Part III

Chapter VII: Rev. John Logan

[50] The first Free Church minister of Duthil who left the impress of ministerial usefulness on the community was the Rev. John Logan, who was translated from Dundee. He was a fearless man, bold and impulsive, but warm-hearted, vigorous, and weighty as a preacher, and capable as an organiser. His memory is still fresh, and is held in veneration by the generation who passed through his Bible class, many of whom are still living. He was not long, however, in the parish when he came into collision with the "men".

The most conspicuous of the "men" of Duthil were William Grant of Slochd (meaning "pit", the worst place in time and eternity, he used to say), familiar to travellers by the Highland Railway, and John Mackintosh, a meek and humble Christian, and a good religious poet. See Oranan Nuadh Spioradail, le Ian Macintoisich, a Bha 'n Tor an Spardain, Strathspei. Inbhirnis, 1844.The first edition of his poems (1844) contains "In Praise of the Saviour," a long piece of [51] twenty-seven verses of eight lines each; "Sad News," in which the writer, true to the Celtic character, glories in the past and mourns the departure of eminent ministers, such as Mr Porteous, Mr Gunn (Golspie), Mr Hector M'Phail, Mr Calder of Croy(?), Mr Hugh Mackay of Moy, and Mr Alex. Fraser of Kirk-hill; "The Misery of the Lovers of the World" is an earnest warning; against rejecting the Gospel; "A Lament" on Rev. Mr Robertson, Kingussie, shows how highly esteemed was that evangelical preacher, whose preaching attracted God-fearing people from all the surrounding parishes; the last is an elegy on Thomas Macdonald of Strathdearn (Moy). His grip of sound theology can be seen from the following verse :—

"Us theirear mac an duine ris
Ge iongantach leibh e ;
'Us theirear Uan an Athair ris,
'S cha lagh an iognadh e ;
Uan bhi anns an diadhaidheachd
'Us Dia bhi mar ri daoine
Tha e gu leir na dhiamhaireachd
'Us co don aithne el"

The others of this group of men were James Macgregor, Robert Macpherson, and Duncan [52] Cameron, the Boanerges of the party. Duncan Cameron was the son of Pipe-Major Cameron, a native of Duthil, who, for chivalrous devotion to his superior officer in the Canadian War, received recognition. This Pipe-Major married Ann Fraser from Kirkhill. Duncan was born in the garrison of Fort-William in 1798. He was very reticent about his conversion, but this is substantially how he related it to his bosom friends.
As a young man Duncan's company was much sought at convivial gatherings, he being of an exceptionally happy disposition, wTith an ardent love for music. He played the bagpipes and the fiddle. On a certain occasion at a certain place where a number of people were gathered, there was much mirth and hilarity. There was dancing and music and good cheer. The company dispersed about midnight, and on retiring to rest some time after midnight, when all was dark and still, and all were hushed in sleep, the room in which Duncan slept became suddenly filled with light. The brightness awoke Duncan at this strange hour of the night, and if the unwonted light was strange and calculated to make one tremble, the apparition at the window was very much more so, for there stood in bodily shape the Prince of Darkness, who can be transformed into an Angel of Light. From this point Duncan became a changed man. He was still but a youth, but the life he lived abundantly manifested that a great and radical change had taken place. On the morning after this strange sight he destroyed what he so much loved, and what made his company to be in continual request in convivial gatherings—his bagpipes and his fiddle.Duncan was a strong, well-built man, with a striking individuality. Possessed of a fertile intellect, and untrammelled by the motion of time or the tendency of ordinary mortals to sleep in a close atmosphere, he would discourse till cock-crow, and sometimes long after, on his favourite theme — the life of Joseph, spiritualising incidents in the life, and applying the lessons with effect. Almost a Covenanter by conviction, he was entirely one in sentiment.

