be condemned.

The services, on the solemn and happy occasions of which we speak, began with praise and prayer, which were sometimes repeated in course of the occasion, and always concluded the duties for the time. The reading of the Scripture followed the opening of the meeting, large portions of which were read aloud without note or comment. The works of such authors as were to be had in Gaelic came next, viz., translation of Alleine’s Alarm, Boston’s Fourfold State, Baxter’s Call, Bunyan, Willison, Gray, and Edwards. Then a passage of the Word of God was selected for exposition. Munro usually had this part of the service allotted to him; but although few, when he was present, were willing to occupy the place which became him so well, others also, at times, opened up the truths contained in the passage thus commented on. It has already been noted that Donald was a blind man, but he required the aid of no reader. His memory was stored with the Scriptures, and he had become, literally, a living concordance. Whole chapters could be recited by him without the commission of the slightest error. References, for illustration, were made with a precision which never betrayed, in a single instance, those who followed him in his exposition by turning to the passages. His style of address was solemn and deeply impressive, the effect being not a little heightened by the visitation of Providence, which had made him an object of sympathy to all, connected with the evidence in him of the riches of His grace who had come
. . . “To clear the inward sight;
And on the eyeballs of the blind
To pour celestial light.”
He spoke as one “scarcely saved”—”a brand plucked out of the burning”—lately “dead in trespasses and in sins;” but to whom “the grace of the Lord had been exceeding abundant,” and who now stood among those of his own country and kindred who knew his “manner of life from his youth,” apparently by divine commission, to warn them to flee from the wrath to come; and to proclaim the truth, worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom he had been chief. A holy unction characterised—as a sound judgment ruled—all that he said; for his words were weighed in the balance of the sanctuary and were not found wanting. To witness his appearance on the occasion alluded to—if the heart were not melted—was sure to disarm prejudice; and even bitter enemies, whilst they condemned the proceedings, acknowledged that Donald was a good man—honest and sincere in the cause in which he was embarked.

Three times every Sabbath day the meetings were held—in the open fields—in barns—or under such shelter as circumstances required, and as at the time could be commanded. But not on the Lord’s day only: one stated meeting was held, weekly, at Donald’s residence, on another day; and besides this, he travelled to other points in the country round, so that he was rarely disengaged.

Great power followed. When this came, the effects were striking in the highest degree; and filled Munro and the other leaders with adoring wonder. That it was the Lord’s doing, not man’s, soon became so evident that they were made to feel, and exulted to acknowledge, that they were not to be accounted of, and not worthy to be named in connection with the glorious manifestation which it pleased the Most High to vouchsafe of his redeeming love. “What are we and what is our Father’s house!” was the language of their hearts while they contemplated the effects of the irresistible power now savingly exerted. It was a common thing, as soon as the Bible was opened, after the preliminary services, and just as the reader began, for great meltings to come upon the hearers. The deepest attention was paid to every word as the sacred verses were slowly and solemnly enunciated. Then the silent tear might be seen stealing down the rugged, but expressive countenances turned upon the reader—the convulsive and half-suppressed sigh might next be heard—female sobbings followed—and, after a little, every breast was heaving under the unaccountable agitation which moved the spirits of the assembled multitudes. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth; so is every one who is born of the Spirit.”

Sometimes those affected cried aloud; but this was not common; at other times they threw themselves upon the grass in the utmost distress, and “wept bitterly.” A spirit of prayer and supplication was granted in a remarkable degree, both upon the leaders of the meetings and upon the people. After the services for the occasion, at any time, were concluded, they were to be seen in all directions on their knees, or stretched along the ground, calling upon His name with whom is “the residue of the Spirit.” An insatiable desire to hear the Scriptures read and opened prevailed; and no length of service fatigued during those days of life and power. Hours passed insensibly, and the night was often “far spent” ere “note was made of time.” The usual seasons for food were forgotten, and even necessary nourishment was sometimes neglected. The redemption of the soul is indeed precious. When the eyes are enlightened to perceive this truth, and the conscience is awakened, under the operation of the Holy Spirit, to testify the fearfulness of coming short of the great salvation; and when this occurs, not to an isolated individual, but to a multitude circumstanced in all respects as those of whom we now speak, who can wonder that such appearances as have been described should be exhibited—that such results should follow; nay, who that knows the Word of God and the mind of man, but might expect that such occurrences should take place?

We have called those occasions happy. They were truly so; for there is no joy like that which is felt when a sinner, melted under a sense of sin and of the mercy of God, learns to weep from “godly sorrow” and a blessed persuasion that everlasting love is manifested towards him in the dealings with his soul which he experiences, when at one and the same time “repentance towards God and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ” are produced within him by a power which he knows is divine. One striking trait, accordingly, in the character of the meetings was the life felt and manifested in singing the praises of God. The assembled multitudes engaged in the duty as with “one heart and one soul,” and often seemed as if they knew not how to stop. The utmost cordiality and brotherly love prevailed—every man feeling his heart more tenderly drawn out to his neighbour—and such as were savagely affected experiencing a holy influence leading them to testify for Christ in the house and by the way, in private conversation and by a devoted public profession.

