BY THE REV. N. CAMERON.
MR Donald Macfarlane was born at Vallay, North Uist, in the year 1834. His father and mother came from the Island of Skye of which they were natives. His father acted for years as the manager of farms on the estate of Colonel Gordon of Cluny, Aberdeenshire, who was then proprietor of South Uist and Barra.
Mr Macfarlane’s education was much retarded during his boyhood, owing to the fact that there was no public school in South Uist at that time—his eldest brother and his father taught him so far as to enable him to read. In the year 1850, pious ladies in the south of Scotland opened schools in many parts of the Highlands. One of these was opened at Uiskeva in Benbecula, and the late Rev. Donald Macdonald, Shieldaig, who was then a student at College, was appointed teacher there. This school was within a mile of Mr Macfarlane’s parental home. To this school he was sent. He made such rapid progress that he was soon able to teach the pupils during Mr Macdonald’s absence at College. He was particularly fond of Greek, because the New Testament was written originally in that language. This fondness led to his being a good Greek scholar. Mr Macdonald was sent to teach, after two years, to Stoneybridge, in South Uist. Thither Mr Macfarlane followed him. Mr Macfarlane told the writer of a dream he had when he was about twelve years. He saw he was in heaven amidst joys that could not be described. He rose out of bed, being still asleep, and cried, “Glory! glory!” This dream made a profound impression on his mind at the time. But he was about twenty years of age when the Holy Ghost convinced him of sin. He went from Benbecula to North Uist to the dispensation of the Lord’s Supper. The late Rev. Alexander MacColl, then minister of Duirinish, Skye, preached on Monday. Mr Macfarlane states in his diary:—”I will never forget the fervent and faithful appeals which that eminent preacher in his closing words addressed to sinners—a solemn and earnest invitation to come to Christ. One of these was:—’Is there any young man in the congregation that will come to Christ?’ ” He did not know then what coming to Christ was, but he felt moved in his soul as if he was the young man to whom this appeal was personally directed. From that day he began to seek the fellowship of the Lord’s people, and to shun the sinful fellowship of the world. He felt that this was indeed a time of love, and that even the recollection of it was warming to his soul in after days. These impressions were greatly deepened by reading tracts, while alone in the school-house, which Mr Macdonald left with him when he went to College. Some of these tracts dealt with the necessity of being born again. This led him to read the Bible with more care and interest than he ever did before. He thereby got a sight of his sinful and lost condition, so much so that he thought all his neighbours saw his sinfulness as he did himself. But he learned that this was not so. He felt such concern for their salvation that he began even then, while in distress about his own soul, to speak to them about their lost condition, and to exhort them to forsake their evil ways. If he kept silent and did not rebuke sin committed by word or action, he felt it to be guilt on his conscience. By degrees he was enlightened in the knowledge of Christ as the only Saviour of sinners. He was able to point to many particular passages of Scripture which were the means of bringing peace to his soul; but he was indebted to the whole history of the Gospel in being enabled to close with Christ as a guilty and lost sinner. This is his own record of how the saving change took place, the effects of which his whole life from that early period was a demonstration. One always felt that Mr Macfarlane was where he ought to be when he stood in the pulpit to expound the mystery of the Cross of Christ to saints and sinners. He was a born logician, and one always, while hearing him, felt that he was a master of the subject which he might be handling at the time. This was equally true when he expounded the doctrines of the Bible, or when he defended the faith and principles of the Church of Christ. He was also a man who felt that he was only a servant in God’s house, and that his duty lay in taking the Bible—which he believed to be inspired of the Holy Ghost throughout—as a lamp to his feet and a light to his path in all his duties towards God and his fellow-men. To this he adhered to the last hour of his life.
After he passed through the University and Free Church College in Glasgow, he was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Free Church Presbytery of Skye and Uist. As a probationer, while assisting at Dunoon, he met the late Dr Kennedy, of Dingwall. When the Doctor got home he advised the elders and congregation of Strathconan, Ross-shire, to give him a call to become their minister, which they did. He was ordained and inducted there in January 1876. A friend told us that, after his first Communion at Strathconan, at which Dr Kennedy assisted him, the Doctor asked—”Do you know this young man who has become the minister of Strathconan?” The friend answered in the negative. “Do you know,” said he, “that I felt quite ashamed of myself while listening to his prayers at family worship in his own house?” He was only three years there when he received a call from the congregation of Moy, Inverness-shire. He accepted this call, and was inducted there in the year 1879. Dr Kennedy went the first Sabbath after he was placed there to introduce him to the congregation. In giving an advice to the people after the sermon, he told them that they had now a true servant of Christ, and that they should be very careful how they would deal with himself and with his message to their souls. He also warned them that if any of them should trouble him, the Lord would manifest His displeasure against that man. The writer was told that a man did trouble him, and that the Doctor’s warning was verified in his case. He remained nine years in Moy. He was truly loved and reverenced by his congregation. When it became known that the congregation of Kilmallie offered him a call, they did all in their power to prevail on him to remain with them. Even up to the last he was looked upon by the people of Moy as their minister, and he had a place in his heart for them which continued warm to the end, though he felt it to be his duty to leave them at that time.
