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 THE CAPE BRETON MISSION; 
 
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 CAPE BRETON MISSION. 
 
 In bringing this Mission under the notice of the Contributors 
 to its support, — the Ladies, on whom the duty of doing so has, 
 in the mean time, devolved, cannot but, in the first place, advert 
 to the very solemn circumstances in which they are placed. She, 
 with whom it originated, and who for eighteen years gave to its 
 management the zeal and energy of her heart and head, has been 
 removed from among ua The Lord has, in his holy providence, 
 called her to himself, and devolved upon other labourers, appa- 
 rently less qualified, the responsibility of carrying on the work ; 
 and they can enter on it with confidence and hope only because 
 they are assured that no undertaking, however wisely devised, 
 can succeed without the blessing of the Lord, but that, with 
 that blessing, the weakest instrumentality may be crowned with 
 success. " Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith 
 the Lord." 
 
 Mrs Mackay — ^herself connected by birth and family, and after- 
 
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 CAPE BBETON MIRSION. 
 
 wards by marriage, with the North of Scotland— had always 
 taken a deep interest in the Celtic population of the Highlands 
 and Islands. She was well acquainted with their poverty, and 
 the distressing circumstances in which they were often obliged 
 to leave their native land. When, in 1826, a society was formed 
 in Glasgow, for relieving the spiritual destitution of settlers from 
 Scotland in the British North American Provinces, her attention 
 was particularly drawn to those from the islands of Lewis and 
 Harris, Uist, Skye, Isla, &c., as well as Lochabb on the main- 
 land, who had gone to Cape Bretoa Beginning with sending 
 the people small collections of books, as circulating libraries, she 
 came to be better acquainted with their wants. She foimd that 
 though Cape Breton had great natural capabilities, and would 
 have been a most beneficial change to those possessed of capital 
 and a knowledge of fuming, it was not so, or only in a small 
 degree, to a people who came there, generally speaking, without 
 capital, uneducated, untaught in the art of agriculture, and whose 
 industrial energies had never been called forth by employment 
 in the coimtiy which they had left She foimd them unprovided 
 with a single lainister of the Presbyterian commtmion ; and from 
 no others did they, or could they, on account of their language 
 being Gaelic, receive spiritual instruction. Many of them had 
 never seen a minister; their marriages were without his blessing, 
 and they had no baptism. Any knowledge or savour of divine 
 things among them was preserved by means of a few pious men, 
 here and there, who had been brought to the knowledge of the 
 gospel in their fatherland — a knowledge by many of them at- 
 tained through the instrumentality of the Gaelic School Society. 
 
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 CAFB BBETON MISSION. | 
 
 The generality, from the dimue of ordinanoes, or firom never hav- 
 ing known them, had fallen into a 8tate of utter indifference or 
 ignorance, accompanied by those vices which spring from the 
 unchecked tendencies of corrupt nature— -so that the Bible had 
 become a sealed book, and the Sabbath had ceased to be re- 
 membered. 
 
 Their poverty was often extreme. A person who visited some 
 parts of the island said, " I never witnessed such destitution in 
 any part of Scotland. In one house was an old man, bedridden 
 for two years, with just one tattered rag over him, the snow then 
 drifting in between the logs of which the house consisted ; hia 
 son-in-law, a poor creature, occupied most of his time in pre- 
 paring firewood to prevent his freezing. The scarcity of blankets 
 is a great evil — &unilies covered with a few rags stretch them- 
 selves at night round the fireplace, and one starts up every other 
 hour to tlurow a log on the fire. " 
 
 No sooner was the suggestion made, that, with a view to relieve 
 the spiritual destitution, a missionary should be sent out, than 
 Mrs Mackay eagerly adopted it. Mr Farquharson was sent in 
 1833, and soon followed by others, as missionaries, or oatechists, 
 or teachers, till, in 1837, or in the course of four years, the poor 
 and spiritually destitute settlers in Cape Breton were, through 
 the Christian perseverance and energy of one individual, sup- 
 plied with four ministers, three catechists, and three teachers.* 
 
 * The ministers were — 
 
 Mr Farquharson, Middle Uiver and Hrtu-guw. 
 
 Mr Stewart, St George's Chanuel. 
 
 ' ' ' : ' Mr Fraser, Boularderie. »' 
 
 f^ii^ -; '; Mr M'Leao, Uogamie, in St Peter's Bay. 
 
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 • CAPE BRRON MIKHKiN. 
 
