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The onerous work of
forming a new congregation in the Vale of Leven was carried on in the
face of many obstacles, and not without considerable opposition. Mr
Cameron writes, under December 9th, 1856 :—
“We had the meeting of Presbytery last Wednesday, when our case was
again discussed. There was no objection made to our building a place of
worship ; but we were refused permission to preach English in the
afternoon. Against that restriction we appealed to the Synod, so that
the matter cannot be decided until April next, for the Synod will not
meet before that time. Only two ministers in the Presbytery were for
giving us the English; the rest were either against us or did not vote.”
The Gaelic congregation at Greenock—whose minister at this date was the
famous and able evangelist, Rev. John Macrae, better known in the
Highlands as Mac Rath Mor—made some approaches to Mr Cameron with a view
to his becoming colleague and successor. And it is clear from the
following remark that the senior minister did not disapprove of the
proposal:—“My health is not improving of late. I have serious thoughts
in connection with that subject, and would like to have a confidential
conversation with you.” This is how Mr Cameron writes regarding the
matter :—
“Renton, January 10th, 1857.—The report to which I refer is that the
office-bearers of the Gaelic congregation are anxious that I should
become colleague and successor to Mr Macrae, who is no longer able to
discharge the whole duties of the charge. The thing, however, may not
come to any definite result. They were wishing to get me for three or
four months from the time that I had been officiating there, but I could
not do that on account of my connection with this station; for I cannot
leave this place altogether before April at the soonest. Again, although
the people would be unanimous in their desire of getting me, I cannot
say that I could undertake a charge of such weight and responsibility,
for I am told that it is the most important Gaelic charge in the Church.
I was told a few days ago that the people would be quite unanimous in
calling me; but of course I do not know, nor can anyone know with
certainty at present. I have had two letters asking me to preach in a
vacant charge in the Island of Arran; but I declined going on each
occasion, and I suppose my last note will be considered as a final
refusal.” [He never forgets his excellent correspondent’s afflicted lot
and need of sympathy.] “Let the word itself be your source of
consolation, or rather Christ in the word. It is sweet to be getting an
occasional crumb of the children’s bread from the Master’s table. Every
crumb received here is an earnest of the everlasting banquet at which
you will yet sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of
heaven.”
He was requested to visit Caithness and to preach at Pulteney-town,
Wick, which invitation he accepted.
“February 16th.—There was a large attendance yesterday both forenoon and
afternoon. In the afternoon it was calculated that there would be about
800 present. They were hearing very attentively. I preached both
forenoon and afternoon from the same verse, Song of Solomon vii. 10, ‘I
am my beloved’s, and his desire is towards me."
The appeal made to the Synod on behalf of the Renton congregation for
permission to have an English service was successful.
“April 23rd.—Our case came before the Synod on Wednesday forenoon, when
the decision of the Presbytery was unanimously reversed, so that we have
gained a victory at this stage. The Presbytery has protested and
appealed to the General Assembly; but their case is now hopeless, and,
therefore, I think they will fall from their appeal before the Assembly
sits. It is not likely that the Assembly will overturn a unanimous
decision of the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr. You are aware that the case is
about our having leave to preach English in the afternoon of Sabbath,
which the Presbytery refused us. I pleaded the case for the congregation
at the bar of the Synod. My speech occupied forty minutes in its
delivery. I was not pleased with it myself; but several others spoke of
it in very flattering terms. The speech on the opposite side was by a Mr
-, and it is allowed by those on the same side with him that he made the
next thing to a fool of himself by the way in which he spoke. His whole
speech was one tirade of abuse against the Highlanders, and no argument
whatever.”
At this date and juncture Mr Gameron began to keep a diary; but, like
many others who similarly started well, he did not persistently
persevere, and blanks of weeks, months, and years soon appear. Although
at first acquaintance it might not he suspected, he possessed great
store of unconscious humour, which sometimes, at fitting moments and
amid suitable surroundings, found full scope. id his lively moods there
were few more hearty or congenial conversationalists. No doubt, when one
is accustomed to be much alone, the free use of speech and ready
repartee may somewhat falter. From this view-point silence is scarcely
always golden. A few extracts will suffice to illustrate these points: —
“Sabbath, May 3rd, 1857.—The discourse too long. Must study conciseness.
How often in regard to this matter have I said, ‘I shall be wise.’ but
that has hitherto been far from me. My mind considerably burdened with
anxieties. May the Lord save me from wicked men who seem to be angry at
me for no other causes than that I rebuked their sin. Lord preserve me
likewise from that woman Mrs -, to whom Thou knowest I have given no
cause for hating me. From being the next thing to an idolater, if not
altogether one, she has turned, it seems, to be a mean but bitter enemy,
for no other reason apparently than that she fancied, or took it into
her head, that I think more of Mrs D.’s humble aud unpretending piety
than of her own flaming profession, although I am not aware of having
ever instituted any comparison between them. Upon Thee, 0 Lord, I cast
myself: save me from her tongue. 'I am thine; save thou me.’ I was
never, however, in more need of the rod, although I think I would prefer
another to a woman’s tongue.”
