How little I know of you and of the inmost history of your soul. And that is our real history, though we so often attach weight to external circumstances and events. And how little of that deeper biography can be communicated in words. Life is too high and real and spiritual for even our highest conceptions to apprehend, or our best expressions to grasp.—Andrew Murray {to his sister Maria).

WELLINGTON was for forty-six years the scene of Mr. Murray’s labours. To the readers of his books, as to the present generation of South Africans, he has never been otherwise known than as “ Andrew Murray of Wellington.” In this village he dwelt successively in two different homes. The first, which he occupied for twenty-one years, was the old Parsonage—a large double-storied building on Church Street, surrounded by its own grounds, gardens, and outbuildings, and situated in close proximity to the Dutch church, but without any view of the surrounding mountains, which are concealed behind leafy oaks and tall fir trees. In 1892 the Rev. J. R. Albertyn joined Mr. Murray as colleague in the pastorate, and the Murray family vacated the Parsonage to the new-comers and removed to Clairvaux, a residence which had been erected on a portion of ground belonging to the Training Institute. Here Mr. Murray spent the remaining years of his life. Clairvaux cannot boast such spacious grounds as the Parsonage, being flanked on one side by the Institute buildings, and on the other by Sunnyside, a hostel originally intended for students of the Training School. But its site is nevertheless greatly superior. Situated on a ridge above a little valley, it overlooks smiling gardens and broad green vineyards, with a background of low hills bedecked with waving cornfields and dotted with old oak-embowered Dutch homesteads. The house is girt about on the sunny north with a broad stoep, and on this stoep, when the weather was kind, Mr. Murray used to receive his visitors, transact his business, and write his books. He never wearied of the outlook—to the right, the lofty Drakenstein mountains, snow-capped in winter, on which the westering sun would cast the most marvellous colours, from pale blue to rich purple and flaming red ; before, the view which has just been described; to the left, the long hill-slopes reaching down to the Berg River. It is a quiet pastoral scene, remote from the dusty highways of life. The throb of the restless world is audible, but restlessness is unknown in this retreat of peace. The whistle of a distant train or the rattle of a passing vehicle may occasionally break the silence, but cannot disturb the settled quiet, of this home among the vineyards.

In his wife Mr. Murray possessed a true life-partner—an affectionate wife, a faithful mother, one who was in closest sympathy with his work and aims, and who gladly shared the burden of his congregational toil. When they came to Wellington in 1871 their children numbered nine: the two youngest died in the following year, but in 1873 another son, the last of the family, was bom. Owing to the father’s prolonged absences from home on ^evangelistic errands, the training of these children devolved to a large extent upon Mrs. Murray; and she acquitted herself of her task with exemplary devotion, earning the lasting gratitude and deep affection of all her sons and daughters. So long as life endured her zeal in the service of the Master never slackened. To her work in Bloemfontein, especially in connexion with Mr. Murray’s rectorship of the Grey College, we have already referred. During the revival of i860 she instituted a ladies' prayer-meeting at Worcester which has been continued down to the present day. She was the first to introduce children’s work-circles for the missionary cause, both at Worcester and in Cape Town. On behalf of Sunday-school work her efforts were untiring. As her children grew up and set her free from domestic duties, the sphere of her activities was enlarged. At Wellington the Huguenot Seminary, the Mission Training Institute, and Friedenheim—a training school for women workers—owe much to her fostering care. In 1898, chiefly on her initiative, an industrial school for poor white girls was opened, which supplied a felt need and achieved a large measure of success. Mrs. Murray was also president, from its inception, of the Vrouwen Zending Bond (Women’s Missionary Union), and much of the marvellous growth and wide influence of this society may be traced to her unceasing interest and wise counsels. She suffered greatly from rheumatism in her later years. Towards the end of 1904 an unusually severe attack supervened, and she was compelled to keep her bed, though no serious results were apprehended. Suddenly she grew weaker. The end came on the 2nd January, 1905, while her husband was praying and her four daughters kneeling at her bedside. She passed away, sincerely mourned by all who knew and loved her, leaving to us an inspiring example of piety, patience, gentleness, Christian grace, and whole-hearted devotion to Jesus Christ the Lord.

As to the harmonious and affectionate relationship which existed between Mr. Murray and his wife, we have the testimony of Frederick (afterwards Dr.) Kolbe, who was for some time an inmate of their home while the Murrays were yet in Cape Town. “I hope,” writes Dr. Kolbe, “that Mr. and Mrs. Murray knew by instinct how I loved them, but I never could tell them. All I know is that if either of them had asked me to put my hand in the fire for them, I would have done it. That was the time I saw Andrew Murray at the closest possible quarters. I may have been shy, but I certainly was observant. He was a very highly strung man. His preaching was so enthusiastic, his gesticulation so unrestrained, that he was wearing himself out, and the doctor ordered him to sit while preaching ; so he had a special stool made for Anreith's great pulpit in order to obey the doctor without letting everybody know. Now, such an output of nervous energy (and he was a frequent preacher) might well mean some reaction at home—some irritation with his wife, some unevenness towards his children, some caprice towards the stranger within his gates. But no, I never knew him thrown off his balance. His harmony with Mrs. Murray was perhaps easy; she was such a gracious, wifely, motherly person, that not to be in harmony with her would be self-condemnation—but he never did condemn himself. He was solid gold all through.”

