MRS. MacLeod passed to her everlasting rest in the Lewis Hospital, Stornoway, on the 20th July last in her 81st year. An injury to her thigh through a fall necessitated her removal to hospital, and although for the first few days she appeared to rally, the weakening condition of her heart indicated that her wilderness journey was approaching its close. With sweet composure she entered the valley of the Shadow of Death and spoke of being comforted by the following passages of the truth:—”For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord” and “Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Shortly before the end came one of our ministers to whom she was attached called to see her. She recognised him and was able to speak. He began to conduct worship at her bedside and read part of the 8th chapter of Romans. When he had finished reading the 29th verse,—”Moreover whom he did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified them He also glorified,” she peacefully entered the rest that remaineth for the people of God to behold in open vision the glory of the Lamb which in time she beheld by faith through a glass, darkly.
Mrs. MacLeod was the widow of Malcolm MacLeod, the beloved and highly respected missionary of our Church in Ness, who died in the year 1927. Early in life she came under the power of the truth, and was admitted to membership during the ministry of the saintly Mr. MacBeath whose memory is still revered in the parish. Throughout her long Christian profession, eminently marked by “the ornament of a meek and quick spirit which is in the sight of God of great price,” she maintained a walk free of offence and finished her course with joy. Her gracious discernment secured a high place for her in the hearts of the Lord’s people. She was a good Gaelic scholar and corresponded in that language. The memoirs of Mr. MacDonald Sheildaig, Mr. MacFarlane and Mr. Cameron, which she read and re-read, were precious to her and on each occasion found them refreshing to her soul. The sermons of the late Mr. Popham of Brighton she highly prized and often spoke of the blessing she received after a period of darkness through his sermon on the words:—”For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground,” which appeared a few years ago in the “Gospel Standard.”
Mrs. MacLeod was one of those who grieved for the affliction of Joseph, as evinced by her reply to one who remonstrated with her that denominational differences counted little, and that one should worship in any church. “That may be easy for you” she replied, “but I have to confess that I know what it is to sorrow over the loss of parents, over the death of some of my off-spring and over the death of my husband, but all that sorrow has been exceeded by the grief of heart I have had in connection with seeing the Cause of Christ suffering at the hands of unfaithful men.”
According to promise the Spirit of the Lord in 1893 raised a standard in Scotland against the flood of Arminianism and Modernism which has since turned our beloved once favoured land into a barren wilderness. To that standard in defence of the inspiration and infallibility of God’s Word, the sovereignty of grace, the free offer of the everlasting gospel and the moral law as the Christian’s rule of life, a standard still triumphant through God in spite of all assaults open and disguised, Mrs. MacLeod adhered with unswerving loyalty. She was a true help-meet to her husband during the trials and reproaches which it was his lot to endure when he separated for truth and conscience sake. The noble band that then raised the testimony in Ness on the side of Christ and His cause are fast being removed to their eternal rest. The passing of Mrs.Leod, a wrestler at the throne of grace for Zion’s prosperity has made a sore breach in our midst. To her sorrowing family sincere sympathy is extended.
“Do thou, O God, arise and plead
The cause that is Thine own:
Remember how Thou art reproach’d
Still by the foolish one.”
W. M.