[53] Clad in his big blue cloak, he was an interesting figure on Communion occasions at Creich and Dingwall in the days of Dr Aird and Dr Kennedy. When a young man Duncan was catechised by Joseph Mackay, on whom, in later life, he wrote an elegy. The questions put and answers given give us an interesting glimpse of those early catechisings, as well as of the persons specially before us. Joseph asked him the question, " What is prayer ?" and he answered it correctly. He was then asked, " Are you a praying person ?" "I am," he replied firmly. " And do you pray for others as well as yourself?" "I do," replied Duncan. " Could you testify to me that you do." " Yes ; when others are asleep I am often out praying that they may be well, and that their crops may get on as well as my own." "Now," said Joseph, "I saw that I had no ordinary material to deal with, and I next asked him, " Do you love the Lord's people ?" " I do," he answered boldly. " And wrould you be willing to give part of anything you had to them ? " " Yes, I would be willing." " And if you expected any of them to the house, would you be willing to go as far as Grantown for anything they might need?" "Yes, I would go as far as Inverness for anything they might [54] require." "If you had something in the house keeping for one of your own special favourites, and if one of His people came the way that you did not esteem so highly, would you give it to that person freely?" "At last," said Joseph, " Duncan sat down, saying, ' If you had left that, I would have made a man' " (meaning one of the " men"). Towards the end of a long and stirring life he met one of his opponents, to whom he offered his hand, saying, " James, I am going to eternity, and I do not wish to go with anything between any creature and myself." His last appearance in public, on the Friday of the Communion at Duthil, revealed the mellowed Christian. He burst into prayer, pleading that all who wronged him might be forgiven, and asking forgiveness for every wrong he had done to anyone. He closed his eyes in the long sleep listening to the fifth chapter of Revelation being read, and the first verse of the sixth Psalm being sung, at his own request.See Free Presbyterian Magazine. Vol. I. pp. 464-5, and Vol. II. p. 62.

There was another group of " men" contemporaries of the former, devout and loyal men, without a taint of separatism in their nature, whose affectionate attachment to their [55] minister was a helpful contribution to the moral and spiritual power of the pulpit in the parish. They were Duncan Cameron, Alexander Cumming, Robert Gumming, Lachlan MacKintosh, Peter Cumming, and Sandy Watson. Of the former group William Grant was the acknowledged leader, though facts indicate that he wras forced into a position which he did not wholly enjoy. William lived, as already noted, on the eerie slope of Slochd-muic, where the winter winds blew cold and strong, as the gnarled and twisted birches struggling for existence in that awful gorge clearly show. Hemarkable for piety rather than eloquence or even freedom of expression, his religious experiences were of the deeply subjective type. In surroundings naturally adapted to the contemplation of the mysterious, he cultivated the mystic element in his nature in long and contemplative communion with God. Like a seer of the desert, he came forth from his retirement with wonderful visions, striking interpretations of God's work in providence and grace, and spiritual solutions for many of the problems that press down the genuinely religious. But he was not without his limitations and defects any more than other mystics who hover on the borderland between [56] the visible and invisible and what is revealed and what is withheld. Here his vivid imagination grasped at its own fancy as if it were a clear and direct vision from God.

In his house and elsewhere regular meetings were held, where the reading of a sermon, translated impromptu, and the usual devotional exercises constituted the strictly religious part.

LOVE FEASTS.