Eight children of Andrew and Emma Murray, four daughters and four sons, arrived at maturity. The first to be called home, at the early age of twenty-three, was Howson Ruther-foord, the eldest son, a lad of staunch Christian principles. He was not a robust youth, and, being unable to continue his studies, entered the business of his uncle, Mr. F. F. Rutherfoord, in Cape Town, where he died unexpectedly in 1885, while his parents were absent in the Transvaal. Emmie, the eldest daughter, was for many years an enthusiastic worker in Cape Town in connexion with the Salvation Army, in which she reached the rank of staff-captain. In 1902 she severed her alliance with the Army in order to assume the direction of the Magdalena House, an institution erected for the rescue of young girls and unfortunate women, in which capacity she has rendered invaluable services to the Church and to the community generally. Mary, the second daughter, entered the mission-field, and was for many years associated with missionary work among the Sechuana-speaking Bakhatla, first at Sauls Poort and then at Mochudi. The third daughter, Catherine Margaret (Kitty) devoted herself to educational work, and occupied important positions, first as principal of the Branch Huguenot Seminary at Bethlehem, and subsequently at Graaff-Reinet. The youngest daughter J Annie, was for the last twenty years of his life Mr. Murray’s faithful and zealous private secretary; and it is to her friendly aid and generous loan of material that the present writer is indebted for thie details of Mr. Murray’s home life which are presented in the last chapters of this volume. Two of the sons, J ohn and Charles, fulfilled the desires of their parents’ hearts by becoming missionaries—the former among the Basuto of the northern Transvaal, and the latter among the natives of Nyasaland, until the health of his wife (who died in 1913) compelled his withdrawal from that malarial climate. Charles then became minister of Rossville (Rhodes) in the Cape Province, but afterwards again took service, though only for a time, as missionary at Mochudi in British Bechuanaland.

Another son, Andrew Haldane, senior to the two just mentioned, possessed a strikingly thoughtful and independent mind and very considerable intellectual ability. After-graduating B.A. at the South African College, he became a student of Christ’s College, Cambridge, returning to the Cape to pass his examination for the degree of M.A. After some years of successful teaching he was appointed inspector of schools, which office he fulfilled with great diligence and devotion. Subsequently, however, he decided to devote himself to farming, and settled down in the Graaff-Reinet district, becoming a highly-respected member of the community, and representing, for some time, the division of Alice in the House of Assembly. When the Great War broke out, he volunteered as a private for the campaign in East Africa, rose to be lieutenant, and was killed in action, in 1916, in an attempt to save the life of a wounded fellow-countryman. A -wife and three children were left to mourn the death of a noble husband and father at the age of fifty years.

The Murray family form a well-defined clan in South Africa. This is due, in large part, to Mr. Murray’s endeavours to bind the various members together in affection, in mutual esteem, and in the service and love of God. It is he who suggested that the different members of the family should intercede for each other every Sunday evening, and sing the hymn associated with their father’s departure from Scotland—0 God of Bethel, by whose hand Thy people still are fed. He also tried to inaugurate a circular letter, in which the heads of each family should give accounts of their children—of their character, tastes, studies, and religious attitude. The experiment does not, however, seem to have been a great success. One such letter, written in 1875, is extant, but it lacks what we most desire to read—the remarks of Mr. Murray himself. The writers are the brothers William, Charles, and George Murray, with their brothers-in-law, J. H. Hofmeyr and A. A. Louw— all of them ministers of the Gospel. The last-named commences his observations thus:—“I did not receive the circular letter till the 10th, and was compelled to postpone my reply till to-day (16th), because I could not, or could only with the utmost difficulty, decipher the script of my brothers (notably of Wellington and Worcester). At first I laid the letter aside in despair. To-day, with the aid of a pair of spectacles and Mima, I have made out enough to be able to start writing. May I beg of the brothers to write me as little Sanscrit as possible?" At the end of his letter Mr. Louw asks the pertinent question: "When will the first children of our ministers and [theological] professors emerge from the shade of the Stellenbosch oak trees as missionaries and teachers? Shall we not begin to reflect that, while on occasion we preach so powerfully, speak so movingly, and write so persuasively on the duty of parents to dedicate their children to the Lord, we ourselves never come forward with our own children ? ” These words bore fruit, and in later years we find the children of the parsonages—with the Murray clan at their head— offering themselves in increasing numbers for the mission-field and the schoolmaster’s desk..

The thought of a great family gathering, which should bring together as many as possible of the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of the old Graaff-Reinet home, suggested itself at various times to different members of the circle of sons and daughters. One reunion of this nature was held in 1906, of which we here transcribe, with some abbreviation and alteration, the account written by one of the nephews :—

Thanks to Uncle Andrew and Aunt Maria [Mrs. J. H. Neethling], a family gachering, though on a much smaller scale than at one time planned, did eventually take place on the beach at Kalk Bay on the ioth November, 1906. There were present—

Uncle Andrew, 3 children, 2 grandchildren .... 6
Aunt Maria Neethling, 5 children, 5 grandchildren . . .11
Uncle John and Aunt Bella Hofmeyr, 4 children, 3 grandchildren 9
Uncle George and Aunt Kitty Murray, 6 children . . .8
Of Uncle John Murray’s family, 6 children, 18 grandchildren . 24
Of Uncle Willie Murray’s family, 3 children, 5 grandchildren . 8
Of Aunt Jemima Louw’s family, 1 child . . . . 1
Of Uncle Charles Murray’s family, 1 child . . . .1
Total . 68

The party reached Kalk Bay at eleven in the forenoon, and after mutual greetings gathered round the six veterans, and seating themselves on the sand and the rocks, sang, at Uncle Andrew’s request, O God of Bethel, by whose hand. After prayer by Uncle George, Uncle Andrew told us how the thought of a reunion of the members of the family had for long filled the hearts of some of them. They missed there some who were already in heaven, and the fragrant remembrance of their departed dear ones made their hearts very tender. They missed others who were still on earth, but who could not gather with them that day ; but at the presence of all who had been able to attend they greatly rejoiced. In speaking of God’s great goodness Uncle Andrew said, “Our father came to this country a solitary man, and God has made him a great host.” Aunt Maria, Aunt Bella, and Uncle Andrew then gave us details of the history of our Scottish forbears, describing in particular the departure of our grandfather from Scotland. Aunt Maria then said she would like to give us a text: “This God is our God for ever and ever : He will be our guide even unto death” (Ps. lxxxiv. 14). In repeating these words so that all should hear, Uncle Andrew said we might add, "God, even our own God, shall bless us; God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him ” (Ps. lxvii. 6).

