SUMMARY

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|——————————|—-|—-|———–|———-|———-|———|———|———-|———-|———–|
| Northern Presbytery | .. | .. | 1005 13 3 | 141 4 8 | 62 2 7 | 37 18 9 | 52 9 1 | 44 1 3 | 23 13 2 | 1367 2 9 |
| Southern | .. | .. | 1232 0 5 | 98 0 0 | 157 16 8 | 34 0 0 | 38 10 0 | 43 10 0 | 22 10 0 | 1626 7 1 |
| Western | .. | .. | 2428 18 7 | 441 19 0 | 141 14 9 | 86 5 7 | 94 10 8 | 98 13 2 | 66 14 7 | 3358 16 4 |
| Congregational Contributions | .. | .. | 4666 12 3 | 681 3 8 | 361 14 0 | 158 4 4 | 185 9 9 | 186 4 5 | 112 17 9 | 6352 6 2 |
| Legacies | .. | .. | 170 0 0 | .. | 205 0 0 | .. | .. | .. | .. | 375 0 0 |
| Donations | .. | .. | 258 5 5 | 269 15 0 | 652 0 5 | 401 7 7 | 51 15 0 | 173 1 10 | 56 15 0 | 1833 0 3 |
| Interest | .. | .. | 113 12 1 | .. | 51 1 0 | 56 15 3 | 3 0 7 | .. | 0 14 7 | 225 3 6 |

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|—————————–|—-|—-|———-|———-|———–|———-|———-|———|———|————|
| Balance at 31st March, 1930 | .. | .. | 5208 9 9 | 950 18 8 | 1269 15 5 | 616 7 2 | 240 5 4 | 359 6 3 | 170 7 4 | 8815 9 11 |
| | .. | .. | 8124 5 9 | .. | 2334 6 7 | 1600 5 4 | 148 19 5 | 15 9 6 | 38 13 6 | 12262 0 11 |

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| On Deposit Receipt for Kaffir Bibles | .. | .. | 13332 15 0 | 950 18 8 | 3604 2 0 | 2216 12 6 | 389 4 9 | 374 15 9 | 209 0 10 | 21077 10 0 |
| On Deposit Receipt for Colonial Mission Funds | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 559 1 7 |
| | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 77 16 7 |

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| 21714 8 2 |
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Protest Tabled at the Free Church General Assembly in May 1893.

WHEREAS by the action of the General Assembly of 1892 in passing the Declaratory Act into a law of the Church, and by that Act being retained in her constitution, the Church, in our opinion, ceases to be the true representative of the Free Church of Scotland; and whereas by our ordination vows we are bound by the most solemn obligations to assert, maintain, and defend the doctrines and constitution of the said Church, and to follow no divisive courses from the doctrine, worship, discipline, government, and exclusive jurisdiction of the same, I, the undersigned minister of the Free Church, in my own name, and in the name of all who may adhere to me, declare that, whatever I may subsequently do, neither my conscience nor my ordination vows allow me to act under what has now been made law in this Church.

I also protest against the despotic power exercised by a majority of the office-bearers of this Church in making changes in her creed and constitution, which are ultra vires of any majority in the face of any protesting minority, and I declare that I claim my sacred and civil rights according to the terms of contract agreed upon between me and the Free Church at my ordination, and in accordance with the creed and constitution of the Free Church in the year 1843.—(Signed) Donald Macfarlane, Minister.

Sowing the Seed.

Sow in the morn thy seed,
At e’en hold not thy hand;
To doubt or fear give thou no heed,
Broadcast it o’er the land.
Beside all waters sow,
The highway furrows stock;
Drop it where thorns and thistles grow,
Scatter it on the rock.
The good and fruitful ground
Expect not here, or there;
O’er hill and dale, in spots ’tis found;
Go, spread it everywhere.

Thou knowest not which shall thrive,
The late or early sown;
Grace keeps the precious germs alive,
When and wherever strewn.
And duly shall appear
In verdure, beauty, strength,
The tender blade, the stem, the ear,
And the full corn at length.
Thou shalt not sow in vain,
Cold, heat, and moist and dry
Shall foster and mature the grain,
For garners in the sky.
Then, when the glorious end,
The day of God, is come,
The angel-reapers shall descend,
And heaven shout harvest-home!

Notes and Comments.