As the events are attempted to be arranged chronologically, there may
appear to be some lack of continuity and consecutiveness; but the gain
in variety and vivacity may counterbalance the loss: and I shall
consequently have to quote alternately from the diary aud from the
correspondence. Ecclesiastical affairs and affairs of the heart are
found side by side ; but they are by no means always synonymous :—
“May 15th.—I am kept very busy. Our case is to be taken to the General
Assembly by the parties in the Presbytery opposed to us. I trust we
shall be successful ; but it will be a great trial for me to appear and
speak there. I have not yet begun to prepare my speech, but I know the
subject well, and that is a great matter.”
“Poor Lord Byron loved, when he was very young, a lady who did not
return his love, but who sometime after married another. This
disappointment was the cause of the miserable life which he afterwards
led. His case is one of the many sad illustrations of the fact that one
can truly love only once.”
The difficulty of attaining to acquiescence in one’s lot is thus
described :—
“O! to be able to say, the Lord’s will be done ; but that is a high
attainment—higher than many know who talk much and loudly about
resignation. It is difficult to be thoroughly resigned to the will of
God. I know it; I feel it. It is easy to speak of resignation until our
own gourd is smitten.”
His views on economy are thus expressed :—
"June 10th.—I must economise. It is only in the matter of books that I
am extravagant. Must resolve to purchase no more, or, at least, very
few. My expenditure in other respects, except perhaps travelling, very
moderate indeed—not niggardly, however.”
Broken resolutions relative to early rising have formed a prolific theme
of poignant regrets, both before and since the days of Dr Samuel
Johnson.
“Read more of Hedley Vicar’s Life. Would that I could imitate him in his
desire and endeavour to! be useful to his fellow-men ! Why not'{ I want
zeal. Must stir myself up. This will never do. Must try to rise in the
morning, to study more of next Sabbath’s discourse. Can I carry out this
resolution I Lord, help me to do so. Nearly one o’clock a.m.”
“June 11th.—Did not rise this morning earlier than usual,
notwithstanding last night’s resolution. Shall try to-morrow, if
spared.”
To return to the Renton Station Case. The Assembly left it undecided
until the August Commission, but meanwhile referred it to the Presbytery
to see whether the congregation could be accommodated In the church
already erected in the village. It was a time of much anxiety to Mr
Cameron.
“I failed to state the case of this congregation in the Assembly so well
as I did before the Synod, and that is preying upon my mind.”
“July 7th.—“But after the Presbytery met on 24th June, we saw that there
is little chance of any arrangement being effected that will benefit
this congregation.”
The Presbytery appointed a Committee to carry out the Assembly’s
instructions.
“Since the appointment of that Committee, I have lost heart, for I am
afraid that what I have been labouring for so long time to accomplish,
shall fall to the ground, and that instead of leaving this congregation
in possession of a suitable place of worship, which they might call
their own, I shall have to leave them scattered hither and thither.”
“If an arrangement can be effected by which the two congregations can be
suitably accommodated in the one building, so as to avoid the necessity
of erecting another, that arrangement ought by all means, for the good
of the muse generally, to be carried out, even should particular
interests to some small degree suffer. How great is the value of
firmness in resolution as well as in action ! A man whom you can find
exactly where you left him is the man .to be depended upon in an
emergency.”
“July 18th.—“I have not been very well for some time back. The anxiety
connected with the movement in our congregation, and the opposition it
is encountering, are telling upon my health. . . . Ah ! how I long to go
North, to see all my friends, and to get a few weeks’ rest ! I have
great need of escaping from this scene . f strife. The idea of it makes
me miserable, and yet I cannot think of leaving this poor congregation
in its present state.”
“July 25th.—On Saturday I saw Mr Campbell, Tullichewen, for some time.
He is most anxious that the Highlanders may be accommodated in the
Renton Free Church, of which he is an elder. His fellow-office-bearers
are anxious to bring about the same result; but, considering the
opposition of the Presbytery— or, at all events, of part of the
Presbytery—I do not expect that that result is attainable.”
“November 16th, Renton.—To-morrow morning,' D.V., I leave this for
Edinburgh, to defend our case at the bar of the Commission, on
Wednesday—probably in the evening. It is a great trial to stand up to
speak before so many people, but I trust I shall be strengthened and
guided. I feel very anxious. . . . I am not thoroughly prepared. The
difficulty will be in condensing mv materials so that the hearers will
not be wearied, and in presenting them in the clearest and most
impressive way, so as to convince the hearers, who are to be the judges,
that what you ask is reasonable and right. If we lose, the loss to this
poor station will be incalculable.”
The case was gained, and the following congratulatory letter from Mac
Rath M6r is noteworthy :—
“Free Manse of Lochs, 27th November, 1857.
