FREE CHURCH

The Moderator (Rev. John Macdonald, Rosskeen) delivered a sound address at the opening of this Assembly. He called attention to some of the causes of the Lord’s wrath at the present time—the worship of the idol of German Higher Criticism, the desecration of the Lord’s day, the apathy with respect to the maintenance of Protestantism, and the pursuit of pleasure, intemperance, and luxury.

The Assembly received a deputation from the Glasgow Town Council with regard to the Belgian refugees, when a statement was made regarding the work done by the Council in finding homes for the refugees. Speakers, in thanking the deputation for their addresses, called attention to the Protestants of Belgium and the special obligations to render them help. It was pointed out that it was from Antwerp in Belgium that William Tyndale issued his memorable translation of the New Testament in the English language.

On Thursday afternoon, the 20th May, a joint prayer-meeting of representatives of the Established, United Free, and Free Church Assemblies was held in the United Free Assembly Hall, the object being “to offer prayer to the Most High in connection with the national crisis.” Among those present from the Free Church were the Revs. John Macdonald, moderator; Finlay Macrae, Plockton; Principal MacCulloch, Alexander Stewart, Edinburgh; John Macleod, Inverness; Angus Mackay, Kingussie; Professor Kennedy Cameron, and Mr. Archibald MacNeill. The meeting was presided over by Dr. Paul, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Established Church. Prayers were offered by Dr. Reith of the U.F. Church, the Free Church Moderator, and Professor Nicol of the Established Church.

During the meeting it was agreed to send a united letter to the Scottish regiments at the front, and a message of loyalty and sympathy to the king. When the letter was agreed upon, the first verse of the National Anthem was sung. The rest of the praise consisted in three psalms without instrumental music.

Note.—The Editor of the F.C. Record in a note on “The United Service” evidently considers, along with his colleagues, that they were fully justified in taking part in the joint-prayer-meeting on the ground that “the whole service was conducted in accordance with the Scriptural simplicity for which the Free Church bears testimony,” which we understand to mean, the Psalms only in worship. He overlooks the fact that the National Anthem is not a Psalm or an inspired song, and yet part of it was sung. Further, we would expect the Free Church to bear testimony for the Divine Authorship of Holy Scripture, and in doing so, not to have direct religious fellowship with those who have set at nought that authorship by rationalistic criticism. Besides, there was no special necessity for such co-operation as is in the present case. The Free Church could have held a prayer-meeting in their own Assembly Hall. Personally, we regard the business as a lowering of testimony for truth, quite in harmony, we regret to say, with previous actions of Free Church leaders.

Rev. Angus Mackay, Kingussie, submitted an excellent report on Religion and Morals and Public Questions in which such subjects as Attendance on Sabbath Services, Family Worship, Temperance, and Literature, were handled, and the duties of national humiliation and national repentance urged.

The subject of the “Lochranza Church Window” was again before this Assembly. This is a stained glass window with a picture of Christ, gifted by a lady in memory of her husband. Rev. S. L. Orr submitted the Report from the Glasgow Presbytery on the subject in which it was stated that the lady was willing to have some changes made upon the window, but not to have it removed. The congregation were also opposed to its removal. Mr. Robert Reid, elder, moved that the Assembly appoint two of its members to bring the matter to a finish under legal instructions, and that in the event of opposition from the members in Lochranza, the Assembly ordain that pulpit supply to the congregation be discontinued till they came to a better mind. He remarked that the minister who was originally responsible for this window, had since then left the United Free Church, along with his wife, and had gone to the Church of Rome. Mr. Rounfell Brown, elder, moved that the Assembly thank the lady donor for her consideration, and remit to the Presbytery to see the changes made. The motion was seconded by Mr. Orr. Rev. R. MacCowan, Kiltarlity, moved that the Assembly remit back the case to the Presbytery to take all competent steps to have the window removed as speedily as possible. Mr. MacCowan’s motion was carried by a majority. Principal MacCulloch protested against the decision.

He said that the Presbytery had not one jot of right to put a finger upon the Lochranza Church, which belonged to the congregation.

Note.—We remark that if the Free Church has no right to touch the Lochranza window, she is under obligation to withdraw her services from a place of worship defiled with an idolatrous figure. It says very little for the faithfulness of those who can make compromises with idolatry.

In the Foreign Mission Report by Rev. Alexander Dewar, reference is made to the translation of the Psalms into metrical Kaffir, promoted by the Free Presbyterian Church, but no mention is made of the F.P. Church as having anything to do with it. Is this a deliberate omission?

The Moderator closed this Assembly with an address on the distinctive characteristics of the Free Church.

A Sermon.

BY THE REV. ALEXANDER MACKAY, OBAN.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”—JOHN iii. 14, 15.

THIS is part of the sermon Christ preached to Nicodemus when he came to Him by night. We are so familiar with this chapter that we are apt to overlook the fact that Nicodemus was a most extraordinary person. He was a man who was conversant with the Scriptures; he was even ho didaskalos tou Israel, “the teacher of Israel.” Yet he evidently felt that there was something lacking in his life. He felt, I believe, that he was not right for eternity. If this were not the case, he would never have come to the despised Jesus of Nazareth for instruction, even “by night.” It was not curiosity that sent Nicodemus to Christ, but an apprehension that all was not right with him for the eternity into which he knew he was going. When he came to Christ he showed plainly that he did not regard Christ as the rest of the rulers did; for he says, “We know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles which thou doest except God be with him.”

In answer to this, Jesus at once directs Nicodemus to the foundation of a saving work in the heart of man, namely, the new birth. And here we see how absolutely hopeless the case of all men would be, even although familiar with the Scriptures and educated, if it were not for the work of the Spirit of God. Nicodemus is one who knows the Scriptures; he is one who is learned; he is one under soul-concern; he is even being taught by the Lord Jesus Christ; yet he stands before us as one helpless and altogether at a loss to understand the new birth. “How can a man be born when he is old?” is the language of staggered reason. “How can these things be?” is the language of the perplexed soul who realises its need of something greater than human wisdom to understand this mystery of the new birth, which is so essential to be experienced and known. The Lord, first of all, convinced Nicodemus of his need of the Spirit of God, and it would seem as if these were the words which brought conviction home to Nicodemus: “Art thou the teacher of Israel, and knowest not these things?”