The rest of the meeting took the form of what might be termed, in the parlance of the present-day Church folk, a " social evening." By unfriendly critics this has been given the older name of " love feasts," with a stinging suggestion as to their doubtful moral tone and effect. Those who frequented these meetings, and some of them are still living, give an emphatic testimony against such a suggestion. As a matter of fact, they were regulated by religious principles, and were in imitation of the practice of early Christians. Most of the time w^as occupied in chanting Gaelic sacred songs, with intervals for exchange of opinion on points of doctrine or questions of experimental religion. The poems that found most favour with them were those of Dugald Buchanan, See Spiritual Hymns, by Dugald Buchanan, any Edition. [57] the greatest of all Gaelic religious bards, as well as those of Mrs Clarke of Badenoch, a poetess of great merit, See Gaelic Hymns, by Mrs Clarke, any Edition and those of other popular but minor poets. This practice was not peculiar to this parish only. Indeed, throughout the whole Highlands the sacred songs of the people's poets were freely sung, and this was a strong factor in disseminating the Reformed Faith, and in counteracting the evil influences of the immoral realism of the more sordid and coarse of the secular bards. Further, this gave an impetus to verse making, to which William Grant and Duncan Cameron applied their heads and hearts ; but it would be unjust to the men themselves, as well as discreditable to the beauty of Gaelic anthology, to describe their efforts as poetry. Two elegies, one on " Ann Grant, Broom Park," and another on " Miss Grant Aitean liath," Both these women were eminent in their day for piety. are ascribed to William. Along with these are a dirge on " The troubles of the Time," with some sarcastic references to the Disruption enthusiasm, and a mournful meditation on the " Fears of the People of the World in the World," and "A Song on.Woman" (married), which contains much shrewd advice. All these men [58] were diligent students of the Bible. They were familiar with Puritan theology 5 the writings of the Scottish Divines, and the History of the Reformation, and were all ardent Protestants. The privileges and the responsibilities of the great house of Argyll, William quaintly summarised in the words, " The house of Argyll is in debt to heaven for the Truth." It is gratifying to record that on his deathbed he deplored his opposition to and estrangement from Rev. Mr Cook, and expressed his unfeigned respect for the Rev. Mr Logan.

A MEMORIAL STONE.

In William's declining years he is said to have had a vision, the reality and significance of which he did not doubt. On this vision hangs a tale, which may be interesting or amusing, according to the mental viewpoint from which it is to be considered. Unfortunately, it was not awant-ing in those elements which, when disturbed, can still awaken feelings of resentment. There was a persistent tradition in the parish of a Morayshire lady who was reared in affluence, but died in penury. She married a man of the people in the Coigs of Strathdearn — made famous later as the birthplace of the renowned [59] Dr Angus Mackintosh of Tain. Here she lived for a time, and was held in great respect as an eminently pious woman. Having migrated to Abernethy, on her death-bed there she gave strict orders that her remains should be laid to rest alongside the dust of her husband's forbears in the ancient churchyard at Dalarossie. On being told of the difficulty of crossing the dangerous and treacherous Spey, she still insisted on her request, assuring those around her that a passage would be opened up for them when they reached the water. Here the traditions differ. According to one, when the funeral party reached the river, and the coffin was brought to its brink, the waters suddenly divided, and a passage through the dry bed of the river was effected. The other is that the ferry boat, which was on the opposite side, slipped its moorings without any human intervention, and sailed across to the waiting party, who deposited the coffin in it, and thus got the remains across. The former of the two traditions, however, was almost universally accepted as the true one. But the actual place of crossing was known only to a few, to whom the knowledge was transmitted in oral tradition. It was the revelation of this obscurity to William Grant, who had never [60] seen the spot, and yet described it with a minuteness of detail which included even the size and shape of the bush which marked the spot, that strengthened his own belief and that of his followers in the authenticity of the tradition, as well as the reality of the vision. He accordingly gave instructions that a certain slate slab (also pointed out to him in the vision) in Slochd should be hewn out without the aid of hammer or chisel (for the sound of no iron or wood instrument was to be heard thereon), and set up as a memorial stone to mark to all generations this miraculous crossing of the Spey. These visions seem to such as have not sufficient regard for the truth that " the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him," as spiritual phenomena which, by a cold analysis, can be proved to be an exaggerated product of the violent activities of the contemplative spirit. The glowing visions of modern prophets in the Church and State could also, doubtless, be traced by the acute critic to prepossessions which the creative energy of a fertile intellect and imagination casts in such an alluring and attractive form as gives them the appearance of reality. The schools of the latter prophets denounce the-followers of the former as superstitious fanatics.

