His Majesty The King’s Illness.
As readers are aware, His Majesty The King, since his serious operation on the 23rd day of September, has been making surprisingly good progress towards recovery. The experienced skill of several eminent medical men undoubtedly has contributed to this favourable issue in the providence of God. But we verily believe that many of the Lord’s people throughout the nation were moved to pray for His Majesty, that God in His mercy and for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, would raise up His Majesty. God has given ear to the prayers of His people. Yet in the King’s serious illness therein was the rod of God, to be heard by the Royal Family in particular and the nation in general. “Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.” A throne and a crown even, cannot give immunity from trouble and the grave ultimately. “Kiss ye the Son, lest He be angry,” is the counsel of heaven to Kings and peasants alike. We wish well to His Majesty, in grace and providence, for time and eternity.
Publicity for Roman Catholic Service in Edinburgh.
In St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, Edinburgh, a new Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh was installed on the 21st of September last. William Godfrey, the Pope’s Apostolic Delegate to Great Britain, performed the principle part of the ceremony which was, according to reports, accompanied by all the various unscriptural, empty, carnal and theatrical ritual and display of Rome. The B.B.C. gave a special broadcast of the ceremony; and the Scottish daily press next day carried fairly long and detailed accounts of “Rome at work” in the capital of Scotland and the city of the great Reformer, John Knox. This was not all: the Roman authorities had invited a number of non-Roman Catholics as guests to the ceremony and to the luncheon thereafter. Among the guests were the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Mr. James Miller; Chief Rabbi Isaac Cohen; and the Church of Scotland minister of Glasgow Cathedral, Rev. Dr. Neville Davidson. The non-Roman Catholic guests attending were indeed blind to the fact that the Roman Catholic Church is indeed anti-Christ, anti-Bible, anti-Gospel liberty, anti-Jew, anti-democracy, etc. These guests, having accepted the invitation, were without doubt expected to become enamoured of Rome’s ritual and then to become non-Catholic tools and fools for the publicising of the Man of Sin in Protestant and Covenanting Scotland. It did not take one of them, namely, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, long to reveal that he was out to be a friend of Rome, and in a very reprehensible way. During his luncheon speech, he said “that he hoped that religious tolerance—not always a feature of our national life—would come to be regarded as one of the traditions of the British people” (see Glasgow Herald, Sept. 22nd). The Lord Provost thus cast a slur upon the glorious and liberating work of Christian, godly and Protestant Reformers in Scotland and England. Their God-blessed witness and work in the past liberated the people of Scotland and England from the darkness, death and degradation which Popery brings with it. Let the Lord Provost of Edinburgh enquire about religious intolerance in Spain, Italy, and the Southern American countries, and Roman Catholic Quebec Province; then let him handle in public the question of tolerance for the Pope’s Church, the priest, the Jesuit, the Confessional, the dictatorship of the Vatican, and the oppression of all outside the Roman Catholic Church where Rome has the civil and religious power. Any, in Scotland, who worthily bear the name of Christian and Protestant, cannot possibly tolerate the blasphemy of the Mass, that the carnal priests of Rome can absolve from sin, or that Mary is to be given the place of a mediator between God and sinners, and so on. The Lord Provost appears to be, in our opinion, quite incompetent to instruct the people of Scotland on this vital question of religious tolerance. Those who fear God must not tolerate sin and what dishonours God, and therefore cannot tolerate the blasphemies and evils of the Papacy.
Up-to-date Information for Edinburgh’s Lord Provost.
Following our reference to Edinburgh’s Lord Provost in the previous note, we have ready to hand illuminating material for those of his mind who think we should be tolerant toward Rome. The Glasgow Bulletin of 3rd October, 1951, reports that two hundred Roman Catholic girls employed at Claudy factory, Co. Londonderry, went on strike on the 2nd October, as a protest against the marriage of an assistant forewoman, Miss Cecilia Farren, to a local man, Mr. Robert Reilly, a Protestant and a Presbyterian, and a mechanic in the village garage. The strikers told the manager that they would not work under Mrs. Reilly. The manager refused to intervene and the girls walked out of the factory, and held a meeting outside the local Roman Catholic hall. Mrs. Reilly stated that her people were very much against the marriage because her husband was a Protestant. “I have now become a Protestant myself and was received into the Presbyterian Church before the wedding,” she said. Her father, Mr. Henry Farren, said their opposition to the wedding went as far as ordering their daughter out of the house. The Lord Provost should keep his eyes open for reports like the above, and when at any future time the opportunity arises to address Roman Catholic dignitaries, let him turn his advice and counsel about religious tolerance (and intolerance) toward them and their Church. If his Lordship ever does, from then onward he will be on the Roman Catholic black-list in Scotland.