But the Lord Jesus did not leave Nicodemus in the spiritual night in which he was. Jesus leads this poor sinner into the light and liberty of the truth, and in doing so made use of the means which he still makes use of to lead men out of darkness into marvellous light. Jesus directs Nicodemus to the Old Testament Scriptures. “And as Moses,” says Christ, “lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” It would seem as if this were the truth through which Nicodemus was “born again,” for we hear no more of his ignorance. Jesus, in referring Nicodemus to what transpired in the history of Israel in the wilderness, brought before him two things: first, the ruined condition of mankind; and, secondly, the provision of God to remedy that condition. There can be no doubt but this was what Christ brought before Nicodemus, for Christ takes the incident in the history of Israel to illustrate the case of the whole world. In seeking to understand this passage of God’s Word two things are to be noticed.

I.—The lost condition of mankind, as illustrated by the bitten Israelites in the wilderness.

II.—The remedy God provided for perishing sinners, as illustrated by the brazen serpent erected by Moses in the wilderness.

I.—The first thing to be noticed about the bitten Israelites is that this was brought upon them by their own sin. They sinned against God, and God sent fiery serpents among them, whose bite brought death. The poison of the serpent began to take possession of every member of their body, and death was staring them in the face. The same is true of mankind. Men brought death upon themselves through sinning against God. That old serpent, the devil and Satan, gave us such a bite in our first covenant-head that his poison has gone through every member of our body and every faculty of our soul, and death, in its threefold awfulness, is staring Christless sinners in the face, namely, death spiritual, death physical, and death eternal. Death spiritual laid hold of the race in Adam, and death physical and death eternal claimed every one of the race the moment they lost communion with God.

The dying Israelite was hopelessly and helplessly lost, as far as any human remedy was concerned. Cures might be tried, but no cure could be found, and the people were convinced of this. The human race is undone for ever, as far as any human remedy is concerned, and every one who is taught of God feels convinced of this. The Israelites might have tried various remedies, and some might have clung to these false remedies till it was truly too late to make use of God’s remedy, but those who were wise turned away from all other remedies to that which God provided, feeling convinced that God alone could help in their case. So with men. Men may try to save themselves in various ways, but those who are saved are convinced of the utter uselessness of any remedy but that remedy which God Himself set up. This was, then, the condition of the bitten Israelites: they were undone, and their lost condition is a fit emblem to bring out the condition of a lost world. But in the case of Israel God showed them mercy, and provided means by which they could be saved. So with mankind. God did not suffer them all to die, but made provision to deliver them from the state into which sin brought them; and that leads us to consider, in the second place, the Gospel provision, of which the brazen serpent was a type.

II.—The first thing we notice in connection with the provision made for the bitten Israelites, is that the provision made for them was made by the Most High. It was God’s remedy. So with the Gospel; it is God’s provision for a lost world. It is what infinite wisdom provided. The serpent of brass had no poison in it, and yet it represented the fiery serpents by which the Israelites were bitten. Christ had no sin, yet He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. And, as the apostle says, “By man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,” so by the God-man life and healing came to lost men. There was only one provision for the whole camp. Moses did not erect a serpent here and there throughout the great camp of Israel, but only one serpent. So with Christ, the one Mediator between God and men. He is the only Mediator, the only Redeemer of God’s elect. He is “the Saviour of the world,” in this sense that there is no other Saviour.

The serpent of brass was lifted up on a pole in the midst of the camp of Israel; and Christ says of Himself, “even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” There can be no doubt but Christ refers here to His death on the Cross. When Christ expounded the Scriptures to the two disciples who were going to Emmaus, He said, “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?” where we have the necessity of the lifting up of Christ more fully expressed. Why must the Son of Man be lifted up, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness? It was because He, as the salvation of God to the ends of the earth, had to fulfil His covenant engagements. Death, as we have seen, laid hold of the human race, and before there could be deliverance from death the Son of Man had to die. The law under which mankind came, in their first covenant-head, was broken, but it still demanded what it demanded before it was broken from those who were under it. Yea, it demanded more; for it now demanded that the human race should suffer eternally for disobedience. And what the law demanded from sinful men it also demanded from the “Surety.” It demanded from men three things: (1) a perfectly holy nature; (2) perfect obedience in thoughts, words, and deeds; (3) everlasting sufferings, inasmuch as they became law-breakers.

Christ, the Surety, had to meet all these demands before He could bring life to perishing sinners. Christ came to the law with His holy humanity, and the law said, “I am satisfied with this holy nature.” Christ came with His obedience unto death to the law, and the law said, “I am more than satisfied,” for “He magnified the law and made it honourable.” But Christ had to die, and in His death He had to be lifted up. “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me,” says Christ. Had Christ to suffer eternally? No; but He had to suffer every drop of suffering which the finite creatures, which He as Surety stood for, would have to suffer for ever and ever. Christ, being a divine person, was capable of enduring the eternal sufferings of finite creatures in time, and so make an end of the sufferings. It would seem as if this were intended by the figure Christ makes use of in referring to His sufferings, for He says, “The cup which my Father hath given me to drink, shall I not drink it?” It would seem as if Christ, in referring to the “cup,” meant that the Father, as the Judge of all, had put every drop which the elect would have to suffer eternally into one cup, and gave this cup to His beloved Son, and His beloved Son, being a divine person, was able to drink every drop that was put into that cup. He took this cup; He drank this cup; He said, “It is finished.” There was a necessity laid upon Him to drink it, because He engaged to draw near as the Surety of the elect and make an atonement for them with His own blood.