[61] The fundamental principles which differentiate these schools, when considered, may help to give those " visions" their true perspective, and accordingly the amount of credence of which they are deserving. Men like William Grant held as their basic principle a profound and unshakable belief in the being and attributes of God, His sovereignty in the world, and His illimitable power in the spiritual and physical realms. Within the sphere of His -activities there was room for infinite possibilities consistent with His own glory. The Scriptures were accepted as infallible and inerrant. Whereas the others confine the activities of God within the narrow region circumscribed by pure reason, where activities are gauged •according to their ethical importance ; or, denying the existence of God altogether, they look upon the world as the product of evolutionary forces, moving upwards towards the ideal of the visions.
There were people in Duthil who believed in William's vision as well as his piety, and after his death they took steps to give effect to his wish. Forgetful, however, of his last request, they applied both hammer and chisel to the prescribed stone, first in cutting it out of its [62] native bed, and then in inscribing on it an elaborate history of the person and event it was intended to commemorate. When all things were ready, the stone was laid on a cart, and a solemn procession was formed, which wended its way to the famous spot, where it was erected with befitting ceremony. On the following Sabbath a larger crowd came to see the stone than went to hear the minister. The Rev. Mr Logan unsparingly denounced those Sabbath breakers. Youthful and ardent spirits in the congregation inferred that the minister would not regard with disfavour the removal of the cause of the Sabbath breaking. So it happened that, in the stillness of night, in the following week, some unknown persons smashed the stone and threw the fragments into the Spey on the north side of the river, not far from Boat of Garten Station, where interested persons may still see them. A conflict of bitter feeling arose between the party of " sacrilege " and the party of " superstition," which might have been avoided by the display of some humour and a real respect for the religious aspect of the affair, as well as some mutual forbearance. It is perhaps a pity that the stone was not allowed to remain, as it [63] would form a subject of study to the antiquarians of the " Field Club " at Inverness of greater interest than the discovery of a St Andrew's cross at Morile, Tomatin, which threw one of their notables into ecstasies, and the local people into merriment, as the discovered cross was nothing more poetic than incisions on a boulder for the iron frame of a threshing mill.

One painful effect of this clashing of party spirit was visible in absenteeism from church ordinances on the part of some of the "men" and a few of their followers. Incidents which gave spiritual distress to Mr Logan were accompanied by explosions of temper, which were a source of personal danger to him. Still he continued labouring successfully among the-people, pointedly rebuking all forms of sin, and instilling into the youthful minds higher views of life and morality. He harboured no ill-feeling to those who gave him most annoyance.. A busybody of a familiar type came to the manse to comfort him in the midst of his. troubles with that form of sympathy which, to a sensitive, religious soul, is more stinging than consoling, and spoke with dubiety about the religious qualities of some of the men.

[64] "Duncan," he replied, " will be on the right hand at the great day, but you may be on the left."

Mr Logan accepted a call to Macdonald Church, Glasgow, much to the distress of his attached people. He died minister of that congregation. He is buried at Lawers.

Chapter VIII: REV. DUGALD MATHESON.

[65] His successor at Duthil was the Rev. Dugald Matheson, afterwards of Kiltearn, Dundee, and Tarbat. To this, his first charge, this sweet preacher of the Gospel gave his best. Flushed with enthusiasm for his Master's cause, he was incessant in his labours as pastor, and every absentee from church would have to face the minister on Monday with such an excuse as showed detention at home to be necessary arid unavoidable. During his short ministry of four years, the past conflicts were largely forgotten, and his persuasive voice and warm heart tended to combine the elements that were hitherto moving on parallel lines, but a considerable distance apart. Mr Matheson steered a consistent course through the eddies and shoals of the ecclesiastical life of his time. He was an unctuous preacher, an earnest pastor, and much beloved by the people of God wherever he preached. He died on* the eve of the separation of 1900.

Chapter IX: REV. EWAN MACLEOD.

