CONTENTS

| | PAGE. |
|—————————————————————————————————————–|——-|
| THE END OF THE WAR, | 233 |
| NOTES OF A SERMON. By the Rev. D. Macfarlane, Dingwall, | 235 |
| NOTED PREACHERS OF THE NORTHERN HIGHLANDS. By the Rev.
D. Beaton, Wick— | |
| IV.—Rev. Robert Finlayson, Helmsdale, | 239 |
| ACCOUNT OF MISSION TO NAVAL MEN IN ENGLAND. By the Rev.
D. M. Macdonald, North Uist, | 245 |
| COMMUNION TABLE ADDRESSES. (Hitherto unpublished.) By the
late Rev. Professor John Duncan, LL.D., Edinburgh, | 246 |
| THE LATE MRS. MACLAGGAN, CHESLEY, ONTARIO, | 250 |
| BRIEF MEDITATIONS. By the late Rev. D. Macbeath of Ness, Lewis, | 251 |
| DIARY OF THE REV. JAMES CALDER, MINISTER OF CROY, INVER-
NESS-SHIRE, | 253 |
| AIR IOMADH PUING DHIADHACHD, | 256 |
| CHURCH NOTES, | 261 |
| ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF DONATIONS, | 262 |
| THE MAGAZINE, | 263 |

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VOL. XXIII.

DECEMBER, 1918.

No. 8.

The End of the War.

THE eleventh day of November, 1918, will be remarkable in the history of mankind. On that day an armistice was signed, and hostilities ceased between the German and the Allied armies in connection with the greatest War that the world has ever witnessed. The happy news, that the long-desired peace had come, was received with overflowing satisfaction and delight in all the towns and villages of Great Britain, as indeed in almost every part of the earth. Many wept for joy, and we are sure that, while natural thankfulness was everywhere, genuine, spiritual gratitude to the God of peace and Father of mercies rose up in the hearts of all who “love His blessed name.” They ascribed the glory to Him that sitteth upon the throne and liveth for ever and ever. “Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Ps. xlviij. 8-10).

It was gratifying to observe that the Prime Minister, after he had intimated the armistice and cessation of hostilities, moved that the House of Commons immediately adjourn, and proceed to Westminster Abbey to render thanks to Almighty God for the great deliverance He had wrought, and that the House with unanimous consent adopted the motion, and adjourned accordingly. We have also felt much pleasure in noticing, in connection with many of the utterances at Thanksgiving Services, held throughout the country, that there was less praise of the creature instruments who had brought about victory for the Allies, and more ascription of unreserved praise to God for His wondrous mercy, as the supreme cause, than has been hitherto common at War services. It would be well if His goodness at this great crisis would lead us as a people to godly repentance and spiritual reformation.

There are one or two special chords of thought and feeling that are touched at the present moment. The first is that of profound sympathy with those who have lost their near and dear ones in the terrible conflict which has come to a close. Such persons must of necessity feel a pang of pain at their hearts, amid the general rejoicings, when they look back and think of the brave spirits and bright faces of husbands, sons, and brothers that shall never return to their hearths and homes again to cheer and comfort longing friends, but have gone beyond recall to the eternal world. Ah, the sadness of it all, as the result of the cruel devastation of a War, which was prompted by the cursed pride and unholy ambition of the human heart. What a lesson as to the fact and consequences of the Fall! But remembering again that nothing has happened apart from the government of the all-wise Ruler of heaven and earth, we pray that those broken-hearted, desolate ones would be led to humble themselves in self-abasement “under the mighty hand of God,” and seek and find in the Lord Jesus Christ the healing balm for their deep and painful wounds. He is the only physician that can do broken, helpless sinners good. He welcomes such to His feet, and tenderly and powerfully applies His heavenly balm to their souls. If the losses and sorrows of the present time do not lead men to the Divine Saviour, all the Lord’s sharp smiting and pruning during the solemn time that has passed will be in vain as to spiritual and eternal profit. How deplorable a result to contemplate!

Still again, we have another feeling of joy and thankfulness, in sympathy with those whose dear friends have been preserved by the merciful hand of God throughout all the dangers of the War. We desire to rejoice with those who rejoice, as well as to weep with those who weep. Such persons, however, if rightly exercised, will not attribute the benefits conferred by God’s gracious hand to any superior merit on their part. This vain, proud thought will be strenuously resisted, and they will ascribe all the blessings they enjoy to the sovereign and unmerited favour of Him who doeth according to His will among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. It is certainly permissible for them, in strict accordance with God’s truth and promises, to recognise merciful answers to many supplications, presented in Christ’s name, before the throne. The Lord is still the hearer and answerer of prayer, although in His deep and inscrutable sovereignty He does not grant all the petitions, even of His own people. But it is to be feared with regard to a vast number of persons that they have no right appreciation of God’s goodness towards them in the preservation of their friends from a thousand imminent dangers during the recent tremendous conflict, and that they regard the present deliverance with light and frivolous hearts, plunging into all manner of vain amusements. Such are to be pitied in a degree beyond expression. When the divine goodness in its most striking manifestations is

“the saviour of death unto death,” there is marked evidence of the presence of spiritual blindness upon men’s hearts.

In conclusion, we observe that it is very plain that there is great and widespread need of a day of the Spirit’s power in our own and other lands, to make God’s severity and goodness both produce their proper spiritual results. Nothing less than the divine word of truth, applied by the omnipotent Spirit of grace, will subdue and melt hard and stony hearts, and cause true repentance and living faith to spring up therein unto everlasting life. We rejoice at the dawn of a time of peace, but we long for “the dayspring from on high” to visit the nations, “to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,” and to guide their “feet into the way of peace.” True, “the dayspring” has already visited the earth in the coming and work of the Son of God as Redeemer, and in the proclamation of the glorious gospel of His finished redemption, but the Holy Spirit is required in His powerful influences to take of the things of Christ and show them unto the children of men, on a larger scale than hitherto, in order to the extension of Christ’s kingdom, not in name merely but in truth and power, to the ends of the earth.

Notes of a Sermon.

BY THE REV. D. MACFARLANE, DINGWALL,
Preached on Sabbath, 25th August, 1918.

“He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shew it unto you.”—
JOHN XVI. 14.

CHRIST speaks thus of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the glorious Trinity. As we have it in the Shorter Catechism, “There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.” In His acts and operations the Holy Spirit is spoken of as a person. He speaks: He spoke through the prophets, and the apostles; and in the book of Revelation, it is written, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches” (Rev. iii. 6). As a person, He convinces of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He comforts those that are sorrowful. It is as the Comforter Christ promises to send Him to His disciples who were sorrowful when He told them that He was to go away to the Father that sent Him. As a person, He was to take of the things of Christ, and shew them unto His people.