“My Dear Sir,—I was at Stornoway this week attending the Presbytery, and
was indeed glad that your case, in which I took a deep interest from the
first, was brought to a right termination. You have now the ball, so to
speak, at your feet; and it now only remains that you go to work with
prudence and energy. The Party wishing for a change may propose what
they choose to you, but unless such a proposal is both reasonable and
practicable, you should not entertain it for a moment, nor pause for an
instant in your onward progress. I congratulate you on being chiefly
instrumental in laying a solid foundation for a Gaelic congregation at
Renton ; and now that the foundation is laid, let a superstructure be
raised worthy of the struggle which is happily brought to an end. The
good hand of the Lord is what should be recognised in the whole matter.
I suppose you will now take up the first instalment of the subscriptions
without delay.
“You may let fall into oblivion. ... In your present position, it will
be easier for you to forgive him than for him to forgive you. The
defeated offender is always stiff to deal with. However contrary to our
notions of right and wrong, yet so it is.
“I am sorry to say that Mrs Macrae is not improving. She seems to be
losing ground in the same proportion as I gain it. All the rest of us
are quite well.
“What a panic in the commercial world ! Are all these commotions and
earthquakes at home and abroad foreshadows of the great things promised!
It is certain that the times are not ordinary. Bat I must stop before I
commit myself.—Yours sincerely, “John Macrae.”
This is how Mr Cameron alludes to the successful termination of the
anxious and protracted struggle :—
“19th December.—You would have seen from the newspapers that we have
gained our case. The English was introduced on the Sabbath before last
by Mr Alexander, of Duntocher, our tried friend in the Presbytery all
along. Last Sabbath we had Gaelic from l|jjto 1, and English from 1 to
2. The house was full on each occasion.”
“I long for an opportunity of spending a few weeks in Badenoch. I do not
know that I shall remain here beyond the end of this quarter. I am not
yet quite determined as to what 1 shall do. As our case is settled, it
is easier for me to leave ; but some of the people say that if I leave,
the church will not go on.
I would like to see the foundation stone laid before I would go to any
other place.”
Although Mr Cameron’s attention was fully engrossed with affairs at
Renton, he was not forgotten elsewhere, for we find—
“July 7th.—When in Rothesay, I saw a paragraph in a newspaper which
stated that I was elected, on the previous week, by the Pulteneytown
congregation, by a majority of 86. No other one was proposed, but a
motion was made for delay. . . .
They know that I shall not accept a divided call, and that it is more
than I can tell whether I should accept a unanimous call from a
congregation that does not require Gaelic every Sabbath.”
Friendship and fellowship formed constitutive elements in his character.
“July 18th.—I do not know that [ have ever told you of a friendship that
I have recently formed. I refer to that of Mr G., a fellow-student. He
is one of the finest young men that I have ever met with, and for some
time back I have been a good deal in his society. He is with me at
present.”
He held humble views of himself as a preacher at the very time that
competent judges hailed him as one of the most promising and effective
among the rising young men.
“July 25.—Since my return from the North, I think 1 have lost ground as
a preacher. I find it, at all events, much more difficult to preach now
than I did some time ago. I compare myself to Samson when shorn of his
locks. I cannot go out to shake myself as I did on former times. I
believe I know what this is owing to. My mind has of late been so much
harassed with other things that it does not possess its former vigour
and buoyancy.” Apropos of this, D., June 10th.—“O Lord, impress myself
with the truth that others may be impressed. The secret of my want of
success in preaching lies, I suspect, in my want of' spirituality. It is
those who sow in tears who will reap in joy in the Lord’s own time.”
And yet from the depths of such distress, and out of the abundance of
the heart, he comforts his distressed correspondent.
“Whatever your experience may now be, at the time you said ‘ 1 shall die
trusting in Him,’ you were as firmly persuaded of the truth of what you
were saying as you were of your own existence, and if so, that proves
that it was a genuine expression of faith. It is possible that the words
‘I believe,’ or ‘I shall die trusting in Him,’ were scarcely out of your
lips when you had to cry, ‘Help thou mine unbelief,’ but that does not
affect the genuineness of your faith—it only proves the remaining
sinfulness and corruption of your heart.”
Here is a very sensible view of differences of opinion not unknown in
the Church and in the world at the present day—
“Mr E. is strongly opposed to the side taken by Mr A. What a pity that
godly men differ so much ! It grieves me much to witness the coldness
between these men. I believe they both err in some things and are both
right in other things connected with that case. May the Lord bring them
to see eye to eye.”
“September 11th.—I have now more longing for studying the Bible, and the
trials of the months that are now past have, I am confident, been
blessed to my soul.”
Referring to his book-buying mania, he acknowledges a certain amount of
“recklessness in that way,” but immediately adds, “yet some excuse may
be offered for my conduct seeing that I shall never more have such an
opportunity of buying useful books if I go to reside in the country.”
There is allusion made to one feature of his character which, I daresay,
would readily escape the notice of his ecclesiastical opponents.