 The Scriptures in the Gaelic language were also sent ; nor was 
 the improvement of their temporal condition overlooked — hemp, 
 cordage, and tackle, for their use in fishing, being occasionally 
 furnished to them. 
 
 It was thought best to send forth the preacher of the gospel, 
 in the first instance, as a missionary to the whole island, who, as 
 soon as another was found to succeed him in that character, 
 should be at liberty to become the settled pastor of a congrega- 
 tion. In this way a desire for religious instruction was awakened 
 among the people, and the spirits of the godly were revived and 
 quickened to a more ardent desire for the bread of life; and so 
 great did this desire become, that in the expectation of a con- 
 tinuous supply of ministers, fifteen wooden churches were in a 
 short tiihe erected, or in a state of forwardness. To all was im- 
 parted a desire for knowledge ; so that, as in a natural course of 
 things, the catechist and teacher followed in the train of the 
 preacher of the Word. A gleam of spiritual and temporal pro- 
 sperity broke in upon the gloom and darkness which had so long 
 overspread the people. 
 
 The blessing of God seemed to rest on the undertaking. So 
 viewing it, Mrs Mackay felt more strongly the obligation to go 
 forward in the work. 
 
 We have said, that the supply of the means of grace to the 
 poor settlers in Cape Breton, was mainly through the instru- 
 mentality of Mrs Mackay, because it was the fact, and because 
 it shows what may be accomplished by an individual Christian 
 faithfully employing talents and opportunities with a view to a 
 specific object. The pecuniary means, indeed, were at fii-st, to 
 
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 CAPE BRETON MM8I0K. 
 
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 a small extent only, her own (lier own income lieing then of very 
 limited amount), and wcro chiefly supplied by those, who, like 
 beraelf, felt that the gospel of Christ was the grand remedy for 
 fallen and degraded man ; but it was the same mind which had 
 devised and prosecuted the scheme, which also called forth the 
 sympathy, and secured the aid of these Christian firienda 
 
 It will be readily admitted, that the amount of labour in 
 bringing the state of Cape Breton under the notice of acquaint- 
 ances, and those whom she could reach through their means — 
 in selecting and obtaining suitable men to go there — in raising 
 and collecting funds — in transmitting these — in the extensive 
 correspondence which these doings occasioned — must have been 
 great But this was mainly undergone by Mrs Mackay herself 
 
 The mission continued to prosper under the able and energetic 
 superintendence of Mrs Mackay, and abundant testimonies 
 might be given to the success with which the Lord was pleased 
 to bless her labours — in an awakening of those who had been 
 in a state of spiritual torpor to a sense of guilt and danger — in 
 a hungering and thirsting after the bread and water of life — 
 in an appreciation of the blessing of education — and in a striking 
 improvement of the external manners of the people. A tra- 
 veller said — " When I compare what I have seen in the island 
 with what I have heard of its former condition, I feel called 
 upon to bear a willing testimony to the gratifying results of these 
 laboius of love; and am convinced, that could the benevolent 
 friends of the poor islanders in Scotland have participated with 
 me in the emotions awakened by what I saw, as well as what I 
 felt, during my first ' Sabbath in Cape Breton;' and could they 
 
 
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 CAPE BRETON MISSION. 
 
 have witnessed, as I did, the beneficial influence of the daily and 
 Sabbath schoools which they have lieen the means of establish- 
 ing in many districts of the island, and of the libraries which have 
 been founded through their instrumentality, they would not only 
 consider themselves amply rewarded for all they have done, but 
 would thank Qod, and take courage to increase their exertions in 
 their truly noble course of Christian benevolence and philan- 
 thropy." 
 
 These exertions were continued by Mrs Mackay to the end of 
 life with an untiring zeal and energy. Her last successful en- 
 deavour, in behalf of Cape Breton, gave her much satisfaction — 
 the prevailing on the Bev. Hugh Macleod, late of Logie-Easter, 
 in Scotland, to remove to, and settle as a minister in, the island. 
 Mr Macleod had known Cape Breton, in consequence of his 
 having visited it formerly, and took a deep interest in the people. 
 The hope of his coming to reside among them became the 
 warmest desire of the people, and we have now the satisfaction of 
 saying, that his arrival was hailed with the liveliest expressions of 
 joy and gratitude, both by them and his brethren in the ministry. 
 