(To be Continued.)

CHAPTER XXIII.—ANTIGONISH RIOT OF THE 10TH OF JULY, 1873.—OBJECT LESSON TO PROTESTANTS TO-DAY.

At a meeting of the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of the Lower Provinces, held in Truro in 1873, while the subject of the mission to the French Roman Catholics was under consideration, I was invited to address the Synod, and in the course of my remarks spoke at length on the subject of Romanism, and also of my recent and past work. At the close of my address I received the thanks of the Synod, and was authorized to visit any of the congregations of the Church, with whose pastors I might make arrangements, and to receive one half of the collections which might be taken up at any of my meetings, the other half to be applied for the benefit of the Synod missions.

Under this arrangement I visited a large number of the congregations connected with the Presbyteries of Pictou and Prince Edward Island.

I was invited by my kind friend, Dr. Goodfellow, pastor of Antigonish, one of the most thriving towns of Nova Scotia, to give an address to his people. In this invitation he warned me that the great majority of the town was composed of Roman Catholics, but he said, “You have nothing to fear here. There is a Roman Catholic bishop, a college and a nunnery, and a good number of priests, but they are all my personal friends.” I answered him, that I would go with pleasure though I had no confidence in the tolerance and liberality of the Scotch Roman Catholics, and that the Protestants would do very well to be on their guard; but I was ready to face the rioters if we were to have a riot as I expected. Two days before leaving New Glasgow, where I was lecturing, I received a letter dated from Antigonish, with the picture of a skeleton and a coffin, with these words: “Infamous apostate! this is what you may expect if you dare to come and profane by your presence the Catholic town of Antigonish.”

When in Mr. Goodfellow’s parsonage I showed him that letter; it made him laugh. “Ha! ha!” he said, “this is some school-boy’s trick to frighten you. The Catholics are all my friends here; priests and people, and many have told me that there is not the least danger.” “You do not know the priests of Rome. They are, in general, the greatest hypocrites and the most deceitful men you can imagine. It is when they tell you there is no danger, that there is the greatest danger; it is when they cry, Peace, peace, that you must prepare yourself for war. They are not only deceitful men, but they are cowards, they want to attack you only when you are not on your guard, and unprepared to defend yourself.” This made him laugh outright.

“I have been told,” he said, “that you were brave, but I fear that you are not as brave as I expected, for you see danger where there is no danger at all.” “Well, when the riot comes and the stones fly round our heads, we will see who is the braver, you or I.” We dismissed the subject till the hour of the meeting. When it was time to leave, I asked Mr. Goodfellow to give me some strings. “What for?” said Mr. Goodfellow. “To tie my hat to my head so well that I will not lose it when the sticks hit it.” He laughed to his heart’s content and said: “I see that you have a terrible fear of the stones. I thought that you were more brave than that.” “When the sticks and the stones come you will wish to have my strings to keep your hat solid on your head.” “Dear Father Chiniquy,” he answered, “a brave man is not used to see danger where there is none.” “You will understand the meaning of your words when your hat will go. I have been in the fire so many times that I know what I say. And no doubt you will be wiser on the subject before the dawn of next day.” Then like the old warriors who never went to war without their shield, I took my thick shawl which I always carried with me, and as it was a very warm evening, Mr. Goodfellow could not understand why I wanted such a heavy garment. He only laughed at the reasons when I told him he would understand why when the stones would come on our shoulders. “That plaid has already saved my life several times, and it will probably save it again to-night. There is nothing like heavy wool to ward off the power of the stones when they strike the shoulders.” I never heard a heartier laugh of contempt than his, at my unreasonable fear, but I was not disturbed by his jokes and I kept my shawl.

We found the church crowded and evidently one-third of the audience were Roman Catholics. I had not spoken twenty minutes, when an old woman rose on her feet, and cried out, “At him, boys!” and instantly a number of young men rushed towards me, filling the church with their cries, “That’s a lie!” Fortunately there was a good number of Protestants in front of the pulpit who at once formed an impassable wall between me and the rioters. At the same time cries of “Fire! Fire!” were heard outside and inside the church, and the bells began to ring. Addressing myself to Mr. Goodfellow, I said, “You see, my friend, it is just as I expected, I cannot continue the meeting, the only thing we have to do is to go back home.” In vain Mr. Goodfellow tried to show the rioters the infamy of their conduct, his voice was covered with the cries of “Fire! Fire!”

