A soldier lay on his dying couch, during our last war, and they heard him say—”Here!” They asked him what he wanted, and he put up his hand, saying, “Hush! they are calling the roll of Heaven, and I am answering to my name.” Presently he whispered. “Here!” and he was gone.—Sword and Trowel.
The Late Mr Lachlan Macpherson, Elder, Braes, Portree.
THE late Mr Lachlan Macpherson was born at Knock, in the parish of Sleat, Skye, on the 13th November 1839. He came to Portree with his parents when a child, and was brought up in the Braes district. When about 20 years of age, he came under the power of the truth, and the late Mr Walter Mackay, missionary, appears to have been the instrument used in his conversion. He became a member of Portree Free Church congregation, and was a deacon when he left that Church in 1893.
With the late Mr Neil Mackinnon and several others like-minded, he joined whole-heartedly in the testimony raised by the Free Presbyterian Church, and was no doubt constrained to do this by his love for God’s Word, and as a protest against the Declaratory Act, which opened the way for the advancement of all sorts of heresies in the Free Church. In due time he was made an elder, and eventually became the oldest office-bearer in the congregation of Portree.
It grieved him very much to see those whom he loved and respected leave our Church for another denomination, and he used to say, before some of them left, to the late minister of the congregation—”You and I must be faithful anyway.” The Apostle James says that he who wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. One can never be sure of the waverers. Sometimes they are on this side, sometimes on that, but Lachlan was never of this type. He was firm and constant in his adherence to the truth and the principles of the Church.
Although always a healthy man, he latterly suffered from rheumatism, and about a year and a-half before his death he had a slight shock, from which he partially recovered, but last winter began to lose his strength gradually, until he passed away.
While he had the strength to come out of doors he was diligent in attending the means of grace, and towards the end was much given to prayer.
Consistency of conduct and straightforwardness were conspicuous features in his character. Like Nathaniel of old, it might be truly said of him—”Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.” One could scarcely meet a kinder and more hospitable man. In his exercises he was brief, pointed, and spiritual, giving
one the impression that he knew the plague of his own heart, and that his hope for eternity was not in his own righteousness, but in the infinite merit and finished work of the Lord Jesus. For deliverance from the bondage of sin and Satan he depended on the free and sovereign grace of his Saviour.
In appearance he reminded one of the patriarchs—his long white hair and beard gave him a venerable look, especially when among his brother elders in the church Session.
To the last he was attended by his devoted wife and family with unremitting care. He used to say himself that he always did his best to keep the Fifth Commandment, and the promise attached to it was fulfilled in his case. He lived long on the earth, and his own family were very attentive to all his wants.
On the 13th of December 1923, he passed peacefully to his eternal rest, in his eighty-fourth year. To his widow and family we extend our deepest sympathy in their severe loss, and our desire is that they may be enabled through grace to follow in the footsteps of those who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises.
D. M. M.