A PUBLIC MEETING was held in the Free North Church, Inverness, on Thursday evening, 31st March, to protest against the picture house concert that was advertised to be held the following Sabbath, 3rd April, in aid of the Earl Haig Warriors’ Day Fund. There was a large attendance, consisting of people from various denominations in the town.
Ex-Provost Arthur Ross presided, and the principal resolution was moved by the Rev. Ewen Macqueen, F.P. Church, Inverness, who has recently taken a leading and most active part in an earnest effort to check Sabbath desecration in Inverness. Mr. Macqueen’s resolution was seconded by a layman of the U.F. Church, Mr. Bernard G. Hoare, and supported by the Rev. John Macleod, M.A., of the Free North Church, the Rev. L. Sutherland, of the U.F. High Church, Capt. K. K. Macleod, Mr. Charles Macdonald, Solicitor, and Councillor Wm. Fraser. The meeting was hearty, and the resolution was adopted unanimously. On the motion of the Rev. Mr. Macqueen, ex-Provost Ross was thanked for presiding, and the meeting was closed with the benediction. We subjoin the resolution, and Mr. Macqueen’s speech, without in any way undervaluing the other speeches which were given.
Mr. Macqueen moved the following resolution:—
“We, the inhabitants of Inverness, including ex-Provost, Magistrates, Ministers, Merchants, Citizens, and ex-Service Men, do most emphatically protest against the action of the majority of the Magistrates, which majority was obtained by the casting vote of the Provost, in sanctioning a concert in the picture houses of Inverness on 3rd April, the first Lord’s Day, for the following reasons:—
“Firstly—Because it is a flagrant breach of the Lord’s Day, which, as professing Christians, we should all hold dearer than our natural lives, because our everlasting salvation was brought to light on that day.
“Secondly—Because the Christians of this town have in the past been famous for their love towards the Lord’s Day, and they handed it down to us as a heritage, which they prized above all other things, and whatever changes have come upon the people of this land, no change has come on the Sabbath.
“Thirdly—We love the ex-Service men too dearly to suffer them to accept, if we can prevent it, funds obtained by a breach of the Lord’s Day; for it is utterly impossible for us to prosper if we harden our necks against Him. We feel not sentimentally only, but also with bleeding hearts, that we should be under rulers who would bring such things upon us, and we hereby call upon all ex-Service men, and all who love the King of Zion, and who love the Sabbath, to rally together, and to manifest themselves good soldiers of Jesus Christ, as well as good soldiers of their earthly king. We solemnly promise them that if they refuse this encroachment on the Lord’s Day, we will get for them far more money than they can get by their concerts.”
Mr. Macqueen proceeded to speak as follows:—
We feel very keenly that we should have to call such a meeting as this, for we are law-abiding citizens. But we hope we are consistent as Christians to feel the claims of the King of kings too much to deny Him, when He is as it were in the balances this night in Inverness, as to whether we are to have Him to rule over us, or, like the people of the country of the Gadarenes, to pray Him to depart out of our coasts, which we will certainly do, if we in this manner throw away from us the day which commemorates His resurrection.
The Christians of Inverness in the past looked upon the Sabbath as a delight, not as a burden so heavy that they would require to get up a concert to make it brighter for them, and we, their children, surely are not so far gone as to throw from us all they ever said to us on this question. Some of us do not speak of the Sabbath as a thing that we can treat like a coin, which we are inclined to throw from us on any man’s counter, for any trifling thing we may get in return. We hope we have it graven upon our hearts, and will bring it down with us to the grave, graven upon the palms of our hands.
Some make the excuse that the proposed concert is for a good purpose, and that the end justifies the means. Let such look at the Moral Law. The sum of the first table of that law is “Love to the Lord our God.” Now, where is the love to the Lord our God, when we in this manner trample His day under our feet? It is as well for us to cry out to everybody, “We do not love the Lord our God,” for that is the cry of our conduct. The sum of the second table is “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” If we bring the wrath of the Lord our God upon our neighbours, by giving them the proceeds of Sabbath-breaking, which all who know the rules of logic must admit is now to be done, as the transgression of the Fourth Commandment is a breach of the Moral Law, and therefore what is gained or earned by a breach of the Moral Law is the proceeds of immorality. And who would wish to have in his pocket such gains? Let us show ourselves in a more upright manner by giving without encroaching on the Sabbath.
Some blame the ex-Service men, and affirm that Earl Haig wanted the concert to be held on the Sabbath. We, the citizens of Inverness, refuse to believe such a thing of Earl Haig, and of the noble men who fought so bravely under him, in defence of their king and country. Some of us were with them in England in 1914, and in France in 1915 and 1916, and on our honour we must state that we have not learned that they were so far gone, either officers or men, on the Sabbath question. Some maintain that the long war revolutionized their minds on this question. Our dear ex-Service men are not cannibals or heathens who never heard of the claims of the King of Glory. They know, and some of them, whose bodies lie mangled on the fields of France, have stated to us that it was our own sins that brought the War upon us, and that if they would ever come home, they would give more heed to the Word of God. And are such of them now who have got to their homes in safety to band themselves in the majority of which our Provost boasts, along with men who prove that they have no regard for the sanctity of the Lord’s Day?
A writer in the Courier of Tuesday’s date blames the ministers of the town for their inconsistency, because he states that they used to get up what he calls “Sunday Concerts.” Some of us have never been with the writer at any week-day or “Sunday Concert,” but is he to put himself and the poor ministers, whom he blames, into such a hopeless bog, that they can never get out of those “Sunday Concerts”? The War is now over, and although ministers and lawyers might have the idea that during the War concerts could be tolerated, surely it is time for them now to give up this endless quarrel with the Lord of Sabaoth. If, as we believe, it was the case that Sabbath-breaking, along with many other sins, was the reason why the Most High permitted such a fearful judgment, it is time for us all now to retrace our steps, and seek to be at peace with Him who is governor among the nations.
We are willing to do all in our power for the ex-Service men, but we are not willing to tolerate Sabbath concerts. We promise all respect to Provosts and Magistrates, as long as they rule us in a manner becoming their offices, but we refuse to follow the multitude to do evil. We fear it is like the note which old Dr. Aird used to tell at times. A band of tinkers were going through the country, and they came to a house which was full of good things, but the doors were all well secured with locks. The only opening was a small window that was left open. None of the big tinkers could enter by this opening, but they had a number of children, and one of the small tinkers was put in, and he soon opened the door to all the big ones. That is the way in England, and Scotland, and even in the capital of the Highlands to-day. They are seeing that there is a mine here, if they could once begin Sabbath concerts, and by the window of philanthropy they are putting in this little tinker to open the doors for concerts all the year round on the Lord’s Day. They cannot give for any good purpose without robbing the Most High. Others were called “jolly beggars,” but surely we are “jolly philanthropists,” when we cannot give, without defying God. May He in His mercy give us repentance!
A NOTE.—Prior to the above Protest Meeting a deputation, consisting of the Rev. E. Macqueen, Dean of Guild Fraser, and Mr. Hoare, waited on the manager of the Cinema Company, and offered to raise £300 for the Warriors’ Fund, if they would give up the idea of the Sabbath concert, but the Directors refused. Since then the concert was held on the 3rd April, and the sum raised, along with contributions from two Established Church congregations who were in sympathy with the Sabbath concert, was only £82. Comment is needless, unless it is to remark the experience should teach Sabbath desecrators to be wise.
THE Jews would not come when the supper was on table, and therefore the cloth was drawn, and they went supperless to bed, i.e., they died in their sins. While they shut the door of their hearts against Christ, the padlock of judicial hardness was fastened to it.