A Brief Memoir of James M’Innes, Clachan, Kintyre.
By the late Rev. J. M. M’Pherson, Free Church, Killean.
Argyll. With Introductory Note by ARCHIBALD M’LELLAN,
F.E.I.S. Copies may be had from Mr. M’Lellan, at Achanalt.
Ross-shire, and Miss Maclean, Bookseller, 12 High Street, Dingwall. Price, 1d. each. Postage: one to four copies, 1d.; twelve copies, post free. Copies for Soldiers and Sailors, free of charge.
The text which appears on the front page of this little Memoir is, “The child shall die an hundred years old” (Isaiah lxx. 20), and truly its contents justify the words. We have seldom read a more impressive testimony from a boy who died at the early age of seven years. James M’Innes, whose father was a gardener, was born at Balnakill Lodge in February, 1853. He was a pleasant child from infancy, docile and affectionate. “When about four years of age he was visited with a painful disease in the thigh-joint, that afterwards suppurated and occasioned his death, which took place on the 27th day of March, 1860.” It appears that in the autumn and winter of 1859 the district of Kintyre experienced “a remarkable season of religious awakening and revival.” Among other persons, James M’Innes’s mother came under “serious concern for her soul,” which led also to deep impressions upon the mind of her little boy. At this period “he was in the habit of saying very frequently, with great solemnity, that the only persons in all the world whom he envied were those who had a saving interest in Christ, often exclaiming, with streaming eyes, ‘Will Christ ever save me? Oh, will Jesus pass me by, and save others?’ Again: ‘O what an awful thing sin is! It murdered Christ. I wonder why God did not send me to hell long ago for not loving Him, and sinning against Him.'” After he came to a definite knowledge of the Lord he said, on one occasion, to his mother, when she expressed deep sorrow under the fear that his end was come: “O mother, see you don’t love me too much. Although I love you much, yet I love Christ far more. You must do the same; for oh! He alone is worthy of your love.” Many were the solemn and earnest counsels he gave to persons, young and old, that visited him. To a young girl he said once: “If you wish to come to Christ you must pray and read, and hear the word of God preached, as often as you can, praying to God to enable you to believe the Bible, and you will be sure to get Christ before you die; but your heart is so full of the world and the things of the world that you have no room for Christ. Oh, ask the Lord to come and empty you of all other things, and then He will come and dwell in you; and remember it is the Lord Himself that can empty you.” These are a few samples of his true and earnest utterances—very remarkable for so young a child.
This interesting little booklet was first issued in 1862 by the late Rev. J. M. M’Pherson, a minister of the old Free Church in Killean, Argyll, who appears to have been a sound and honoured preacher of the Gospel. It is now re-issued, with a good introductory note, by Mr. A. M’Lellan, F.E.I.S., Achanalt, Ross-shire, who will supply copies—those for Soldiers and Sailors, free of
charge. We trust that the Memoir will be widely circulated—it is in neat form, suitable for insertion in a letter—and that the Lord may bless its perusal to many, young and old.
“The Faith Once for All Delivered unto the Saints.”
By the Rev. R. MIDDLETON and others. With Introduction by the Rev. Prebendary H. G. Fox, M.A. Second Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Price, 9d; postage, 1d. London: Chas. J. Thynne, 28-30 Whitefriars Street, E.C. 4.
This little volume has been composed by men of a sound evangelical stamp, with a view to counteract Ritualism and Romanism in the Church of England. It deals with such subjects as the Lord’s Supper and the Passover, “Early Christian Ritual,” “The Real Presence,” “Confession,” and “Apostolic Succession.” The chapters are brief, but they are written in an instructive, scholarly manner, with quotations from Holy Scripture, and from divines, ancient and modern. The absurdity of Transubstantiation is convincingly exposed. The book is fitted to be a helpful guide to persons who are exercised about the important matters of which it treats.