He accepted the call to Kilmallie, in the same county, and was inducted there in the year 1888. It was in the year 1889 that the writer first met him.
He came down to preach at Onich on the Monday of a Communion. His text was II. Thess. i. 6-10. He said many things that day, which are fulfilled now, concerning the end of the backsliding process taking place then in Scotland. One sentence has not been fulfilled yet, which was:—”The black men of Africa will come yet to Kilmallie and Onich to preach the Gospel of Christ to the people of these places.” It is becoming more probable every year that the Gospel will cease entirely to be preached in poor, deluded Scotland, and that before the latter day glory will come, strangers, either black or white, will have to come to us with the pure Gospel. The tirade against the Westminster Confession of Faith, which the Rationalistic party within the Free Church had carried on for several years, produced at the General Assembly of 1891 the Declaratory Act, which was sent down to Presbyteries for approval or disapproval. It became quite evident in the spring of 1892 that it would be approved of by the vast majority of the Presbyteries, and consequently would be passed, in accordance with the terms of the Barrier Act, “into a binding law and constitution” in the Free Church. This awakened a serious alarm in the minds of all who held by the sound and absolutely scriptural doctrines and principles of the Confession to which they had vowed to adhere steadfastly and faithfully to the end. Mr Macfarlane called together a meeting of the elders, etc., of the districts from Oban to Kilmallie to consider what should be done in the event of the General Assembly passing the Act. The unanimous decision come to was that they could not remain in a Church which would accept as her creed the amalgamation of old heresies which the Church of Christ in the past had thrust out as unscriptural, and which were now set forth in this Act. At this meeting, which was held in April 1892, Mr Macfarlane spoke calmly but deliberately of the far-reaching effects of the changes contemplated, and of the necessity of adhering to the Bible and the Confession of Faith.
The Declaratory Act was passed by a very large majority of the members of the General Assembly in May of that year. A strong protest was entered against the action of the Assembly, and an appeal made to the next Assembly to initiate steps to have it repealed, as otherwise the Church would be split. In November of that year Mr Macfarlane told the writer that he would separate from the party which passed the Declaratory Act at next Assembly should no steps be taken then to have it repealed, and that he would endeavour to set up the Free Church again as she was settled in 1843. At the Assembly of 1893, when that Court blankly refused to reconsider their action in having passed the Act the previous year, Mr Macfarlane got up and read his protest. In that protest he claimed for himself and all who would adhere to his position all the civil and ecclesiastical rights which belonged to them as Free Churchmen, and that he would take immediate steps to set up the Free Church as settled in 1843, and that he would not from that day acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Courts of the Church which held the Declaratory Act as her creed. Not even one of the party which hitherto opposed these drastic changes made on the creed of the Church stood by him. Some of them had repeatedly said in public that these changes meant “Bible or no Bible, Confession of Faith or no Confession of Faith.” The time for deeds and not merely words had now come, and although these men used mighty words, their deeds came very far short.
Mr Macfarlane received a call from the congregation of Raasay, Inverness-shire, in the spring of 1893, which he accepted, and this being so, he was minister there when he separated from the innovators in the Church. After he tabled his protest he immediately left the Assembly. The Sabbath following he preached to the congregation of Millhouse (now called Kames). On Monday, lectures were delivered to that congregation by Mr Macfarlane and others. After the situation was explained, this congregation decided to separate along with him. They had in March preceding decided to do so should the Assembly refuse to repeal the infamous Act. Now they did so, and so became the first congregation which refused to abandon their former creed and constitution as true Free Church men and women at the caprice of a Rationalistic majority, who neither believed the Bible nor the Confession of Faith.