But as He was lifted up on the Cross, so He must also be exalted to the Father’s right hand. The Scriptures are clear on this point, that, as Jesus died, the Just One in the room of the unjust, and by His death made satisfaction on behalf of sinful men, so He must be exalted. Justice demanded that He should be lifted up on the Cross. Justice now demanded that He should be exalted to the Father’s right hand—”a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance and remission of sins unto Israel.” And as He was exalted to heaven, so He must also be lifted up in the preached Gospel as God’s wonderful provision for lost sinners.

It was true of the serpent of brass that the cure was free to all. No one had to pay for a look at the brazen serpent. So Jesus is free to “whosoever will,” “without money and without price.” And as the brazen serpent was for the bitten Israelites, so Christ is provided for sinners. The freeness of Christ brings to memory a story of a poor Irishman, which may be here related. A gentleman from England was on holiday in Ireland, and one day as he was taking a walk he passed the door of a cottage, outside of which there stood an old man, weeping very bitterly. When the gentleman inquired the cause of his distress, the old man replied that his wife was dead, and that he had no money to give the priest to take her soul out of purgatory. The gentleman reasoned with him, it seems, about the inhumanity of any priest who would not take a person out of purgatory without money; but he at the same time spoke to him of the freeness of Christ, and that, “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” After giving the poor Irishman some money, and a charge that the priest was not to share it, the gentleman went on his way. Next year the gentleman returned to the same locality in Ireland, and passing the same cottage, he thought he would inquire for his old friend. So he went to the door, and a young woman answered his knock. He asked for the old man, and the young woman said that he had died some time before then. The gentleman expressed sorrow, and inquired what was the matter with him before he died. “Ah, sir,” said the young woman, “he was my father, but before he died he was mad.” The gentleman asked her how she knew that he was mad. “Well, sir,” she said, “he was always talking of a man, Moses, who lifted up a serpent in the wilderness, and saying that so must Christ be lifted up, that whosoever believed in Him should not perish. And he said that he believed in Him, and that he would not perish. When we wanted to go for the priest, sir, he would not hear of it, but continued to speak of the man, Moses, and the serpent in the wilderness.” And she concluded by saying, “Ah, sir, he was my father, but he was mad.” Poor Roman Catholic girl! Would to God there was more of the Irishman’s madness seen in the world!

It was further true of the brazen serpent that it was a suitable cure. No bitten Israelite ever looked and died. So with Christ. Christ is suitable, and no one ever looked to Him and died eternally. The Israelites were commanded to look to the serpent. Sinners are commanded to look to Christ.

We notice, in the last place, that it was by looking that Israel was saved in the wilderness. Now, looking did not entail any hard labour. It was a simple thing to look, yet it comprehended obedience to God’s command. God said that the Israelite who looked would live, and those who believed did look, and the poison which proved so deadly was counteracted in its effects through the eye which beheld the brazen serpent. So with sinners and Christ, the Gospel provision. It is by looking that the sinner is healed. It is by the eye of faith that the believer in Christ is changed into the same image. It is not, in itself, a hard task to believe; the hardest thing, no doubt, to nature, but still not to grace. There is nothing easier to the eye of faith than to look to Christ. One living look at the Crucified One is enough to save the most abandoned sinner. May any sinner look to Christ? Yes; for He says that “whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Some think that they are too sinful to look to Christ, but He says “whosoever,” and that means “any one” of the human race. All are welcome to come, and the Bible begins and ends with an invitation to look to Jesus. God’s own people, who have already looked to Him and felt in themselves healing through beholding the Lamb of God—even they at times need to be assured that Christ is a Saviour for any sinner, for they feel themselves to be the chief of sinners. “Whosoever,” then, may come; and even although they have come already, they are welcome again—welcome always—to look to God’s provision and live. The question for each one is: “Have I looked to Jesus by faith; have I seen His glory as the only begotten of the Father?” Have we realised that, through faith in Him, we have been accepted as righteous in the sight of God, and that we have been delivered from the guilt of sin by the efficacy of His blood, and that by His power the strength of corruption in our hearts has been broken? If we have for ourselves experienced these things, then we may with confidence hope that we “shall never perish.”

Account of Mission to Forces in England.

BY THE REV. DONALD GRAHAM, SHIELDAIG, ROSS-SHIRE.

F.P. MANSE, SHIELDAIG, via LOCHCARRON, 16th June, 1915. DEAR MR. EDITOR,—In conjunction with my predecessors, it falls to my lot to give a brief report of my visit to England in connection with our Mission to the Forces. Although I was greatly interested in the Mission from its beginning, yet I had no thought of going myself. And when I was asked to go, I hesitated for a moment, and, as I hope, endeavoured to lay the matter before the Lord. Being more or less satisfied that it was my duty to go, I wired back, consenting.

I left Shieldaig on Thursday, 6th May, and arrived in Glasgow on the evening of the same day at 9.30. On Friday morning I left Glasgow for London and arrived there at 6.30 p.m. Our kind and dear friend, Mr. D. Sutherland, met me at Euston Station, Mr. MacLeod, student, being that evening in Portsmouth in connection with our Mission. Mr. MacLeod kept on the services both in Portsmouth and Chatham on the week-days during the interval between the Rev. Mr. Macqueen’s leaving and my arrival. Mr. Sutherland accompanied me to 8 Wellington Square, where I was hospitably entertained all the time in company with our dear friends, Messrs. W. Grant, J. MacLeod, student, and R. Sinclair, who were all as kind and attentive to me, as if I were worthy of their attention.

Mr. MacLeod, student, who supplied Portsmouth on the night of my arrival, returned about two o’clock a.m. and found me asleep, but awoke and welcomed me. I at once noticed that he had a cold, and sore throat, contracted in his kind endeavours to keep our Mission going until I arrived. It being now Saturday, and Mr. MacLeod not well, friends prevailed upon me to stay in London for the first Sabbath and take the services, which I did, and enjoyed very much, preaching in our London Hall, of which I heard so much from some of our own friends who used to be in attendance there. On Monday I was to proceed to Kimbolton, but shortly before the time came for leaving, we had word from Kimbolton that they had secured a Gaelic chaplain for the place.

