Remembering Those who are in Bonds.
[The following letter, so full of tender Christian sympathy, was written by Samuel Rutherford from St Andrews, 22nd November 1639, to the Lord’s suffering witness, Alexander Leighton. Dr Alexander Leighton was descended of an ancient family in Forfarshire, whose chief seat was Ulyshaven, or Usen, near Montrose. Besides studying for the Christian ministry, he qualified himself as a physician, and, during the reign of James I., and the commencement of that of Charles I., practised medicine in London, as well as exercised his ministry there; but whether he had any fixed charge we are not informed. In his zeal for Presbyterian principles, and against the imovtions of Laud, he published a work entitled “An Appeal to the Parliament, or Zion’s Plea Against Prelacy.” For this work he was arrested in 1629, and thrown into an abominable cell in Newgate. After lying there sixteen weeks in great misery, he was served with an information of the crimes of which he was accused, and charged to appear before the Star Chamber. He was then unable to attend, being under severe distress that had brought skin and hair almost wholly off his body; but the Star Chamber condemned the afflicted and aged divine to be degraded as a minister, to have one of his ears cut off, and one side of his nose slit, to be branded on the face with a red-hot iron, to stand in the pillory, to be whipped at a post, to pay a fine of £1000, and to suffer imprisonment till the fine was paid. When this inhuman sentence was pronounced, Laud took off his hat, and holding up his hands, gave thanks to God, who had given the Church victory over her enemies! The sentence was executed without mercy; and Leighton lay in prison until the meeting of the Long Parliament, that is, upwards of ten years. When liberated, he could hardly walk, see, or hear. He died in 1649. He was the father of the celebrated Robert Leighton, Archbishop of Glasgow. When this letter was written to him by Rutherford, he had languished many years in prison.]
Reverend and Much Honoured Prisoner of Hope,—Grace, mercy, and peace be to you. It was not my part (whom our Lord hath enlarged) to forget you His prisoner.
When I consider how long your night hath been, I think Christ hath a mind to put you in free grace’s debt so much the deeper, as your sufferings have been of so long continuance. But what if Christ mind you no joy but public joy, with enlarged and triumphing Zion. I think, Sir, that ye would love best to share and divide your song of joy with Zion, and to have mystical Christ in Britain halfer and copartner with your enlargement.
I am sure that your joy, bordering and neighbouring with the joy of Christ’s bride, would be so much the sweeter that it were public.
I thought if Christ had halved my mercies, and delivered His bride and not me, that His praises should have been double to what they are; but now two rich mercies conjoined in one have stolen from our Lord more than half-praises. Oh that mercy should so beguile us, and steal away our counts and acknowledgments!
Worthy Sir, I hope that I need not exhort you to go on in hoping for the salvation of God. There hath not been so much taken from your time of ease and created joys, as eternity shall add to your heaven. Ye know when one day in heaven hath paid you (yea, and overpaid your blood, bonds, sorrow, and sufferings), that it would trouble angels’ understanding to lay the count of that surplus of glory which eternity can and will give you. Oh but your sand-glass of sufferings and losses cometh to little, when it shall be counted and compared with the glory that abideth you on the other side of the water. Ye have no leisure to rejoice and sing here, while time goeth about you, and where your psalms will be short; therefore, ye will think eternity, and the long day of heaven that shall be measured with no other sun, nor horologs, than the long life of the Ancient of Days, to measure your praises, little enough for you. If your span-length of time be cloudy, ye cannot but think that your Lord can no more take your blood and your bonds without the income and recompense of free grace, than He would take the sufferings of Paul and His other dear servants that were well paid home beyond all counting (Rom. viii. 18). If the wisdom of Christ hath made you Antichrist’s eyesore and his envy, ye are to thank God that such a piece of clay, as ye are, is made the field of glory to work upon. It was the Potter’s aim that the clay should praise Him, and I hope it satisfieth you that your clay is for His glory. Oh, who can suffer enough for such a Lord! and who can lay out in bank, enough of pain, shame, losses, and tortures to receive in again the free interest of eternal glory! (II. Cor. iv. 17). Oh, how advantageous a bargaining is it with such a rich Lord! If your hand and pen had been at leisure to gain glory on paper, it had been but paper glory; but the bearing of a public cross so long, for the now contraverted privileges of the crown and sceptre of free King Jesus, the Prince of the Kings of the earth, is glory booked in heaven. Worthy and dear brother, if ye go to weigh Jesus, His sweetness, excellency, glory, and beauty, and lay foreagainst Him your ounces or drachms of suffering for Him, ye shall be straitened two ways. 1. It will be a pain to make the comparison, the disproportion being by no understanding imaginable: nay, if heaven’s arithmetic and angel’s were set to work, they should never number the degrees of difference. 2. It would straiten you to find a scale for the balance to lay that high and lofty One (that over-transcending Prince of excellency) in. If your mind could fancy as many created heavens as time hath had minutes, trees have had leaves, and clouds have had raindrops, since the first stone of the creation was laid, they should not make half a scale in which to bear and weigh boundless excellency. And, therefore, the King whose marks ye are bearing, and whose dying ye carry about with you in your body, is, out of all cry and consideration, beyond and above all our thoughts.