In speaking from our text, we shall notice:—

I.—That the Spirit shall glorify Christ; and

II.—The manner in which He shall glorify Him.

I.—Christ glorified the Father by finishing the work which He gave Him to do. He glorified Him on earth, and the Father

glorified the Son in heaven, with the glory which He had with Him before the world was, and the Spirit whom He sends glorifies Him also. Not that He makes Him more glorious than He is, but that He shows forth His glory. He shows forth in the Scriptures the glory of His person as a glory that transcends that of angels, and men. In the first chapter of Hebrews, the Spirit, through the writer of that epistle, shews that the glory of Christ far excels the glory of angels. “Being made so much better than the angels as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship Him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But of the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thine hands. They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment. And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?” (Hebs. i. 4.13).

Comparing Him with men, He is more glorious than any man in the Church, however good. The Jews thought much of Moses as the greatest man in the Old Testament Church, but Christ is infinitely more glorious than he. “For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses, verily, was faithful in all his house as a servant. . . . But Christ as a Son over his own house” (Heb. iii. 3, 6). Moses was only a servant in the house, but Christ was the owner of the house. The Holy Spirit in the Scriptures shews the glory of Christ’s person, of His two natures as God-man, the glory of His threefold office as prophet, priest, and king, the glory of His atoning sacrifice; and He does so that we might value Him, come to Him, believe in Him, and glorify Him. It is the Spirit in the Lord’s people that enables them to glorify Christ. Those who pretend to have the Holy Spirit and despise Christ are not taught of God; and those who reject the Scriptures in whole or in part are not led by the Holy Spirit, for the teaching of the Scriptures and of the Spirit agree, and Scripture is the medium through which the Spirit speaks, as holy men of old were the instruments by which He spoke.

II.—The manner in which He shall glorify Him. It is by receiving of the things that are Christ’s, and shewing these things to His people. What are those things that are Christ’s? They are all that the Father has. “All things that the Father hath are mine” (v. 15). The blessings of the covenant of grace belong to the Father. The love of God, which is the source of salvation, belongs to the Father, and salvation or life eternal, grace and glory, belong to the Father. In the Shorter Catechism the blessings of salvation are spoken of as justification, adoption, and sanctification, and at death, glorification. All these are given to Christ by the Father. “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things unto his hand” (John iii. 35). As Christ received all these blessings from the Father, He is rich with these blessings. No wonder that the Apostle Paul says, “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. iv. 19). We are poor and miserable, but Christ is rich to supply our needs. We do not receive the blessings of salvation immediately from God the Father, but through Jesus Christ, the one Mediator between God and men. He received these blessings from the Father, not for Himself, but for such poor sinners as we are, and we are made partakers of these blessings by the Holy Spirit, of whom Christ says in our text, “He shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” There is a beautiful order in the communication of salvation to sinners. Christ receives the blessings of salvation from the Father, and the Holy Spirit receives these blessings from the fulness of Christ, and believers receive them from the Holy Spirit. These blessings are, first, the Father’s; secondly, the Son’s; thirdly, the Spirit’s; and fourthly, the believer’s. The Father was rich with these blessings, Christ was rich with them, the Holy Spirit was rich with them, and now believers are rich with them. “All things are your’s” (1 Cor. iii. 21). The Spirit glorifies Christ by taking of His things and shewing them unto us, or applying them to us in a saving manner. Before He applies them to us, He convinces us of our need of them as sinful, lost, and ruined by sin. “They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.” Have you been convinced of your sins as a sinner, guilty and liable to be punished forever? It is the Spirit that works faith in us to receive Christ in the free offer of the gospel. It is in union with Christ the Spirit communicates to us the benefits of His redemption. The Spirit not only convinces us of our need of Christ, but He also enlightens our minds in the knowledge of Him, and He does so by means of the Scriptures, which testify of Christ as “able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him.” He shews us that Christ’s death is the only ground of salvation, and we are satisfied with that ground. By nature we are ignorant of the way of salvation, and as we are under a covenant of works we expect to be saved by the works of the law. But those who are taught of the Spirit have renounced that way and

rest upon Christ alone for salvation. This is a more excellent way, a way in which we are saved consistent with the glory of God.

We have been speaking on a great subject, and we feel that it is so great that we can only touch the hem of its garment. It is in the Scriptures the Spirit shews the things of Christ, and it is by the Scriptures He applies the blessings of salvation to us. It is in the Scriptures God speaks to us now, and not as of old, sometimes by dreams and visions. The rich man in the parable thought that if a man was raised from the dead to tell his brethren on earth of the terribleness of being lost in eternity, that they would repent; but he was told by Abraham that they had Moses and the prophets, and that, if they believed not them, they would not be persuaded though a man rose from the dead. Many die, but none comes back from eternity to tell us whether they are in heaven or in hell. The only way in which we can know where they are is in the word of God in the Bible. If they gave evidence during their lifetime that they were in Christ, we conclude that they are in heaven; but if they lived carelessly, walking according to the course of the world, and died in that condition, we may conclude that they are in hell.

Though God’s people are, in a sense, poor, yet how rich they are! All that the Father hath is theirs; all that the Son hath is theirs; and all that the Holy Spirit hath is theirs. If these things are yours, think of the order in which they came to be yours. They were originally the Father’s; secondly, the Son’s; thirdly, the Spirit’s; and fourthly, yours. The glory of salvation then is due to the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and seek grace that you may ascribe that glory to them.

In Scripture the plan of salvation is ascribed to the Father; the working out of salvation is ascribed to Jesus Christ, the Son; and the application of salvation is ascribed to the Holy Spirit; and as Christ, as mediator, secured the blessings of salvation by His death, He is Lord over these blessings. As Joseph was the steward over the provision which he made for the time of famine, and as Pharaoh said to those who applied to him for food, “Go to Joseph,” so God says to sinners who seek salvation, “Go to Christ; He is the dispenser of the blessings of salvation.” And He ministers out the blessings to needy souls through the agency of the Holy Spirit, and by means of the Scriptures of truth.

It is said that Colonel Gardiner, after his conversion, devoted two hours every morning to reading the Word of God and prayer. He determined that nothing should rob him of his precious time for devotion. Hence, if his regiment had to march at six o’clock, he rose at four; and if he had to march at four, he rose at two.

GODLINESS can have no being but in a heart warmed with a sense of redeeming mercy.—Adam.

BLESSED God, thou hast often taught us lessons in the shade we should never have learned in the sunshine.—Evans.