 The following extracts from a letter from Mr Macleod, on his 
 arrival, give the most recent information from Cape Breton: — 
 
 " Last Sabbath the sacrament of the Supper was dispensed 
 at Boulardeno. The attendance was unusually large on all the 
 days, but increasing daily till Monday, when it was calculated 
 that not fewer than 4000 were present The weather was all 
 along most favourable, except the Sabbath-day, when it poured 
 down rain in torrents. In a very short time every rivulet was 
 swollen, and, were I to judge from appearances, I would say that 
 
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 CAPE BRETON MISSION. 
 
 11 
 
 scarcely fifty people could venture out Mr Fraser's house is 
 about four miles from the place of meeting at ' Man of War 
 Point' We proceeded on horseback at half-past ten in the 
 forenoon, imder heavy rain, and foimd the roads.literally covered 
 with groups of people, who, although drenched to the skin, were 
 hastening to the place. Every opening in the wood poured out 
 hundreda Tnb Brasd'or was covered with boats, some fix>m 
 West Bay, some from Malagawatch and Hogmah, some from 
 Badeque, &c., distances varying from forty to ten miles. As I 
 passed along, I thought with myself what would the people of 
 Edinbiugh, who consider it an intolerable hardship to walk a 
 quarter of a mile to church in such a day — what would they 
 say, were they to witness the scene? Drenched as they were, 
 nearly 4000 sat down on the shore of the Great E^nsd'or to 
 listen to the words of eternal life, and to commemorate the dying 
 love of the glorious Redeemer. Surely it was not mere curiosity 
 that induced them to come out on such a morning. We no 
 sooner began than the rain ceased; the clouds were stopped, 
 and the great congregation had to acknowledge openly, that 
 God, indeed, regarded their prayers, for when we concluded the 
 solemn work about five o'clock, the rain again began. I observed 
 very many deeply impressed and broken-hearted apparently. 
 On Monday a still greater number attended — at least 4000. I 
 do trust it was a time of refreshing to many, and a time of 
 quickening to not a few." 
 
 Notwithstanding what has been done in the way of education,' 
 Mr Macleod says much remains yet to be done. 
 
 " Education is far behind every where, and sadly neglected. 
 
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 CAPE BRETON MISSION. 
 
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 It won't do. We must bestir ounelves. Our friends at home 
 will, I trust, help us on. We can make little pn^press without 
 their assistance. The sinews of war are wanting. I would re- 
 quire at the least a catechist, an additional schoolmaster, and 
 some Bibles, both Gaelic and English, for the breaking up, by 
 the blessing of Qod, of this wide uncultivated field. No part of 
 the colonies has been more neglected, and at present none is 
 more interesting. Next Sabbath I intend going to Gatalone — 
 a distance of seventeen miles at least" 
 
 Another encouraging circumstance, and as the result of a 
 preached gospel, has been the desire of some promising young 
 men to be educated for the ministry. This is a most gratifying 
 result, as it affords the pro£^)ect of such a state of things being 
 realized in the island, as can alone secure the permanency of the 
 ministry of the Word among an increasing population. 
 The present mission staff is as follows: — ^ 
 
 PLAOBB. 
 
 MUII8TIB8. 
 
 0ATB0HI8T8. 
 
 SOHOOUfABTIBS. 
 
 BTCDBIIT8. 
 
 Hiddle-riTW. 
 Hargaree. 
 
 Bev. A. Farquhanon. 
 
 John Mankencie. 
 Donald Rom. 
 
 
 
 Bonlardeiie. 
 Halagawatch. 
 St Ann'i. 
 N.W. Arm 
 
 Rev. James Vrater. 
 
 Duncan Macdonald. 
 Donald Mackay. 
 Donald Macleod. 
 Angus Macdonald. 
 
 A. Monro. 
 
 
 St Oeorge*! Chan- 
 nel, 
 liocblomond. 
 
 Rev. M. Stewart. 
 
 Malcolm Macleod. 
 
 WlUlam Mackenzie. 
 
 Abraham Mlntosh. 
 
 
 Angoi Bethune. 
 
 Strachan. 
 
 
 Broad-coye. 
 
 Kev. John Ounn. 
 
 
 
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 South Sydney— 
 Myra-Oataione. 
 
 Rev. Hugh M'Leod. 
 
 ■ •■ 
 
 •' ■ , "; ■-/ ■•.' .- 
 
 Alexander Smith. 
 John Macdonald 
 
 In addition to the above, there is Mrs M'Quarrie. who, besides 
 the common education of girls, teaches them sewing. 
 
