(From “Disruption Worthies of the Highlands.”)
Among the great names that adorned the Disruption Church, none was held in higher esteem in the Northern Counties of Scotland, and among many in the South, than that of Dr Macdonald of Ferintosh. In the Highlands he was known as “Ministear mòr na Tòisidheachd”. It is not consistent with fact to say that in matters of religion the Highlanders are the mere followers of their popular ministers. There were popular ministers in the Highlands whom the people forsook, because of their deserting what they held to be the cause of truth at the period of the Disruption. Yet in no part of the country are ministers of power and grace more esteemed than in the Highlands, and it cannot be questioned that the teaching and example of such ministers exercised a vast influence over the popular mind in 1843, and of none more than the subject of our sketch.
We learn from Dr Kennedy’s biography of Dr Macdonald, that he was born in the parish of Reay, in Caithness, on the 12th November, 1779. His father, James Macdonald, or M’Adie, as he was called, in accordance with Celtic usage, which distinguishes the septs in the same tribe, was a man of note among the religious community. He was early brought to the saving knowledge of divine truth; and at a later period he was, with universal consent, appointed catechist of his native parish. For this post he was admirably qualified by both his gifts and his graces, and he retained the affection and the esteem of the godly over a wide district unchanged to the end of a long life of 97 years. The part of the country where he resided was at the time much torn by religious differences. The people in a body adhered to the Church of Scotland, but within the Church they were much divided. James held firmly by the Church and its ordinances, while he maintained Christian fellowship with the truly good who had separated themselves. He was a man of a bold, and yet a loving spirit. His aim was to win souls to Christ. On one occasion he met the leader of the separatist party in the parish, who began to reprove him as being too soft, and told him he should be more faithful in denouncing sinners. It was the habit of the people of the Highlands at the time to send their horses away to the hills in summer, where they were set loose; and there was often some difficulty afterwards in taking them when required. James’s reply to his neighbour’s reproof was, “Well, let you and me go to the hill, John, to catch the horses; take you a whip, and I’ll take a sheaf of corn, and see which of us will be most successful”.
John Macdonald was the worthy son of such a father. At school he soon took the highest place, and at college, which he attended in King’s College, Aberdeen, he was one of the most distinguished students. He especially excelled in Mathematics — a science which he cultivated to the last days of his life. It was during his school and college days that he was brought to the knowledge of saving truth. Dr Kennedy specifies the three means which the Spirit of God appears to have employed in bringing about this great end. They were the early teaching and example of his father, the writings of Jonathan Edwards, and the preaching of the Rev J. Robertson of Achrenny Mission, afterwards of Kingussie.
In 1805 he was licensed by the Presbytery of Caithness to preach the Gospel. Previous to his ordination he officiated as missionary in Achrenny and Halladale for some months, and in 1806 he was ordained to the mission charge at Berriedale — all in the Presbytery of Caithness. His incumbency here was a very short one, and in January, 1807, he was translated to what was then the Gaelic Chapel of Edinburgh, as successor to the Rev James Maclauchlan, afterwards of Moy. When he came first to Edinburgh, he had little of the power in preaching to which he afterwards attained. He was sound, clear, and accurate; but somewhat stiff in his manner and delivery. This might have arisen from various causes, but mainly, no doubt, was the result of youth and inexperience. Gradually this sense of constraint wore away, and he came to speak in public with wonderful eloquence and power. It was once said to the writer by an old Edinburgh hearer of his, “It was here that he got his wings”. During his Edinburgh ministry an attempt was made to introduce English preaching in the afternoon into the Gaelic congregation, to meet the wishes of hundreds who wished to benefit by Mr Macdonald’s ministry; but the more ardent Celts among the people resisted the change strenuously and successfully. To meet the desire, however, Mr Macdonald resolved to preach English at night — thus undertaking three regular services each Lord’s day. With weekday meetings and visitations, this made his life a busy one. It was also a useful one, for during his Edinburgh ministry he had many souls for his hire. His ministry in Edinburgh extended over a period of six years; and in 1813 he was presented to the Parish of Ferintosh in Ross-shire, vacant by the death of the excellent and much-esteemed Mr Charles Calder. The scene when he parted with his Edinburgh flock was a somewhat remarkable one. He had preached in Gaelic as usual during the day, taking farewell of the people; and at night the English congregation met in the usual place of worship in North College Street. Ere the service began, the crowd collecting was such that there was no prospect of their finding accommodation in the church, although it could accommodate 1100 worshippers. Mr Macdonald was just going to the pulpit, when it was proposed that a request should be made for the use of the West Church for the occasion. A messenger was sent for the keys, which were readily given. The West Church was opened, and Mr Macdonald putting himself at the head of his congregation, they marched westward through the Grassmarket, and soon filled the Church to the roof. Here, amidst the tears and sobs of many, he took farewell of his English-speaking hearers, who had for years enjoyed and profited by his earnest ministry.