On Tuesday I left for Buckden, and arrived about four p.m., where I was hospitably entertained by Miss Cope, of whose kindness so much has been said already by our deputes, which I can fully endorse in every respect. I also visited Mr. Bowtell, who so kindly arranged for our meetings which were kept in the Wesleyan Chapel. Our meeting hour, which was 7 p.m., having arrived, I went to the Chapel to find present only one soldier, Miss Cope, and a few other civilians. But soon after a few more soldiers came in. Some of them knew me, they hailed from Lochbroom, Ullapool, Coigach, etc. I was pleased to find that one of the young men in uniform, who hailed, I think, from Edinburgh, Mr. Patrick Smith, was a fine young Christian who kept meetings himself in the Chapel on Sabbath mornings at the early hour of 9 a.m. At the close of our meeting I asked him to engage in prayer, which he did, and I was pleased to hear him plead for his fellow-soldiers, and for the nation at large. If it would please the Lord to raise up young praying men in our ranks, it would be a valuable sign for good. This young man told me that the reason our meeting was so meagre, was that the men had to attend to their horses, and then get their own supper, and that by that time they would be too late. Moreover, he said, that they were preparing for leaving Buckden for some other place. So on this account I did not return to Buckden any more, as they would be away before I could come again. I returned to London on Wednesday.

My next place was Chatham, where I went on the following day. There we had a fairly good gathering, I should say seventy, or more. From Chatham I returned to London the same night, and left for Portsmouth on Friday. I arrived at Portsmouth about 6.30 p.m. Several kind men met me at the station. One of them, Ken. Morrison, from Harris, acted as my guide, leading me to the Barracks gate, of which you have heard already, so that I need only allude to the strange feeling one has, when he has to present his credentials before being allowed to pass through the gates, guarded by officers and soldiers with their fixed bayonets. On my entering through the gate, I met a number of naval men. Some who knew me came forward and welcomed me. Some of them hailed from Harris, Lewis, Glendale, Skye, and the mainland. We had services on Friday night, beginning at 7 p.m., and on Sabbath at 2 p.m. and at 7 p.m. We had here a fairly good attendance to begin with, even on the week evenings. On my second Sabbath at Portsmouth, we had a large congregation, some of the men had to stand or sit on the floor. As I was going out after the meeting was over, the officer in charge of the hall asked me to report to the chief officer at the gate, that we had not enough accommodation for the men in our hall. I did so, and he said that he would see to it. So he did, and next Sabbath and Friday we had extra seats in the hall. I would say, that the last two Sabbaths that I was at Portsmouth, we would have over 200. The same was the case in Chatham. The last Sabbath in Chatham, I remarked to the man who came with me to the gate, “We had a good congregation to-night—I should say about 200.” “Yes,” he replied, “a good 200.” The dear fellows! May the Lord be pleased to bless the Word preached to them!

When the time came for my departure, I must say, that although I had a wife, family, and a congregation behind me, I felt sorry leaving these dear men who are serving their country; and were it not that our Communions were at hand, both Shieldaig and Lochcarron, I would willingly have stayed with them for other three weeks or more. May the Lord be with them, whether sailors or soldiers, on sea, or on land!

In conclusion, I would seek to enjoin upon myself and others, that every one who has the spirit of prayer in his or her soul, would be diligent at a throne of grace on their behalf, and on behalf of our poor nation. The hand of the Lord is heavily upon us. May He be pleased to give us the spirit of true repentance. Oh that He would pour out upon us the Spirit of grace and of supplication according to His promise! “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; all the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart” (Zech. xii. 10-14). This is what we stand in need of as a nation.

I might mention that in Chatham I met with men from Assynt, Raffin, Clashnessie, and Drumbaig, also from Gairloch, and Laide. The Lord bless them all! But I must come to an end.—I am, yours sincerely,

D. GRAHAM.

Australian Mission.

REPORT BY THE REV. DUNCAN MACKENZIE, GAIRLOCH, ROSS-SHIRE.

AS first deputy of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland to the Brushgrove-Grafton congregation, Clarence River, New South Wales, Australia, I left Liverpool, accompanied by my wife, on 12th March, 1914. Our ship was the S.S. Suevic of the White Star Line. When the shores of Britain faded out of sight, a sadness came over our spirits. Late on Friday night we encountered a severe storm, which raged for fully three days, and subsided only when we emerged from the turbulent Bay of Biscay. The majority of the 211 passengers were prostrate with sea-sickness. We thought of Him who, on the Sea of Galilee, turned the storm into a calm, and brought timely relief to His distressed and fatigued disciples.

“The storm is changed into a calm,
At his command and will;
So that the waves which raged before,
Now quiet are and still.”—Ps. cvii. 29.

“Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the mighty waters, and thy footsteps are not known” (Ps. lxxvii. 19.)

The Bay of Biscay is associated in one’s mind from childhood with its dangers, its shipwrecks by fire, and its shipwrecks by storm and fire combined. When we came out of this storm my mind reverted to the fate of many who, in the past, had traversed these waters. The loss of the Kent by fire and storm on 1st March, 1825, lives in history—560 were saved and 81 lost. Captain Cook, of the brig Cambria, 200 tons, who rescued the survivors, must have been possessed of a cool and clear head and warm heart, when he succeeded in packing on board his small vessel 560 additional passengers. In a few days thereafter, the survivors were landed at Falmouth, where, before they parted, they assembled in a body and gave thanks to the Most High for remembering them in their sore distress. Major Duncan Macgregor, afterwards Sir Duncan Macgregor, when all hope of escape was gone, wrote on a piece of paper, addressed to his father, John Macgregor, Esq., Commercial Bank, Edinburgh, the following, which, in a bottle, he consigned to the ocean:—”The ship, the Kent, East Indiaman, is on fire. Elizabeth Joanna and myself commit our spirits into the hands of our blessed Redeemer. His grace enables us to be quite composed in the awful prospect of entering into eternity. Duncan Macgregor, 1st March, 1825, Bay of Biscay.” The bottle, thrown into the sea on 1st March, 1825, was, on 30th September, 1826, picked up on the shore of Barbadoes Island, and handed to Sir Duncan Macgregor, who, at the time, was with his regiment on that island.