Nature’s Pruning Hook.—The great and wise (though they are not always wise) men of science at time give utterance to sentiments that run so counter to the facts staring the ordinary man in the face that he is completely baffled by the curious mentality possessed by these gifted men. This was exemplified by some recent utterances of Sir Arthur Keith in his rectorial address at Aberdeen University. “Nature keeps her human orchard healthy by pruning,” this distinguished scientist is reported as saying, “war is her pruning hook.” Along this road, no doubt, Sir Arthur and many of his fellow Evolutionists, are watching with childish simplicity the onward march of events to a purer and better world but unfortunately the stern facts of nature are against them. The Glasgow “Evening Citizen” (8th June) has done good service in exposing the shallowness and untruthfulness of the above utterance. It truly says:— “Consider the post-war world. Do we find the human race

better than it used to be? By every test it is enormously worse. People are restless and neurotic; private morals are decayed; divorcees increased greatly; cocktail-drinking, drug-taking, gambling, craving for excitement, wide-spread; business ethics debased; religion neglected, scholarship diminished, and, on all sides, a general lack of discipline, self-control, and reverence. To this degeneration the Muses themselves bear testimony—jazz and discordant noise, salacious novels, filthy drama, grotesque pictures and obscene sculpture; the Ju-Ju, the witch doctor, the Black Congo our new ideal! Such are the fruits of war, such the results of this pruning!”

Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa.—At the Dutch Reformed Synod at Bloemfontein, says the “Bulawayo Chronicle” (9th May), it was suggested by the committee and agreed to by the Synod by 109 votes to 29, after a long discussion, that to the articles, which compel ministers to sign a declaration before being admitted as such, the following be added: “I declare and confess uprightly and with a good conscience before the Lord (1) That the Bible is God’s Word; (2) That the Bible in all its parts is inspired by God and is, therefore, in all its parts infallible; (3) That the miracles of the Bible cannot be explained by human reason and must be accepted with childlike faith; (4) That the story of the creation and the fall of man as contained in Genesis is infallible and inspired; (5) That history as set forth in the Old Testament itself must be maintained against the Evolution theory of the Higher Criticism; (6) That Jesus Christ is not only in an ethical sense holy and without sin, but He is, also, intellectually without mistakes, untruth and deceit; (7) That the teaching of Jesus Christ about Moses as a writer of the Pentateuch, about Jonah and the whale, about David as the author of Psalm ex., about the whole Scripture, is infallible; that Jesus is always the truth.” This is a very interesting and encouraging decision of the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church. When will the day dawn when the supreme courts of the larger Presbyterian bodies of the world come to such a scriptural decision as the above?

Mr. Brider’s Gospel Mission to the Army and Navy.—

We have received a copy of the 57th Annual Report of this excellent Mission. Mr. Brider is doing good work in supplying sound religious literature to our sailors and soldiers and he deserves every encouragement. Contributions may be sent to Mr. Brider’s address:—21 Firfield Street, Totterdown, Bristol.

Rev. Lachlan Mackenzie’s Lectures.—

There are still a few bound copies of this book on hand and those who wish to possess a copy would do well to apply to Mr. James Campbell, 6 Ardross Place, Inverness. The price of the book is 4s. post free. This is an exceptionally low price for such a large and well-bound book. We need scarcely remind our readers that this second volume contains quite new material from that presented in the first volume.

— Literary Notice.

HOW I LEARNED TO LOVE THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE, by HAROLD

A. LEWTY, M.A., Rector of Micklefield, Suffolk. Sovereign Grace Union, 98 Camberwell Grove, London, S.E.5. Price, 1½d. post free.

This is a short but interesting account of how an Anglo-Catholic clergyman of the Church of England was brought in the sovereign pleasure of God to receive the doctrines of grace as set forth in the Scriptures. Mr. Lewty in describing his hatred to these doctrines and his determination not to receive them tells a story which every natural heart would tell if only it were honest. By the very grace he fought against he was conquered. In days when the precious doctrines of grace are so lightly esteemed it is encouraging to read such an account as Mr. Lewty gives of how the Holy Spirit can bring down the high imaginations of men and bear witness to His own Truth.

Church Notes.

Communions.—July—First Sabbath, Raasay, Lairg, Thurso, and Beauly; second, Tain, Staffin, and Tomatin; third, Daviot, Halkirk, Flashboard, and Rogart; fourth, Plockton, North Uist, and Bracadale. August—First Sabbath, Dingwall; second, Farr (Bettyhill), Portree, Stratherrick; third, Laide, and Bonar-Bridge; fourth, Finsbay; fifth, Stornoway. 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 alteration of, the above dates of Communions should be sent to the Editor.

An Appeal on behalf of Uig (Lewis) Congregation.—The Synod has confirmed the reception of the Uig (Lewis) Congregation as a congregation of the Free Presbyterian Church. This congregation was formed in January last by the action of about 300 persons in Uig who separated themselves from the Church of Scotland and who petitioned the Synod to receive them and their minister Rev. R. Macinnes as a congregation of the Church. Both minister and congregation have satisfied the Synod that they took this action because they could no longer be identified with a Church which had forsaken Reformation principles and practice and that they were one with the Free Presbyterian Church in doctrine, worship, and discipline. The congregation is now without suitable church buildings. Their greatest need is a house for their minister who has met with a measure of hardship, the house in which he has stayed since being unsuitable and the rent excessive. The people will do their utmost with money and labour to provide a house for their minister and erect meeting houses. The Synod have expressed their sympathy and assured them that they will be helped. Contributions may be sent to our General Treasurer, Mr. John Grant, 4 Millburn Road, Inverness, or Mr. Norman Mackay, Treasurer, Free Presbyterian Church, Valtos, Uig, Lewis. The Western Presbytery endorses this Appeal.—Malcolm Gillies, Clerk pro tem of Western Presbytery.

Acceptance of Call to Wick.—At a meeting of the Northern Presbytery held at Wick on 12th June a unanimous call was presented to Rev. Robert R. Sinclair, which has since been accepted. The ordination and induction is expected (D.V.) to take place in August.

Acknowledgment of Donations.

Sustentation Fund.—M. D., Kingussie, 5s 3d; Mrs C., Kilmacolm, 10s; Mrs M., Aviemore, £1; Boston, U.S.A., per Rev. N. Cameron, £2; Mrs N., Fort William, Canada, 8s 2d.

Home Mission Fund.—Mrs A. M., Bridge of Orchy, £1 8s 9d; R. McK., Inverness, 5s.

Jewish and Foreign Mission Fund.—R. McK., Inverness, 8s; Boston, U.S.A., per Rev. N. Cameron, £3; A. J. M., 10s.

Rogart Church Building Fund.—Miss M., Bonar, 10s; Captain and Mrs N., £1.

Elgoll Church Building Fund.—Mr J. Mackinnon, 21 Elgoll, acknowledges with thanks Collecting Card, per Mr C. Macaskill:—Ose, Dunvegan, £4; Mrs J. N., Elgoll, 10s.

Staffin Church Building Fund.—Mr A. Mackay acknowledges with sincere thanks:—Friend, Raasay, £1.

Tallisker Church Building.—From Mrs M., Ardineasken, per Mr A. Nicolson, £2 13s; Struan, Collecting Card, per J. McIntyre, Carbostmore, the following—Portnalong Collection Book, per Mr M. Morrison, £15; Fernilea Collection Book, per Mr D. MacAskill, £4 10s; Carbost Collection Book, per Mr J. MacIntyre, £10 18s 6d.

Dunoon Church Fund.—Rev. N. Cameron thanks very sincerely the following donors:—J. Nicolson, £1; J. M. M., £1; A Friend, £5; Captain K. K. McL., 10s; F. P., 10s; Mrs. T. W., 5s; Mrs C. Stirling, £1; Friend, Ross-shire, 5s; K. M., £1; J. L., Culdute, £1; A. J. M., 10s; Friend, Applecross, 7s; Anonymous, 10s; Sincere well-wisher, £1; Mrs. A. M., Gairloch, 10s; A Friend, 5s.

Mr H. S. McGillivray acknowledges with grateful thanks:—From Glasgow friends, per Mr Graham, £2; (£1 for Dunoon; £1 for Glenlean Mission Supply); per Rev. R. Sinclair for Glenlean Supply, 2s; per Rev. R. Sinclair for Glenlean Supply, 2s 6d; from a Rev. friend in North (for Dunoon Church) £1.

Achmore Church Fund.—Captain K. K. Macleod acknowledges with sincere thanks the following donations:—Friends, Kames, £4; D. Mackay, 5s; A Friend, per Rev. N. C., 5s; Mrs O., £1; Miss M., 2s; M. M., Lurebost, £1.

Sollas Church Fund.—M. L. Macdonald acknowledges with sincere thanks the following, Collecting Card:—Mrs George S. Ferguson, 26 47th Avenue East, Vancouver, £19 16s 1d, per Mrs D. J. Macdonald, Boggach, Sollas.