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 CAPE BRETON MISSION. 
 
 It 
 
 Though the Rev. Matthew Wilsoti, a- ;'dney Mines, does not 
 now receive from the funds of the miasioti (being provided for 
 by his people, the miners), his settlement there was munly ac- 
 complished by Mrs Mackay. It is to be hoped that, in the 
 course of time, the people of Cape Breton generally may be able 
 to support their ministers, as the miners do — a class of people, 
 whose respectability is to be attributed to a faithful ministry 
 among them — but there is this great difference, in the mean 
 time, between them and others, that the miners receive good 
 wages, while the rest of the population are in very depressed 
 circumstances, and their poverty has of late been aggravated by 
 successive years of Mlure of the potato and other crops. 
 
 The Funds of the mission (owing probably to the multiplied 
 demands on the Christian public at home) have not, for some 
 years past, been what they used to be; and Mrs Mackay was, in 
 consequence, obliged to reduce the salaries of ministers, cate- 
 chists, and teachers, one-half But it is hoped that this statement 
 will be sufficient to satisfy the friends of the mission of the 
 necessity of an undiminished amount of support — so that the 
 work of the ministry may not be hindered by ministers being 
 obliged, in order to maintain their frtmilies, to betake themselves, 
 as they have, in some instances, done of late, to the ploughing 
 of the land with their own handa 
 
 The objects which the ladies would aim at, in the prosecution 
 of the mission, are to impress on the people the duty of contri- 
 buting, according to their ability, to the maintenance, both of 
 the ordinances of religion, and of schools for education, 
 
 2, As there is much jwverty in the island, and the salaries of 
 
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 14 
 
 CAPE BRETON MISSION. 
 
 » 
 
 mmistera, catechiata, and teachers are veiy inadequate, to give, 
 according to the amount of funds put into their hands, supple- 
 mental salaries or occasional aid, especially in those cases where 
 the people themselves show a willingness to do the duty incum- 
 bent on them, 
 
 3, As in many parts of the island the means of grace are alto- 
 gether wanting, or the visits of a minister are at long intervals, 
 to mitigate this deplorable state of things, by employing a sala- 
 ried missionary to itinerate, 
 
 4, To enable promising young men, from Cape Breton, who 
 intend to devote themselves to the ministry, to attend the Col- 
 lege at Halifax, 
 
 5, To encourage and foster a Normal or Model School — which 
 would lead to the improvement of education through the island 
 generally — such Normal School adopting all the improvements 
 practised In this country, and, among others, training both boys 
 and girls in the knowledge and practice of those trades and 
 occupations which will qualify them for earning their bread in 
 after life — ^the training having, in an especial manner, a refer- 
 ence to the art of agriculture, 
 
 6, To continue such a supply of books as may be needful in 
 schools, and for furnishing useful and improving reading to aU. 
 
 " Mrs Mackay having long expressed her desire that, in the 
 event of her removal, Mrs Teiment (who was fix>m the beginning 
 connected with her in the operations of the mission) should cariy 
 it on, and having also of late suggested Mrs Bonar as a fellow- 
 worker — ^these ladies are, in compliance with the wishes of their 
 
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 CAVr. BRETON MISSION. 
 
 15 
 
 deceased friend, desirous to prosecute the mission, relying on 
 the assist iice and co-operation of those ladies and other friends 
 who so liberally and kindly sustained her who is gone, in her 
 benevolent schemes. 
 
 
 This short review of the Cape Breton Mission having been 
 called for in consequence of the lamented death of Mrs Mackay, 
 who had the principal management of it — the sketch might be 
 considered incomplete without some notice of her personal 
 history and character, especially as such a notice has been gene- 
 rally looked for and desired by those who so long loved or 
 esteemed her. 
 
 Mrs Isabella Mackay was the third daughter of John Gordon, 
 Esq. of Carrol, in the county of Sutherland, and Isabella 
 M'Leod of Geanies, in the county of Ross. In 1803, she 
 was married to John Mackay, Esq. of the parish of Lairg, 
 in the county of Sutherland, where his father and grandfather 
 had been minbters — a gentleman of cvdtivated mind, ex- 
 tensive information, and agreeable manners, who, but for the 
 misfortune of blindness which befell him in the prime of life, 
 would undoubtedly, by his abilities, have risen in the service of 
 the East India Company, where his career commenced. He 
 was a man of warm and generous feelings, and in every way of 
 congenial principles and taste. Both Mr and Mrs Mackay took 
 
 
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 16 
 
 CAPE BRTTON MISSION. 
 