A few friends having come around me, with Mr. Goodfellow, we walked towards the door, in the midst of the cries “You are a liar! kill him! kill him!” At the door were several bloodthirsty Roman Catholics crying, “That is the liar! kill him!” Then eggs began to be thrown at me from every direction. In a little while dozens had been disposed of. The reader may understand that I looked more like an omelette than a man. I was covered from head to foot; but fortunately they were fresh eggs. Then I said to Mr. Goodfellow: “When the eggs are finished, we shall have stones.” He answered me, “Oh, I hope not.” The words were still on his lips, when a stone struck me on the breast, and I would have fallen on the ground had not two friends prevented me. A moment after, a Protestant lady, who had stood by me all the time, hoping that her presence would make the rioters less brutal, was struck with such force with a stone that we thought that her leg was broken. She was carried into the first house by two friends who were near us.

During this time the stones were falling upon me from every side like hail in a storm, but my hat was well secured on my head by the strings, and the shawl, well wrapped around my shoulders, prevented the stones from cutting the skin and breaking the bones. Then Mr. Goodfellow, frightened by the horrible cries and the hail of stones, took me by the arm and said: “Let us run; they will kill us.” I answered him, “Surely they will kill us. We will probably die to-night, but we must die like Christian soldiers, facing the foe. There is no use, they can run as fast as you or I.” At that moment a big stone missing me struck his silk hat and it went like a feather before the wind. Then his head being uncovered was so badly struck with another stone, that he fell down, his face in the mud, crying, “My skull is broken! I am killed!” We helped him to get up. His face was covered with blood and the skin was torn. I was horrified at the sight and I thought that he would die. I turned towards the rioters and said: “You are a band of cowards!” I saw, then, very near us, four priests encouraging the rioters and laughing outright.

We would evidently have been killed there, if providentially we had not been at the door of a Protestant merchant, called Cameron, who, hearing the cries and seeing the rioters around us, opened his door and said: “You and Father Chiniquy come in and save your lives.” Mr. Goodfellow could hardly stand on his feet, but, though bruised from head to foot myself, I could with other friends help him into the house, which was immediately closed to the rioters, who began to throw stones in the windows, smashing every pane of glass, and threatening Mr. Cameron to set fire to his house if he did not give me up to be hanged. Mr. Cameron said to me: “Do not fear, the cowards will not set fire to my house, for the strong wind now blowing from the sea would turn the whole town into ashes.” We immediately went upstairs on entering the house, and while waiting for the doctor, who had been sent for, I asked one of the elders to read the fifteenth chapter of John.

My soul had never been filled with such joy as then, when, bleeding and bruised for the dear Saviour’s sake, we were hearing His sweet voice telling us, “Abide in me; I will abide in you. I am the vine, ye are the branches. I will not call you any more my servants, but my friends. The servant is not above his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” And on our knees we were answering Him: “Yes, dear Jesus, we will abide in thee; come and abide in us, when wounded and bleeding we are suffering for thy sake.”

When the doctor was examining the wound of Mr. Goodfellow and washing off the blood, the rioters fixed a ladder up to the window, and three times came up with a rope to hang me. But every time brave young men with axes repulsed them, telling them that if they came up an inch higher they would split their heads. And the sight of the axes brandished above their heads was eloquent enough to persuade them to pass down the ladder. We were besieged in that way until after one in the morning. Then they began to disperse, and Mr. Goodfellow, supported by friends, was taken back to his house, where his poor wife was half dead with fright. She had heard the cries and seen the excited multitudes running and crying, “Kill him! kill him!” The fact is that she died not long after from the effects of that terrible night.

It will be imagined what an effect such a brutal attempt at liberty of conscience produced on the public mind. Indignant at such intolerance practised by the Roman Catholics in a Protestant province, nay, in a Protestant country, the Presbytery of Pictou, voicing public opinion, protested publicly against that brutal assault, revealing such bloodthirsty hatred; took up the affair and instituted law proceedings, all against my will, for I told them: “So long as you give liberty of conscience to the Roman Catholics, it is their right to stone, persecute, and kill you. It is the law of the Church of Rome that they must exterminate the Protestants. It is not only their right, but it is their duty to kill you when they have the opportunity. You find this law in the decisions of their councils and their Popes, which has never been repealed. Besides, you can never get the truth out of a Roman Catholic when his Church is in jeopardy, because he is ordered by his Church to lie, according to the Jesuitical doctrine, that the end justifies the means.” The result of the lawsuit proved that I was right.

