Communions.
— October — First Sabbath, North Tolsta; second, Gairloch and Ness; third, Scourie; fourth, Lochinver; fifth, Wick. November—First Sabbath, Oban; second, Halkirk and Glasgow; third, Edinburgh and Dornoch. South African Mission.—The following are the dates of the Communions:—Last Sabbath of March, June, September, and December. Note.—Notice of any additions to, or alterations of, the above list should be sent to the Editor.
Collection for this Month.
—The Collection for Missionaries and Catechists is to be taken up this month, and according to the Synod’s instructions, by book from house to house.
The Northern Presbytery’s Protest Against Excursion Trains on the Lord’s Day.
—The Northern Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland feel deeply grieved and hurt by the action of the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company in giving facilities to the enemies of the Lord to transgress on His Holy Day in a most glaring manner. The Sabbath is not the property of any railway or other company; it is the Lord’s, and He claims a special propriety in it. He calls all to honour it, and to sanctify it by “a holy resting all that day from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days.” If the Railway Company wanted to give an excursion to the people of Dundee, or of Inverness, or any other town, why did they not give it on a week-day? Why abuse the Sabbath law and defy God to His very face? In their action they have declared that they are not a moral company, for the law of the Sabbath belongs to the first table of the Moral Law, and the breach of that day declares the breaker or breakers immoral, and their action is sure to bring guilt and a curse on them and all connected with them. We feel it is making it unpleasant for us to travel by their trains even on the week-days, for we cannot forget their action on the Sabbath. We also feel that they are liable to an open judgment, and we do not wish to be involved. Our numbers may not be great, yet we have consciences, and we know we have God on our side. Therefore, we are bold. We do not in the least feel ashamed to own Him as our Lord, and His Day as the delight of our souls. We, therefore, most emphatically protest against the Railway Companies for running these excursion trains to Inverness and other places. We warn them not to continue their sinful course, but to turn in repentance to the Lord from whom they have revolted.
The Presbytery also expresses its strong disapproval of how the Sabbath is desecrated, not only by public bodies, but by private individuals.
New Church at Thurso.
—This church, which was recently purchased from the Reformed Presbyterians and which has undergone renovation, was opened on 12th September. The Rev. D. Beaton, Wick, preached from Gal. i. 9. Mr Beaton expressed the hope that the same glorious Gospel preached by the Apostle would be preached in that building in the days to come. The Rev. D. N. Macleod, Ullapool, concluded with prayer. The interim-moderator, Rev. William Grant, cordially thanked the friends who had so generously contributed to the purchase and renovation Fund. The building was filled to overflowing, considerable numbers being present from Strathy, Halkirk, and Wick, with representatives from other places.
“The Forward” (Glasgow).
—This Socialist organ, which uses, at times, rather reckless language, had a paragraph some months ago from some “wandering star,” who had visited Skye, purporting to contain an utterance on modern dress by a Free Presbyterian minister. On the Rev. James Macleod’s attention being called to the paragraph, he wrote the editor a forcible letter, with the result that the following note appeared in “The Forward” (6th August):—”In reference to a statement reported in our issue of 18th June to the effect that a Free Presbyterian speaker in Skye had delivered a rather unique homily to young men on the perils of modern dress fashions, we are assured that the statement did not refer to any existing Free Presbyterian minister in Skye, and we regret if the present ministers or any of them have a grievance as a result of the paragraph in question.”
New Students Received by the Southern Presbytery.
—At its last meeting the Presbytery received Messrs John Colquhoun and Archibald Beaton as students.