At this point our little meeting broke up for lunch, after which the boys of the third and fourth generation played paarderuiter,* while the girls betook themselves to the pools and the rocks. At the close of our picnic we were photographed, and then we adjourned to the Kalk Bay church, where we sang together Prijs den Heer met blijde galmen (Psalm cxlvi.). Uncle Andrew then requested all the children to stand, while in simple language he explained to them the reason which had brought us to Kalk Bay that day. It was that we might thank God for the past, and unite in the resolution to love Him and love each other better in the future. Uncle John Hofmeyr said that we had indeed cause to praise God : of all Papa Murray’s grandchildren there was not one of whom we had reason to be ashamed. The most of them were serving God in various capacities, many as ordained ministers of the Gospel. But the thought that filled his heart was this,—it was the day of the fourth generation : would they too choose the God of their fathers as their God ? This thought was re-echoed by Uncle George, who reminded the rising generation of the terrible need of ministers, missionaries, and teachers, and asked who was going to respond to the call. They would not play football less successfully for choosing to serve God.

Andrew Charles Murray [a nephew] spoke on Noblesse oblige, which he translated freely, Privileges bring obligations. We were very highly privileged in being heirs to the prayers of our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, but this privilege imposed the obligation that we in turn should pray for our children. These children might change their names by marriage, they might go to the ends of the earth, but they could not escape from the mark placed upon them, for in their veins flowed the blood of generations of praying ancestors. He made a special appeal to the sons of the fourth generation to consecrate their lives to God’s service in the ministry or the mission-field. "Remember that upon you there rests a very special obligation to do so, and that God has an exceptional claim on those who are sprung from such godly forefathers."

No man could be more generous than Mr. Murray—even in his old age—in the way of responding to the invitations which reached him from far and near to conduct special services or fulfil preaching engagements. It was only under the stress of positive ill-health, or in obedience to the orders of his medical attendant, that he was sometimes compelled to decline these urgent requests. And indeed, as will be shown in the sequel of this chapter, few ministers of God have exercised so busy and beneficent a ministry in advanced old age as Mr. Murray. Towards the end of his life his interest was awakened in a scheme of One-day Conferences, suggested to him, apparently, by something written by the Rev. Cyril Bardsley of the Church Missionary Society. His powers were too feeble to make it possible for him to undertake a series of g atherings, but he was well able to attend a conference of two or three sessions, lasting but a single day. No sooner did the thought find a lodgment in his mind than he issued a leaflet (in Dutch) of the following import:—

Many a minister feels the need of getting into touch from time to time with the members of his congregation, in order to learn their views concerning the spiritual life in their own parish and in the Church at large. The suggestion has been made of meeting occasionally, on a week-day or a Sunday, for the purpose of holding a conference lasting only one day, at which the minister might have the presence and assistance of one or more brethren. Subjects like the following might be submitted for discussion—

1. The true life of grace which God expects of us—what it is, and whether it is possible.

2. The state of the spiritual life of the Church in general—why it is so unsatisfactory, and why the shame of this condition is so little felt.

3. The chief hindrances to a fuller life—absence of a sense of our own powerlessness and of our absolute dependence upon God.

4. Inward personal intercourse with the Lord Jesus as absolutely indispensable.

5. Faithfulness in the study of the Word and the practice of prayer.

6. Personal appropriation of the Holy Spirit as the Indwelling One, to possess us wholly and lead us daily.

7. The calling of the whole Church and of each individual member to witness for Christ and lead souls to Him.

8. Missions as a proof of sincere love to Jesus Christ, and of the desire that all men may become acquainted with Him.

If such a conference be held after much prayer, and in the expectation that the Lord will mightily work through His Spirit, it will contribute towards arousing, in the heart of both minister and congregation, a new and clear conception of what their common aim and endeavour ought to be, and will encourage them to pray more definitely for what God will so surely bestow.

The suggestion was favourably received, and several conferences of this kind were held—at Paarl, Stellenbosch, Riebeek West, Caledon, Villiersdorp, Porterville, and elsewhere. Mr. Murray’s journey to and from Riebeek West, a village some twenty miles from Wellington, where a One-day Conference was held on the 9th and 10th of June, 1916, was accomplished in pouring rain, which continued on the Sunday, the nth of June. He had promised to officiate for the Rev. D. G. Malan, his successor in the Wellington pastorate, and in spite of the inclemency of the weather he carried out his intention, preaching to a small congregation—for the last time, as it proved—from Galatians iv. 6, his two points being: (a) What the Holy

Spirit expects from us, and (b) What we may expect from the Holy Spirit.

His appearance in the pulpit during these last years is well described by a Johannesburg minister who attended the South African Keswick in 1908 :—

The most impressive service of the day, he writes, was the afternoon meeting in the large Dutch Reformed church. The praise was led by a well-known townsman, Mr. Dirk de Villiers. The church, which was built in 1840, was crowded with an audience of at least a thousand persons, chiefly young men and young women. This is Andrew Murray’s church, where for thirty years this famous minister exercised his remarkable influence over the Dutch Christians of South Africa. In the evening, when the congregation was still larger, Andrew Murray was present himself. When the opening notes of the organ had died away, a third minister stole feebly into the rostrum where the other two were seated, and commenced the service with prayer. We felt as though a benediction fell upon us as we listened to his prayer. But how frail he seemed ! A thin, lined face, spare form, long grey hair, and attenuated hands grasping the red ve\vet cushion in front. It was a pathetic picture—the picture of a prophet of a past generation. During that evening, and at each service through the Convention when Dr. Murray took some part in the proceedings, he seemed to overcome his weakness, and he amazed us with his fire and energy.

From diaries kept by his youngest daughter we are able to obtain the following glimpse of a typical day (8th July, 1908) when Mr Murray had reached the age of eighty:—

Before breakfast—where he usually made his appearance before the sun was visible over the mountain-tops—he stood gazing fixedly out of the window to see the sun rise over Groenberg. “Now I know the exact spot," he said. At family prayer he used these expressions: “We have just seen the sun rise. It is the evidence of Thine almighty Power. It is the work of Thine Omnipotence. In all nature around us Thy power is working patiently and persistently. May it work with like power in our hearts, taking away all sin and self-sufficiency, all pride and self-exaltation.” At half-past nine we set to work on Ephesians, and he began to dictate the chapter “In the Heavenly Places.” The day being calm and fine, father sat outside orf the stoep with a rug over his knees, enjoying the bright sunshine. Presently he descried our old coloured gardener April, aged eighty, with a large bag of forage on his back. “Dear old man,” was father’s comment, “he is faithfulness itself.” (April predeceased father by a few months.)