Mr Macfarlane was greatly encouraged and strengthened by this first indication of success. He returned to his own congregation in Raasay. On the Monday after the Communion there—second Sabbath of June—he delivered one of the ablest lectures the writer ever heard to a very large congregation from many parts of the West of Scotland. At the end, he asked all who desired to adhere to the Bible in its entirety as the Word of God, and to the Confession of Faith in all its articles as hitherto held by the Free Church, and as henceforth to be held by him and all who would follow him, to stand up. All present, with the exception of about half-a-dozen, stood up. He asked then that strangers should sit down, so that he might see how his own congregation stood. It then appeared that the few mentioned above were of the Raasay congregation, and only one of the strangers. Mr Macfarlane thanked the Lord and the people.
It was arranged and advertised that a meeting would be held in Inverness the Tuesday evening immediately following. At this meeting, which was very largely attended, the Rev. Donald Macdonald, Shiel-daig, took his stand along with Mr Macfarlane. It was there and then decided that they should take immediate steps to form a Presbytery, to be called the Free Church Presbytery of 1843. A Deed of Separation was drafted, and at the first meeting of this Presbytery, it was adopted. This meeting was held at Portree on the 14th day of August 1893. Thus the Free Church of Scotland was saved from extinction. Her adherence to the Bible as God’s infallible truth throughout, and to her subordinate standards in their integrity, were now secured to all who would desire to adhere to them then, and also in future generations.
There was a notable Christian called William Grant, who lived on a farm called Slock, Inverness-shire. This farm was at the boundary of the parish of Moy. He was at a communion in Moy Free Church, and was as usual called to speak to the question on Friday. After he spoke and sat down, he asked the presiding minister, would he be allowed to say a few words to the people. His request was heartily granted. He then rose and said:—”There was one thing which I wished to say to the people of Moy should the Lord reveal to me that I would be speaking in their hearing for the last time. When I spoke already to-day I did not know then that I was speaking here for the last time, but I know it now. What I have to say is, that there were some of us who were never fully satisfied with the Free Church, for she seemed to us to be like a speckled bird. At the same time, we were convinced that the light which would continue in Scotland till the glory of the latter days was in her keeping. The day is coming, and some present here will see it, when, of the many hundreds of ministers in the Free Church, only two or three (it is my opinion that it will be two) that will adhere to the principles and doctrines of the Reformation. I will not see it, but some of you will. I wish to let you know that if I were living then, I would follow these men.” This godly man passed away to his rest many years before Mr Macfarlane became minister of Moy.
A “hue and cry” was then raised by all parties who remained under the Declaratory Act, especially by those who, before it was passed, were loudest in denouncing it, and in appealing to the people not on any account to remain under it. Every effort was then made to discredit the statements made by Mr Macfarlane and his followers regarding the changes made, and the lame excuse was spread that it was only a relieving Act, and that they (the Constitutional Party) were not under it at all. This, like the story put into the mouth of the Roman soldiers concerning the resurrection of our Lord by the then religious leaders of the Jews, “is commonly reported until this day.” At the General Assembly of 1894, a motion was moved, seconded, and passed to the effect that all the churches, manses, and meeting-houses should be taken from all who separated. This motion was brought forward by one of the so-called Constitutionalists. Oh, how did the mighty fall in those days! Steps were taken to deprive Mr Macfarlane and his followers of all their property. The case went to the Court of Session; but it was decided by him and his followers that they should not interfere, acting on the advice—”If any man sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also” (Matt. v. 40). So these men were thrust out of their churches and manses, and had practically to worship God on the hillside. Mr Macfarlane lived for years in a rented house at Broadford, Skye, going to his congregation each Saturday (health and weather permitting) by the mail boat, and returning early on Monday morning. The boat took an hour to cover the distance, and he had to take the ferry boat each way to go to and from land. On Monday he had to leave the school-house, where he lodged during the week-ends, at 7 a.m., to be in time. These hardships he bore for years without one word of complaint. A site for building a church and manse was refused by the proprietrix of Raasay for several years. At last she granted a site in a place that was very inconvenient, being three miles from the landing-place, and there being no conveyances in the island at the time but the one possessed by herself. This caused him many trials, but he bore them all most cheerfully for God’s truth and conscience’ sake.