[66] The Rev. Ewan Macleod, now of Dornoch, was quite a young man when he accepted the unanimous call of the people of Duthil to fill the vacancy created by the translation of Mr Matheson. His equable temperament, his tender sympathy, winsome manner, and the warm glow of his highly spiritual sermons, with clearly and ably enunciated doctrinal and practical teaching, soon acted as a palliative.. The ruffled spirits were soothed, and the sores that were open for years were healed. Not since the Disruption was the congregation so solid in its attachment to the Church, and never more solid in its devotion to its minister. It used to be said that there was more idolatry in the Hebrew Class of the New College, Edinburgh, during the late Dr Davidson's occupancy of the Chair than in Israel. In the same manner the people of Duthil idolised Mr Macleod. For eighteen years he ministered to this loyal and appreciative congregation, until finally, after many efforts, the knot which bound both was loosed at the call of the people of Oban. During the latter years of his happy
[ 67]
ministry at Duthil the spirit of the age, in revolt against home discipline, the strict observance of the Sabbath Day, and the simplicity of rural life, was asserting itself. The opening of the Highlands by railways brought the South within easy reach of the North. Jaded Southerners were thus drawn to Duthil to inhale the health-restoring odour of the pine trees and the invigorating breezes of the heather-clad hills. To these the sanctified use of the Lord's Day was an oppression, and simple life uninteresting. So the grove worshipping which fell long ago before the first impact of Celtic Christianity must be restored. Young men and maidens, and old men, too, betook themselves on Sabbath Day to the woods and hills, and the drab monotony of ordinary life had to be variegated by the introduction of entertainments of doubtful quality. Ministers of religion, too, on holiday, forgot they were the ministers of God. The force of example, and the power of imitation, had their doleful effect. The young, sedate, and modest natives, who formerly, in the intervals between and after worship, surrounded the family hearth and enjoyed the intellectual and spiritual exercise of answering questions from the Shorter [68] Catechism, or reading religious books, began to roam and to absent themselves from public ordinances. This was a source of pain to religious parents and to the minister, and the resultant of the forces of the new spirit on the moral and religious life of the people cannot possibly be esteemed at such high value as the effect of the spirit which was supplanted.

Chapter X: Effects of a Policy

[69] No sooner was the district opened up, than the two Churches — Established and Free-vied with one another in a rush to build district churches for the convenience of the visitors. These complained of the distance to the well-situated churches already existing as too great for their weary limbs, even though these same people on all lawful days, and even on the day specially appointed for rest and worship, traversed th e same distance in quest of vigour without any apparent distressful effect. Then the visitors requested the presence of the southern ministers in these new churches. The Free Church, with its policy of bringing the conservative North into sympathy with the liberal thought prevailing elsewhere, sent its great " deputies" to these and other parts. The local people were neither edified by the ornate and rhetorical discourses, nor impressed by the preachers, who, neither in the pulpit nor out of it, were as solemn and impressive as their own much respected ministers. The new movement had the baneful effect of dividing the congregation, and encouraging non-attendance [70] on ordinances in the central churches. The demand for variety in the material of praise, and for " aids " to worship, were the nat sequences to the former. The " Psalms of David" must give place to " hymns," and the precentor to a harmonium. It is impossible to understand how the Psalms, which are said to have been "indispensable to the Redeemer," should not be indispensable to the redeemed. Yet, in at least two churches in the parish, hymns are now sung, but, it is well to note, mostly by visitors.
Since the Disruption, the volume of religious life in this interesting parish flowed almost steadily in one channel. Along its left bank moved the current of thought which reflected the piety and mysticism of the extremer "men" and asserted itself in fretful anxiety for the "Truth." When the policy of liberalising the creed so as to express the living faith of the Church ascertained by the lopping process of the instruments of the Higher Critics, was ratified by the passing of the Declaratory Act, this current streamed off into a new channel. It was in 1893 the Free Presbyterians thus became a separate body. It was not strong, and the ceaseless ravages of death are fast drying it up. Anybody who is interested in [71] the religious welfare of a community with which the social and general welfare are so bound up, cannot look upon the drying up of this rivulet but with feelings of sorrow. To the leaders in this movement, the Rev. Ewan Macleod was warmly and deservedly attached. Consequently though few7 in number, their separation from his congregation, carrying with it the influence and force of their acknowledged piety and high moral Christian character, sorely grieved him. This estrangement of life - long friends and helpers was the chief determining factor in his decision to leave Duthil. Of this he once wrote:—"I left Duthil on account of the Secession, to my most painful regret, and found the experience the saddest in my life. The Rev. William Morrison, M.A., succeeded Mr Macleod at Duthil. Mr Morrison was for some time Rector of the Dingwall Academy, and studied late in life for the ministry. He entered the Union, but retired from his charge in 1907, and is now living in Edinburgh. He is a scholarly man, showing special aptitude for Natural Science. Both the Free Church and the United Free Church congregations are now vacant (February, 1910). A most united congregation was scattered, and ¦a, most attached minister and congregation driven asunder. For many such evils is the Rainy policy responsible. But I am very thankful that I have an unchanged affectionate regard for those who parted with me in 1893."