A telegram was then delivered, informing us that Mrs. Searle [a faithful worker in the South Africa General Mission] was lying seriously ill in Tembuland. “Let us stop a few minutes,” said father, “and pray for her”; and immediately commenced: “O Lord, let Thy presence fill the sick-chamber with Thy comfort and peace, and if it be Thy will, grant speedy and complete restoration." The dictation was resumed and a few more pages completed, when a note arrived from Rev. Albertyn, saying that Amy Luckhofi [the daughter of a beloved ministerial colleague] had died suddenly, and that he purposed going to the funeral. So a message of love and sympathy was quickly written down and despatched with Mr. Albertyn. At half-past ten a prayer-meeting of local ministers was held in the study, to intercede for the approaching Missionary Congress.1 When this was over, the English mail had arrived with letters, books, and periodicals—among the latter the ever-welcome British Weekly. Father next had a few kind words with two young ladies who were having eleven o’clock tea with us. To one of them, who was about to get married, he said, "God bless you, my child; you will need a great deal of prayer to be able to discharge the onerous duties of a minister’s wife.” A letter was next despatched to Haldane [at that time member of Parliament], to see if he could obtain concession fares for visitors to the annual “Keswick” Convention; and another letter to Charlie, with advice as to accepting the call to Rossville.

At one o’clock we adjourned for dinner, when the books which had just arrived were exhibited—always a keen pleasure to father. On this occasion it was Amy Carmichael’s Overweights of Joy, and a large volume on Santa Teresa by Mrs. Grahame. Father was much pleased with the latter, read out the dedication, and quoted the Teresian vow: "I have made a vow never to ofiend God in the smallest matter.” He recommended me to read the volume, and when I made some demur, saying, “I suppose I shall not read it all,” he replied, "That is not necessary ; you know how to get at the best of it.” He then advised me to read Dr. Whyte's appreciation of S. Teresa, and to compare it with Professor James’s account in The Varieties of Religious Experience.

After a short nap, we continued writing on the sunny stoep for an hour. When the article of six foolscap pages was finished, father said, "I am deeply grateful that we have been able to complete this work: but it will all have to be done over again.” Somewhat later Mrs. Albertyn came over for a talk and advice on matters in connexion with the Vrouwen Zending Bond (Women’s Missionary Union). Father was always a ready and most sympathetic listener, while his suggestions were invaluable. Up to the very end of life his interest in everything was intense—in his work, in the visitors who called, and in the quiet beauty of nature. "Do look at the exquisite green of those trees," he would frequently cry. At the close of the day’s work he would take all the physical exercise in which he could indulge in those years of increasing bodily infirmity—two turns along the road in front of Sunny-side on the arm of one of his daughters.

From the same diaries we derive the following (abridged) account of a journey undertaken between the 3rd November, 1913, and the 20th January, 1914, when Mr. Murray was in his eighty-sixth year :—

3rd November.—By rail to Oudtshoom, for the annual meetings of the Mannen Zending Bond (Laymen’s Missionary Union). Father in the chair for three sessions daily during the three days’ conference—A. C. Murray acting as interpreter of the speeches which he could not hear. Next, some days were spent at De Hoop, Uncle George’s parish, where father again preached. From there we travelled by rail to Graaff-Reinet for a conference, father taking the Sunday services (23rd Nov.), and preaching in the evening from 2 Chronicles xv. 12—on which text, as he reminded his hearers, he had discoursed at a similar conference in the same place fifty-two years previously. After a few days at Broe-derstroom [his son’s farm] we journeyed by motor-car to Murraysburg (61 miles), father indulging in various reminiscences along the way. He pointed out the farm "Voetpad,” at which he and mother had stayed when he brought her from Bloemfontein on a trip to Cape Town sixty years ago. ’ I got a fine span [i.e. team] of mules there,” said father. On the afternoon of our arrival at Murraysburg father dictated in the parsonage garden the titles of twenty chapters of a new book to be called The Return to Pentecost, as well as the matter of the first chapter on ”The Cross and the Spirit.” This volume was never published in its original form.

From Murraysburg we returned to Graaff-Reinet the following week, travelling from there to Middelburg, where father took several services, including two on the Sunday. Next morning a telegram arrived from Bloemfontein, inviting father to speak at the ceremony of the unveiling of the Women’s Monument on the 16th December. Father immediately turned to A. F. Louw [his nephew], whom he suspected, not without reason, of having inspired the invitation, and asked, "Do you know a text in the Bible : The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau?" The invitation was, however, accepted. We next journeyed to Burgersdorp for the opening of the new church there —a ceremony which father had promised to perform. The Rev. Postma kindly took us for a motor-car drive to Dreunberg, and on the way there father told us a story of that talented and original preacher, Rev. Pierre Hugt. Mr. Huet had recently arrived in South Africa from Holland, and, the charge of Burgersdorp having become vacant through Uncle John Murray’s appointment to the Stellenbosch Theological Seminary, he was requested to supply the pulpit for some weeks. Huet, however, was not yet ordained, and when some foolish people who wanted their children christened began to insist that he should administer the sacrament of baptism, he made his position clear, once for all, by preaching from the text: “ Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel ” (i Cor. i. 17).