Noted Preachers of the Northern Highlands.

BY THE REV. D. BEATON, WICK.

(Continued from page 213.)

IV.—REV. ROBERT FINLAYSON, HELMSDALE.

ROBERT FINLAYSON * was born in Clyth, Caithness, early in 1793, and was baptised in March of that year by the Rev. John Robertson, missionary-minister in Achrenie, Halsary and Halladale, who was afterwards minister of Rothesay, and Kingussie. It is reported that Mr. Robertson said to Robert’s mother: “Take care of this child, for you have got a Samuel from the Lord.” Robert was the son of Robert Finlayson, Society schoolmaster in East Clyth, and afterwards at Dunbeath, and of Margaret Gunn. On the tombstone in Latheron churchyard it is recorded that “Robert Finlayson, once Society Schoolmaster at Dunbeath . . . died in 1819, aged sixty-eight years, also his spouse, Margaret Gunn, who died in the year 1821, aged sixty-four years.” Both Mr. Finlayson’s father and grandfather were held in high esteem for their piety, and his mother, Margaret Gunn, was a woman that feared God, and the daughter of a man who was a burning and shining light in his day.

When about ten years of age, Robert began to accompany his parents to the Mission Church at Berriedale, which at this time was under the care of the Rev. William Mackintosh, afterwards minister of Thurso. From an early age the boy took pleasure in hearing the Word preached, and was in the habit of praying. There were not wanting signs that the Holy Spirit was striving with him. He was in the habit in those early days of retiring to a quiet dell and preaching to an imaginary congregation. At such times he would be deeply impressed, but these impressions passed away, and a deeper and more lasting work was required and granted in after years. Robert had also the privilege of being mentally nourished with sound literature, and read such books as Boston’s Fourfold State, Dyer’s Christ’s Famous Titles, Edwards’ History of Redemption, together with the works of Bunyan, Willison, and the Erskines.

When a lad in his teens he was appointed a teacher at a side school at Achscorriclete, Strathmore, in the parish of Halkirk. Here he lodged in the house of John MacDonald, a famous cattle dealer of those days. While here he was privileged to enjoy the

* I am indebted to the Rev. George Sutherland, Bruan, for the details at the beginning of this article, and to the Rev. John Macpherson’s Cunnntas Aitghearr nu Bheatha’n Urramaich Raibeart Finnlason, to which is added a biographical sketch by the Rev. Duncan MacGregor for statements in the rest of the article. There is also a biographical sketch (with portrait) in the Disruption Worthies of the Highlands.

ministry of the Rev. John Munro, missionary-minister of Achrenie, and afterwards minister of Halkirk. Achrenie was one of the most highly privileged mission stations in Scotland. It had not only a succession of missionaries who afterwards were burning and shining lights in the Church, but there were many notable Christians, men and women, who adorned the doctrine of God their Saviour, connected with the Mission. On the Lord’s Day it was the custom of the people on the way to divine worship to gather into a group, under the leadership of Robert Sutherland, one of the outstanding “Men” of his day. Certain points in experimental religion would be raised and discussed by those who knew something of the Holy Spirit’s dealings.* The result of such conversations was highly beneficial. On the return journey the company would be catechised by Robert Sutherland as to the sermon they had listened to, and questions were asked as to the points which had made the deepest impression. In this way the whole sermon would be recalled, and the good impressions made by it deepened. When the company came to the parting place Robert Sutherland would speed them on their way by committing them to the care of the Holy One of Israel, by engaging in prayer. By such a practice, all tendency to light and frivolous conversation, alike going to the service and returning from it, was checked, and the company, instead of going up to the house of God with a weary heart and leaden feet, to be a drag to themselves and the preacher, entered his courts with praise, and exemplified the psalmist’s experience, when he said—

“I joyed when to the house of God,
Go up, they said, to me.”

In due course Mr. Finlayson went to Aberdeen to prosecute his studies there. Dr. John Tulloch, a Caithness man, was professor of mathematics, and took an interest in the young student. Mr. Finlayson was thus led to attend the church where the professor worshipped, but, being dissatisfied with the preaching, he petitioned the Senatus of the University to change his place of worship, which request they readily granted, with the result that Mr. Finlayson attached himself to the congregation of the remarkable, though somewhat erratic, but fervent and evangelical preacher, Dr. Kidd.† It was about this time that Mr. Finlayson was awakened to real concern. He had clear and deep views of sin, but was afraid that his convictions were not deep enough to warrant him coming to Christ. While in this state of concern he fell in with Hervey’s Theron and Aspasio. In the varied experiences of Theron Mr. Finlayson read his own. Then the words came with power to him:—”This is His commandment, that

* Boston, in his Memoirs, makes mention of a similar custom in the South of Scotland in the days succeeding the Revolution.

† It was Dr. John Duncan who remarked about this extraordinary man, that he never met any one in whom both the “old man” and the “new” were so strong.

we believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.” As he was endeavouring to give heed to this command, he felt that gracious gospel arguments were occurring to him and inclining his soul towards the great salvation.

While acting as tutor in the family of Mr. John Stewart, Berriedale, Mr. Finlayson took smallpox, and was blind for eighteen days, and his life was despaired of by many; but in the kindness of God he was to be raised up for a life of usefulness in God’s vineyard. On the restoration of his health, he became teacher of the school at Lybster, which post he held until he was licensed by the Presbytery of Caithness in May, 1826. His first sermon was preached in the church of Watten from the text:—”Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest.” After the service, on speaking to one of the elders, Mr. Gunn said:—”We had a young minister to-day.” “I thought it was an old Christian,” replied that worthy, indicating the impression the sermon had made on him.