[72] When this policy of the Church culminated in the Union of 1900, a very small stream trickled off from the right, also on a new course. Like a burn rushing violently down a steep Highland mountain, whose sound is deceptive when heard from afar, as its rush is much in excess of that of the river, so the noise it creates is out of proportion to its size. But let it be placed to the credit of the residenters, whose eyes, resting on the massive shoulders of the Cairngorm and the mighty waters of the Spey, can appreciate proportions, and can distinguish between a mountain and an ant-heap, and between a river and a hill-stream, that they have left to passing vocalists to noise abroad the size and importance of their congregation. The few local people of which this congregation consists, with two or three exceptions, cannot trace their pedigree far into the past of Duthil, so that they neither reflect nor represent the thought or religious life of any body in particular. The river flows notwithstanding all that has transpired, in the same old bed, noiselessly and effectively as before, fertilising the moral and spiritual life of the surrounding area. This is not by any means to be read as an essential disparagement of the Established [73] or the United Free Churches. It is but a statement of facts collected and observed.

The Rev. James Bain, of the Established Church, whose ministry now extends over a long period, entered into possession of an heritage that was in disfavour. Thereafter, although he has been an able and ardent evangelical preacher, a conservative theologian, and an opponent of all innovations in the matter or mode of worship, his congregation has not appreciably increased under his ministry. In the district churches a number of Free Church people have been in attendance since 1900, owing;, on the one hand, to the lazy habit of remaining away from the central church fostered by the accommodating policy referred to, and, on the other hand, to the inability of the Free Church to supply ordinances in these districts.

Here there is a striking illustration of the divisions of Presbyterianism. It is divided into four parts, and where Presbyterianism before the Disruption was served by one church, and for a long time after by two, it has now, with a declining population, six churches, three halls or meeting houses, and the use of a school room. On these gaunt and featureless edifices the sublime beauty of nature round about looks with [74] derision and scorn. They stare the passer-by in stark unmitigated condemnation of the policy that reared most of them. Although the noble and heroic efforts for conscience sake of the sectaries of Scotland form the most thrilling pages of our national history, the policy that divided the Free Church into three unequal parts was neither noble nor heroic, nor does it appear to have operated in obedience to the imperious command of conscience shone upon by the Light, as its results, the best test of a religious movement, sadly show. It has failed to advance the kingdom of God, at least in this parish.