On Sunday, 14th December, at midnight we left Burgersdorp, reaching Bloemfontein at 10 o’clock the next morning. Father preached the same evening, and on the Tuesday morning delivered his address on Love. [For a further description of the events of this momentous day the reader is referred to Chapter XIX, p. 431.] At five o’clock the same afternoon Mr. Arthur Fichardt took father, Aunt Bella, and myself for a drive by motor-car round Hospital Hill. In visiting the pile of buildings which mark the site of the present Grey College, we touched at Andrew Murray House, and saw in the hall an enlarged daguerreotype of father, which seemed to us a very good likeness. We then drove to the National Museum, father’s old church—a long building with four small windows, the pulpit having been at the one end. Father himself was unable to get out of the motor, but was keenly interested, and insisted that we should see everything. “Bloemfontein,” he reminded us, “was my first love.” As we drove past a certain kopje, he called to mind a conversation he had had with Aunt Maria, in the days when she kept house for him before his marriage, concerning Madame Guyon, the beauties of nature, and other subjects.

We left Bloemfontein at night on the 17th December, and from the railway carriage father pointed out to me, next day, the kopjes behind which the battle of Boomplaats was fought between the Boers and the forces under Sir Harry Smith in 1848. Reached Aliwal North on Thursday evening, and Motkop (by rail) at 6 p.m. on Friday. A spider 1 and four horses took us on the same night to the farm Glen Avon, where we arrived at 9.30 p.m. It was amusing, here as elsewhere, to hear the conversation between father and our host as to the hour of starting next morning. The host imagines that such an old man cannot possibly be expected to rise early, but father details stories of journeying in the olden days, insists upon an early start, and is invariably ready first of all. We breakfasted at Barkly East, dined at Moshesh’s Ford, and, after a journey through extremely mountainous country, reached Rhodes (alias Rossville, my brother Charlie’s parish) at 5.30 p.m. on Saturday. On Sunday father preached twice, and also took the services on Christmas Day and Old Year’s Day.

On the 6th January, 1914, we left again for Barkly, where father conducted services on the Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Friday night was spent at Mr. Potgieter’s farm near Motkop : during our journey thither a cold wind blew, with frost threatening. We reached Lady Grey on Saturday, and on Sunday father preached both morning and evening and addressed the members of the Mannen and Vrouwen Zending Bond as well. On Tuesday we left Lady Grey for Rosmead, from where A. F. Louw took us by motor to Middelburg town. On the Thursday following we arrived at George, where father conducted services each evening and communion services on Sunday. There was a large house-party of young teachers, to whom father told the story of the Marico Boers who said that they wished to trek to Jerusalem, and who identified the English people (and therefore father himself) with the Antichrist. From George we returned to Wellington, reaching home on Tuesday the 20th January.

Miss Annie Murray’s diaries also give us some conception of Mr. Murray’s manifold activities a year before the end, when he was already nearing his eighty-eighth (and last) birthday—

Father was very active during the latter part of 1915. He attended the reunion of students and past students of the Theological Seminary at Stellenbosch in October. On the 28th he was present at a meeting of the Vrouwen Zending Bond at Wellington, giving a message of encouragement to the members of the new directorate on the words Give ye them to eat. As he had just completed a new booklet, De Genade-troon (The Throne of Grace), he promised to send a copy to each member of the Women’s Missionary Union, including those in the Free State and the Transvaal. The 3rd of November was set apart by the Synod, then in session at Cape Town, as a Day for Missions ; and father was present by’request, gave an address to the assembled brethren, and afterwards had his photograph taken in the pulpit of the Dutch Reformed church. Returning from Cape Town on the Saturday following, he went straight to Worcester for the Missionary Festival, and also preached twice on the Sunday. The 15th November was the anniversary of the arrival at Wellington of Misses Ferguson and Bliss, forty-two years previously, and father therefore addressed all the pupils of the Huguenot College and Seminary in the Goodnow Hall, speaking from the text, “ The memory of Thy great goodness ” (Ps. cxlv. 7). He referred in his remarks to Mary Lyon, the study of whose life had first suggested the establishment of the Seminary, and to Elise Sandes, of whose biography father gave away a large number of copies, with a special recommendation by himself pasted on the front cover.

Sunday, 5th December.—At 4 p.m. father attended a Christian Endeavour meeting in Goodnow Hall, and spoke to the young teachers who were leaving at the end of the year, taking down the names of fifty as members of the Teachers’ Christian Union. At this time he was working hard at two of his Pocket Companion booklets, Het Kruis van Christus and De Heilige Geest. He was much interested, too, in the scheme of One-day Conferences, and got out a leaflet with suggestions on the subject. On Sunday, 12th, he spoke at the communion service from Revelation iv. 6, and wrote an article on mysticism. The 16th December was Dingaan’s Day, which father spent in the wood adjoining the Institute with members of the congregation. He spoke on the subject of prayer, mentioning in that connexion the voortrekkers Chari Cilliers and Pieter Retief. On Christmas Day father preached at the Paarl for Rev. Joubert, speaking also twice at the communion table. Rev. Meiring invited him to deliver a thanksgiving sermon on Old Year’s Eve, but he replied that he preferred to speak on the confession of sin, and referred to a sermon which when a student, seventy-one years ago, he had heard Professor van Oosterzee- preach at Rotterdam from the text, " I will arise and go to my father." That sermon, on that occasion, had left a permanent impression upon him.

3rd January, 1916.—Father received a booklet, The Forgotten Friend, by Mrs. A. A. Head, and in response to its message wanted to write at once on "the sin of prayerlessness.” On 5th January he accordingly began The Supreme Need, in which he makes some reference to the Perpetual Prayer Calendar. Writing extracts from William Law for his Dutch booklet God in Ons. On Saturday, 8th, he received a visit from a distant cousin, W. R. Bums, with whom he had a most interesting talk about people in Scotland. Mr. Bums gave him a volume entitled The Chalmers and Burns Roll of Honour, containing the names of some one hundred relatives engaged in fighting. Father spoke sympathetically of the Chapman and Alexander mission, but expressed himself as sceptical of a national revival. He ordered a number of copies of Bardsley’s Studies in Revival, to give away to brother ministers. The month of February was spent at our usual seaside resort, Kalk Bay. Father was busy making extracts from Law for his Secret of Inspiration. He preached one Sunday morning in Dutch and one evening in English. It was a difficult matter getting him to and from the church in his Bath-chair, as the sand is very heavy.

