ANOTHER breach was made among the godly of the Dingwall congregation in the removal by death of Mr. John Mackenzie, Balnain. He died on the 12th July last, and was interred in the burying ground of Fodderty the following Saturday.
Mr. Mackenzie’s father, who was a godly man, belonged to Kirkhill, and had the privilege of sitting under the ministry of the Frasers, of whom there was a succession of godly ministers. I knew the last of them myself. We were co-presbyterians in the Presbytery of Inverness when I was at Moy. Though considered a godly man, he did not come up to the “first three.” In course of time Mr. Mackenzie’s father removed from Kirkhill and took a farm in the vicinity of Dingwall. He was an elder in the Free Church congregation of Dingwall in Dr. Kennedy’s time. His son, the subject of this sketch, was a precentor in the congregation, and Dr. Kennedy had great regard for him as a godly young man.
In 1893, when we took up a separate position in defence of the truth, Mr. Mackenzie, without the least hesitation, joined us, and continued with us until the time of his death. Mr. Mackenzie had no sympathy with, and no respect for, the ministers that did not stand for the truth when the time of trial came, and he pitied the people that followed them, and often spoke feelingly of the danger to their precious souls in forsaking the truth and following error. For years he was a worthy elder in our congregation. He was not, on account of his humility, ambitious for office in the Church, but, as he saw the cause needing it, he willingly accepted of the office. He was repeatedly a Presbytery elder, and attended the meetings of Presbytery as often as his health permitted. Though a considerable distance from the church, he was regular in his attendance on the public means of grace. On account of the distance he did not come to the church on Sabbath evenings, but was serviceable to the cause at home at these times, inasmuch as he conducted a Sabbath School for the benefit of his own family and the young of his servant men.
Mr. Mackenzie was not only a fine specimen of a Christian, but he was a man of integrity and honesty in all his dealings with his fellow creatures. He had great regard and admiration for Dr. Kennedy, but not greater than the Doctor deserved. He constantly spoke about him, and often repeated to others what he heard from the pulpit from the lips of the great preacher.
For years before his end he was in failing health. The last time I saw him in his own house, shortly before his death, he was in a heavenly frame of mind, though suffering much bodily pain, and he was longing to depart and be “with Christ, which is far better.” He got his desire, and he is now away from our midst.
We miss him very much, not only on account of his personal piety, but also on account of the help he rendered in conducting the Sabbath services, along with others, in the absence of the minister. He was unwilling to take the lead, as he preferred others to himself, but he took a share of the work. He was an educated man, and prayed as freely in English as in Gaelic. He was a man of prayer. At the time of the train disaster near Carrbridge he had a narrow escape, being in that train on his way from Edinburgh. As if he had anticipated some danger on the way, he prayed most earnestly before he left Edinburgh that the Lord would bring him home in safety. The carriage, behind that in which he was travelling, fell into the river when the bridge was carried away by the flood, but he got home safely, while several others on the same train lost their lives. He considered this as an answerto prayer. He prayed, not only for himself and his family, but also for the coming of Christ’s Kingdom, and His cause in the world, and for the nation. He often lamented the sins of the nation, by which God was provoked to begin His work of judgment in the present awful War.
We extend our sympathy to his widow and family and other relatives, and pray that they all may follow his teaching by precept and example.
D. MACF.