Chapter XI: SOME NOTABLES

PROFESSOR HENRY CALDERWOOD

The first to discover Carr-Bridge as a health and holiday resort to the outer world was the late Professor Henry Calderwood of the University of Edinburgh. Before he became professor of moral philosophy, he was a minister of a United Presbyterian Church in Glasgow. As soon as he felt the restorative influence of its bracing air, he built a house near the village, and from that day became one of the people. This splendid Christian, though " his learning, acumen, and courage placed him among the foremost philosophic thinkers of his time," did not spurn the piety and sentiments of the relatively uneducated natives. On the contrary, he listened with a sympathetic ear to their expression of opinion on points of" doctrine, government, and mode of worship. Frank and armable, he had a cheerful look and smile for all. Anxious for the welfare of the people, he built for them a public hall—a questionable blessing—within whose walls are hung a likeness of him, and a mural tablet to his memory. But it was in their spiritual welfare that he [76] was most deeply interested. Every Sabbath evening during the time he resided among them he acted as a valuable helper to the Rev. Ewan Macleod, by preaching in the church. Rich and poor, visitors and residenters, flocked to hear him. Here was unity without the mechanical outward form of union. This was the unity the Great Master prayed for—unity in service, aim, and aspiration. He did not discuss any metaphysical abstraction, or any problem of higher criticism. He simply expounded the Scriptures, tersely, clearly, and incisively. The meanest intellect could grasp his message, and none left the building but the better for having; heard it. Of him it could not be said as was said by a pious northern Christian, sitting on the pulpit steps and listening in anguish to an incessant flow of rounded sentences, laden with huge jawbreakers, " Oh ! pity us, oh ! pity us, oh ! pity us." For these services, and other acts of piety and benevolence, Dr Calderwood was presented by the inhabitants and visitors' of Carr-Bridge with a handsome testimonial. He will long be remembered in Duthii with esteem by a warm and attached people who respected and reverenced him for his kindly actions and helpful religious services.

DR JAMES MARTINEAU.

[77] Dr James Martineau, the famous Unitarian —or, as he preferred to be called, Christian Unitarian—divine and mental and moral philosopher, also resided for many summers within the bounds of the parish. Famous in his day as a writer of exceptional power on questions of theology and philosophy, his chief interest while in Duthii took the form of mountaineering. The grandeur of his countenance, his refined gentleness, and his dignified modesty and courtly grace arrested attention. He. did not ply his negative religion in the local pulpits. The environment was doubtless uncongenial. Yet he showed lack of respect to the people's sentiments and convictions by sneering references to their evangelical preachers. Notwithstanding he was respected and looked up to as a benefactor, but only when his benefactions were of a severely mundane kind.

DR ALEXANDER MACLAREN.