4th March.—Back at Wellington. About sixty members of Parliament were served with tea in the grounds of the Huguenot College. Father went down in a motor-car, and ma.de a short speech with something of his old fire on the subject of education, referring again to Mary Lyon and encouraging his hearers to a larger beneficence. His remarks were much appreciated and loudly cheered. On 12th March he proceeded to Paarl to preach for Rev. Meiring, and during the week paid visits of consolation to bereaved families in the Boven Vlei [near Wellington]. 20th March.—Monthly prayer-meeting of teachers at the College addressed from the words, "My Father worketh hitherto and I work also.” 23rd March.—Spent an hour at the Parsonage in celebration of Rev. Malan’s birthday, and spoke a word of congratulation. 27th inst.—Finished manuscript of God in Ons, and despatched it to Stellenbosch to be printed. 28th.—Wrote an article for the meeting of the Women’s Missionary Union at Ladybrand on Wat de Zending kost (What Missions cost) ; also, by request from England, an article for Mr. Davis on a Bible Success Band.

4th April.—At breakfast father quoted from the Prayer Calendar which he used daily, "Carelessness about the friendship of Christ the crying sin of the Church.” Remarked further, "But for the cultivation of such a friendship you need time.” And then, pointing to a plate of bread on the table, "You could not have that plateful of bread without taking time to prepare the dough and bake the loaf. Everything we do needs time, and most of all does the exercise of fellowship with God demand it.” At noon he had a few words of prayer with the Nienabers and other friends who had dropped in. He seldom let a visitor go without offering a brief intercessory prayer, either in the study or on the stoep. 6th April.—Letter dictated to the Wesleyan Methodists on the occasion of their Tercentenary, and sent through Mr. Middlemiss. 16th.—Preached in the Dutch church. 23rd.—Spoke at Communion. Took English service in the Goodnow Hall in the evening. 26th.— Reception of Lord and Lady Buxton in the Goodnow Hall: father spoke a few words of welcome. In the afternoon by motor to Paarl to open the meeting of the Laymen’s Missionary Union. Spoke several times during the Conference, and preached in the forenoon of the following Sunday.

4th May.—To Stellenbosch for the induction of Rev. J. du Plessis as Professor at the Theological Seminary. Attended a One-day Conference held at the same time. 9th May.—His eighty-eighth birthday. Many visitors and a large party of relatives to dinner. In the afternoon he gave reminiscences of his experiences in Scotland and Holland and at Bloemfontein and Worcester. In response to some two hundred birthday greetings by letter and telegram he distributed an equal number of his booklet, just published, God in Ons. Commenced reading the life of Adele Kamm, a young Swiss invalid, with which he was much struck. He at once began to write a new volume of the Pocket Companion series on the subject suggested, calling it De Blijdschap (Joy). Eighteen chapters were finished. The day after his birthday he dictated three chapters of Eendracht maakt Macht (Union is strength). 15th.—Teachers’ prayer-meeting at the College. Quoted from Ma Slessor, "Doing is easier than praying.” Saw many fripnds and entertained several guests—Rev. and Mrs. A. F. Louw for a day and a night; Mr. and Mrs. Oswin Bull ; Rev. and Mrs. Walter Searle, on their way from England, for a week-end; two nurses from the United States, on their way to Nyasaland ; and Rev. and Mrs. Maisey, also missionaries from Nyasaland.

9th June.—With father to Riebeek West by motor, in pouring rain and over wet roads. Service in the evening ; also next day (Saturday) in the forenoon and again at 2 p.m., and then back to Wellington, where father had promised to conduct service next day. nth.—Raining heavily. This was father’s last sermon in his old church, before a very small congregation. 16th to 22nd.—Father’s last'joumey—to Somerset West, Caledon, Villiersdorp, and Worcester. My sister Kitty accompanied him. On his return he said  “As a result of my visit to Caledon I must begin a new book; I can’t help it.” So a half-used examination-book of one of the grandsons was fetched, and he dictated eight headings and two chapters for a booklet De Opwekking (The Revival). 30th.—Mr. Bull brought out Mr. Roome of Belfast, Editorial Secretary of the Sudan United Mission, and a meeting was arranged on the stoep for a few interested friends. Mr. Roome told us that he owed his consecration to the work of God to the reading of Abide in Christ and With Christ in the School of Prayer, thirty years ago. Writing Christus ons Leven (Christ our Life) and also a paper on Ma Slessor for the Kerkbode.

26th July.—Father preached the ordination sermon of Dr. van der Westhuizen, who was inducted as minister of North Paarl. Continued writing his booklet Christus ons Leven, intending to have it ready for the One-day Conferences arranged to be held at Hopefield and Darling, which he hoped to attend. 20th August (Sunday).—Father seemed in his usual health, and went to church. At dinner he asked us to tell him the gist of the sermon which Rev. Rabie had preached, of which he had heard nothing. In the evening he felt indisposed, and retired early. The next day the doctor was fetched, who said that father was suffering from a slight attack of influenza and bronchitis. He never really regained strength again.

A few further details, thrown together in a somewhat disconnected manner, may serve to bring Mr. Murray’s personality more vividly before the reader's eye. In person he was of medium height, with spare form, thin grey beard, hair that hung in great locks about his neck, and deep, mystic, hazel eyes. Until an accident in Natal permanently injured his spine, his bearing was upright, his gait rapid, and his frame so wiry that it could endure the greatest strain which circumstances or arduous toil could impose. His voice, even in old age, was full and resonant, and there was something peculiarly sincere and engaging in the heartiness of his greeting. “ A hearty welcome,” were his words to the present writer on the occasion of some conference or other at Wellington; “ welcome for the Master’s sake, and welcome for your father's sake, and welcome for your own sake.” He possessed an exceedingly tenacious memory, not merely for facts set down in books, but for matters which had come under his own observation or had been imparted to him in conversation. He was very careful of the minutiae which are so frequently neglected by many people who are supposed to be busied with affairs of moment—regularity in the hours of work, care in the arrangements for travel, faithfulness in replying to letters, punctuality in keeping appointments and settling accounts. He was exceedingly considerate of the feelings of others, and very attentive to the wants of guests and fellow-travellers. A large party of ladies once visited Clairvaux, bestowing their umbrellas in various racks and corners. Mr. Murray observed one lady depositing hers in an unusual place, and when at the end of the meeting she began searching high and low for the missing article, said, “ Madam, did you not place it for security in yonder corner? ”