The Presbytery took decided action in relation to the matter. The members made a strong effort to have the leaders in the riot legally punished; but it failed, as I foresaw and felt. Of course there were witnesses on hand who were ready to give testimony under oath, such as would suit the purpose of those who aided negatively and positively the cruel persecution. That reacted terribly against the Roman Catholics, and the bishop and priests saw not long after that they had committed at least a great blunder against themselves. The Romanists have felt the disgrace and the bad effects of it ever since, and I venture to say that if I had gone to Antigonish several times since, there would not have occurred a repetition of the scenes I have described. No doubt that riot, and the persecution I suffered in Halifax, which I will give an account of, resulted in preventing any serious trouble of the kind since, in Nova Scotia, and other maritime provinces. I may say here that the wrath of man seems in this case to have been overruled for good. Such conflicts may be regarded as so many battles for liberty of conscience and free speech.

A Lecture.

BY THE REV. JOHN R. MACKAY, M.A., INVERNESS.

“The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”—GEN. ii. 7.

DR. DAVID SMITH, lately United Free Church minister of Blairgowrie, and now Professor of Theology in the Presbyterian College, Londonderry, in a recent number of the British Weekly, makes this confession: “Heaven would be a poor place for me, lacking dogs and horses and the rest of the dear tribes.” One has, before now, met occasionally with eccentric persons who seemed to believe in the immortality of the lower animals; but Dr. Smith’s extravagance appears to surpass that of all his predecessors, when he proposes to introduce dogs and horses into the realms of eternal bliss. Dr. Smith’s attitude to this question is not only un-biblical but anti-biblical. His utterance is sadly only one, however, of many which may be heard or read nowadays, revealing how far from their former moorings the children of what was once the Free Church of Scotland have drifted.

The utterance adverted to is a fresh call to us to consider what God in His Word teaches us as to the constitution of human nature, and as to the impassable gulf which divides mankind from dogs and horses and such like. We shall find that the keynote of the worth of the human soul is struck with great distinctness at the very openings of the oracles of God; and that, with an insight which, in its consistency, its solemnity, its essential beauty, is divine, that worth of the human soul is insisted on by prophets and apostles throughout the entire length of the Old and the New Testaments. Dr. Smith’s way of looking at the questions now under consideration, we believe, only reveals the wreck which the adoption of the evolutionary hypothesis is bound to make of definite Christian doctrines. For our own part, we consider that next in importance to the urgency of retaining correct, that is, Biblical, conceptions of the Triune God, is the importance of retaining correct, that is, Biblical, conceptions of man, and of what is essential to the constitution of human nature, and hence our present protest.

The words of our text teach us that man draws one part of his nature from the earth, for “the Lord God,” we read, “formed man of the dust of the earth.” But there is a part of human nature which is not, and, in the nature of things, could not have been, derived from the earth, but which entered into his constitution, according to the teaching of our text, by the Lord God breathing into his nostrils the breath of life, or more literally, lives. It was in this way that—to use the words of the Apostle in 1 Corinthians, xv.—“The first man, Adam, was made a living soul.” It is true that, since the Fall, mankind have become corrupt in the faculties of their soul and in the members of their body, but although the Fall has changed much in human nature—and that for the worse—it has not made a change in the essential constitution of human nature. Man fallen, like man in innocence, is, as to the constitution of his nature, made up of spirit or soul and body. The body of sinful man, when death intervenes, returns to the dust whence it was derived; the spirit of sinful man, which in its very nature is not derivable from the earth, returns unto God, its Creator, its Judge, its true Source. It is in this connection, we believe, with some of the most accomplished and solid Christian scholars of modern times, we ought to interpret the words of Genesis ii. 4, “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created.” For the word “generations” has not here respect to the origin or the creation of the heavens and of the earth, as the destructive Higher Critics—contending that at the fourth verse of the second chapter, a second account of creation commences—would wish us to believe. No; the word “generations” here most certainly means not origins—it means offspring. That the understanding may be established in the sureness of the truth of what we assert, consider that Genesis altogether consists of an introduction, extending from Genesis i. 1 to Genesis ii. 3, together with ten sections following that introduction, every one of which sections commences with a formula like to that with which the first of the ten sections, in chapter ii. 4, begins, to wit: “These are the generations.” Compare Genesis v. 1; vi. 9; x. 1; xi. 27; xxv. 12; xxv. 19; xxxvi. 1; xxxvi. 9; xxxvii. 2. Now, we are not left in doubt as to the meaning of the word “generation” or “generations” at the head of the nine sections which follow that section beginning with the words, “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth,” in Genesis ii. 4. Everyone must see that the generations of Adam, in chapter v. 1, look forward to his offspring in Seth, Enos, etc. Similarly, in chapter x. 1, the generations of the sons of Noah—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—are Gomer and Magog and Madai, etc. The generations of Jacob are not the parents of Jacob, but the children of Jacob. The case is equally obvious in the other six cases in which the formula occurs. We are bound, therefore, to construe the words with which Genesis ii. 4 opens by no means as announcing that here commences a somewhat diverse account of the creation of the heavens and of the earth from that which is given us in Genesis i., but rather as announcing that here we have an account of the history of the offspring of the heavens and of the earth, of whose creation, indeed, we have a most sublime account given us in that portion of Genesis which we have ventured to speak of as introductory. It is, in a word, the history of man, created in the image of God, ruined through the abuse of his free will, and redeemed through sovereign grace, which is here about to be given. Man, in this account, appears as the offspring not of earth only but of heaven also. It is this that makes him to differ from the lower animals. When God created fish and fowl, He but commanded the waters to bring forth those creatures abundantly (Genesis i. 20); when He created cattle and creeping things and the wild beasts of the earth, He but commanded the earth to bring forth those creatures after their kind. But it was otherwise in the case of mankind. Mankind is not the offspring of the waters and of the earth, as the lower animals may be taken as being. Mankind is the offspring of the earth and of the heavens. As we have said, he derives, in virtue of divine power, part of his nature from the earth, but the nobler part of his nature he did not and could not derive from the earth. He is, on the higher aspect of his nature, related to the world of spirits, to immortality; yea, to God Himself. It is this fact that constitutes the awful solemnity attaching to our belonging to the human race. It is from this the necessity of a never-ending self-conscious existence arises. It is in the light of this that the worth of the human soul can be appreciated; it is in this light that the horribleness of a lost soul is seen.