Perhaps the most eminent of recent visitors is the renowned Baptist minister, Dr Alexander Maclaren of Manchester. Without a compeer among living English-speaking preachers, an illuminating Bible expositor, a master of a [78] pellucid but glowing and vivacious style, many of his sermons are a string of lustrous gems, carefully arranged in artistic and exquisite setting. Few of the multitude in the Anglo-Saxon world, who are constantly his debtors, know that volumes of his monumental work, " Expositions of the Holy Scriptures," now nearirig completion, were prepared for publication during his four months' residence in " Crai-gowan," which nestles cosily on the lower ledge of a pine-clad slope near Oarr-Bridge, in remote Duthil. Pious people there are still in Duthil, who, it may be from their inability to appreciate the beautiful, sympathise with the Caithness worthy, whose friendly criticism of an ornate sermon was that " gems were verra bonnie, but ye canna eat them." Those who still read sermons satisfy their spiritual hunger rather on the repast provided in the weekly sermons of even a greater Baptist preacher—Charles H. Spurgeon. Nevertheless the people are proud of their famous visitor, and would gladly hear him oftener than it has been their privilege. He rarely preaches among them. On one particular occasion, he did promise to preach, but the promise was a bitter disappointment to an eager and expectant congregation, for another had to be secured in
[79] his place, and no reason for his absence was forthcoming. Early on Monday morning, one of the residenters in the parish, in feverish anxiety about the Doctor's health, made haste to enquire, but to his joyful surprise, who met him on the bridge but Dr Maclaren, meditatively gazing into the boiling waters of the noisy Dulnan and smoking hard at his pipe in evident enjoyment of good health and a good smoke. He went no further with his enquiry, and no reason was given for disappointing the people on the previous day. A certain natural reserve and shy aloofness stand between him and the frank exchange of sentiments with the common people, so characteristic of Dr Calder-wood. Two occasions which were intended to be memorable and historic, and in which he was the central figure, require to be mentioned in pages dealing with the history of the parish. The first was at the laying of the foundation stone of the new United Free Church at Carr-Bridge, and the second was at the opening of that Church. As he stood at the foundation ceremony, he presented a striking figure. Here was the world-renowned preacher, with rounded shoulders bearing the burden of four score years and more, leaning heavily on his staff. Wisps of grey hair floated in the gentle [80] breeze. Underneath the chin and jaw bones was a thin belt of grey beard. The face was puckered, the mouth sunken, and the fleshless lips stretched tightly. The sparkling and alert eye below a high and imposing forehead betrayed the intellectual force of this imposing personality. There was nothing really about the face that arrested attention but these, unless it may be that the lower part indicated determination, not entirely aloof from a certain form of meanness. The words flowed readily and aptly from his lips. The accent was more reminiscent of Perthshire than Manchester, and the homeliness of the rough grey tweed suit reminded one of the " men" rather than a Doctor of Divinity. The speech was an eulogy on the great and learned ministers of the United Free Church. The praise of that denomination was unstinted. At the opening ceremony his address took the form of an expression of deep sympathy for the U.F. people in their trials, and a whole-hearted and earnest appeal to his audience to give heed, regardless even of creeds and confessions, to Christ's message—"Abide in Me." It was befitting the occasion that sympathy should be extended to the denomination represented by the building, hut it would have been equally befitting not to [81] ignore the existence of the Established Church as an intellectual and moral force. Indeed, if the biographer is correct who writes thus of him—" Dr Maclaren has never been consumed by that passion which seeks to sink distinctive principles in favour of a Church the price of whose comprehensiveness would be a vague, colourless, indeterminate creed" See British Monthly, September, 1905. —it would not have unduly strained Christian charity to have given a passing nod of sympathy to the poor people around him in Duthil who, for the very reason for which he does not join the other Evangelical Free Churches in England, still hold by the distinctive principles of their own Church. Their trials were severer than those which evoked his warm sympathy. For, did they not worship in pelting rain, on the sodden earth beneath the birches through which the cold wind was sighing ? Did they not also worship where horses neighed and pranced, and yet no word of sympathy was heard, no kindly look of pity was seen ? They were, however, they said, sustained by the comforting belief that the Great Master of Assemblies did, in the days of His flesh, visit and bless His people in other places than temples made with man's [82] hands, and that even the stable itself is hallowed, inasmuch as it was it alone of all this Divinity-visited world that extended its protection and comfort to the Heavenly Visitor, when His infant frame was laid in the place out of which horses eat their corn.
Other great men have been visiting Duthil, and in this way this comparatively remote parish is known to the larger world beyond. It is yearly growing in importance as a visitor's locality.

Chapter XII: THE FUTURE.

[83] What shall the future of this parish be ? This is a parish that was at one time the possession of the ferocious and warlike Comyns, and became, partly by conquest, and partly by marriage settlement, the property of the Grants. It gave birth to Gilbert Comyn (Gibban Mor), to a field-marshal (Sir Patrick Grant), and to men who bled in their country's cause in fields of battle over all the continents of the world. From it went forth men that have made their mark in all walks of life. In it are the remains of a past civilisation suited to the tastes of archaeologists. The field naturalists will find its three tiers of forests in Slochd-muic and stately relics of an ancient forest, as well as its rich flora, full of interest. It has its folklore and its secular as well as sacred poetry. Above all it is full of splendid traditions associated with the lives of truly pious men and women. It must have a future. With its educational facilities, its sons will surely hold their own with other sons of the Empire in life's strenuous struggle. If its straths are again to be peopled, may it not yet be that, as [84] m times gone by, the passer-by may point to its homes and say ?—

"In dwellings of the righteous
Is heard the melody
Of joy and health; the Lord's right hand
Doth ever valiantly."

This reviving of spiritual religion, this quickening to a holier life, and this return to a less materialistic and more truly pious living, judging from the past religious history of the parish, shall be accomplished under God, by the minister or ministers who shall act on Thomas Goodwin's advice to his students to thicken their too thin homilies with more doctrine.