MR. DUNCAN MACKAY, ARDRISHAIG.
WE regret to record this month the death of Mr. Duncan Mackay, Ardrishaig, who passed away on 2nd September. The deceased was a very worthy member of our Lochgilphead congregation, and one of those who engaged in prayer at the Gaelic meetings there. His exercises were of a very edifying character, and his removal has created a great blank. An esteemed friend thus writes of him: “He was a man who feared God above many. He lived an uncommonly blameless life, and kept himself outwardly unspotted from the world. When any friend called on him in the evenings he would find him with his Bible on the table and such books as Boston’s Sermons, Dr. Owen, M’Cheyne, and Rutherford. I have been told that since he was nine years of age he had a love for the Bible, and that ever since he went to work he never left the house—it mattered not how early in the morning—without reading a portion of God’s word and engaging in worship. He was equally careful at night. He was a staunch Free Churchman from his early years, and when the Declaratory Act was passed, he immediately joined those who formed the Free Presbyterian Church. He warned his friends of the solemn realities of eternal things. During his last illness, he kept praying as long as he had strength to do so. His last words were, ‘Come, Lord Jesus.’ He was unmarried, and sixty-four years of age. This is the second breach among the praying men in our small congregation. Some time ago there died Dugald Orr, one of three blind brothers who are regular in attendance. May the Lord bless these warnings to us all.” We extend our deepest sympathy to his surviving relatives.
MR. LACHLAN MACLEAN, INVERNESS.
WE regret to record this month the death of Mr. Lachlan Maclean, contractor, one of the elders of the Free Presbyterian Congregation, Inverness, who passed away at his house, Holly Villa, Cawdor Road, there, on Saturday the 30th September. Mr. Maclean, who was in his seventy-ninth year, was well known and esteemed by many throughout the Church, being prominently identified with it from the beginning in 1893. We look forward to a fuller notice in a future issue. Meantime, we extend our deepest sympathy to his family and relatives in the great loss that has been sustained.
DEATHS IN THE CONGREGATION OF HALKIRK, CAITHNESS.
DURING the past month the congregation of Halkirk, Caithness, has had several losses by death, of which the minister, Rev. Norman Matheson, sends us a few particulars.
Mabel Douglas
One of these was the passing away of a young girl, named Mabel Douglas, who gave evidence of being a God-fearing child. It is said that when some of her school companions would be asking her to play with them, she would often answer, “O, if I would get Jesus before I die.” She grieved when she saw people breaking the Lord’s Day, no matter what station in life they occupied, or how kind they might be to herself personally. During her last illness she often asked her mother to read and sing to her. Her last words were, “Lord Jesus, come quickly.” Much sympathy is felt for her parents, to whom this is the ninth family bereavement. A short, interesting notice of another child, Kenneth, appeared in the Magazine eight years ago—October, 1903. May the Lord bless the voice to young and old!
Janet Ross, Spittal
Janet Ross, Spittal.—The deceased was an aged, humble, praying woman, one of the hidden meek ones of the earth. Such are now becoming so few among us that we cannot omit mentioning her removal.
A notice of another worthy person in this congregation—Miss Mary Sutherland, Harpsdale, who died on 17th October—will (D.V.) appear in next issue.
DEATH is very busy here and there throughout the Church. Some very sudden calls are taking place among us at this season. We deeply sympathise with all our bereaved people. The voice is, “Be ye ready: for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.”