Reason itself corroborates what the Scriptures teach, not only of the value of the human soul, but of the essential difference that exists between human beings and the very highest of the lower animals. Indeed, I have often thought that there is a sense in which mankind is capable of making a nearer approach to affinity with the Creator, than the lower animals can make in regard of affinity to man. Let me briefly explain what I mean. Sun and moon and stars are placed under laws which they obey. These laws are, to use an expression of Dr. John Duncan’s, “not over God but still are from Him.” These laws are from God and they are on the material universe; but, of course, that material universe is not conscious of those laws which it obeys, nor of Him whose laws they are. But it is not those inanimate objects alone that are under laws which are from God. God has made the lower animals under laws, but they as little perceive the laws under which they live and move and have their being, or Him whose laws these are, as do the inanimate objects—sun, moon, and stars. But it ought not to be so with man. Differently from the lower animals he is capable of something better than this. Even in his fallen, natural state, he, if he be not under a perverse, malign influence, is capable in a logical sense, of rising from the laws under which he himself is as to his body in common with irrational, yea, inanimate creatures, of rising, we say, from these laws to the Creator, from whom they come. And man restored, that is, regenerate, not only, as a logical inference, rises from the laws to the Lawgiver, but, through these very laws, has fellowship with the Creator. Was it not so with Job when he said of wisdom (Job xxviii. 23-27) “that God understood the ways thereof and knew the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth and seeth under the whole heaven; To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder; Then did he see it; and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.” Man may thus be seen to recognise that he himself, as to his bodily frame, is under laws which are identical with those which obtain in the irrational and inanimate world. And, by this recognition, he virtually acknowledges that he derives his nature in part from the earth, from the material world. But the very fact of his being capable to rise, by means of these laws, to fellowship with the eternal Lawgiver, proves that his whole nature has not been derived from the material world; that, in a word, by the higher aspect of his nature, he is properly related to the world of spirits. Nay more, may we not, with the second chapter of 1 Corinthians before us, say, that man, through the teaching of the Holy Spirit, is capable of having sympathy with the deep things of God, although that God is infinitely above him; whileas none of the lower animals are capable, by the very nature of their creation, of having sympathy with the deep things of man, although man be not infinitely above them?