“Drank tea at Mr R.’s. Some conversation about the proposed church
accommodation. A delightful family. They could not but regard me as a
very forward individual. How is it that I appear so forward when
suffering from exceptional shyness? Is it not owing to an unnatural
effort to escape from my conscious diffidence—an effort which leads me
to the opposite extreme before I am aware of it, and then, upon
discovering that I have been speaking or acting out of my ordinary and
natural manner, I feel pained.”
We come now to the year 1858, and find Mr Cameron still labouring at
Renton, consolidating the congregation and collecting funds to erect a
new church. With the advance of knowledge many cherished opinions
inevitably undergo modification, while all that is good ought assuredly
to be conserved.
“Yet I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are widen’d with the process of the suns.”
There must come release from some influences and deliverance from the
dominance of some views that may be very popular but scarcely
scientific—at least somewhat unsafe if unduly emphasised.
“7th January.—I have been dreaming much about him (a friend) of late,
and, although I have little faith in dreams, I have so much of my early
prejudices still clinging to me that they cause me uneasiness.”
To the same three years earlier he writes :—
“It is your anxiety that gives you these unpleasant dreams. I am
troubled with them myself, and it was only last night that I had a very
unpleasant one. Remember, however, that whatever comes not from the Lord
is not for our edification, and we ought not to attend to it. Again, the
Lord speaks to His people only by His Spirit, and the Spirit speaks only
in the Word He speaks, of course, in His providence and through His
works; but it is the Lord that casts light on these things. It is to the
surer Word of prophecy that we must come to know the Lord’s will
regarding it.”
The writer heard Mr Cameron repeatedly tell the following anecdote,
which deals with the less serious aspect of the above subject. One
morning a beggar called at the manse for alms, and the servant—a good
and kindly woman—gave him at once all the meal in the house. She had
none left wherewith to make porridge, and she mentioned the incident to
the minister, who simply asked— “ Why did you give all away?” To which
the reply was—“A Scripture came to my mind to do so.” “And why,” was the
further and final query, “did you not also get a Scripture for my
porridge ? ”
His conviction as to the necessity of writing, though not of reading,
his sermons, is given in the same letter:—
“I am at present studying very hard and writing a great deal, although I
do not remember when, before this evening, I had written a letter. The
last, so far as I remember, was to yourself, now more than a fortnight
ago. I am now endeavouring to write my sermons at full length—a thing
which all preachers ought to do, for the sake of their hearers and of
themselves.”
“January 16th.—We are making arrangements for beginning our church early
in the spring, and while these arrangements are in progress, it will be
very difficult for me to go to any other place.”
Spiritual progress and prosperity profoundly aud constantly concern him.
“Backsliding does not consist so much in the committal of outward sins
as in a dead insensible frame of mind ; and it is that frame of mind
from which our outward sins proceed. Ah, if I could get out of that
frame of mind into a livelier and holier frame, I think I would be
happy. The way out is thus set forth. Have your eye steadily fixed on
the promise. You may be in darkness, but don’t let the word go. Think
upon it, and it is-while thinking upon it that the light of faith and
peace will gleam into the soul.”
The illness of Mr Cameron’s faithful and furnace-tried correspondent has
for a considerable period assumed a serious form :—
“19th January.—You will bring none of your sinful dross into Heaven, and
hence the reason why the purifying fire is made so hot; but He is able
with the trial to make a way of escape.
They who are clothed in white before the throne, and have the palms of
victory in their hands, are those who come out of great tribulation. 0,
remember the blood of Christ, in which their robes have been washed!
.... I have many trials that others have not, but I have none that I do
not require. By them the Lord is preparing me, either to follow you
soon, or else to be in some measure useful to His poor Church in the
world, if He-intends to spare me. I would not, however, exchange my lot
with all its crooks for the easier lot of others whose ‘ hearts are as.
fat as grease,’ Ps. cxix. 70. It is better to be cast into the hottest
furnace of affliction than that our souls should lose their edge.”
“20th January.—Remember what you once wrote me; that you would die
trusting in Christ. Honour Him by trusting Him, and He will honour you
by sustaining you. Those that honour Me will I honour,’ is the promise.
. . . May the Son of man by His Spirit be with you in the furnace. Rest
assured that you are daily and hourly upon my mind.”
"23rd January.—At this moment I do not know well how you are. From your
father’s letter, I understood that you were suffering much ; but your
real state I do not know. When I am writing these words you may be no
more. And . . . the hour that releases your soul from the tabernacle
which suffers so much will be a triumphant hour for you, although a sad
one to those who love you, and whom, for a season, you leave behind. The
separation, however, will be only for a season—a short season i and then
those who loved each other in the Lord will meet again, when there will
be neither sin nor suffering. . . . While your day of warfare continues,
seek to have the blessed Captain of Salvation in your eye. He too had to
die, and what a death!”
It is pathetic to find in the same letter a reference to a more mundane
matter which, in a measure, relieves the intensity of feeling awakened
by impending gloom caught from imminent proximity to the shadow of the
tomb. “O love, if thou wert all and nought beyond, 0 earth !” “If in
this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable.”