Mr. Finlayson’s first charge was the Aberdeen Gaelic Church. Soon the church was crowded, and many professed to have received a blessing under his preaching. He continued in Aberdeen for three years, and thereafter was called to Knock, Lewis, in 1829. His preaching at Knock was signally owned of God. The people crowded the church at the diets of divine worship, and on the week evenings at the family worship in the manse, the sitting-room, stairs, and every place within hearing were crowded with people. Some came every evening all the way from Stornoway, a distance of four miles. Mr. Finlayson only remained two years at Knock. In 1831 he was presented by the Crown, through the influence of Lady Stuart Mackenzie, to the parish of Lochs. His predecessor in Lochs was the Rev. Alexander Simpson, a man of some force of character, but who made no claims, at least by his conduct, to be a minister of Christ. He has been described as a blind leader of the blind. All the adult population were communicants. It was no unusual thing for him to freely invite all and sundry to the Lord’s Table in the words:—”Come to the table of your own Father, come, every one of you.” Real Christians were shocked at the lack of discrimination shewn by the minister in such weighty matters, and on one occasion some worthy men from Stornoway protested against it, and were tried and sentenced to a term of imprisonment for their pains, inasmuch as they were looked upon as disturbers of divine worship. The people of Lochs at this date were very illiterate, scarcely any one could read, and there were but one or two Bibles in the parish. Such was the state of the parish when Mr. Finlayson came to it. He was in the full plenitude of his powers, physical and mental, and devoted himself with whole-hearted devotion to the evangelisation of the parish. His parish, roughly speaking, was about thirty-five miles long, and eighteen broad. “It was broken up by numerous

arms of the sea, extending far inland, and there were no roads. In visiting he had to cross numerous ferries, and to walk miles upon miles over rough moorland, and to make long voyages by sea in an open boat. He had to stay nights in uncomfortable huts, and sleep in uncomfortable beds.” Under the blessing of God, the wilderness soon showed signs of becoming a fruitful field. Prayer meetings were set up in every township. Fellowship meetings, at which only professed believers were present, were inaugurated. At these meetings the young men were chiefly called upon to speak, and were thus trained as public speakers for the Friday meetings. After a number had been called upon to speak, the minister reviewed what had been said, indicating the defects and irrelevancies of the various speakers in a sympathetic manner, and suggesting lines of improvement. Though Mr. Finlayson was very strict in admitting to the Lord’s Table, he felt at times that strictness might be carried too far, and on one occasion, hearing a brother minister fencing the tables with a rigidity which he considered too severe, he prayed at the opening prayer at the Table, “Lord, make the fence around Thy Table so high as it will keep out the swine, but let it not be so high as to keep out the sheep.”

At the Disruption, Mr. Finlayson, with the whole of his congregation, joined the Free Church, and, until a new church was built, they worshipped in the open air. In 1849, he was visited with a very sore bereavement. His two eldest boys, Donald, aged seventeen, and Robert, aged fourteen, were drowned while fishing on the loch in front of the manse. The broken-hearted parent joined with the patriarch in those words of resignation: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” It is recorded that when one of his elders called and offered his condolences in the words: “This is very hard for flesh and blood, Mr. Finlayson.” “Yes,” came the reply from the grief-stricken father, “it is hard for grace itself.” On one occasion he was overheard near the spot where his boys had been drowned, saying:—”Since thou hast deprived me of my two sons, make up to me my loss by giving me more love to thine own Son.”

In 1856, he was called to Helmsdale, and accepted the call. But highly esteemed and loved as a servant of Christ though he was at Helmsdale, it was nothing compared to the deep affection manifested towards him in Lochs. The day he left Lochs was a day of sadness and mourning. Mr. Finlayson’s ministerial activity at Helmsdale was of short duration. His last sermon was preached during a Communion season at Dunbeath from the text:—”Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready” (Rev. xix. 7), and three weeks thereafter he was seized with the illness from which he died on 23rd June, 1861. Thus there passed to his everlasting rest an honoured servant of Christ, and

it was a fitting close to his ministerial work that he should have been engaged in directing the thoughts of his hearers to that goodly banquet of everlasting joy prepared for all his faithful servants.

Mr. Finlayson’s characteristics as a preacher have been very happily described by the Rev. Duncan MacGregor. “Mr. Finlayson,” he says, “was a perfect master of allegory. We used to call him the John Bunyan of the Highlands. And, hence, his preaching, while retaining a spice of the quaintness of Dr. Kidd, under whose ministry he sat as a student in Aberdeen, more closely resembled that of Mr. Porteous, of Kilmuir Easter, and of Mr. Lachlan MacKenzie, of Lochcarron. He spoke in parables; he preached to the whole man, for parables are the people’s speech—they are the language of nature. He studied the word and works of God, and drew aids from earth and sea and sky to unveil the glories of Christ crucified. To him all nature was vocal with God, and all her phenomena waiting as handmaids to be enlisted in the Master’s service. His fertile fancy, sometimes by a parable, sometimes by an analogy from everyday life, cast a clearness even on the deeper doctrines, and set them forth with dramatic vividness. His church at Lochs for five-and-twenty years was an ‘Interpreter’s house,’ frequented by pilgrims to the Celestial City, where every room was hung round with typical figures and subjects, whose very floor was inlaid with mystic emblems, and each figure and emblem a key to some intricate spiritual truth, and where many a pilgrim was braced by what he heard and saw for climbing the Hill Difficulty and encountering the other perils of the journey. This faculty predisposed him to the exposition of the typology of the Old Testament, surely the most profitable of all forms of exposition. None excelled him in explaining the New Testament truth by the Old Testament type. And, though, occasionally, he was a little Cocceian in his typical expositions—in his exposition of the typical character of Jonah, for example—and though his lively fancy mayhap soared into a region where his hearers could not follow without risk of giddiness, the themes were ineffaceably dented in their memories. Hence hundreds of his sayings are quoted daily. The same instinct led him to study Jesus’ parables profoundly. He was better fitted to preach on the parable of the good Samaritan than on the ninth chapter of Romans. His ripest thoughts on the types of the Old Testament and the parables of the New, like rich old wine, were often a cordial to heavy hearts. When listening to him we often thought of Job’s saying:—’Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them. And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain’ (Job xxix. 21, 23). And how concisely was it done: Preaching on John xiii. 14—the duty of disciples to wash one another’s feet—he observed:—’One way in which disciples wash

one another’s feet is by reproofing one another. But the reproof must not be couched in angry words, so as to destroy the effect; nor in tame, so as to fail of effect. Just as in washing a brother’s feet, you must not use boiling water to scald, nor frozen water to freeze them.’ They said of Charles of Bala, that it was a good sermon to see him. To see Mr. Finlayson, as Isaac-like he went out to meditate in his little garden at Lochs at the eventide, to see him wending along in his gig so deep in reverie that, when a fellow-traveller once asked him, ‘Where are we now?’ his reply was, ‘Aye, aye: wherever you are, I am between Genesis and Revelation’—was no bad sermon either. His appearance as he preached his action sermon in 1850 on the parable of the two foundations, as he preached his action sermon in 1852 on the two disciples going to Emmaus, and in 1853 on the brazen serpent, is vividly before us at this moment. The tall, portly figure, so full of loving simplicity, the brown hair and fair complexion, indicating the Scandinavian blood in the population of his native Caithness-shire, the large features, which, judging from the portraits, must have closely resembled those of the celebrated Professor Jardine of Glasgow—the meek eyes, that, soon as he kindled, became suffused with tenderness; the sonorous voice, deep at first, as if it almost came out of the ground, but which rose by-and-by to tones of silvery sweetness; the smiles of joy which after played on his features, like sunshine on the deep sea; the words he uttered, and the vast audience on the hillside—the whole is daguerrotyped in our memory. Never did we feel the power of personal holiness in reinforcing the truth spoken from the pulpit more than when hearing him.”