The foundering of the S.S. London, on 11th January, 1866, with the loss of 239 lives out of 258, is a very sad and pathetic story. Only three passengers were among the survivors. The exhortations of the Rev. Mr. Draper to the passengers, to be reconciled unto God, and his other religious services, seem to have comforted many of the heart-stricken passengers. Only one boat was available, and when it was pulled away from the London, a lady, horror depicted upon her countenance, shouted—”A thousand guineas for a place in the boat!” But it was too late. How useless is everything without the new birth! “If thou hast run with the footmen and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses; and if, in the land of peace wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?” When I reflected upon these shipwrecks, I saw more strikingly how deep were our obligations to the Almighty for His merciful preservation of us in the storm, and our need of the sacrifice of praise.

On 21st March, one of the Suevic passengers, Mr. Percy H. Brown, Bangor, Ireland, 26 years of age, died, and next morning his mortal remains were consigned to the deep, in presence of the captain, a number of officers, and sailors. As the deceased was a Presbyterian, I was asked to conduct a service, which consisted of reading suitable portions of the truth and prayers. The event brought vividly before one the great scene of the future, “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it.” We deeply sympathised with the bereaved mother, who, only nine days previously, had parted with her son.

The heat of the tropics was trying. The weather was very warm till we left Cape Town. Between Cape Town and Australia it was cooler. We entered the heat region when we came to Australia. We arrived in Cape Town on 2nd April, and left next day. We saw more foreigners in that city than we had expected. When we were passing the Cape of Good Hope, I thought of Cape Wrath in Scotland, and of awakened sinners fleeing from wrath, and the cause of it, to the hope set before them in the gospel. Church of England services, every Sabbath the steamer was at sea, were held at 10.30 a.m. by some of the officials. I preached on Sabbath evening, 5th April. There was a good attendance. On Sabbath afternoon, 12th April, we were overtaken by a typhoon in the Indian Ocean. It speedily sent the majority of the passengers to their cabins. The storm lashed the ocean into fury. It abated next day. During this storm we read in our cabin the 107th Psalm in circumstances in which we had never before read it. The great majority see not the hand of the Almighty in either storm or calm.

ARRIVAL AT AUSTRALIA.

On 19th April, we arrived at Albany, West Australia, and sailed next day. When we set foot on Australian soil we “thanked God, and took courage.” A strange feeling comes over one when for weeks in succession one sees no land, nothing but the wide ocean. These words came vividly to my mind, “There was no more sea.” The saints of God have their sea of troubles here, but ere long they will reach the haven of eternal rest and glory, and dwell forever in Immanuel’s Land. The great Australian Bight, between Albany and Adelaide, extending from Cape Arid to Cape Catastrophe, is proverbial for its furious storms. Although the prospect was a more severe storm in the Bight than we had in the Bay of Biscay, we were thankful that instead of storm we had favourable weather. On 24th April we arrived in Adelaide outer harbour, and left the following day. Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, is greatly admired by visitors.

On 27th April we entered Port Melbourne, and departed on 2nd May. Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, is noted for its wide streets, intersecting one another at right angles. On 4th May we arrived in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, and left on the 8th. Sydney is the oldest city in Australia, and its harbour is one of the finest in the world. In Sydney we were kept very busy till the last available moment at our disposal, tracing out relatives of some of our Free Presbyterians. We were partly successful in our quest. Captain John MacFarlane, who piloted the Suevic into Sydney harbour on 4th May, is a nephew of Rev. D. Macfarlane, Dingwall. He has been in Australia for twenty years, and speaks Gaelic well. He sent us a most cordial invitation to spend some days with him at his home in Newcastle, but, as I was under yoke, I was debarred from accepting the hearty invitation given.

Captain James Cook, in August, 1770, annexed to Britain the whole of East Australia. This brought Australia into prominence. Then followed the transportation of convicts, which caused much anxiety and trouble to those in authority. Rev. Samuel Marsden, chaplain to the penal settlement in Sydney, arrived in Sydney in 1794, and was a tower of strength there, and proved a rich blessing both to New South Wales and New Zealand. At the 1911 census, 44 per cent. of the population of New South Wales were members of the Church of England, 23 per cent. were Roman Catholics, 11 per cent. were Presbyterians, and 9 per cent. were Methodists.

The Suevic arrived in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, on 11th May. We thus travelled on sea upwards of 12,500 miles. We arrived that afternoon at Manly, a sea-coast town, about 15 miles from Brisbane. Here Psalms xxiii. and cxxi. came with comfort to my mind. At Manly we were hospitably entertained by my two sisters, Mrs. Stewart and Mrs. McColl, till Thursday morning, 21st May. While we were here we journeyed to trace, in the suburbs of Brisbane, relatives of Gairloch Free Presbyterians, but we were only in part successful. It was interesting to see in Queensland open-air schools.

JOURNEY TO CLARENCE RIVER DISTRICT.

We left Manly by 6.33 a.m. train on 21st May, arrived at Tweed Heads about 11.40, and thereafter sailed 20 miles by steamer on the River Tweed to Murwillumbah. We had barely time to overtake the 3.20 train for Casino. Mr. Alexander MacGregor, North Arm, a native of Gairloch, met us, and was so considerate as to remember our creature wants. We were sorry that we had hardly any time in the company of our benefactor. We arrived in Casino about 9, under drenching rain, and had the greatest difficulty, on account of the usual horse races in town, in securing a place of shelter for the night, but at length Mrs. W. G. Mackney kindly housed us till next day, and made us very comfortable. “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” On 22nd we left by train for Lawrence Road Station. At Rapville Station Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Grant, Woodford Leigh, and Mr. Stewart MacLachlan, Ellerslie, members of Brushgrove-Grafton congregation, joined us, and welcomed us to the district, wishing us God’s blessing. We arrived at Lawrence Road Station at 3.10. From there we coached 11 miles to Lawrence, where we arrived at 5.20, and took up our abode in Iona, High Street, the house of Mrs. Kidd, where, during the 6½ months of our sojourn in the Clarence District, we received every kindness and attention. We shall not readily forget the considerate kindness of Miss Kidd. On our arrival at Iona we were met by a number of friends, and had a pleasant and profitable evening.