“I have this day received a private letter from Kilmartin informing me
that I have been unanimously chosen to be their minister, and that they
are to be before the first meeting of Presbytery praying for a
moderation in a call. I do not know what to say about the matter. I must
seek to be guided by Him who is able to give light to show the way in
which we ought to walk. It is a small charge, but that is so ‘far a
desirable element. I do not wish a large charge. . O, that I may receive
the Holy
Spirit! I have this evening got new light, perhaps not new light, but
clearer light upon the subject of the indwelling of the Spirit in the
souls of believers. The Sprit Himself dwells in them. He not only
bestows grace upon them, but he Himself takes up His abode within them,
and having done so He continually communicates His grace unto them in
the measure which He knows will be for their good. . . . Earnestly
desiring that the everlasting arms may continually encompass you, and
believing that they shall, I remain. . . .”
Perhaps nothing can better exhibit and illustrate the preaching and
practice of Mr Cameron as a probationer endeavouring to establish a
congregation at Renton than the following letter, which shows him at his
busiest and best:—
“January 26th.—I have to preach on Thursday evening (at Rothesay). I
have chosen for my text Jer. iii. 14th, ‘Return unto me ye backsliding
children, I am married unto you.’2 Pray that the Lord may enable me to
speak unto the people a word in season. The service commences at six
o’clock, and at that time be praying. God can hear you in Badenoch and
give me an answer in Rothesay at one and the same time. I shall tell you
my heads that you may be thinking over the subject yourself, if you are
not so very weak that you cannot think upon anything.
I. Backsliding—(1) Its nature; (2) its causes; (3) its process, or how
it progresses from a small beginning; (4) its sad consequences—deadness,
unfruitfulness, want of comfort, and at length, it may be, reproach to
the cause of Christ, and some of the evil consequences or fruits of
backsliding in heart from God.
“II. The exhortation to return unto God. To return is the duty of the
soul, but it is the Spirit alone that enables us to return —‘Turn thou
me and I shall be turned.’ .
“III. The motives to return. ‘I am married unto you, and I will take you
one of a city and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.’ (1)
The glory and beauty of Him to whom they are married—thy Maker is thy
Husband; (2) the relation in which they stand to Him ; they are married
unto Him ; and Christ’s spouse ought not to play the harlot with any
other lovers; (3) all the goodness and love vouchsafed to them; (4) the
remembrance of their former character and misdeeds; (5) the nature of
God; for, although He is a God of love, He is also a jealous God, and He
is very much displeased with the sin of having other gods. What a
powerful motive to induce us to walk in the fear of God, and to return
from all our backslidings is contained in the words,
‘I am married unto you!’ And consider that other motive (ver. xxii.), ‘I
will heal your backslidings.’
“After I was over with my work last Sabbath, a man came to the door
asking me to go to see a poor woman, one of our hearers, who was
apparently dying. I was very tired, and, therefore, felt in my mind
unwilling to go; but I never refuse to go to see a sick person at any
time, and therefore I went. I knew the woman a little before but not
intimately. She came here in summer from the Island of Tyree, with a
married sister. She has been long poorly in health; but she used to be
out on the Sabbath pretty often. A few months ago a brother she had here
became ill, and when going to see her brother I used to see her. I found
out then that it was her illness that was keeping her at home whenever
she staid at home on the Sabbath. She was, however, very quiet—and did
not speak much—and therefore I did not think very much about her. A few
weeks ago, one of the hearers, a pious woman who was a hearer of old Mr
Kennedy, spoke to me about this woman that I was called to see last
Sabbath night. Mrs Dingwall, the woman from the north, was noticing the
other at the hearing, and was thinking that there was something about
her which was not about the rest ; but she did not know who she was or
where she lived. I had forgotten what Mrs Dingwall had said until I saw
the other woman last Sabbath. When I went in the first thing she said
was that she was dying, and that she was without God and without hope. I
remained in the house nearly two hours, during which time I got some
things out of her which led me to conclude that she is a sincere and
humble, though much tried Christian. She complained much of her
deadness, and that though she had been long following the means, she had
not got anything, and several other things of the same kind; which
showed that she was speaking more from what she was then experiencing
than from what was her real state in the sight of God. Her bitter
complaints with regard to her deadness, her unfruitfulness, and her
emptiness I could not but regard as marks of the divine life In her
soul. Again, In answer to questions, she would own that she had more
desire for the society of the Lord’s people than for any other
society—that it was her desire that Christ might be hers, although she
could not say that he was actually hers. Altogether I thought I saw more
of Christ’s image in her than in any that I have seen for many a day ;
and while reading the chapter and engaging in prayer, I felt my feelings
so overpowered that. I could not help weeping. She seemed so humble and
so self-denied, although she considered herself the very reverse of
that, that I felt ashamed and confounded. I thought of the Sabbaths that
that poor child of God had sat under me without probably getting a crumb
for her poor soul. I would be aiming at high things—high doctrines, and
so forth—and here was a poor, humble and needy soul, who probably could
not understand high doctrines, but who desired a crumb of the children’s
bread. After returning to the house I could not help weeping. I felt
humbled and ashamed. Pain and suffering cannot wring a tear from me,
although tears would often relieve my heart, but to hear or to see
instances of the power of grace overpowers my affections, as if I were a
little child. I was yesterday seeing her twice, and each time I thought
that my cold and hard heart was the better of going. I could not but
feel as if the Lord were in that little chamber. She told me yesterday a
good deal about how things first began with her. She told me that the
Gospel used to impress her more than the law did ; and she was afraid
because she was not brought through great distress of mind and deep
conviction that she had not experienced a real work. She was for a long
time uneasy, and knew that she needed a Saviour, before one Sabbath that
the minister was preaching from the text, ‘He shall gather the lambs
with His arms, and carry them in His bosom; and shall gently lead those
that are with young,’ when she experienced some melting of the heart.
