Harriet, A Highland Christian and Her Circle, by Rev Donald A Macfarlane and others, published by Reformation Press, paperback, 103 pages, £6.40.
Harriet MacDonald was a godly woman in Dingwall, who lived from 1858 to 1940. Her minister during the final part of her life, Rev Donald A Macfarlane, described her as “one of the cream of the godly”. It was he who, shortly after her death, published a booklet giving an account of her life, together with an account of her father Alexander, who is described as “one of Dr Kennedy’s most intimate friends” – referring to the noted minister of Dingwall Free Church who died in 1884. These accounts are reproduced in this new publication, as is “an appreciation of Harriet”, which was published in The North Star, a local newspaper, after her death. One wonders if the writer of this “appreciation”, whose name was not given, might have been Samuel Fraser, an elder in the Dingwall Free Presbyterian congregation and father of Rev James Fraser.
That writer quoted from one of Harriet’s letters, in which she tells of her then minister, Rev Donald Macfarlane, predecessor of the minister referred to above, inviting souls to believe: “Come to the Father, taking the price in your hand (the Beloved Son), making Him your only place of access. And you will not be refused, for the Father will not refuse anything to the Son. He is the delight of the Father, for He fills the Father’s heart. O to have Him! For His favour is better than life.” And no doubt Harriet, as she heard these words and perhaps also as she recorded them, felt encouraged to come again to God the Father, trusting in the finished work of Christ.
Harriet seems to have been converted while she was still young. She and her parents joined the Free Presbyterian Church after it was formed, following the passing in 1892 of the Declaratory Act by the Free Church. In speaking of her life, Rev D A Macfarlane notes, “There is not much . . . which we can relate of Miss MacDonald’s experiences throughout her life”. But he adds, “It is well that so many of her letters are preserved, as we have in them her expressions of breathings, longings, pantings of soul after conformity to her Lord and Saviour”. Extracts from these letters were published in the original booklet; they have been reprinted in the book reviewed here, along with extracts from others which have more recently become available. Even in 1941, Mr Macfarlane was writing, “What a blessing it would be if such letters – and the frame of soul which they manifest – were common among the children of men rather than being so rare!”
Another section of the book is taken up with profitable obituaries of some of Harriet’s friends; all of these women were also obviously godly. These obituaries appeared originally in The Free Presbyterian Magazine.
The book is recommended as giving some insight into the godliness of “a Highland Christian and her circle” at a time when true godliness was somewhat commoner than it is now. It should make us long and pray for times when godliness would no longer be seldom seen.
Spiritual Rest During Trials, by Hugh MacKail, published by Reformation Press, paperback, 62 pages, £6.50.
This little book consists of a historical overview of Rev Hugh MacKail, a sermon preached by him on Song of Solomon 1:7 in 1662, and his last speech and testimony. The well-written foreword, containing the historical overview, provides helpful context, and highlights the historical significance of the sermon. The faithful and clear denunciation, in this particular sermon, of the sins of the age in which he lived contributed to the martyrdom of this noble preacher of the gospel.
These men lived, preached, and wrote in the furnace of affliction, and there is a sweet, heavenly savour in this sermon. It is clear that MacKail was preaching from his own experience when he directed his hearers to the “spiritual rest during trials” found in the beautiful words of the text, “Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flocks to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?” (Song 1:7).
He begins by making the striking and theologically astute point that “misery is not only inescapably linked to sin, but is actually involved in it, sin being a separation of the soul from God, the fountain of all happiness and excellence”. The condition of the bride of Christ he takes to be that “of a chaste virgin, standing outside in a desolate and forlorn condition, in the scorching beams of the sun shining in its strength”. The scorching sun is identified as the tribulations and persecutions of the Church from without. In MacKail’s day, the state sought to interfere with the worship of the Church, and in the sermon we see the principles which lay behind their resolute defence of Christ’s right to rule in His own Church. For example, MacKail states, “If therefore any created power shall command anything not commanded by God, there cannot be any obligation on the conscience on that account, unless we say divine authority in one thing should contradict itself in another” (which, of course, it cannot do).
The temptations to turn aside in a time of trial and tribulation are well articulated, as is the only true and lawful rest in communion with Christ Himself. Of that rest, he says in reference to the dying thief: “The sound of that salutation, ‘Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise’, made the cross of the penitent thief preferable to all the crowns of the world”.
His last speech and testimony are instructive to future generations such as our own. It is from a broken and contrite heart that we hear him confessing it was his own timidity in withdrawing from those who were making a public stand for the Covenant that was the occasion of his falling into the hands of the enemy when he was captured. His understanding of the continued and aggravated afflictions of the Church was that “God’s design is to make many hearts contrite that have been formerly too whole, and have not lamented sufficiently the removal of his ordinances and ministry, and the reproach rubbed upon the work of reformation”. He soon died a martyr’s death, and won the martyr’s crown, clinging to the merits of the Church’s great Redeemer who alone can give rest to the guilty and weary soul. Taking to himself shame and confusion of face, he fled “to the propitiation offered to all sinners in Jesus Christ”.
The publication of such a sermon is most valuable, and it is to be desired that we would be stirred up ourselves by the divine blessing to cleave to Christ, going our way forth by the footsteps of the flock to feed our desires and graces in the public means of grace (Song 1:8). (Rev) ID MacDonald