He possessed a keen sense of smell. In the garden at Clairvaux grows a rose bush of the Souvenir de Malmaison variety. Whenever a rose from this bush was presented to him, he would smell it and say, “How that carries me back to Bloemfontein, where a similar rose tree stood in my garden! ” In his own case, he used to say, the sense of smell had wonderful powers of association, and brought back in the most vivid fashion distant memories and scenes. The smell of the purple lilac awakened recollections of Scotland and of his boyhood in his uncle’s home at Aberdeen; and a Scottish friend in Wellington (Mrs. Harvie), knowing of this, would keep him supplied with lilac flowers so long as they were in bloom. He loved, too, a big heliotrope bush which grew before the door, and when a vase full of violets was placed upon his study table, he would frequently lift it and draw a long whiff with evident enjoyment of the rich perfume. Bright colours also pleased his eye. He never tired of a gorgeous red hibiscus, two trees of which stood below the stoep in almost constant bloom. The brilliant green of the oak forests in early spring, the play of light and shade upon the mountains, and the changing hues of sunset, were a source of endless delight.

Mr. Murray loved children, and they returned his affection. When he visited Switzerland with his family in 1903, there were staying with them in the same hotel a Scotch lady and her little son Alec, aged five. Shortly afterwards Mr. Murray met with a serious accident in a London street, and had to be conveyed to a hospital. When Alec’s mother told him of this mishap, he asked her to enclose in her letter to Mr. Murray a pressed pink, “because flowers are so comforting." Little Alec grew to manhood, and laid down his life on the fields of Flanders in September 1916, not many months before his “friend" Mr. Murray passed to his rest.

The children of nephews and nieces who visited Clairvaux from time to time always called Mr. Murray Grandpa (or Oupa, if they spoke Dutch). The smaller ones were particularly attracted by his walking-stick—a stout ebony staff, made in the Boer prisoners’ camp in Ceylon. With this black rod Grandpa would playfully poke at the little ones, and when it was not required for its primary purpose he would indulgently allow them to use it as a hobby-horse. Three grandsons, the sons of John Murray, spent ten years of their life at Clairvaux for their education. Their one great regret was that when Grandpa died they were away for the holidays, and could not say good-bye to him nor attend his funeral. Mr. Murray was deeply interested in the progress of the war. When the campaign in German South-West Africa commenced he procured a map, and got his grandson Paul to mark on it the lines of railway, the position of the most important places, and all the stages of the conflict.

During the war years his daughters often heard him praying aloud in the middle of the night. They once overheard him offer a long and beautiful prayer for peace, in which he made petition for the rulers of the nations, and for all the powers at strife with one another. Next morning at breakfast he related the dream of which this prayer formed a part. He was journeying by cart when a certain magistrate met him, and asked him to engage in prayer. He accordingly descended from the cart, and though a gale of wind was raging, they presently found a sheltered spot in which to pray. He then offered the prayer which his daughters had listened to. When he awoke, so he said, it all seemed so very real that he imagined the magistrate was still in the bedroom with him.

Immediately after the outbreak of hostilities, it will be remembered, a number of German professors and ministers of religion issued a manifesto, justifying the action of the German Government in declaring war. A copy of this manifesto was sent to Mr. Murray, and the latter prepared a reply —never forwarded—which breathes a spirit of true Christian charity, and may conveniently be inserted here :—

Wellington, 4th October, 1914.

To the Brethren who sent from Berlin a letter to “The Evangelical Christians abroad.”

Beloved Brethren,—I am in receipt of your letter of August, and desire to send an answer, expressing the deep and divine unity in which God’s children in the nations that now are at war know that they are the members of one body in Christ Jesus.

In regard to the contents of your letter there will of course be very great differences. But this is not the time or occasion for entering upon them. It is our great duty as beloved in Christ Jesus to love each other through all the misunderstandings and estrangement that a war causes.

You speak of the fellowship and co-operation inaugurated in the Edinburgh Conference, for which you and others have since that time been striving so earnestly. As far as that union was human, it will not be able to stand the strain of the war, with all the bitterness that it rouses in human nature, but as far as it was a unity in the power of the Holy Spirit, uniting us closer to each other in the person of Jesus Christ, there is in it a divine life and energy that surmounts every difficulty that endeavours to break it.

And my one object in writing these lines is to send you my brotherly greetings in Christ Jesus. The members of the body of Jesus Christ, whether in Germany or in England, are bound together in the love of God, in the mighty love of Calvary, in the love of the eternal Spirit. For a moment national or personal differences may stir up unholy feelings, but the moment we return again into the secret of God’s presence and hide ourselves under the shadow of His wings, we are brought back to the place where we are really one, and where our love and prayer pours itself forth on behalf of all who are one in Christ Jesus.

Accept the assurance of my continual daily prayer that God may help me and you, dear Brethren, and all who are apparently utterly separated from each other by the war, ever to take our refuge in the High-priestly prayer of our beloved Saviour, and in the power of His grace to pray, in the fulness of faith and love, with our Lord Jesus : “ Father, that they may all be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee—I in them and Thou in Me—that they may be one even as We are one, that they may be made perfect in one.”

In this love,

Ever yours most faithfully,

Andrew Murray.