Inasmuch as a correct view of the words of our text is fitted, not only to expose the fallacy which is at the root of those unworthy notions concerning the constitution of human nature which are so rampant at the present hour, but also to expose the presently prevalent perverse views of the beginnings of the oracles of God—views which are so much akin with degrading conceptions of human nature—we shall take this opportunity, as we have already indicated the scope of the actual words of the text, of now indicating their connection with the Bible as a whole. The view that the section of the Bible, beginning with verse 4 of chapter ii., presents us with an account of the creation, which, in many respects, differs from the account of creation given in Genesis i., we have seen to be based upon an interpretation of the word “generations,” which, in this case, is an impossible one. With the destruction of the basis of the false theory, the theory itself is destroyed as a matter of course. If, then, the writer does not intend to give herewith a new and diverse account of creation, what is his aim? What plan is he pursuing? In order to answer that question we have to observe the purpose of Moses in the opening introductory section of Genesis. His intention there is to state the doctrine of man, as the direct product of God’s creation at its highest level. This he effects in two ways. (1) He represents mankind as the apex of God’s work of creation on this earth. Starting from the inorganic material base, he lifts tier upon tier, the vegetable world, the irrational animate world, with its fish and fowl, its creeping things, its wild beasts of the earth and domestic animals, and finally, places mankind as the uppermost tier, as the summit of the whole. (2) He effects the same purpose, when he intimates to us that the project of the creation of man called forth the counsels and consultations of the Triune God, and that man thus consulted about appeared when created in the image of God, according to the likeness of God. But man, who was created in such an exalted condition, brought himself very low. And there can be no question that as it was the Writer’s purpose in the introductory section to represent mankind to his readers at their highest level according to the scheme of creation, so it is his purpose in the first of these ten sections, which, together with the introduction, constitutes the whole of Genesis, to give a vivid and most profoundly interesting account of the fall of man, with its doleful consequences. Nay, the view point is still vaster. For we may well believe that sinners of mankind had not been favoured with Divine oracles, opening up so marvellously the dignity of our origin and the shame of our self-destruction, if it had not been the Divine purpose from these ruins to redeem man, to connect him with an order higher than the order of the natural creation at its highest apex, and thus exalt him to a state of exaltation to which he should never have been raised if he had not come in need of redemption, and if he had not been actually redeemed. Viewed in this light, the section beginning Genesis ii. 4, appears as one of remarkable beauty, and as one the significance of which is extraordinary. It begins to dawn upon us why this section, the first objective of which is the Fall, and the further objective of which is Redemption, should make so much of the locality where man, under probation, was placed, of the inter-dependence and intimacy of relationship subsisting between Adam and Eve, and to come nearer to the words of our text, of the essential constituents of human nature, the dust of the earth and the breath of lives. The living soul, which is man, may thus be more easily understood by us as one whom death temporal or death eternal could never molest, did not death spiritual, in the form of sin, take the precedence.

The oracles of God make much of the transcendent worth of the human soul. We see that in Christ’s own valuation of the life of man when He tells us that the whole material world would not counterbalance it. We see it in the several places in which the downward course of those who mind earthly things, whose glory is in their shame, whose God is their belly, whose end is destruction, is contrasted with the upward course of those whose affections are set on the things that are above, whose not-to-be-disappointed hope is, that when Christ shall appear the second time they shall be like Him, not only in spirit, but even in their very bodies. The lower animals are not capable of going down to the bottomless pit of self-destruction as mankind are capable, neither are the lower animals capable of rising to the third heavens as mankind are capable. Destruction as well as salvation throws a light upon the capabilities of human nature, and certainly if we should maintain the truth of the impassable gulf between mankind and the lower animals, we should need to measure the capacity of human nature by the difference which is between the lowest hell and the right hand of God. But upon this essential worth of the human soul the oracles of God laid emphasis from their very beginnings. That conception and feeling about man runs through the whole Scriptures, and it is a conception and feeling that has taken hold of the mind and heart of every true ambassador of God from the days of the Apostles down to the present day.

The Scriptures have much to say of the effects of sin both upon the soul and upon the body of man; they have much to say of the ways in which the effects and fruits of sin are seen in the soul and body even of the redeemed for a season, but all that the Scriptures have to say of these matters would for us have but a confused meaning, if what the constitution of the nature of man amounts to were not clearly set before us at the outset. But this desideratum is exactly what our text supplies.

Man is a living soul, but he is that, not in the sense in which that is said of fish, fowl, and land animals, wild and tame; he is a living soul, which became so by the Lord God breathing the breath of life into the nostrils of that which had been formed from the dust of the ground. This living soul would therefore never again have been broken up into its elements of body and spirit, had not sin entered into the world, and death by sin. This view of the matter must be held by us, if we perceive the significance of the separation of soul and body which took place when Christ Himself died, and in dying bore the penalty of sin. Man is a living soul made up of spirit and body, and inasmuch as through sin these two elements are in death separated from one another, redemption takes to do with spirit and with body in turn, and with their both being finally brought together again in a union never to be put asunder.

If we do not get a glimpse of what man was intended to be as having fellowship with his Maker, we shall never be suitably affected by the awfulness of the ruin which we have brought upon ourselves. When we are suitably affected by the ruin which we brought upon ourselves, we are in a fitter frame of mind to appreciate that great salvation which, as we have said, is the further objective of Moses in opening this section, as he has done by giving this account, to which our attention is being drawn, of what constitutes human nature. When man fell there was no ray of hope as to a way of deliverance out of our misery. When the first ray of hope dawned upon us, it was like a thing taking an absolute beginning. In the history of redemption, there was never such a time again, never such an absolute beginning again. We find the tide of gracious life, to use a different metaphor, becoming very low, as before the flood and as at the time of the calling of Abraham, but through Noah and Abraham a new impulse was imparted to this tide of life, which, for the regeneration of sinners of mankind, was flowing down through the ages. In the bringing up of the children of Israel out of Egypt, it received an impulse greater than ever before in the history of the race, and in the coming death and resurrection of the Lord of Glory, it received an impulse which caused it to spread unto the ends of the earth, and caused that these glad tidings of salvation should be still with us. This is the only fact that prevents us from falling into despair when we realise what a high end it was for which we were created, and how deplorably we have fallen from this end. But if we be found embracing Christ in the Gospel as our Deliverer from despair, we shall wonder more at the kindness of God towards us than though we had never fallen. May He bless to us our meditation upon His Word!