She afterwards had many experiences of the same kind, although she said
these "were not so often when hearing that minister as when hearing
others who would be touching her case. She said that the minister would
be so high, and would not come down to the little things that she would
have, and that remark stung me to the quick. I thought "with myself,
that is just my way. Altogether, I trust the Lord will bless to my soul
the instruction which He has been giving me from the sickbed of that
poor woman. It is the most precious, at all events, the sweetest that I
have met with this summer. It has taught me, in some measure, how rude,
and ignorant, and brutish I am ; and how easily God, by His foolish and
weak things, can confound our great and wise things. She was saying
yesterday that she thought if the Lord would set her house in order, she
would be willing that the pins of her tabernacle would be loosed; ‘and
yet,’ she said, 'there is a clinging in the heart to life ’ . . . What a
person I have been, to have such a woman as this in my hearing, and
living a few yards from me, all the summer, without knowing of her ! But
she was so modest and diffident that she would not speak, and had it not
been for her trouble, it is probable that I should not discover her
worth at all.”
Word reaches him that his correspondent is not better but weaker, and he
concludes with the fervent wish—“May the Lord strengthen you, and enable
you to endure until His will concerning you be accomplished!”
It is worthy of remark that the preceding letter is throughout a literal
translation from the Gaelic—retaining all its idioms—of the conversation
reported.
The shadows are thickening on this side Jordan in the case of the much
loved and devoted friend, or more than a friend, who a few week’s later
entered into rest, but the glimpses of light and glory from the further
side make plain the past and present, and reconcile many heartrending
contendings — the patient sufferer with the trying farewell, and the
loving ones that remain with the will of the Supreme.
“February 13th.—I thought that I would have seen you before this time ;
but it seems we can never get things exactly as we wish.”
“February 15th.—You would conclude from my last, that there would be
little chance, owing to your weak state, of you and me ever meeting in
this world. . . . May the Lord take you in His arms. May He divide the
waters before you. May He in every respect conform you to Christ’s
blessed image. Remember the promise, that He will never leave you, nor
forsake you. May God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—be your everlasting
stay!”
The last letter of this touching, tender, and consolatory correspondence
closes thus :—
“February 20th.—. . . How can I, with my ignorance and deadness, say
anything to suit your case! Oh! that the Lord would teach me to speak a
word in season to weary souls, which is one of the most important
functions of the Christian ministry. Think of the Word as often as you
can, especially those words that were precious to you during the
beginning of your trouble. You may find some drops of honey still in the
jaw bones by which you thought you were enabled before to slay some of
the enemies of your soul—in those passages of Scripture that were wont
to give you comfort. Remember . . . that God’s covenant standeth fast.
Our experience may change, and the Lord for wise ends may vary his
dealings towards us; but the covenant, being based upon God’s
unchangeableness, can never be modified. When He once becomes our God,
He becomes our God for ever and ever. Remember that sweet passage, ‘I am
the Lord thy God.’ Seek always to be looking more to Christ in the word,
and less to your own poor experience. He is the fountain of life and
comfort, but you are deadness. He is the chief among ten thousand, but
you are vile and sinful. You have no righteousness of your own ; but he
has righteousness with which divine justice is fully satisfied. In Him,
you who have nothing have righteousness and strength. The Lord, your
Redeemer, will give you grace and glory, and He will withhold no good
thing from you. Your present affliction you will yet see to be for your
good, should you not see it until you are in glory.”
In the Life of Dr Robertson of Irvine there is an amusing story told
regarding a poor peripatetic probationer who had long wooed vacancies
unsuccessfully, and who, in a weary, yet reflective mood, thought he
could get some comfort from comparing himself with his hostess, Miss
Robertson. “You and I are like one another; you never got a husband and
I never got a church.” “How many nails have you had V was the prompt
reply. “Ah! none,” was the reluctant response. “Then, don’t you be
evening yourself with me, sir,” effectively ended the colloquy.