A page or two must be reserved for recording some of Mr. Murray’s characteristic sayings. He had a strong sense of humour, which, though kept severely in restraint by his intense earnestness, would nevertheless break out at unexpected moments. When occupying the moderatorial chair at successive synods he experienced occasional difficulty— what chairman does not ?—in calming an excited assembly; and it was at such times that the reasonableness and ready wit of his rulings exercised a moderating and cooling influence on the heat of debate. Towards his younger colleagues his attitude was one of invariable courtesy and kindly forbearance. His prolonged absences from Wellington on evangelistic duty made it imperative to secure from time to time the services of an assistant minister. One young probationer, on being invited to fill this honourable post, replied—with something of the impertinence, if also with something of the ingenuousness, of youth—that he was afraid he might not be able to agree in everything with Mr. Murray; upon which the latter wrote back: "Come! in everything in which you cannot agree with me, I will agree with you.” He had an extraordinary gift of apt and striking illustration. The writer remembers a series of gospel meetings at a village in the Free State, in which Mr. Murray took the leading part. The gatherings had closed on the Sunday evening with a solemn thanksgiving service ; but Mr. Murray ascertained that many of the country people would be unable to leave for their farms before the afternoon of the next day, and he therefore announced a “testimony meeting” for the Monday forenoon. At this meeting he first read a portion of Ephesians v., and then put the startling question, “ What is the first sign of a man’s having taken too much wine?” After a pause, he replied to his own question by saying, Talkativeness “ And now,” he continued, “ what should be the first sign of a man’s having received a blessing at this convention ? Why, talkativeness—not a convivial, but a spiritual talkativeness. For that is what the Apostle says, Be not drunken in wine, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking one to another"

Mr. Walter Searle relates that, in the course of a religious conference which Mr. Murray was conducting in Natal, a certain speaker protested against the extravagant language employed by some people who attended "holiness conventions.” To the speaker’s strictures Mr. Murray replied somewhat as follows :—"Yes, some sincere and godly people, in the overflowing fullness of their experience of a new truth, may not always express themselves wisely; but we must not reject the experience because of the vagaries which may accompany it. It reminds me of the olden days when we used to travel by ox-waggon. At the end of the day’s journey the first thing to be done was to light the fire, boil the water and put in the meat. While we watched the cooking process we saw the scum rise to the surface. That we skimmed off and threw away, but the meat we did not throw away.” Mr. Murray’s opinions and actions in everyday matters were characterized at all times by “sweet reasonableness.” Himself a tireless worker, he had nevertheless the greatest consideration for those whose physical energies were less robust than his own. To his daughter Emmie, then engaged in exacting social labours in Cape Town, he once wrote:— “Mamma writes about your needing money for cabs. By all means, my child, take a cab for yourself or your fellow-workers. Why should we exhaust ourselves in doing what a horse can do? Let the sparing of the physical fatigue fit us the more for the spiritual work. I enclose £5 for you to use in this way.” In a similar strain he cautions his brother, Professor John Murray, against his failure to take the needful relaxation from incessant toil:—”You say you rest most comfortably at home. But there is nothing more needful for restoring exhausted powers than a certain measure of excitement, to stimulate the action of the vital powers. The surroundings of home have too little excitement, and too much temptation to the ordinary routine of thinking and

This brother, to whom he was devotedly attached, died somewhat unexpectedly at the end of 1882, leaving a gap in Mr. Murray’s life which was never filled. Mr. Murray’s advice on most matters was received by his friends and disciples with unquestioning confidence. To one who came to him in great distress over false reports, his reply was to quote Psalm xxxi. 20 : " Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.” Another friend resented very strongly some damaging criticisms that had been levelled against a published address of Mr. Murray’s, and chivalrously prepared a vindication, which he read to Mr. Murray, asking at the same time his advice about publishing it. “Do you think this reply will convince our critie?” asked Mr. Murray. “No, I don’t suppose it will.” "Then what will be the use of publishing it? It will only lead to further controversy, from which nothing will be gained.”

A fellow-worker with him in the interests of a cause to which both were devoted said once with a deep sigh, “But ah! our wants are so many.” "So much the better,” was the unexpected reply: "when we cease to want, we cease to live.” On one occasion a Christian gentleman had a matter of business to discuss with Mr. Murray, from whose lips he had a few minutes before heard a most earnest spiritual address. He was exceedingly surprised to find Mr. Murray so keenly attentive to the matter in hand, examining into all the details of the business with the greatest care and acumen. “How can you manage, Sir,” he asked, "to turn with such ease from spiritual exhortation to practical business detail?” "Why,” said Mr. Murray, "surely this is the Master’s business as well as the other.”

At the celebration of his last birthday in 1916, Mr. Murray spoke of the lameness and deafness of his latter years as a kindly dispensation of God’s Providence. God had shut him out from the life of ceaseless activity which he led in former years, and had shut him in to a life of greater quiet, in which he could give more time to meditation and prayer. In the silence and the solitude precious messages had come to him, which he had endeavoured to pass on to others. His closing exhortation, on this last earthly birthday was: "Child of God, let your Father lead you. Think not of what you can do, but of what God can do in you and through you.”

In his ability to suit the word to the occasion Mr. Murray had no peer in the ranks of the ministers of his Church. Reference has been made on earlier pages to the text from which he preached on his return from a visit to England: “They asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent ” (Exodus xviii. 7); and to his sermon at the great Missionary Congress of 1908 from the text: “Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward’’ (Exodus xiv. 15). During the Anglo-Boer War he was permitted to visit the thousands of Boer prisoners of war in the camp at Simon’s Town, when he utilized the opportunity to preach a most appropriate sermon on: “Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Thy name” (Psalm cxlii. 7). Perhaps the most striking instance of the right and fitting word is to be found in the sermons delivered at Worcester in connexion with the death of his beloved brother, Rev. William Murray. Mr. Murray, who had journeyed to Worcester to visit his dying brother, agreed to take the Sunday service, and chose as his text the words of Joseph: “I die, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land unto the land which He sware to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob ” (Genesis 1. 24). As the last hymn of this solemn and touching service was being sung, a message was conveyed to the pulpit that William Murray had passed away. At the funeral, on the following Wednesday, Mr. Murray continued the same train of thought by preaching from Joshua i.: "Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan unto the land which I do give unto the children of Israel.” The impression produced upon the sorrowing congregation of Worcester by these two moving sermons—the former pastor delivering his solemn message over the grave of his dead successor and brother—was overwhelming.

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