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 a deep interest in the young persons with whom they were con- 
 nected, especially those who had been early deprived of their 
 natural guardians, and acted towards them with a parental 
 affection and concern, educating them, and unwearied in their 
 endeavours to promote their advancement in the world. Nor 
 were their assiduities confined to relatives — they were ever ready 
 to befiriend the friendless. By nature philanthropic and ardent, 
 and living during a period when social improvement was sought 
 by means of political reform, they were enthusiastic admirers 
 and strenuous advocates of the principles of civil and religious 
 liberty.* 
 
 Thus connected with the north of Scotland, Mrs Mackay 
 had, at an early period of her life, taken a deep interest in the 
 Celtic population of the Highlands and Islands It was a warm 
 and enthusiastic attachment which led her to make so great 
 efforts in behalf of her fellow-countrymen who had been com- 
 pelled by poverty and dbtress to leave their native land — to 
 which was added, in after life, the impulse of a higher motive 
 — a concern for their spiritual welfare. 
 
 Her mind was naturally powerful and active, as well as bene- 
 volent It was a large and enlightened benevolence, which 
 
 * Late in life, Mr Mackay became author of a " Life of Lieut.-Creneral 
 Hngh Mackay of Scoury (his distingniBhed and pions ancestral kinsman), 
 who waa Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in Scotland, 1689 and 1690, Col- 
 onel Commandant of the Scottish Brigade in the service of the States-Gene- 
 ral, and a Privy Councillor in Scotland." To a revised edition of this work 
 afker the death of Mr Mackay, Mrs Mackay prefixed a memoir of her 
 husband, very interesting in itself, and very creditable to her talents and 
 literary taste. 
 
 I 
 
■ii|n>^ 
 
 ■jr.«>» 
 
 CAFE BRETUN MISSION. 
 
 17 
 
 nought the best and permanent interests of her fellow-creatures. 
 £ndued with no common buoyancy and vivacity of spirit, and 
 an ardent temperament, she was not to be disooiuraged by 
 difficulties in any work she undertook. The kindliness of her 
 nature, and that power which an anient spirit exercises over 
 the feelings of others with whom it comes in contact, generally 
 enabled to remove them all ; — above all, her own soul had been 
 touched by the Spirit of all grace, and she felt constrained to 
 go on in her course. But this grace, at the same time, led her 
 to see much defect and sin in the motives of her conduct, and 
 to complain that, in what she did for the good uf others, she 
 was more actuated by a mere instinctive compassion, than by a 
 single regard to the glory of God. Her reception of the doc- 
 trines of the gospel had been gradual — ^the<ie doctrines having 
 in her to contend with the scepticism of an understanding, not 
 immediately brought to a conviction of its own weakness. 
 But as, by the grace of God, she came to a more full recep- 
 tion of them, her whole character underwent a corresponding 
 change. Her natural ardoiu* was brought under a softening, 
 subduing, and restraining influence; and in her latter days, 
 love to men, and the salvation of their souls, became more and 
 more the predominating principle of her conduct The disci- 
 pline of a deathbed sickness (as will be seen afterwards), opened 
 her eyes to see more than she had ever seen before, that human 
 actions cannot stand the scrutiny of a holy God — ^that there is 
 no righteousness but Christ's righteousness — and that there 
 could be no salvation, had not God declared his willingness to 
 save the guiltiest for Clirist's sake. ' < ' 
 
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 CAPE BBETON MISSION. 
 
 In illustxation of her character, and the Christian principle 
 which guided her, two events of some importance in her life may 
 be stated. The first of these was in 1837, when she received 
 a considerable and very unexpected accession of private fortune, 
 by the bequest of one of those whom she and her husband had 
 befiiended in early life, and who had ever felt himself bound to 
 his parental benefactors, by a warm and affectionate gratitude ; but 
 the accession gave rise in her mind to no idea of self-indulgence, 
 or large expenditure on her own accoimt On the contrary, she 
 avoided such expenditure, while she entered upon a more enlarged 
 sphere of benevolence, and seemed to be resolved upon a more 
 entire consecration of her substance to the Lord. No doubt, a 
 naturally humane and generoiis disposition rendered such a sacri- 
 fice, in her case, more easy ; but we have, at the same time, her 
 own recorded conviction, that " a grateful recognition of Qod the 
 giver was a bounden duty in disposing of the bounties with which 
 he favoured us;" — "that there was too often a sinful omission 
 in the distribution of property;" and that she felt bound to allot 
 a portion of her means " to the furtherance of the eternal in- 
 terests of a very destitute portion of our countrymen, — that 
 God, having singularly prospered an effort made to this end, 
 had thereby strengthened the claim on the instrument he had 
 so honoured, to spare no means likely to advance it." 
 