The reverse of this was Mr Cameron’s experience. A cordial call was
presented to him by the people of Kilmartin. Mr P. Sinclair apprises him
of the fact, thus :—
“Kilmartin, 30th April, 1858.—The Presbytery met at the Free Church here
yesterday, when an opportunity was given to the people to sign the call
in your favour. There are already upwards of 180 names to it, and many
have not yet had an opportunity to sign it. I am safe in saying that a
more cordial call was never given to a Free Church minister. We
earnestly hope that nothing will prevent your accepting it.”
This is the reply, delayed undulv but excusably during an intervening
period of deep bereavement and intense sorrow. It also illustrates how
he obeyed the injunction, “in honour preferring one another.”
“Renton, June, 1858.—Having been from home for several days I did not
receive your letter asking me this week to Kilmartin until I returned
yesterday afternoon, and I was not able to write you sooner.
“It would give me great pleasure to go to Kilmartin on this occasion,
especially as Mr Kennedy is to be there, were it not that I must be here
on the Sabbath. There are eertain reasons that render that necessary. I
was away last Sabbath, and must be away again on the 13th. I do not see,
moreover, that my going to Kilmartin could be profitable to anyone
except myself; for I could scarcely consent to take one of the services
out of Mr Kennedy’s hands. I would have gone, however, most gladly as a
hearer, were it not for the difficulty of being away on the Sabbath in
the circumstances to which I have alluded.
“I Hid not reply to your previous note simply because I did not know how
to do so. I was not then seeing my way either to accept or reject the
call. Kilmartin, I must own, presented to my mind many inducements to
make choice of it—for a season at least—as my field of labour. I have at
the same time difficulties in the way of my leaving this place for any
other place, and special difficulties in the way of my leaving it for
Kilmartin. And thus my mind was long in an undetermined state, although
I was honestly and sincerely desiring, if I was not. deceiving myself,
to know what was the path of duty.” So he elected to remain in Renton.
About the same time a movement on his behalf was started at Duthil, near
Grantown, an account of which is given in a letter from Rev. Mr
Mackay—afterwards the well-known and highly respeeted Dr George Mackay,
of Inverness, who was one of the foremost preachers of this century in
the Highlands.
“Inverness, 23rd June, 1858.—Therefore 1 write you as one in whom you
have some confidence to say that I am authorised to state that there is
a prospect of unanimity in giving a call to you, if any encouragement
can be given to do so. Duncan Cameron [better known as the smith of
Aviemore, an excellent and able man, and a good speaker at the Friday
Fellowship Meetings], explicitly said so, and desired me to write you to
that effect. I did not like to speak to others without communicating
with yourself first ; but I asked him very distinctly if he was sure
that he was correct in his views as to the minds of the people. He
declared he had no doubt whatever.” The requisite encouragement does not
seem to have been forthcoming, and so the matter dropped.
The Paisley people seem to have persevered in the face of discouragement
and denial, for we find the following letter from Rev. A. R. Findlay :—
“Houston Free Manse, 1st December, 1858.—I am instructed by the Free
Presbytery of Paisley to inform you that a call to you from the Free
Gaelic Church of Paisley, signed by 124 office bearers and members, and
a concurrence in the call, signed by 137 adherents, was laid on the
table this day, and sustained. The Presbytery agreed to meet specially
on Wednesday, the 15th, at 11 o’clock a.m. in the usual place of
meeting, when they expect that either personally or by letter you will
state your acceptance or non-acceptance of said call.”
This cordial call to Paisley he found it necessary, on account of his
arduous mission work at Renton, to regretfully decline. And in after
years he spoke affectionately and gratefully of the kindness of the
Paisley people.
But he preferred to remain at his post in the Vale of Leven.
Yet another opportunity was afforded him, and, indeed, pressure was
brought to bear upon him to go to the Colonies. He writes under date
19th September, 1859, in reference to this matter:—
“I may mention that Dr Bonar is urging me strongly to go out to Lower
Canada for a few years. I don’t think, however, that I shall go at
present, but if I shall be long spared I shall visit America, although I
do not think that I shall ever remain in it permanently.”
This resolution was never carried into effect. In the same letter he
indicates the approach of his definite settlement and continuance in his
present sphere :—
“The congregation at Renton are taking the usual steps in the matter of
their call. The moderation is to take place on Thursday first (22nd
September). It is likely that I shall accept it, but I feel that the
matter is one of great difficulty. The responsibilities of the
ministerial office are tremendous, and how few take that to heart as
they ought.”
It was not without much anxiety and exertion on the part of preacher and
people that affairs had come to be in their present satisfactory
position. Writing on July 18th, 1859, Mr Cameron
“We began to build, our church in September, and we applied for sanction
to the last General Assembly. The church was opened for public worship
on the 22nd of May. Mr Macrae, late of Greenock, preached in the
forenoon and Dr Roxburgh, Glasgow, in the afternoon and evening. The
collection at the forenoon diet —that is the Gaelic diet—was about £30,
and at the other two diets, £12, which made about £42 in all. The church
is very neat and is exceedingly well finished. Our application for
sanction was unanimously granted by the General Assembly. Our
Sustentation Fund contributions will amount, I expect, to £200. The
income of the minister will be about £160, and house-rent until a manse
can be built.”