The late Mrs. Taylor, Halkirk.

WE regret to notice this month the death of Mrs. Taylor, Sinclair Street, Halkirk, Caithness, which took place on the 1st December last. The deceased was the widow of Mr. William Taylor, whose death was recorded in this Magazine in March, 1908. Mrs. Taylor, who had reached the ripe age of 81 years, was highly respected by all who knew her as a Christian woman of the old stamp, distinguished for piety and prudence. She had come under the saving power of the truth in days gone by, and her life was evidently “hid with Christ in God.” She possessed considerable discernment and grasp of divine things, and understood well public questions concerning the Church. When a separate testimony was raised for the truth and principles of the Free Church in 1893, Mrs. Taylor was one of the first to identify herself with it, and continued a loyal and intelligent supporter of the Free Presbyterian Church to the end. In her private relations she was most exemplary—a wise and affectionate wife and mother. Her family have sustained a great loss, and much sympathy is felt for them among a wide circle of friends. The Church on earth has lost one of its truly devout and praying members. May the Lord heal this and other breaches death is making in our midst!

A friend has kindly sent us the following sketch of Mrs. Taylor, which, though it largely consists of notes of old time worthies, will be none the less interesting to many readers in the far north:—

The impression lies heavily upon the writer that the subject of the following remarks would prefer to commend the grace of God bestowed and to render the glory and praise to the Giver of every good gift than to have herself commended. A godly catechist who laboured in this parish was wont to say that he felt the famine so keen in his latter days that he lived a great measure in the past and fed on the rich and savoury notes, experiences, walk and conversation of “the salt of the earth” of his early years. This was also in a measure true of the departed, and is our apology for recounting in this sketch many of these things. In the good providence of God, the deceased was born in the year 1828, of parents who gave evidence of fearing the Lord, especially the mother, Nellie M’Beath, who was gifted with love unfeigned and singleness of mind, and was kind to “the household of faith,” the rich poor whom the world despised and who often came her way. William Elder, who was a sharp man to discern, would bestow all these commendations upon “dear beloved Nellie” as he termed her, who was his tried friend and near neighbour. There was a goodly band of noble princes and princesses in Israel scattered throughout Caithness in those days, who after Jacob’s God enquired, and the writer has often listened to the deceased giving a description of them and saying that He blessed this man and that man who was born there. Their ranks have been sadly thinned since those early times. Fat land has been turned to barrenness, and the ways of Zion do mourn. Godliness, however, does not come by natural generation, and although the deceased had the privilege of the preaching of the godly Mr. Munro from childhood, she often confessed that until her eighteenth year, it was but mere formality with her, though outwardly impressed with his manner of presenting truth, and his beseeching sinners, with tears, to be reconciled unto God (2 Cor. v. 20). Then she remembered well the agitation and enthusiasm of Disruption days—the preaching on the grassy hillocks, the building of churches, and the denouncing of the dry, hiring “Moderates.” Messrs. Cook and Munro meeting one of these, the “Moderate” addressed the latter, saying, “Why not shake hands? We preach from the same Bible, I’m sure.” Mr. Cook hastily cried out, “Come away, John. So did Judas, but he had the bag under the other arm.”

As the parishes of Halkirk and Reay were adjoining one another, and the worthies of that time had their preferences, according to experience, of ministers, some of them went to hear Mr. Cook in Reay, and others sat under Mr. Munro in Halkirk. Among those who attended Mr. Cook’s ministry were Benjamin Gray, Tongside, Donald Gunn, Lochside, Sandy Elder, John Ross, Gerston, Magnus Douglas, Donald M’Pherson, who was a Nathanael, and Robert M’Sheoris, a dwarf, but a mighty prince in grace who prevailed in his day; while among those who heard Mr. Munro were Francis Swanson, Drakries, who was the same every day as the Sacramental days, John Gray, Calder, James Mackay, Gerston, and Donald Calder, Brawl. The city flourished and the citizens abounded. Empty seats were then a rarity. Of honourable women there were not a few who resided in the parish, Marion and Caroline M’Lennan, Margaret Manson and Violet Manson or Hamilton, and Nellie Munro, who was the choice flower of the flock, for the daughters praised her in the gates.