 The second occurrence deserving of notice, was the deep im-, 
 pression made on her mind by the Disruption of the Church of 
 Scotland, and the line of conduct which it led her, therealler, 
 to pursue. The principles on which so many ministers secedeil 
 from the Establishment she thoroughly appreciated; they ap- 
 
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 CAPE BRin\>N MISSION. 
 
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 proved themselves to her mind and conscience, and never ceased 
 to influence and direct her in the future distribution of her 
 means. " While (she said) aa a Christian and a patriot, I hold 
 myself indebted to the protesters and founders of the Free 
 Church of Scotland, of which I am a member, in an amount of 
 obligation to which money can bear no proportion, I feel that, 
 in the circumstances in which I am placed, it is my privilege aa 
 well as my duty, to bestow my property on the men, who by a 
 sacrifice as noble as the reasons for it were imperative, cast them- 
 selves and their families on the bounty, or rather on the justice 
 and gratitude of those who participate in the valuable resulta of 
 the sacrifice, from the sufierings of which they are at the same 
 time exempt, and on their successors in the ministry of the Free 
 Church of Scotland, trusting that they will ever be animated 
 with the same spirit." Under the influence of these sentiments, 
 Mrs Mackay gave herself in every way she could devise to the 
 relief of those ministers and schoolmasters who suffered by the 
 Disruption, the manner of relief being adapted to the particular 
 circumstances of each case. To many a family, the help was 
 most seasonable, and was received by them as the bounty of a 
 gracious God who has all hearts in his hands, and who will not 
 forsake those who are faithful to him. k.-- \ : . > 
 
 A suffering clergyman, who knew not from whence the 
 assistance came, and who to this hour is unknown, except to 
 the individual through whom a large gift was transmitted, thus 
 expresses himself, — " A minister of the Free Church, deeply 
 indebted to the unknown friend into whose hands this note will 
 be delivered, begs briefly to express his feelings, under the very 
 
 
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20 
 
 CAPE BRETON MISSION. ' 
 
 peculiar circumstances in which, by her kindnete, he has been 
 placed He desires, with gratitude to the Father of lights, 
 from whom ultimately cometh down every good gift, and with 
 gratitude also to the individual, who has so spontaneously, 
 humbly, and delicately acted as the immediate giver, to accept 
 the lai^' sum sent for the supply of his necessities. He would 
 seek to recognise in this most singular, opportune, and unlooked- 
 for providence — singular in itself, but still more so, when taken 
 in connection with a series of dispensations, and a track of 
 spiritual exercises, alike strongly marked, and known only to 
 himself — the faithfulness and power of Jehovah, who, in these 
 latter days, can still provide for his people in ways as marvellous, 
 and as well fitted to arrest the soul, and bring it to feel that it 
 lias to do with him, and that he is dealing immediately with it, 
 as were his people of old with manna from heaven, or supporting 
 his prophet by the ministry of a raven." And it was not her 
 own benefisictions only; she was inde&tigable and successful in 
 awakening the sympathies of others, in behalf of distressed 
 ministers and schoolmaster& 
 
 While individual cases excited her feelings, and called forth all 
 her energies, her benevolence was not restricted to them. Her 
 benefactions, for the benefit of the church in general, were large ; 
 and in the ultimate disposal of what remained of her property, 
 in the view of her death, she did not forget the rule of conduct 
 which she had prescribed for herself, as the result of deliberate 
 judgment and conscientious conviction. 
 
 It may be said, with respect to her pecuniary givings gone- 
 rally, that they were not only with consideration and delicacy. 
 