Mr. MacPherson, in his biographical sketch, has given a number of notes from his sermons illustrative of Mr. Finlayson’s allegorical style. One of these—Zeal and Knowledge—may be given as indicative of how truth could be presented in a pleasing and arresting form. “On a certain day,” said the preacher, “Zeal said to Knowledge, ‘I will go with Christ to-day,’ and, on His speaking about His death, Zeal said: ‘Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee.’ But Christ, turning to Zeal, said, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me.’ And Zeal went home with bent head. ‘What has happened?’ asked Knowledge. ‘Much, indeed,’ said Zeal. ‘I went so far astray that Christ called me Satan.’ On another day after this Christ was going out, and Knowledge said to Zeal, ‘This is my day; you went out the last time.’ ‘You will not be able to do so well as I,’ protested Zeal. ‘I will require to go out myself, to-day.’ So Zeal went forth with Christ, and when Christ said, ‘You will be all offended in me this night,’ Zeal answered, ‘Although all will be offended, yet will not I.’ To which Christ replied, ‘Verily I say unto thee that this day, even in this night, before the cock shall crow twice, that thou shalt deny me thrice.’ Zeal came home weeping. ‘What has happened now?’ asked Knowledge. ‘Woe

is me,’ said Zeal, ‘I am demented. The Lord solemnly affirmed that I would deny Him.’ On a third occasion, Zeal said, ‘I will go forth with Christ again.’ ‘No,’ said Knowledge, ‘this is my day.’ But Zeal would not listen. Off it set, not simply running, but leaping, and followed the Lord into the Garden of Gethsemane, and when His enemies put their hand on Christ, Zeal stretched forth the hand and drew the sword, and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. It went into the hall of the high priest, and, on being charged with being with Christ: ‘I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest,’ said Zeal. And after denying him twice, and the third time with cursing and swearing, Christ turned and looked at Zeal, and Zeal came home, weeping bitterly. ‘What has happened?’ asked Knowledge. ‘I have done it at last! I have done it at last!’ said Zeal, shedding bitter tears. ‘I have denied my Lord three times, and the last time with cursing and swearing.’ ‘What will you do now,’ said Knowledge. ‘I will make an agreement with you, and promise that I will not go out again without you.’ The agreement was kept, and when Zeal went forth again, Knowledge was with it. A great sermon was preached on the day of Pentecost, and, for every time Zeal denied its Lord, a thousand souls were added to the Church.”

Specimens of Mr. Finlayson’s sermons are given in Mr. MacPherson’s Short Sketch, but one cannot get an idea from these notes—for, after all, they are only notes—what Mr. Finlayson was as a preacher. His method of presenting divine truth was original, attractive and arresting, and one hears striking notes from his sermons often quoted, even to this day.

Account of Mission to Naval Men in England.

BY THE REV. D. M. MACDONALD, NORTH UIST.

DEAR MR. EDITOR,—The details of the reports concerning our Naval Mission are now almost invariably of a similar nature, and as I have no new information to give, I need not dwell on the details of my last visit to the naval ports at any length. I gave nine Sabbaths to the work, and, on the whole, enjoyed the services. Part of my time was devoted to hospital visitation, and in the course of my visits, I found both naval and military patients bearing their sufferings with fortitude and cheerfulness. May the Divine Physician heal them in body and soul!

I am indebted to Messrs. Angus Fraser and Kenneth Mathieson for taking my place on different occasions in Chatham and Portsmouth. In passing, I may say that there is no official objection to laymen conducting services among our sailors.

There are not a few among our naval men, who manifest that they are true followers of the Lord Jesus, and it has been a real pleasure to meet such.

The long night of war appears now to be drawing to a close, and we should not slacken our efforts as a Church for the spiritual well-being of our brave defenders on sea and land, but should continue our services with renewed energy until demobilisation is over. It is during this period that the men will have to face their greatest temptations, and a faithful presentation of the Gospel may, with God’s blessing, be the means of preserving them from the moral and spiritual evils that abound everywhere.

In conclusion, I would seek to acknowledge the goodness of the Lord in preserving me from all dangers during my stay in England. A most determined air-raid took place in London a few days after I arrived in the city, resulting in considerable material damage and heavy casualties; but, fortunately, no bombs were dropped in the locality where I resided. May the Lord bless our soldiers and sailors with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus!

As on former occasions, I conducted the week-night services in our London Mission while there. Notwithstanding adverse circumstances arising from the War, it is maintaining its position, and should be a centre of attraction to Highlanders in the Metropolis, who value sound doctrine and a scriptural mode of worship.

Communion Table Addresses.

BY THE LATE REV. PROFESSOR JOHN DUNCAN, LL.D.,
EDINBURGH.*

TABLE SERVICE No. I.

(Address before Distribution of Elements.)

THREE years had now elapsed from the time when Jesus, who had grown up before Jehovah as a tender plant and a root out of a dry ground, had been manifested to Israel, and solemnly recognised at His baptism by a voice from heaven—”This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” During these three years, years the most eventful that ever occurred in the history of this world, or in the history of all worlds, many glorious and gracious words had fallen from the lips of Jesus, many glorious and gracious works had been performed by Him. Before the Gospel was preached even, a few beheld His glory, those whom He had chosen to be witnesses of all He spake and did, and also of His death and resurrection.

* By the kindness of a relative of the late worthy Miss Robertson, who was housekeeper to Rev. Dr. Duncan, we have obtained the use of MSS., containing Addresses and Sermons, taken down by Miss Robertson from Dr. Duncan’s lips, and hitherto unpublished. We are confident that our spiritual readers will peruse these valuable Communion Addresses, etc., with much interest and appreciation, and also, by the divine blessing, with much spiritual edification. We feel grateful to God for the privilege of being instrumental in publishing for the first time these Spirit-taught utterances of His eminent servant, John Duncan, who “being dead, yet speaketh.”—ED.

And now the time came, when they commemorated the deliverance from the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; that deliverance which was followed by the legislation and the covenant which God made with Israel in Horeb. But God had said, “Behold, the days come, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord;’ for all shall know me from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Now, the first covenant was not ratified without blood; but the new covenant had to be ratified with better sacrifices than these. Jesus is Himself the Mediator of the new testament.