Rev. Nevile Davidson at Roman Catholic Luncheon.
As stated in our first Note and Comment, Rev. Nevile Davidson, of the Church of Scotland, and minister of Glasgow Cathedral, attended the luncheon given by the Roman Catholic Church in Edinburgh on 21st September, after the appointment of a new Roman Catholic Archbishop. We know that Rev. N. Davidson inclines towards Anglican practices in his own Church along with a goodly number of his brethren. But Dr. Davidson is still a minister of the Church of Scotland, professing itself to be a Presbyterian and Protestant Church; and yet he publicly associates himself with Rome and the appointment of a Papal Archbishop over St. Andrews and Edinburgh. The Moderator of the General Assembly of Dr. N. Davidson’s Church is but a miserable heretic in the view of this Romish Archbishop, and so is Dr. Davidson himself. If there are any sound Protestants among the ministers, office-bearers and people generally of the present-day Church of Scotland, it is high time they revealed some conviction and courage in condemning the actions of such as Dr. N. Davidson, in bowing to the Man of Sin; otherwise they lay themselves open to the charge that they agree with this deplorable conduct, which is calculated to weaken Protestantism in our beloved land.
Free Church Minister and British Legion Sabbath Ceremony.
On Sabbath, the 26th day of August, 1951, there was what we call a Sabbath-breaking ceremony in Dornoch Cathedral, when the King’s Colours and the standard of the Dornoch branch of the British Legion were “dedicated” by Rev. William MacLeod, branch chaplain, and minister (for many years) of the Free Church of Scotland, Dornoch. Rev. Mr. MacLeod is also Clerk to the Free Church Assembly. At this ceremony there was a colour party who carried the colours into the Church of Scotland Cathedral. Rev. W. Edgar, of the Cathedral, conducted the service. The colours were handed over by the branch chairman and the Provost of Dornoch. There were British Legion representatives from all parts of the North, ranging from Halkirk to Strathpeffer on this Lord’s Day. Rev. W. MacLeod, who performed the dedication service, gave an address based on a text from 2nd Samuel. According to the press report, Mr. MacLeod referred again and again to “giving Christ His rightful place.” After the service, there was a parade led by two pipe bands, one from Invergordon, and also five young pipers from Helmsdale; and a march-past took place, Rev. W. MacLeod being among those at the saluting base. The Free Church of Scotland still officially proclaim their adherence to a distinctive Free Church Testimony, still professes regard for the Lord’s Day and the hallowing of it; still give the impression that they value purity of worship; and still—such as Rev. W. MacLeod belies all this. In the aforesaid account, Mr. MacLeod seems to have been the central personality in ceremonies and activities which had nothing to do with a scriptural gospel Testimony, which trampled upon and desecrated the Lord’s Day, and which filled the Dornoch Cathedral with military and worldly show, display and vanity. The courts of the Free Church and Church of Scotland ought to remember, if Revs. W. MacLeod and W. Edgar do not, that the Lord Jesus assumed “His rightful place” when He entered the Temple and took a scourge of cords and cleansed it of carnal and worldly men and their practices, declaring of them that they had made the House of Prayer a den of thieves. (The Northern Times of 31st August, 1951, is the source of our information on this matter.)
The General Election.
The recent General Election took place on Thursday, the 25th of October, in an atmosphere of concern regarding a further financial crisis, the forced abandonment of the Persian oil fields, the renunciation by Egypt of her Treaty with Britain, and the burden of the armament requirements. Of course, many issues of a controversial nature in Home affairs, such as Nationalisation, were outstanding points dealt with by the political parties seeking the votes and confidence of the people throughout the nation. We note that the public press pointed out one day prior to the Election, that the official practice of the Conservative Party was to refrain from holding any political meetings on the Lord’s Day, but that the Labour Party held many of their meetings and demonstrations on that Day. Those who have regard to the Fourth Commandment must take cognisance of these facts. Let us remember that on the Continent, the great day for elections of national import are invariably held on Sabbath. Many a time we have thought of this in the light of the constant difficulty France has in forming a stable government. On the afternoon of Friday, the day after the Election, results showed a certain majority for the Conservative Party, and Mr. Attlee, Prime Minister of the Labour Government, resigned, and Mr. Churchill became Prime Minister, being asked by the King to form a new government. We trust that the Conservative Government will have due regard to truth and righteousness, and to the Protestant aspect of our National Constitution. There are political, economic and social problems to be handled. May these and religious and moral questions be dealt with justly and in the light of God’s holy Word by our new Government. God requires that Kings and all in authority be prayed for, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness.