PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3844, 29 June 1891, Page 2

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

I A'TRIBUTE OF RESPECT. ' ■ '*.* f ! •' ~. \'* iAt the Presbyterian Church yeater-U •$? day morning, the Rev. Robert Wood"*.. : 4J preached from Rev. 21 -1, "&** Was 'V''»l no more sea." He diaoouraW at somo > i'/ & " length on''the fact" th»i||ur earthly,. ■"_';J life was conditioned Wmeparation, \[ l 'f i unrest, and lawless that , (f'i the text contained a promise of ,io|yj future life in whioh these would be absent.* In concluding sermon he said ':-rOu*, iheme morning has been forced'on nij n*nd by the providence of 'God.;' painfully full of separation' *hd Oft-AsH

-'. - - I - rest. - During .the week I conducted - the funeral of a stranger who had died ."in-'"our. local hospital. He died a '. "stranger amonfr strangers, and his "-"relatives, wherever they may be, are ignorant of his. death. Early this morning a great sorrow entered the ' home of a family in fellowship with hs; death entered and a beloved was taken away. Last day she worshipped with yoa Xre, andnow she is yonder with the blaster. Another illustration of the and unrest of life comes home to us'-in. the experience of another ■; family; You are aware that Mrs ' Edwin Feist is now on a visit to the 'old country, The one great aim of her ■jviMt.was to see her father, the Bev. ; "John Macqueen, of Daviot, an old * and- revered .Minister of the Free Church of Scotland. After long years of, separation you csn imagine the joy - with which father and daughter would / look forward to such a meeting. But in God's providence their meeting was not to be on earth. ' For when the - liCete steamer in -which Mrs Feist was was within four days* sail spirit of her father - .entered heaven in which ■■ •* there was no sea." You can 'understand- hoW"*fore the traveller's disappointment must have been ; and you .can sympathise ; "W± diirtiht even in the - Father's will would to be wise and good. ' I have saicTthat Mr Macqueen was an oldand revered Minister of the Gospel. You will be interested to know that the j Scottish newspapers give prominence. 1 to features in his career and dwell on ' :^^ excellencies of his character. Mr , 'Macqueen was born in XJief, in Skye, .' in 1816. He took a keen and intelligent interest in the great "" ecolisiastical ten-years' conflict that ended in the disruption in 1843. He cast in his lot as a student with the Fr.ee Church ana became a minister of a West Highland congregation that has become famous for its devotion to the principles of religious' liberty and spiritual independence. Mr Gladstone, < blind partizan of Presbyterians, .25 years after the disruption, in dvdreßsing the House of Commons, said that .the action of in leaving churches, homes, and incomes, for what they believed to be devotion ' to truth, revealed a *' moral attitude" -thatanight fitly be called " majestic." - • The " moral attitude" of the little Strontian merits Mr " Gteostone's praise. The people in a - , body declared for tbe Free Church in - 1843, but they had noplace in which to worship God. They could not build a church, tor the proprietor of the - Jaad. would neither sell nor lease a site. •: The tyrant, however, never

' lived 1 ' that could crush the conscience --of* Christian people. This landlord's efforts to crush the people's religious

- principles failed. His right of "' proprietorship did not extend beyond \ the seashore. Driven from the land, • the people resolved to worship God on - theaea. A floating church was built - andiHSsanchored in Loch Sunarfc; so there, on the restless waters, the people ■" had-their Bethel. For years Mr -Macqueen laboured in this strange congregation with all faithfulness; and in 1860, during a memorable revival, .a spiritual. harvest. In

"" 1867 he was translated to Daviofc, near Inverness, and there he laboured till ■ the end came. He might be said to * have died in harness. At the ripe age "of 75, on the 7th of May, he entered - into rest. The "newspapers testify to the excellence-of his character. As a man. he was "distinguished for .hfaeafele, kindly, and amiable char- : was combined, however, ; with firmness' of purpose and a clear, ■ well-informed mind." As a preacher he was much esteemed. "His ad- - dreßses wen always fresh and thought-

ful, and were delivered in a. simple, earnest style that never failed to .- impress his hearers.'* His religion most nave been robust and richly experimental., for he was much sought after in connection with com'manion services. We would lay in > a wreath on the grave of our now with God; we ascribe to Christ the glory and goodness of bis life. "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. Yea, saith the Spirit, they rest from their - labours; and their works" do follow them," Brother, the mighty voice of - God's providence summonses us to sympathise with the Borrowing and to awake to all holy earnestness in oar lives.