And now at the expiry of the public ministry of our Lord, Jesus was calling His disciples to commence a new ordinance, the solemn commemoration of the sacrifice by which the new covenant is sealed. He said, taking bread, “This is my body which is broken for you, eat ye all of it,” and, taking the cup, “This cup is the new testament in my blood, shed for many for the remission of sins.” Oh, what words! Oh, what a scene! Who is He that presides? Who are they that sit at meat? What are the viands? At what cost is this feast prepared? What will be the consequences of it to Him? What the consequences to them?

Who is He that presides? It is Jehovah, Israel’s own God, come as the messenger of the covenant, who here presides. It is Jehovah. It is the Son of the living God, the Word that “in the beginning was with God, and was God,” and it is the Word made flesh. It is the only begotten Son of the Father, the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of His person, who is in the Father and the Father in Him; who, because the children were partakers of flesh and blood also Himself likewise took part of the same—very God and very man—the Son of God, and the Son of man; who is not ashamed to call us brethren. At this table He presides.

And who are they that sit there? “This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them.” They are indeed the holy apostles of the Lord—but sinners. “Shed for many for the remission of sins, drink ye all of it.” He, knowing them to be such, eats with sinners the bread of heaven; not with holy angels, but sinners He calls to eat; yes, sinners. Ah! how does He appear at that table, when we think that He receives sinners, and eats with them! But they were sinners of whom He spake to the Father.

“They have known that I came out from thee and they have believed that thou didst send me.” “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them.” Perhaps their faith at this time was going no further than the knowledge of His person, and the knowledge that He had the words of eternal life which He had brought from the Father’s bosom. And now He gives them more deeply than ever before the words of eternal life. “This is my body broken for you, this is my blood shed.” This Man gives them His flesh to eat—”my body”—the body and blood of the eternal Son of God, body and soul. Jesus had given them both His body and mind and soul before; they had heard Him; they had conversed with Him; they had listened to His words; they had received them as the words of eternal life; they had received Him as the Messiah, the Son of God, the King of Israel. Now it is not merely Christ, but a broken and bruised Christ. He gives them His body and blood, His body broken and His blood shed. Ah! we may learn a lesson of what God is as a just and holy God, and of what we are as guilty sinners, deserving to be eternally bruised, covered with shame, under God’s curse. And what a lesson of the Father’s infinite love, of the Son’s free love! “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” “Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” “I lay down my life.” In this death His soul was put to grief; in this death there was the breaking of His body and the shedding of His blood. Ah, there is something deeply mysterious in it! He gives them this bread to eat, this cup to drink, this cup of salvation.

And what are the consequences of it to Him? From the sacramental table we follow Him to Gethsemane. He had given them the cup to drink. Then, in our stead, in order that He might give the cup of salvation, He was to drink the cup of curse and condemnation. Jesus had already, as it were, pledged Himself. Now, not only was it sure in the purpose of Jesus, not only was it sure in the covenant of the Father and the Son, with the Holy Spirit’s consent; not only was it sure by His incarnation and coming into the world for this very purpose; but, as it were, the former bond was renewed, for already He had given a cup of salvation into the hands of His disciples, already said, “This is my blood of the new covenant, shed for many for the remission of sins.”

Now, it is altogether impossible that this cup should pass from Him. They have, first, the precious security; He has pledged Himself to these eleven men, pledged Himself by that cup of salvation. And now let us see how strict divine justice is. He leaves the three chosen disciples behind to watch and pray. He advances a few steps before them, and there falls prostrate on His face, His sweat, like great drops of blood, falling down to the ground; and He cries, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass

from me.” Three times over He prays the same words, yet saying, “Not my will, but thine be done.” Yes, He knew what was in the cup, and His holy humanity shrank from it with a holy dread. But He had engaged—He had put into their hands the cup of salvation—and it was not possible that this cup should pass from Him, and His promise to them be fulfilled. He is now alone in Gethsemane, and there are no mockers here, no high priests, no Scribes and Pharisees, no cross—He is alone with the Father, and there He takes the cup. In one sense, in covenant engagements from eternity, and actually at His incarnation, it was taken; but now, more specially, the imputation of guilt is brought home, all that divine justice required Him to take out of the hands into which He has put the cup of salvation. And from Gethsemane to Calvary, where He is crucified in weakness. It is said an angel appeared, strengthening Him, strengthening the Mighty One, and so He is crucified in weakness. The Almighty! but it is in weakness that He is crucified, it is in weakness that He cries, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” And such is the cup in which, O blessed be God! He did not leave one bitter drop for us, but drank it to the dregs; and, instead, He puts into our hands the cup of salvation. But oh, with this cup of salvation there is ever the acknowledgment that Christ got that cup of wrath which was ours, that we might have this cup; and there is bitterness mixed with its sweetness when we look upon Him whom we have pierced, and are in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.

“On that night in which our Lord was betrayed.”

(Address after Distribution of Elements.)

Now “unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father—to him be glory and dominion throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

After supper is ended comes the garden, Gethsemane’s garden. And from it comes a lesson, a lesson which is best learned just in Gethsemane itself, where its strongest motives are, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.”

Jesus, when about to enter this garden, took three of the disciples with Him, Peter and James and John. He told them before He took a few steps forward from them, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death,” and wanted them to watch till He came. And all the three fell asleep. We are not to be harder on them than Jesus Himself was concerning this. He said, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

It pleased the Lord to bruise Him, to put Him to grief; and the very atmosphere perhaps, with the excessive sorrow after great joy and long watching, overcame them. They had not forsaken Him, as they did afterwards; but still they were not awake. He sought comforters; He sought them to watch and

pray; but they did not. Oh what reliance shall we put on the intercession of the saints, when Peter, and James and John fall asleep, while our Lord goes alone to bear our burden and drink our cup? Not the zeal of Peter, not the integrity of James, and not the bright, burning, pure love of John, can keep them awake.

“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.” Temptation will come after the supper—it came to Judas, and it came to Peter—and we are called to watch and pray that we enter not into temptation.

To watch—”Watch with me”—let us watch in Gethsemane, let us watch with Christ. And to pray, let us learn to pray from Him—to pray; then to pray as in an agony, a prayer that terminates with this, “Thy will be done.” He has taught us to say, “Thy will be done,” and the saying of it will not cost thee so much as it cost Him.

“Ye do shew the Lord’s death until he come.” “I will make Thy name to be remembered in all generations,” and this day, hearing His word, and sitting at the table, we are witnessing the fidelity of God to Christ in this promise.

“Till I come.” Then this cup shall be drunk new in the Father’s kingdom at the marriage feast of the Lamb, when there shall be the realising of these words, “The Lamb shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters.”