For the first few years he had to be away at Communions for many Sabbaths in succession; for until the students who followed him finished their course, were licensed, and ordained, the burden which fell upon him was a heavy one. But instead of feeling fatigued and weary in the work, he actually became stronger physically than he ever was before, and his liberty in preaching the Gospel was greater and more comforting to the Lord’s people than he ever had formerly. The writer heard him say, as to the material loss he sustained—”We gave up our salaries, without one penny of a fund to sustain us, in 1893, and I have to say that I was never better off as far as money is concerned; for I have to bear testimony that I find a shilling going as far, by God’s blessing upon it, as a pound used to go. We have lost manses, but the Lord has opened manses for us to dwell in, in almost every town and village from Glasgow to Wick in the North. We have lost a few churches and meeting-houses; but we have built churches and meeting-houses fifty-fold. The marvel is how our poor people were able to accomplish all this, and still be as well off as their neighbours, as far as worldly things are concerned. But “the earth is the Lord’s and all the fullness thereof,” and He has never allowed any to suffer loss for maintaining His cause in the world. Let us acknowledge, to the praise of His glory, that we—the Free Presbyterian Church—did not suffer any loss in our weak efforts to maintain His cause.”
In the year 1903, Mr Macfarlane received a call from Dingwall. When he accepted the call there was neither a manse nor church there. He lived in a rented house for a year or so till a manse was built. Shortly thereafter a church was built. The congregation was not large, but they were sincere followers of God’s infallible Word and of the original subordinate standards of the Free Church of Scotland. They held Mr Macfarlane in the highest esteem. After he was settled in Dingwall, he was in the habit for many years of going south to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Greenock, Kames, and Oban at Communion seasons. His labours in the North were as widely spread. As years rolled past he had to curtail much of his labours and travelling on account of infirmities following old age. His mental faculties remained almost as strong as ever up to the very last. He spoke in his own pulpit twice every Sabbath till the beginning of last year, when he spoke generally only once. He preached in his pulpit every Sabbath except the last two that he was in the world. This was what he repeatedly said he desired, “that he would be enabled to preach while the Lord saw good to leave him in the world.” He got his wish. He held a meeting of Session on Monday evening, 1st November, at which he told his elders who he wished to come to assist at the Communion on the first Sabbath of February 1927. This was the last business he transacted in this world. He was not able to speak much after that. On Thursday evening, the 4th November, he passed away from all sorrow and sighing, to be for ever with Christ, which is far better, and where sorrow and tears come for ever to an end. The words which the Apostle Paul used concerning himself are very applicable to Mr Macfarlane’s case—”I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” He was of a truth a faithful servant in God’s house, and there can be no doubt but he received the welcome invitation—”Well done, good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” His funeral took place on Tuesday, 9th November, to the Dingwall Cemetery. All the ministers of the Free Presbyterian Church were present, with the exception of three who could not attend. There was a large number present from all the surrounding districts, from Dingwall, and from the South of Scotland. Many of the ministers of other Churches and of their people were there. It could be discerned in the countenances of all present that they felt that “a mighty prince had fallen in Israel.” “So man lieth down and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.”
Mr Macfarlane was a man on whom one could depend. He sat down and counted the cost before he began to build. Consequently, one could be sure that, however long one would be without meeting him, he would be of the same mind as he was when parted with him. He never changed his mind in the least as to the duty of the Free Presbyterian Church to hold by the position taken up in 1893. He opposed union with the Free Church when the last effort was made to have the two bodies brought together, as firmly as he did on a former occasion. The statement which appeared in the public press to the effect that, because the Free Church had repealed the Declaratory Act, Mr Macfarlane held that the two Churches should unite, is absolutely foundationless. The writer regrets that this statement has been made, and that he has been compelled to repel it in this short obituary; but because it might deceive some, he felt bound to correct it. The writer of it must have had a partisan aim in placing it on record.
Mr Macfarlane wrote the memoir of his life-long friend, Rev. Donald Macdonald, Shieldaig. It is written in a beautiful and pure English style, as well as very good sense as regards what he recorded of that noble and faithful servant of Christ. They were like Jonathan and David: their love to one another surpassed the love of women. They have now met in Emmanuel’s Land, never to part for ever and ever. A book of Mr Macfarlane’s sermons was published several years ago, at the expense of contributors of the Free Presbyterian Church. These sermons reveal what he was as a theologian. They have been much appreciated by all who read them, and were all sold within a few months of their publication. As a sketch of his life will probably be written by-and-by, we hope that some of his unpublished sermons will also be printed then.
The writer would express his sincere sympathy with his widow and all their family, and also with all who feel the loss sustained by the world, the Free Presbyterian Church, but especially by the Dingwall congregation through his removal. “Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.”