Concerning Nellie Munro, it may be said that her husband, Joseph Munro, was a gardener, and that both came from Kiltearn, Ross-shire. The gardener’s wife for some time was known for her outward adornments and display of the fashions of this world; but such a clear, saving charge came that the wicked as well as the righteous could take knowledge thereof, as a pious woman would say who had seen her, “A worldling or fool on the street might know that there was grace there.” Truly it might be said of Mrs. Munro that she forgot her father’s house and her people (Ps. xlv. 10), for apparently to begin with, “the north wind” did awake upon this object of His love that brought her to such a low condition as to take no interest in husband or family or the world, in nothing but her soul’s estate. The winter of conviction was so severe that she forgot her daily food, until the blessed “south wind” did blow upon the garden of her soul, and the voice of the turtle was heard in the land that comforted the wounded in heart and broken in spirit. This trying season was a blessed experience for her, for she was made “all glorious within,” and beautified with holiness without, which infinitely made up for the casting away of the style of dress and gaudy apparel. The subject of this notice and her mother were, during this season, attending the gardener’s wife and her household, and the impressions then made by the faithful who came to visit this “daughter of the King” never were forgotten. After this visitation of the Spirit, all Mrs. Munro’s desire and delight was to have fellowship with the Lord, and to feed on the pastures of His Word, and though the outward strength had failed in the ordeal, the inner life was renewed and beautified with His salvation. Her husband did not divorce her; no; the worst word he would say to her was, “What can I do for you now, Nellie?” They went afterwards to Ackergill and from thence to Sandside, where she became acquainted with Joseph Mackay whom she greatly loved and esteemed, but she would take a visit occasionally to the place where “the work” first began.

But to return more particularly to the deceased (Mrs. Taylor), one has to say that she was very reserved on the matters of her spiritual experience, but from truths that she often mentioned, one would conclude that these portions were made precious to her in “the depths.” Her favourite books were the Sermons of the Erskines, Samuel Rutherford’s “Trial and Triumph of Faith,” the works of Dr. Love, and Philpot. She also greatly enjoyed the sermons of the Rev. Archibald Cook. In regard to the state of the Church in Scotland, she belonged to the company of those who, for many years previous to the separation and testimony of 1893, felt as mourners apart on account of sad departures from “the faith.” Remembering the days of heaven upon earth they had experienced under faithful ambassadors of Christ, they mourned sore as the doves of the valley in the language of another, “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.” The wild beasts had devoured the vine, in attacks upon the Word of God, and in passing an unsound Act which was “strange language”—a speech they could not understand. Then they heard the glorious voice in their souls, “Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest; because it is polluted.” (Micah ii. 10.) And when they were enabled to obey this voice, they felt that the Lord had turned the captivity of Zion, and was favourable to His land, and they took down their harps from the willows, and began to sing again the songs of Zion, as in the days of their youth. The seasons of spiritual fellowship which were held in 1893 and afterwards were pleasant, and brought to their sweet remembrance former days and trysting places where the weary heritage had been refreshed and the poor and needy had fed by “the shepherds’ tents.” This was the experience of the deceased, though she did not take a high place for herself, but rather had as her motto, “In honour preferring one another.”

The Apostle James tells us what pure religion and undefiled is, and this daughter of the King was an example of it, though she ever held that salvation is entirely of grace. One said of the late Captain Ross, Wick, “Not that he held Calvinistic and sovereign views of truth, but rather that Calvinistic truth and doctrine held and upheld him.” So in the present case. During her last illness Mrs. Taylor’s speech was affected by her trouble, but she remained quite conscious, recognising everyone. She passed away while worship was being conducted and a portion of Psalm xxxvi. was being sung.

“They with the fatness of thy house
shall be well satisfied:
From rivers of thy pleasures thou
wilt drink to them provide.”—(Ps. xxxvi. 8.)

Many respected her for her kind manner and amiable disposition who cared nothing further. The sad blank is to those whom she loved and succoured for the truth’s sake. May the fervent supplications of the Lord’s remembrancers ascend, that grace may be given to those who observed her life to walk in the paths she trod!

Note from John Newton.—”By the grace of God, I am what I am.” After the reading of this text one morning in family worship, in Mr. Newton’s old age, he paused some moments, and then uttered the following affecting soliloquy:—”I am not what I ought to be! Ah! how imperfect and deficient! I am not what I wish to be! I abhor that which is evil, and I would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be! Soon, soon, I shall put off mortality, and with mortality all sin and imperfection! Yet, though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly say I am not what I once was, a slave to sin and Satan; and I can heartily join with the apostle, and acknowledge, ‘By the grace of God, I am what I am!’ Let us pray.”