We are reminded very solemnly this day how short our time is, how the day is far spent. The night is not far off in the course of nature to some of us—and none of us know how near it is. “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord;” and how shall we die in the Lord? Paul says, “To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” “Present in the body, absent from the Lord, wherefore we labour that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.” Meanwhile, He hath said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world.”

Go from the table of the Lord, and may He be with you according to His faithful word.

The late Mrs. Maclaggan, Chesley, Ontario.

OUR congregation at Chesley has been called upon to part with a “mother in Israel.” On Monday, 1st April, Mrs. Jane Maclaggan was sitting in her room reading the Bible. The summons came; she bowed her head upon the Word, and so departed. Thus was she found by her daughter, Mrs. Gray, with whom she lived, when she went to call her to her mid-day meal. And as her head thus pillowed in the sleep of death upon her open Bible, so had she borne abundant evidence that upon the Word of God’s testimony her soul rested for eternity.

She was one of those who profit by the example and instructions of godly parents. Her father, who, attaining a ripe old age, predeceased her by almost a score of years, was an earnest

lover of the good old way, and walked in it. She was a devout and diligent student of the Word, and followed on to know the Lord. She did, therefore, cleave to the path of heavenly wisdom, firmly convinced of the sufficiency as of the inerrancy of the Word. She was a woman of sound judgment, and of no mean capacity. So she did not belong to that large body of professors against whom the Lord brings the charge: “Their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.” To her the Word of the Lord was a precious treasure. Anyone acquainted with her, by visiting her in her home, could see that it belonged to her to say, “It is my study all the day.” She was not ready to lay bare the exercises of her soul under the providence or Word of God.

Her social qualities are not here to be emphasised or to be enlarged upon. The affectionate regard for her manifested by such as were well acquainted with her, and especially in her family circle, bears best testimony here. Yet her earnest concern for sound gospel teaching in the community told of how much she had at heart the highest interests of her fellow-citizens. She valued truth for herself, for her family, and for her fellowman. For this she stood with quiet but persistent firmness. Alas! that so few to-day perceive the value of truth—truth in doctrine, truth in practice, and truth in the inward parts. These are the salt of the earth. They are to be loved. Their memory is to be cherished.

Our congregation has sustained a loss indeed. We all feel it as a personal loss. Yet let us not forget whose is the banner and the cause, then we’ll seek unto Jehovah who builds up Jerusalem, and we’ll not grudge the witness of fourscore years her entrance into rest. To all her family circle, and especially to her daughter, Mrs. Gray, we extend sympathy sincere and warm. W. M.

Brief Meditations.

BY THE LATE REV. D. MACBEATH OF NESS, LEWIS.

WHEN God is pleased to call persons to offices of peculiar importance, we generally find that He trains them up and qualifies them for the arduous undertaking. Thus Joshua was brought up under the immediate eye and tuition of Moses, his illustrious predecessor, and was particularly endowed by God with all that grace, wisdom, and courage which were most eminently called into exercise in the future discharge of his honourable employ. It was Joshua who, as General of the Army of Israel, fought with and conquered Amalek, while the hands of Moses were lifted up in earnest supplication for him, and to him was the peculiar honour granted of going up with Moses into the Mount of God. It was Joshua who was sent with the other messengers to bring a faithful report of the land of promise. He and Caleb were firm in giving a correct account, for which reason they only of the twelve were honoured with an entrance into it. O may the

Lord enable me to strive to enter into that rest which remaineth for the people of God.

Why have I mistaken this thorny wilderness for a garden of flowers, this place of danger for a palace of delight, and this howling desert for an enchanting grove? If the world has joys, it has none for me. Mine must be pure and spiritual. If the creature affords pleasures, they cannot suit my soul. Its honey is mixed with gall, its sweet with wormwood, its wine with water, its gold with dross, and all its yields with poison. The pleasures I should seek are such as my soul may feed on without danger, feast on without surfeiting, and rejoice in without sin. Again, why do I expect comfort in this world? Can I hope or even desire to go through the valley of tears always singing, or to dwell in the house of mourning laughing? Would I fare better than my best Friend? While here He was a man of sorrows, and shall I not taste the briny cup? He was acquainted with grief, and shall I be a stranger to it? Would I be kindly entertained in that very place where He had nowhere to lay His head? Would I fare like the kings of the earth, when the King of kings fared not so well as the fowls of heaven, or the foxes of the field? Should not the folly of the world teach me wisdom? They provide for time, and shall I not provide for eternity? But how shall I secure endless felicity, and know my interest in unchangeable love? Well, then, may not I, in the language of faith, enter into a firm belief of eternal bliss, and, without delusion, fortify myself against the attacks of sin, and sallies of unbelief? Is not Christ come to seek, and save the lost, and am I not among the number, and willing to be sought and saved? Is not the call to all the sons of men?

Foxes of the field.—Would I go another way to glory than the saints ever trod? Would I go through one heaven to another, when it is “through much tribulation” I must enter into the kingdom? Can the children of the bridechamber be glad when the bridegroom is not with them? Can I be easy, can I be quiet among the enemies of my Lord the King where the general voice is, “Shall this man reign over us? We will not have Him for our King; we will not take Him for our Saviour.” Oh that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the sins of my fellow-creatures, for the slain of my fellow-sinners. Let sorrow seize on my heart and grief fix her iron talons there; it is all I can do for the honour of my Lord.

SELF will bid some men confess themselves sinners, that they may be considered as saints. To take them at their word would mortify and displease them.—Serle.

WHAT need a child fear though the whole house be full of rods, seeing not one of them can move without the father’s hand?—Dodd.

Diary of the Rev. James Calder,

MINISTER OF CROY, INVERNESS-SHIRE. BORN, 1712; DIED, 1775.

Edited from the Original MSS., with Illustrative Notes,

BY THE LATE REV. WM. TAYLOR, M.A., STIRLING.

(Continued from page 192.)

“Friday, January 25th (1765).—My alarming bodily ailment again recurred.