 S 
 
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 VAPE BRETON MISSION. 
 
 but with an euthusiastic warmth of feeling characteristic uf 
 Iterself ; for she had previously entered with deepest sympathy 
 into all the circumstances of the case which had prompted her 
 benevolence— so that when she bestowed the gift, it was a 
 relief to her own feelings. This intense interest in the cause of 
 distress also accounts for the lai^eness of her bountiea 
 
 It would be unsuitable to enter here into the details of what 
 she did for the Highlanders and Islanders, whose interests, tem- 
 poral and spiritual (always comprehending those of them in Cape 
 Breton), deeply engrossed her mind during the closing years of 
 her life. She herself had all the warm feelings of her coimtry-. 
 men, and these were sorely tried by the calamity which over- 
 took thein in the failure of the potato crop. She always felt 
 that, to the condition of the people, justice had not been done — 
 that adequate provision had not been made for even a common 
 education — that the land had never been so managed and culti- 
 vated as to give them employment, and form them to industrial 
 habits; and, above all, that their spiritual state had been neglected 
 (into some parts the light of the Reformation having scarcely 
 ever penetrated), or the means of grace had been supplied to them 
 most scantily and insufficiently — that they were a loyal, peace- 
 able, and enduring race, and, as a part of the great common- 
 wealth, deserved better treatment. Si^v ..f vV (v 
 
 While unceasing in her efforts to procure food and cloth- 
 ing dming the temporal destitution (which unhappily stiU con- 
 tinues), she always kept steadily in view their elevation in the 
 scale of society, by means of religious and intellectual cultiva- 
 tion, and was ever most anxious to bring forward, and ready 
 
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n CAPE BRETON MISSION. 
 
 to aid young men poflsessed of the Gaelic language intending 
 for the ministry, or to become schoolmasters to the Gaelic popu- 
 lation. 
 
 Such occupations left little time for those studies and pur- 
 suits in which, otherwise, an acute mind and literaiy taste would 
 have found gratification; and so employed, the Lord found her 
 when he called her to himself. It was only within a few days 
 of her death that she wrote to four of the ministers in Cape 
 Breton. 
 
 Some months previous to her death, the probability of her 
 removal from the world at no distant date was impressed on her 
 mind ; and to a friend she said, — " I trust you and my other 
 friends will pray much for me, that as the old casket is break- 
 ing up, the precious jewel Mrithin may be polished and prepared, 
 and made meet for glory." 
 
 At an early period of her illness, she believed that the hand 
 of death was upon her; and the messenger did not aeem to be 
 unwelcome. She spoke i^ he sin of her nature, and of the sin 
 that entered into every jprirtg and motive of conduct. She 
 loathed herself on account of it, and desired to depart that she 
 might be delivered from its power, and be with Christ For a 
 time anxious, on account of indwelling corruption, and the want 
 of evidence of sanctification (her views of the only ground of a 
 sinner's acceptance being for a season obscured), she at length 
 took refuge, and found peace, in the atoning bloo< and perfect 
 righteousness of Christ her Redeemer ff? v * *^' > r /^9 = ? 
 
 These views of the grounds of a sinner's acceptance were not 
 new to her, but had been long ago adopted by her in the view 
 
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 - .fe jrt^ - i ^ < *v 4-'^"'^^^"'W-^^ ' 
 

 
 CAPE BRETON MIS8I0N. 
 
 
 of eternity. " I desire to comniend my aoul to Ood," she wrote, 
 " hoping for his m?>rcy through the merits of onr Lord and " i 
 viour Jeeus Chrisi. * I know that my Redeemer liveth,' wii the 
 Rutficient consolation of righteous Job, under multiplied tem^ioral 
 sufferings. Blessed be God, a brighter light and surer word of 
 promise now irradiates the darkness and suffering of the death- 
 bed and the grave. The fouc ' ain is open to all who feel and 
 loathe their load of poUutic - . V le 'lorious robe of a Redeemer's 
 righteousn^s is prepm xJ to* all \^ )io mourn under a sense of 
 their unfitness to pppem 'x'. i the Got! who hateth iniquity, in 
 the filthy ra^« of . '« r own righteousness. I desire to rest on 
 these promises, trutJting that my innumerable transgressions are 
 laid on One mighty to save." 
 