The Clarence River was discovered in 1834 or 1835 by a convict. Sometime thereafter for the first time in the history of the district, a ship floated on the waters of the magnificent Clarence. The river is about 250 miles long, and has 99 islands. It is called the River of Islands. Woodford Isle, 15 miles long, is one of these islands, and on it is Brushgrove. Sydney is distant from the mouth of the Clarence, 296 miles. Steamers of about 800 tons sail bi-weekly from Sydney to Grafton, 50 miles from the mouth of the river. Smaller steamers trade to Copmanhurst, the terminus of the navigable waters of the Clarence, 20 miles beyond Grafton. Three passenger steamers ply daily on the Clarence. The country is flat, the land is very fertile, and there are some lovely spots. It is principally an agricultural country, and the people are in very comfortable circumstances. There are two thriving towns on the Clarence—MacLean and Grafton (capital); also small towns or villages—Yamba, at the mouth of the river, Lawrence, Southgate, Brushgrove, and Ulmarra. Many of the inhabitants of the Clarence District are descendants of those who emigrated from the Highlands of Scotland. Skye is largely represented: Ardnamurchan, Mull, Lochaber, and Sutherland come in for a fair share. Only a few speak or understand Gaelic. Houses bear such names as Suinart, Laga, Kilmory, Argyle, Strontian, Staffa, Iona. The climate is sub-tropical. Australia is a land of perpetual bloom. It is very rich in fruit: grapes grow plentifully. In hot climates the Almighty has given fruit adapted to meet the wants of the inhabitants. The seasons slightly vary in the various States. In New South Wales the seasons are (1) Spring—September, October, November; (2) Summer—December, January, February; (3) Autumn—March, April, May; (4) Winter—June, July, August. We experienced the winter more like our own summer with this one exception that mornings and evenings were cold. There is no thunder in winter, but in summer thunderstorms are very frequent, and sometimes very severe, accompanied with very heavy rains, and very large hail. There are summer cyclones. Sheet lightning is very frequent in winter, even on clear frosty nights. In summer the thermometer is at times 118, and farther inland, 120. We had an experience of it at 100 and 106. We could hardly, during the day, live indoors, and, when not on the move, we sat on the verandah of the house: there we did for most our reading, writing, etc. I thought of Abraham “sitting at the door of his tent in the heat of the day,” and of Him concerning whom it is said, “For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat.” The district is a great transgressor of the Lord’s Day. Bands discourse music in the towns and villages along the Clarence. Many go hare-hunting, some drive for pleasure, others drive to visit friends. Indians call on farmers for work, and many, instead of telling them that they do not engage servants on the Lord’s Day, bargain with them and engage them. Thus these Indians are encouraged by nominal Christians to trample under foot God’s holy and unalterable law. Those who encourage and foster lawlessness must appear at the judgment-seat of Christ to give an account of their doings.

There are a number of aborigines in the Clarence District. As a race they are fast passing away. They live in huts, but still retain their nomadic propensities. They are now well-treated throughout the Commonwealth. The Government supply them with rations. Ulundahi Island on the Clarence has been, by the Government, allocated to a colony of aborigines. A church and school have been erected, and pastor and teacher appointed. The aborigines on this island are taught to cultivate the land. This settlement is a success.

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF EASTERN AUSTRALIA.

A short statement anent the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia is necessary to understand its position. In New South Wales Colony there existed a Presbyterian Church, in connection with the Established Church of Scotland. In 1846 certain ministers and elders, members of that Church, separated themselves from that body and formed themselves into a separate Church, known as the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia. The separation took place on the principles of the Free Church of Scotland as formed in 1843. In 1864 four bodies of Presbyterians, including the main body of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia, united and formed one united Church of New South Wales, known as the Presbyterian Church of New South Wales; but four ministers refused to enter the united Church, and adhered to, and carried on, the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia. In 1884 there were eleven ministers, eight of whom were settled ministers. The history of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia is a very sad one. For several years prior to 1884 anything but brotherly love reigned. The dispute did not arise from any doctrinal defection, nor was it about purity of worship; it arose entirely from personal matters. At the Synod Meeting in Sydney on 6th May, 1884, three of the ministers—Rev. Peter Macpherson, Albion St., Sydney; Rev. John Shirret Macpherson, Maitland; and Rev. Hugh Livingstone, Lismore—were declared to be no longer members of the Synod, and their names were removed from the Roll; but this did not affect their own and the legal rights of their congregations to the Church property in their possession. This expulsion carried with it also expulsion from the Presbyteries. Subsequently the Synod declared that the Rev. Duncan MacInnes, MacLean congregation, was no longer a member of Synod, and his name was removed from the Roll, and his church was declared vacant. After many years he rejoined the body that expelled him. The MacLean congregation followed their pastor when he was expelled, and when he returned to the expellers. To-day it is the largest congregation in the Expulsion Party. The three ministers, expelled on 6th May, 1884, raised, along with another minister and two elders, an action in Sydney Court against the expellers, but the case was dismissed with expenses. The decision of the Court virtually was that it had no jurisdiction.

HISTORY OF BRUSHGROVE-GRAFTON CONGREGATION.