“Wednesday, February 6th.—Some time set apart this day to set heart and house in order, as I know not how soon I may be called hence: the Lord’s time is the best. As to the first, the heart, alas! how ill is it to set in order, and to keep in order. Mine is a wretched heart with a witness; but it pleased the Lord to afford some pleasant blinks: blessed be His name for ever! But oh! I need more and more, and more still. . . . As to the last, the house, did nothing but renew my latter will in a few minutes. My part of the world is very small, but it is enough. Blessed be His name, I never wanted for anything, though I deserve nothing. In all my straits, Jehovah-Jireh sent seasonable supplies, often from unexpected sources, and by ways and means that filled me with wonder and praise. I have avoided all extravagance and unnecessary expense as to table, dress, etc., etc.; yet, in order to do justice to my children in their education, was obliged to borrow several sums of money, to the extent of £100 stg. and odds, which I could not with a good conscience have taken in loan had I not funds more than sufficient to do full justice to all my creditors; and in order to do them justice, I have demanded £100 stg. of the money I have in K—k’s hands, which he promised to give me soon. This will save my credit; and blessed be the Lord, such is my confidence in His favour, His love, His covenant, and providence, that I have no incumbrance, no disturbance—no, not so much as one uneasy thought about the affairs of this puny passing world; nor ever had since that blessed day in which I got a view of Christ, the heir of all things, as my husband, and of God in Christ, as my God and Father, and the lot of my inheritance. Since that happy era to my soul, I’ve often sung—and were it not for my cursed unbelief and folly, I would have daily sung—with the psalmist, ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.’ ‘The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup; thou maintainest my lot: the lines are fallen to me in pleasant places; yea I have a goodly heritage.’ Amen!

“Sabbath Eve, 10th.—About one or two o’clock this Sabbath morning I was seized with the same alarming stitch or pain in my right side which had brought me very low six or seven years agone, and which is judged to be an inflammation of the liver. My pain and distress was so great that I had little or no hope of being

able in any case to preach—yea, had some ground to think that I should never more go up to the house of God on earth, and was looking up for the Lord’s most gracious presence to conduct me through the darkness and conflicts of the last scene while passing through the valley of the shadow of death; yet desiring with submission, if it was His will, to do some few things for Him before my departure. In the morning I attempted to rise and dress for the public. For an hour after I got up the pain continued, and then began to abate gradually till the last bell rang, when I had strength to go to the pulpit to preach an hour in Erse (Gaelic), and half an hour in English, with great ease, liberty, and delight; and I left my pains there, and was easy since. Glory, glory and praise to my Physician! Amen.

“Thursday Morning, 21st.—This day, if the Lord will, I mean to be retired, for f—g, h—n, and p—r: my calls to this many and great—my M—r, my p—h, my f—y, and afflicted f—s*—and particularly the case of my soul—that I may attain, through grace, to the true and happy posture and way of living to purpose, and dying with peace—of bringing forth abundant fruit on earth, and, through the boundless merits of Christ, of finding an abundant entrance to heaven. After all the pains the Lord has been at with me, alas! what a novice—what a child am I as yet in religion—what a drone in the service—what a snail in the ways of God. O for clearer views, deeper impressions—a more vital, sacred, transforming sense of the things of God and Christ, and religion and eternity, than ever I had! For these ends pour out this day abundantly of Thy blessed promised Spirit on this poor, dark, dead, dry, parched, slumbering, languishing soul of mine, for the sake of the great, the adorable God-man, Thy only-begotten Son in our nature! Amen.

“Nine o’clock at Eve.—Blessed for ever be the Lord for His most gracious vouchsafements this day to my poor indigent soul. The comfort and establishment He afforded me by His Word and Spirit this day I would not barter for all the treasures and pleasures and glories of the whole world—the particulars of which I can’t write down here. O may they be engraven indelibly on the table of my heart! Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26, 27 was wonderfully unfolded and greatly blessed to me. Next to the Lord’s blessed days, these days of retirement and prayer, etc., have been by far the happiest of my poor life—which made me often recommend such exercises to . . . [blank in MS.] Glory be to His name! Amen.

“Monday, 25th.—Sweet conference this morning with a pious

* We leave these initials and finals as in the MS. in order to illustrate the delicacy of the man, and his dread of display even before the eyes of his children, whom he expected to read his diary after his death. The passage, with the words filled up, reads, “I mean to be retired, for fasting, humiliation, and prayer: my calls to this many and great—my Mother [the Church], my parish, my family, and afflicted friends,” etc.

friend. The subjects of our conversation were—Christ, immortality, and our pious departed friends now in glory.

“March 10th.—After sermon, was called to speak to a young person of this parish, lately awakened to a sense of sin, and still under a law work. Lord Jesus, keep Thy strong and tender hand about this poor young creature who is asking the way to Zion. ‘Thou wilt not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax.’ Amen!

“Tuesday, 12th.—A diet of examination at G—y: one of the most delightful I ever held. . . . My dear flock seem to attend these diets with growing seriousness, attention, and delight. For my part I find this branch of my office—that of catechizing my people—growing more and more pleasant and delightful in every revolving year; so that I now long every year for the return of the time and season of catechizing. Though it is a cold and tempestuous season of the year, and though the roads are exceeding bad in the winter season, and though I am turned old and feeble and gray-headed, yet the exalted pleasure I find in this exercise, and the comfort and edification it imparts to the Lord’s flock, make me quite insensible of the coldness of the season, the badness of the roads, and the toil of travelling and of speaking for three or four hours on these most sacred and delightful subjects. And no thanks to poor worthless me for all this alacrity; since I find usually a sweet powerful gale of divine influences breathing along with the sacred and important truths I am handling and opening to my people; and since I often discern the same sacred gale diffusing itself over all the auditory. In short, the new beauties and glories, and treasures, and pleasures I find every year in this sacred magazine of our excellent Catechism* will make the business of catechizing ever dear and sacred and delightful to me, while it shall please the Lord to afford me any measure of health and strength to set about it. And if it shall please the Lord God of my fathers and my God to honour any of my dear boys so far as to place them in the sacred office of the ministry, and if they shall happen to glance over these little memorandums of their father, because they are his, let me earnestly advise them to observe a diligent and regular course of catechizing those who may be under their charge.

“Thursday, 14th.—A diet of examination at C—, where I had the pleasure to meet with a number of very young creatures—boys and girls of five, six, and seven years old—carefully instructed and considerably advanced in the knowledge of the principles of our holy religion.†

* The Shorter Catechism, so generally used in Scotland.

† District “Examinations” or “Catechizings” in the Northern Highlands used to embrace all non-communicants, old as well as young; the communicants also being generally present. Sabbath-schools did not exist in those days; but the entry above given shows how far the religious training of the young was from being neglected.

“Friday, 22nd.—Was called to speak to one of my people who had a desire to attend our monthly meetings for Christian conference. Had some difficulty to admit the person so soon, as not being, so far as I could understand, thoroughly awakened to a sense of sin and the great things of God and another world. Yet far from discouraging the first faint essays in the ways of religion, spent a full hour in tendering to this beginner the best instructions, directions, exhortations, and encouragements I could think of. May the Lord follow them with His effectual blessing!

(To be continued.)