In due time he was settled in Ferintosh, where he continued to minister with great success till the year 1849, a period of 42 years. Much of his time was spent in assisting brother ministers at their communions. In such services he was acceptable to both ministers and people, many of the ministers who differed widely from him on ecclesiastical questions making him heartily welcome. This he owed much to his kind, genial, and brotherly disposition, which displayed itself so pleasantly in the family circle, his interesting conversation, and especially his fund of anecdote, all making him a favourite with old and young. Many ministers’ sons and daughters, who were young at the time, remember well how welcome he was at their father’s fireside. By the people his appearance was hailed with enthusiasm, thousands collected to hear the word at his mouth, and many of these gatherings were followed by rich and abounding spiritual blessings.
He took a deep interest in the distant island of St Kilda. At the instance of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, he visited the island four times in as many different years, and preached to the people, at the time without a minister, the gospel of salvation. Besides these visits, so much valued by the people, he made strenuous efforts to secure the erection of a church and manse in the island, and on his last visit, in 1827, accompanied by the minister appointed by the Society which he represented, he found the buildings completed, and provision made for the regular maintenance of gospel ordinances. For many years the Free Church has maintained a minister on the island.
In 1827 he paid a visit to Ireland, at the request of Mr Daly, afterwards Bishop of Cashel, with a view to preaching the gospel to the Irish in their native tongue. He studied the Irish dialect of the Gaelic language, and preached frequently in that dialect to the people along the south-west coast.
Dr Macdonald’s zeal for preaching the gospel led him sometimes into difficulties. In the year 1817 he preached in a Dissenting chapel in Strathbogie, without the consent of the parish minister. For this he was brought before the General Assembly, where, although no special censure was passed upon him, such proceedings were severely censured.
His ministry was richly blessed of God. Perhaps no minister of modern times was more owned as the means of converting souls. While in Edinburgh, he took a deep and active interest in the great revival at Muthil, under the ministry of the Rev. Mr Russell. Soon after his removal to Ferintosh, a deeply interesting movement took place among his own people. After that the Word was much blessed on both sides of Loch Tay, and in Glenlyon; and he frequently visited the district and preached with great power and success. The fruits of the revival of religion there are visible to this day. There were great spiritual movements in Ross-shire, the revivals in Kilsyth and Dundee took place, and in all these Dr Macdonald took his share of the work with warm interest. Wherever he heard of the Lord’s cause prospering, he made a point of being present to help it forward.
Though not disposed to take much part in ecclesiastical controversy, he found no difficulty in taking his side when the great questions of Non-Intrusion and Spiritual Independence arose for discussion in the Church. He became a firm supporter of the policy of the Evangelical party; and his weight of character and influence over the popular mind aided much the cause which they maintained in the north. At the Disruption he took a foremost place, and was selected to preach the first sermon in Tanfield Hall. His text was John 15: 16. He shewed the power of the principle which actuated him by the extent of the sacrifice which he made, for the living of the parish of Ferintosh was one of the largest in that part of the country. He was not in the habit of referring often to ecclesiastical subjects in the pulpit; but, preaching at Edinburgh, in the Gaelic Church, soon after the Disruption, he said of the Established Church as it then existed, that it was a “Christ-denying, God-dishonouring, and soul-destroying church”. These were strong words — too strong, perhaps, for courtesy or for charity, but he spoke under a deep sense of wrong done to the cause of Christ. He was much censured for using them, but it does not appear that he ever withdrew, or even modified them afterwards.
At the Inverness Assembly he was associated, as Gaelic Moderator, with Dr M’Farlan of Greenock, the Moderator for the year. In this capacity he preached a Gaelic sermon at the opening of the Assembly, and many who were then present still remember the mingled feeling of amusement and admiration which pervaded the house as he announced his text, and proceeded to expound it. The words were, “These, who have turned the world upside down, are come hither also.” The sermon was one in every way worthy of his fame, and a complete vindication of the Disruption.
On the 18th April, 1849, he was called to his rest, leaving behind him a name fragrant and precious among thousands, and which shall not be forgotten, especially in the Highlands, so long as gospel truth is prized by the people.
Dr Buchanan, in his Ten Years’ Conflict, says:-
“The devotional services at the Convocation were conducted by Dr Macdonald of Ferintosh — that eminent servant of God, of whom it is enough to say that he was the Whitefield of the Highlands of Scotland. The proudest and most powerful chieftains of the Celtic race never possessed such a mastery over the clans, which the fiery cross or the wild pibroch summoned into the field in the fierce days of feudal strife, as belonged, in these more peaceful modern times, to this humble minister of Christ. From Tarbatness to the Outer Hebrides — from the Spey to the Pentland Firth — the fact needed but to be known that John Macdonald had come, and was about to preach the Word, in order that the country for 20 miles around should gather at his call. Ten thousand people have often been swayed as one man — stirred into enthusiasm, or melted into sadness, by this mighty and faithful preacher’s voice.”
— T. M’L.