For myself, I am content to feed upon wondering, sometimes at the beholding but of the borders and skirts of the incomparable glory which is in that exalted Prince. And I think ye could wish for more ears to give than ye have, since ye hope these ears ye now have given Him shall be passages to take in the music of His glorious voice. I would fain both believe and pray for a new bride of Jews and Gentiles to our Lord Jesus, after the land of graven images shall be laid waste; and that our Lord Jesus is on horseback, hunting and pursuing the Beast; and that England and Ireland shall be well-swept chambers for Christ and His righteousness to dwell in; for He hath opened our graves in Scotland, and the two dead and buried witnesses are risen again, and are prophesying. Oh that princes would glory and boast themselves in carrying the train of Christ’s robe royal in their arms! Let me die within half-an-hour after I have seen the temple of the Son of God enlarged, and the cords of Jerusalem’s tent lengthened, to take in a more numerous company for a bride to the Son of God! Oh, if the corner or foundation-stone of that house, that new house, were laid above my grave.
Oh! who can add to Him who is that great All! If He could create suns and moons, new heavens, thousand and thousand degrees more perfect than these now are; and again, make a new creation ten thousand thousand degrees in perfection beyond that new creation; and again, still for eternity multiply new heavens, they should never be a perfect resemblance of that infinite excellency, order, weight, measure, beauty, and sweetness that is in Him. Oh, how little of Him do we see! Oh, how shallow are our thoughts of Him! Oh, if I had pain for Him, and shame and losses for Him, and more clay and spirits for Him! and that I could go upon earth without love, desire, hope, because Christ hath taken away my love, desire, and hope to heaven with Him!
I know, worthy Sir, your sufferings for Him are your glory; and, therefore, weary not. His salvation is near at hand, and shall not tarry. Pray for me. His grace be with you. Yours, in his sweet Lord Jesus.—S. R.
St Andrews, Nov. 22, 1639.
The Late Mrs Louisa Mackenzie, Leacnasighead, Gairloch.
THE death of this Christian, widow of the much-respected Mr John Mackenzie, missionary, Port-Henderson, took place at her younger daughter’s residence, Glenview, Leacnasighead, Gairloch, on 18th February 1920. On 21st February her body was placed beside her husband’s in Gairloch Church-Yard. Her daughter lovingly ministered to her to the end, and the blank in the home was, and is, greatly felt.
The deceased was born at Fernamore, Applecross, about the year 1837. About the 17th year of her age, she was deeply convinced of her lost state as a sinner before the eyes of the All-Seeing and All-Knowing God. It was under the teaching of Mr John Alex. Stewart, teacher, Fernamore, she was led to know herself as a lost sinner. Mr Stewart went afterwards to China as a missionary; but Miss Louisa Maclellan was, for a considerable period, in great distress before relief from heaven came to her troubled soul. During the period of her deep conviction, of sin, she was in the habit of praying in caves and in secluded spots.
It was announced that the Rev. Alexander MacColl, Lochalsh, was to assist at the Communion at Camusterrach, Applecross. She went there, and remained till Monday. She was in a most miserable state. Mr MacColl intimated a service to be held at Camusterrach on Monday evening. She was tempted by the enemy that there was no mercy for her in God; and she set out for home; but she retraced her steps, and attended the evening service. Mr MacColl preached from Isaiah liv. 10—”For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.” Before the service was over, Louisa Maclellan’s bonds were loosed. She was led into a new world. She was rejoicing in God her Saviour. Salvation by free and sovereign grace was hers, and the high praises of Jehovah welled out from her soul. “He put a new song in my mouth our God to magnify.” There is holy joy in believing on the Son of God, and there is holy joy in following on to know the Lord. On her death-bed she referred to the sad state of her soul before she had passed from death to life, and remarked—”Satan did not that night get his desire regarding me. Thanks to the free grace of God.”
She paid a visit to her sister, Mrs Gracie, Dunvegan, Skye. There, to the delight of her soul, she heard Rev. Alex. MacColl preach. Ere she left Skye he sent for her, and gave her good advice. She asked him if he had any portion of the truth to give to her. He said he had not, but that she should look to the Lord Himself. At the time she was disappointed with the answer he gave, but it proved afterwards a great comfort to her, and she often referred to it. She naturally had much regard for Mr MacColl. She was for a time under the profitable ministry of the Rev. John Macqueen, Daviot.
In 1870, at Lochcarron, by the Rev. Mr Forbes, Miss Louisa Maclellan was married to Mr John Mackenzie, missionary. They took up their abode at Big Sand, Gairloch, where they remained for 18 years. There three of the family died. Rev. John Baillie, Gairloch, often visited them in their distress, and was of great comfort to them at that season. After leaving Big Sand, they took up residence at Port-Henderson, where, to the loss and sorrow of the whole parish, her worthy husband, on 16th October 1904, ended his earthly course.
The death of her husband, and, subsequently, that of her son, Farquhar, in December 1919, told upon her health. During these seasons of sorrow, her stay and comfort were found in Psalm cxix. 92—”Unless in thy most perfect law, my soul delights had found, I should have perished when as my troubles did abound.”
Many are the prayers that ascended to heaven from the Mission dwelling-house at Port-Henderson, and much Christian fellowship was enjoyed in that home.
For nine months Mrs Mackenzie was confined to bed ere the end came. She was at times sorely harassed by Satan; but, by God’s grace, she gained the victory over the Tempter. During her last illness she daily repeated Psalm xviii. 32—”Tis God that girdeth me with strength, and perfect makes my way.” She frequently remarked that her only hope in time and for eternity was in Christ, and Him crucified. The last words she was heard to utter were—”A new heaven and a new earth.”
To her two daughters and brother and sister, and other relatives, we express our heart-felt sympathy. May the children be instead of the fathers!
D. MACK.
The Late Mrs Campbell, Laidnaguillan, Strathy Point.
“THE memory of the just is blessed.” One would like to put something on record concerning the above-named worthy Christian woman, who finished her honourable course in this world on the 21st of August 1922, at the age of 81. Margaret Munro, for that was her maiden name, came of a worthy ancestry. Her great-grandfather, George Munro, was a Ross-shire, one would think, a Kiltearn man, who, through the influence of his namesake, the good Rev. George Munro, Farr, Sutherlandshire, came, five generations back, in the capacity of a miller, to the Farr district. He was an eminently pious man, and his seed after him were a blessing in the earth. His son was Donald Munro, who with his wife, Kate Bhan, from Torrisdale, left a reputation for genuine piety. Their family, Marcus, George, William, Elizabeth, Margaret and Neil, were all pious, and, in one’s own youth, their memory, among the truly pious in that district, was very fragrant, their very names were as sweet music to the best we knew in early youth. Elizabeth (Eispidh Munro), as she was best known, was a gem in her way, and would be placed near the centre of a galaxy of pious women who, in these days, on both sides of Strathy Point and in Strathy, adorned by their humble and loving and godly ways, the Gospel of God their Saviour, among whom one may recall the names of Mrs Macleod, Millburn; Mrs Mackay, Achanallan; Mrs Robertson, and Kate Ure.
Marcus Munro married Janet Campbell, a first cousin, by the way, of the late Mr Wm. Gow, merchant, Wick, a godly man. Marcus’s family by Janet Campbell were William, who finished a godly course in one of the Orkney Islands; Murdo, who died a highly respected elder in connection with the late Dr Thomas Maclauchlan’s congregation in Edinburgh; Kate, a worthy member of Dr Moody Stuart’s congregation; and last but not least, the subject of this paper. These all sought and found the God of their fathers. They will inevitably be to many of our readers little more than names, but those who knew them or their associations, and to whom the dust of Zion is dear, will, we believe, think otherwise of the matter. There is the more justification for these references because the subject of this notice, who was naturally very affectionate, felt bound by a double tie to those connections. When she became a follower of the Lord, she became a follower of His people, and we doubt if her soul would find freer expression in any of the sayings of the saints, that were of old, than in those of Ruth: “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.”
We are not in a position to describe Mrs Campbell’s earliest experiences as a disciple, but she was not a stranger to trials and temptations, and memorable visitations and deliverances, and she was noted all her life for her regard for and love to those that feared and loved the Lord, among whom she desired to take a humble place.
Margaret Munro was born in April 1841, in Achina, Bettyhill. At the age of 23 she was wedded to Mr Murdo Campbell, Lairnaguillan, a strong, quiet, upright man. The issue of this marriage was ten of a family, six sons and four daughters, who have all survived both their parents, and have risen up to bless their memory. Mrs Campbell was not robust, although she was, comparatively speaking, a long liver. It is related of her that, once upon a time, when her husband was employed from home, and she herself came into an indifferent state of health, with many anxieties about soul and body and family, she fell into a very depressed state of mind. At that time she was encouraged beyond her power of description, through the words of the Psalmist, the Word of God: “Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your hearts, all ye that hope in the Lord,” and the encouragement meant for her, not only joy of soul, but a change from physical illness to a state of health. She was not disposed, however, unless to her own family, to communicate in words much of her experience, although she would say that she could write a book of her experiences, and of God’s providential care over her. But her distinct role was that of one who cleaved to the company of the Lord’s people, and was disposed among them to take the lowest room. Not to speak of any that are yet living, following the generation of the godly, among whom her father and uncle and aunt were conspicuous, there arose in the generation of which she herself formed one of the youngest members, a group of godly women, on both sides of Strathy Point, who well maintained that reputation for godly women for which, since the Strathnaver Clearances, Strathy Point was noted. Conspicuous in this latter generation were Mrs Sutherland, Fleuchary; Mrs Mackintosh (Sheordach Ross), Totegan; Mrs MacKay, Strathy Point; and Jessie Macleod, one of the saintliest one has ever known. Her devotion to these humble but pious folk was very striking, and one may illustrate, for example, the regard in which she held and thought of Jessie Macleod in particular by a reference to an experience which she would tell her friends. Returning, once upon a time, late at night from paying a visit to Jessie, over a lonely road, Mrs Campbell was overtaken with a distressing slavish fear. In her extremity she shouted out: “O God of Jessie Macleod, come to my help!” She felt that her cry was heard in heaven, for with the words: “Lord, Thou preservest man and beast,” she realised as though her heart became strong like that of a lion. But not to dwell upon such experiences, let it be said that as a daughter—her godly mother was sixteen years an invalid—as a wife, and as a mother, she acted a part worthy of a Christian woman. She was a devoted member of the Free Presbyterian Church, and continued so to the end, but she was also a woman of wide sympathies with the Lord’s cause throughout the earth. She was for her position well read, and took exceptional delight in missionary literature. She was generous to the poor, and up to her ability liberal to the Lord’s cause. She was a woman of a very tender heart. Through what seems to have been an accident she was disabled from walking for a considerable time before her end. She was just four weeks and three days under her last illness. She seemed to ripen rapidly during that period, desiring to depart and to be with Christ and His people whom she had known so well. She was tenderly nursed by a devoted daughter and two sons, who in the providence of God were able to be at home during practically the whole of their mother’s long illness. There is reason to think of several of her family that through grace they have chosen the God of their fathers as their own God. Our sincere sympathy goes forth towards them all in this bereavement.
J. R. M.
Licensing of Divinity Student.
At a meeting of the Western Presbytery held at Stornoway, on the 17th March, Mr John Maclachlan, divinity student, was, after passing the usual trials prescribed to students, licensed to preach the gospel.