The three expelled ministers set up a reconstituted Synod of Eastern Australia. Brushgrove, at one time, was connected with Grafton congregation, but the Synod formed it into a separate charge. The Rev. William Grant became its pastor in 1880, and he resigned the charge in 1884, ostensibly on account of the congregation favouring the expelled ministers. On the recommendation of Mr. Archibald MacDonald, Grafton, a native of Skye, well-known in the district, the congregation invited to Brushgrove the Rev. John Finlayson, Coigach, a native of Murgary, Parish of Portree, Scotland. Mr. Finlayson, for fully three years, ministered, with much acceptance, to the Brushgrove congregation. By request of friends formerly connected with Fry Street congregation, Grafton, he occasionally preached in that town. He died at Brushgrove on 10th October, 1890, and his remains were interred at MacLean. His loss was felt by the whole Church. On 27th October, 1891, Rev. John S. Macpherson, East Maitland, deputy from the reconstituted Synod, addressed a meeting in the Oddfellows Hall, Grafton, and a resolution was passed that the friends forming the Grafton and Brushgrove congregation should unite with the reconstituted Synod, and with such other congregations holding their principles as may unite with them. On 31st October, 1891, at an adjourned meeting of Brushgrove congregation, presided over by Rev. J. S. Macpherson, a resolution, similar to that passed by the friends at Grafton, was unanimously passed.

Rev. Walter Scott came in June, 1895, to Brushgrove from Victoria, where he had for some time laboured, and in September or October following, the Presbytery of East Maitland ordained and inducted him. An able minister, he, for 14 years, laboured most assiduously at Brushgrove and Grafton and other places under his charge. The Brushgrove-Grafton congregation all along kept aloof from the expulsion party; but, latterly, some in the congregation were desirous of co-operating with or joining that party. Rev. Walter Scott always refused to own that party until they would first appoint a day of humiliation and prayer and confession of sin for the years of unchristian behaviour and unseemly conduct within their pale. This they refused or neglected to do, and Mr. Scott was thus isolated from his brethren in the ministry. Mr. Scott charged the expulsion party with encouraging sales of work, and with encouraging or allowing communicants and adherents to travel to and from church on Sabbath by tram cars and railway trains. He also pointed out that the Free Presbyterian Synod of Victoria passed a resolution of excommunication against the expellers in the Synod of Eastern Australia. Now, both excommunicators and excommunicated are one Church.

Brushgrove-Grafton congregation has been without a minister since 1909. Some have joined the expulsion party, but a section of the congregation positively refused to identify themselves with that body. Rev. Mr. Scott was an indefatigable witness against Sabbath desecration and against Protestant families in the district sending their children to the Roman Catholic convent schools. In summer a steamer sails on Sabbath from Grafton to Yamba with pleasure-seekers, accompanied by a brass band. Mr. Scott often raised his voice and pen against this huge contravention of the Fourth Commandment, but the pleasure-lovers have not yet ceased defying the Jehovah upon whom they are dependent for the breath in their nostrils. The remnant of the Brushgrove-Grafton congregation is the only congregation that has withstood the many approaches of the expulsion party. Our Synod, at a meeting in Glasgow, on 14th November, 1911, received a petition from the congregation, and decided unanimously to receive its members and adherents into Church fellowship. This, then, is the congregation to whom I was sent by our Church.

DEPUTY’S WORK.

The Australian Mission is different from the other missions of the Church, inasmuch as it is confined to one district and one congregation. It is fully six years since the Rev. Walter Scott (now our minister in Chesley, Ontario) left the congregation. There are three elders—Messrs. Hugh Grant, Woodford Leigh; Alex. Kidd and James D. Kidd, Lawrence. It is to their credit that, during this time, they have regularly kept services at Brushgrove and King’s Creek, and also a weekly prayer meeting. A record was kept of all the meetings held while I was there, and the minute book was left with the elders. There were no deacons, but during my visit two deacons were ordained. No Sustentation Fund was collected for six years. I advised that the fund should be resuscitated, and thus help to defray pulpit supply as may be necessary. The advice was put into execution.

I strongly advised the elders to go further afield to hold services. Since my return to Gairloch I have heard that one of the elders held a service in the Richmond River district, and that there was an encouraging attendance.

One feels very keenly for this small congregation, so far away from the home country, without a stated ministry for more than six years, struggling to maintain “the whole counsel of God.” One feels for them all the more, confronted as they are with much opposition. They have been deprived of their two churches and manse.

To save repetition I shall not here give in detail the services held by me, but, for reference, I have appended a note thereof to this Report. From 22nd May, the date of my arrival, to the 8th of December, the date of my departure, I preached 114 sermons. My sphere of labour was particularly from Woodford Leigh to Grafton, a distance of about 24 miles. Storms on two occasions prevented services being held by me. On Sabbath, 18th October, the storm prevented my going to Grafton. The congregation assembled, and I was pleased that Mr. L. Stewart MacLachlan, with the help of others, conducted a meeting. I preached twice in Gaelic—at Woodford Dale, and at Brushgrove. At Brushgrove Ferry passengers in their vehicles are carried across the Clarence. There are several of these ferries on the river; some are worked by steam, others by the hand. The places in which I officiated were Brushgrove, Grafton, Lower Southgate, King’s Creek, Glen-Lewin, Woodford Leigh, Woodford Dale, Iona, Lawrence, Ellerslie, and Chatsworth. Brushgrove is nearly 8 miles from Iona, Grafton 20½, King’s Creek 3½, Lower Southgate 6, Glen-Lewin 4, Woodford Leigh 4, Woodford Dale 4, Ellerslie 14½, and Chatsworth 16. The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was dispensed twice: at Brushgrove on Sabbath, 5th July, and at Lower Southgate on Sabbath, 1st November. In both cases services were held from Thursday to Monday, both inclusive. Considering the size of the congregation all the services from May to December were well attended.