 An experimental conviction of these truths was manifested 
 on her deathbed, and idtimately became the stay of her soul, as 
 appears from what is related by a friend who visited her re- 
 peatedly: — "When I first saw her in her sickroom, I found her 
 much cast down on account of the darkness that had overspread 
 her soul. She said one day, she had not a shadow of an assured 
 hope. When the fulness and fireeness of the offered salvation 
 was pointed to — the open fountain opened for sin and unclean- 
 ness, supplying aXi our need, whether that was pardon and ac- 
 ceptance with jGod, or whether it was the cleansing and renew- 
 ing influences of the Holy Spirit, as shown forth in the \Aood 
 and water, her general reply was, * I know all that; have we 
 not been hearing these doctrines faithfully preached fi'om Sab- 
 ■>i ..'i ^' Sabbath these man}' years. I belirve Him to be all that 
 a to be- ct complete Saviour; but what interest have I 
 
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 I;- 
 
 CAPE BRETON MISSION. 
 
 in Him; what assurance that he is my Saviour?' On something 
 further being mentioned, she said, ' Do not argue, I cannot bear 
 it; Qod alone can do this work of faith in my soul — none else. I 
 now see that all the works 1 have been engaged in, which others 
 thought so much of, were all sin — self-pleasing, self-seeking — 
 not seeking the glory of God, and what is not done for his glory, 
 God cannot accept — impossible, he cannot — no, I am a miser- 
 able sinner.' It was here suggested, that when the Spirit shines 
 into the soul, all believers see themselves to be utterly vile, but 
 we must come to Jesus just as we are, that is what he invites 
 us to do. Two verses of Miss Elliot's hymn were repeated to 
 her — ' • 
 
 ' Just as I am — without a plea. 
 But tliat thy blood was shed for rue, 
 And that thou bidd'st me come to thee; 
 T^iimh of God, I come,' &c. 
 
 When I next saw her, I found that the hymn (the whole of 
 which had then been read to her), together with parts of the 
 Word of God, had been blessed to her heart with the Spirit's 
 comforting power. She said to me, ' I see I was trying to bring 
 something of my own to God, and I could find nothing, and so, 
 I have come now to the Saviour on this simple ground : God 
 holds forth Jesus Christ, his Son, God in our n^jture, as an all- 
 sufficient Saviour — he is able to save me, and God commands 
 me to believe in him and receive him; and I think I cannot be 
 wrong in doing so, that is, obeying and trusting in him, and rest- 
 ing simply on his mercy. I have no other ground of hope, but 
 1 find rest here.' In all the subsequent visits she wjis full of 
 
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 "-*;::V:- :;.jte.i»ic;.> 
 
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^^PW'^PPI^ 
 
 
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 CAPE BRETON MISSION. it 
 
 love and praise — her heart and eyes overflowing at the thought 
 of her Saviour's love to her. The last time I saw her (the day 
 before her death), I thought her much changed in appearance, 
 but calm and composed, and quite clear in mind. On leaving 
 her, she said, * Tell every one to pray for mc, a poor sinner, and 
 there is One who will not forget to intercede for mc — the Advo- 
 cate within the veil — he will not forget — I think he will not 
 forget me.' I said, Oh ! no — he cannot forget, for his people's 
 names are written on his heart as they were of old on the breast- 
 plate of the high priest. ' Aye, that is it,' she added. I, in 
 common with many others, loved her much; her clear and 
 jK)werful intellect, her wit, her kindliness, and the lively interest 
 she took in my dear boys, and all other young persons in her 
 circle, were very attaching qualities, and drew many hearts to 
 her." 
 
 To others she said, " If I am saved at all, it must be by the 
 atonement of Christ, and his righteousness, and that a free 
 gift." — " The robe of Christ's righteousness is enough for me." 
 On the passage from 1 Peter (ch. i. verse 1 2), " Which things 
 the angels desire to look i ito," she remarked emphatically, 
 " And no wonder." Under a painfiil attack of illness, her words 
 were, " It is all right — it is just a part of the rod — it is just as 
 it should be." 
 
 From the commencement of her illness, she expressed a 
 desire to depart, and, while resigned to the will of God, re- 
 quested that no prayer be made for the prolongation of life. 
 Her conflict with the last enemy was neither long nor severe — 
 and grace was given according to her need. There was no 
 
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 -^k ' lti, ' :4HI^ - 
 
26 
 
 CAPE BRETON MISSION. 
 
 gloom in the deathbed— it was rather a spectacle of hope and 
 
 humble confidence. 
 
 She died at Edinburgh, on the 16th November 1860, in the 
 
 73d year of her age. 
 
 c':' 
 
 .;,^/. '. .'■ 
 
 THE END. 
 
 -'•'.•>it^ 
 
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 ROINIIIIRO 
 
 H : PRIKTKD BV JOHNStONB *NU Hl'NTItll. 1.4 HIOH iTBBlT.