Mr Cameron’s services were highly and widely appreciated at this early
date in his career, and many predicted for him a successful future. He
was invited to exchange pulpits with Mr Aird of Creich—the now venerable
and highly popular Dr Aird, on whom his Church conferred its highest
honour in 1888 by appointing him Moderator. It will not be uninteresting
to know the incidents of a journey to the north on the occasion of the
proposed exchange. The date is, Free Manse of Creich, Monday. 19th
September, 1859:—
“I left this place on Monday morning a little before five o’clock, and
walked to Alness, a distance of twenty-one miles, where I arrived at ten
o’clock forenoon. But when I arrived there I found that the coach had
passed to Inverness about half an hour before my arrival. I could
therefore do nothing but either walk to Inverness, or else wait for the
mail which would pass sometime through t le night, and which would be
too late to enable me to get forward comfortably from Inverness on
Tuesday morning. I therefore crossed the Ferry at Alness to the Black
Isle, walked on to Kessock Ferry, a distance of fifteen miles, crossed
that ferry, and walked to Inverness, so that I walked on Monday
altogether between thirty-eight and thirty-nine miles, not counting the
ferries. I remained at Inverness that night, and on Tuesday morning I
left by the railway at twenty minutes before seven o’clock for Glasgow,
where I arrived about 7.30 in the evening.”
And now for the return journey, which is equally difficult—
“I was obliged to leave Glasgow on Friday forenoon. I went first to
Edinburgh and thence to Aberdeen, where I arrived late that evening. I
left Aberdeen on Saturday forenoon at eleven o’clock for Inverness,
where I arrived a little after seven o’clock in the evening. I left
Inverness a few minutes after eight o’clock by the mail coach, by which
I came to a place called Novar, which is eight miles on this side of
Dingwall, and exactly twenty miles from this place by the hill road. The
coach was there at half past 11 o’clock at night. I did not like to go
round the way of Tain by the mail, as in that case I would be travelling
by a public conveyance up to 5 o’clock on Sabbath morning. I therefore
left the mail at Novar and walked to this place across the hill. There
was good moonlight and the road is very good, although there are many
steep braes; but on the hill it is as dreary as on Drumochter, for you
meet only one house for a distance of between 11 and 12 miles—and what
was still worse, I had a good deal of rain on the hill. However, I
walked on and entered this house immediately after the clock struck five
in the morning. Now, when you consider that I was travelling without
stopping, except during Friday night at Aberdeen, from half-past ten
o’clock on Friday forenoon, first by the train and then by the coach,
you can understand that I was sufficiently exhausted when, after walking
the last twenty miles on foot, I entered the Manse of Creich. I went to
bed at 6 in the morning and slept until 9. I then got up, and at 11.30 I
had to be engaged in the Sabbath service. They begin here the Gaelic
service at 11.30 and the English at 2. I never felt it more difficult to
engage in my Sabbath duties, considering the state of both my body and
my mind, and also that I would have the heaviest [greatest] men in this
part of the country, such as Gustavus Munro (Havy Munro he is generally
called) and Hugh Graham for my hearers I suppose you would have heard
Donald Duff speaking of them. I had, however, much cause of
thankfulness; I seldom preached with more satisfaction to myself,
although it might not have been the same to. others. All the time that I
was engaged I felt no fatigue, and to-day I feel as fresh as ever.”
On the same date Rev. Mr Dewar, Kingussie, writes in reference to the
Renton call:—
“I am very glad to hear of the doings of the Highlanders of the Vale of
Leven. They deserve to get a minister, and I hope they shall soon have
the man of their choice. I do not see how you can refuse their call.
Think what the consequence may be if you do so. At the present moment
they are full of zeal and hope; their efforts are at long last about to
be crowned with success; they are, I presume, unanimous in the choice of
a minister, and I suppose the prospect of getting that particular
individual stimulated them all along. But let them be disappointed, and
their zeal will receive a check, their first ardour will be damped, then
they will try one after another of the most eminent ministers in the
Highlands till they find that a hopeless game, then they will try to
choose a probationer, then they will get divided, and then the old story
of fighting with one another and with the Presbytery till they lose all
heart. All this might not happen, but it is at least probable it might;
it has often happened, especially in Highland congregations in towns,
and that which has been is that which shall be. But I hope the Renton
congregation will be spared the trial.”
This augury proved correct. Mr Cameron, after much deliberation and some
hesitation, accepted the call of the congregation, for whose best
interests he had laboured so strenuously and successfully. The usual
steps preliminary to a settlement having been passed through, he was
ordained minister of the Gaelic Church, Renton, on the 17th November,
1859. |