We weekly visited members of the congregation and others, and met with most genuine kindness. Our frequent visits to Mr. and Mrs. Duncan MacLachlan and family, Ellerslie; Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Grant and family, Woodford Leigh; Mrs. Shaw and family, Glen-Lewin, and Miss Jessie MacDonald, Kelvingrove, are fragrant in our memory. In the hospitable home at Ellerslie we, on several occasions, passed very pleasant days and nights. At Laurel Bank on two occasions, with Mr. and Mrs. Hugh MacLachlan and family, and on three occasions at Inglewood, the residence of Mr. and Mrs. John MacDonald, we spent an enjoyable and profitable time. Mr. and Mrs. Neil MacQueen, Lower Lawrence; Mr. and Mrs. Roderick Shaw, Ulmarra; Mr. Allan MacLachlan and Miss MacKinnon, near Ulmarra; and Mr. and Mrs. Donald MacLachlan, Kilmory, always received us kindly. At Grafton we were, more than once, the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Archibald MacDonald, and were kindly received and hospitably entertained. Here, too, we visited the Misses Macphee, whose father came from Laga, Loch Suinart, and Mr. and Mrs. Peter MacKay, who, a few years ago, visited Scotland, and attended the Communion at Portree.

On 3rd July, by request, I addressed Lower Southgate Public School children. When we entered the school the children were at mental arithmetic. The children are intelligent, and a credit to their teacher, Mr. MacLachlan, and appear to have a good knowledge of the letter of the Scriptures. On 9th Mr. Neil Shaw, Merthyr-Stanford, New South Wales, was among the hearers at a service in Glen-Lewin. Rev. Jas. S. Sinclair, Synod Clerk, wrote to me anent baptising Mr. Shaw’s children. The case was considered by the Kirk-Session, and it was agreed to grant baptism if, after examination, I were satisfied. A strike occurred in the district, and, in the circumstances, Mr. Shaw did not find it convenient to bring his wife and family to the Clarence.

Here I may mention that during my sojourn in Australia I received several interesting letters from Mr. Donald Shaw, Combadello Station, Moree, New South Wales, in which he expressed his gratitude that a minister from the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland had come to New South Wales, and he hoped that one would soon be permanently settled in the district. He sent me 15/- for my personal expenses. He expected that he and Mrs. Shaw might be able to visit the Clarence, but he afterwards, to his regret, found it impossible to come.

Mr. Shaw is known in St. Jude’s congregation, Glasgow. On the 14th Mr. Hugh Grant drove us to Hardwood and Chatsworth. We visited Mr. and Mrs. Donald Cameron and family, Serpentine Creek. They received us most cordially. Here one called and desired information about the Strontian Floating Church and its much-respected minister, Rev. John MacQueen. The pont, or floating bridge, at Harwood, in which we crossed, conveyed seven vehicles, their horses and passengers. This pont is, I believe, the largest on the Clarence. These very serviceable ferries reminded me of an incident in the life of the Rev. Robert Shirra, Kirkcaldy. At Kinghorn it was the practice of the ferrymen to call the passengers by bawling from end to end of the town—”The boat, aho! to Leith, aho!” Mr. Shirra was preaching in a tent at Kinghorn, and observing lang Tam Gallawa with some boatmen and passengers in the bustle of passing down to Pettycur, stopt short in his discourse and, with great energy, addressed them—”Boatmen, you cry, ‘The boat, aho! to Leith, aho!’ we cry, ‘Sal-va-ti-on, aho! to heaven, aho!’ you sail aneath Skipper Gallawa there; we sail aneath Christ! We hae Christ for oor skipper, the Holy Spirit for oor pilot, and God Himsel’ at the helm! Your boat, let me tell ye, is but a fir deal frae Norawa; the keel o’ oor boat was laid in Bethlehem, built in Judea, rigged in Jerusalem, launched on Mount Calvary. We hae the cross o’ Christ for a helm, a cedar o’ Lebanon for a mast, an’ the redemption o’ mankind for a freight. Your voyage, under your earthly skipper, short as it is, may end in shipwreck and disaster; but oor voyage, lang as it may be, wi’ Christ for oor skipper, will end in everlasting joy an’ glory onspeakeable! Slip awa noo, for time an’ tide will nae man bide.”

On 29th we left Lawrence at 7.30 by river steamer for Grafton, and attended the funeral of Mr. Donald MacDonald, brother of Mr. Archibald MacDonald, and conducted devotional exercise in the house. The Most High appoints the bounds of our habitation. Here was one who saw the light of day in Skye, and breathed his last far away from his native isle.

On 5th August, we read of Britain being at war with Germany. War is one of the heavy scourges the Most High lays upon disobedient nations. On account of the war a prayer meeting was held on the 10th, and the 19th was observed as a day of humiliation and prayer. Services were held at Brushgrove and Lawrence. On Sabbath 13th, at Brushgrove, Messrs. L. Stewart MacLachlan, Ellerslie, and John M. Grant, Woodford Leigh, were ordained as deacons. At a service in Glen-Lewin, on 24th, I baptised Donald Clarence Shaw and Hector Arthur Shaw, sons of Mr. Roderick Shaw, Ulmarra. On 6th October we visited the aboriginal camp on Lawrence Hill. On the 8th I attended, by request, a meeting of the Deacons’ Court at Brushgrove, and there, on the 13th, I presided at a congregational meeting. The financial statement was read and approved of, and a vote of thanks was conveyed to the treasurer, Mr. J. H. MacLachlan, Ulmarra.

I may say that, notwithstanding the heat, mosquitoes, etc., I enjoyed excellent health in New South Wales. During the 6½ months of my labours there, the services were appreciated by the congregation, and the deputy was, now and again, strengthened from on high to declare the unsearchable riches of Christ Jesus. The two Communion seasons, especially the first, were seasons of much blessing to hearers and preacher. I felt at home among the people. Our visits to the various households are green in our memory. I was often struck with the earnestness and pathos with which the office-bearers pleaded in prayer for the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and for the continuance of the preached gospel among themselves. I am indebted especially to Mr. Grant, elder, and to Mrs. Kidd’s family for conveying me to the different places of worship, and to the various districts I visited. I shall always have very pleasant recollections of the people, and I pray the Most High to remember them in mercy in enlarging their borders and in providing for them an ambassador commissioned by heaven, and endued with power from on high, who shall declare unto them the whole counsel of God.