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 THK LATK REV. JOHN B. MOWAT, D.D. 
 
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 THC L<^ * v«> lOHH •> MOWAT, D.D. 
 
JUBILEE 
 
 OF 
 
 "* 
 
 REV. DR. MOWAT'S ORDINATION 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PRESBYTERliN MINISTRY 
 
 THE PARTICULAR? HEREIN CONTAINED BEING COL- 
 LECTED AND PRINTED FOR THE GRATIFICATION 
 OF DR. MOWAT'S FAMILY AND RELATIVES 
 BY HIS BROTHER, SIR OLIVER MOWAT. 
 
 PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY 
 
 1st MAY. 1900. 
 
 TORONTO : 
 
 THE HUNTER. ROSE COMPANY, LIMITED 
 
 Tkmplb Building. 
 
 1900. 
 
'. 
 
JUBILEE 
 
 OF 
 
 ^z\). Jr. ^ctoafs ©riinatian 
 
 TO THB 
 
 CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 
 
 (From the Toronto Globe.) 
 
 Kingston, May 1. — A most interesting feature 
 of the exercises in connection with the Queen's 
 Convocation was the celebration to-day of the fif- 
 tieth anniversary of the ministerial work of Rev. 
 John B. Mowat, D.D., Professor of Hebrew in the 
 Faculty of Theology at Queen's. Prof. Mowat 
 who is a hearty old man, though well advanced in 
 his seventies, fifty years ago to-morrow, and for 
 forty-two years, has held his present position, to the 
 satisfaction of the College and the great advantage 
 of those who attended his classes. Prof. Mowat is 
 a brother of Sir Oliver Mowat, and in liis manner of 
 speech is not unlike the Lieutenant-Governor of 
 Ontario. The honor of which he was the recipient 
 was tendered by the Presbytery of Kingston, and 
 among the many members present were not a few 
 whose hair has silvered in the service of the church 
 alongside of Dr. Mowat. 
 
The celebration of Dr. Mowat's jubilee took place 
 in one of the College class-rooms at two o'clock. 
 Rev. M. W. Maclean, of Belleville, Moderator of 
 the Presbytery, presided. The meeting opened 
 with devotional exercises, which included the sing- 
 ing of the good old hymn, *' O God, Our Help in 
 Ages Past ; " the Scripture lesson, and prayer by 
 Rev. Dr. Grant. 
 
 The Moderator, in a short address, paid a 
 high tribute to the man they were present 
 to honor. It fell to the lot of few men, Mr. Mac- 
 lean said, to have such a long and eminently useful 
 career as Prof. Mowat had been privileged to have. 
 He had reason, from his relatives living in the 
 Niagara district, to know something of Prof. Mow- 
 at's work as a pastor at St. Andrew's, Niagara. 
 From them he had learned of his faithfulness to 
 his ministerial duties, his holding forth the gospel 
 of life, with his own personality behind it, and his 
 intense interest in the well-being of his flock; 
 which made him remembered as pastor and personal 
 friend. Therefore, when he came to Queen's as a 
 student, he already felt Dr. Mowat to be an old 
 and tried friend. " My impression of him as a pro- 
 fessor," Mr. Maclean went on, "if I may be allowed to 
 say so, was not only that he was apt to teach, but 
 that he was also an accurate scholar, conscientious 
 and earnest in his work, but also that he had a deep 
 
 N 
 
-5- 
 
 interest in his students, every one of whom re- 
 spected him as a teacher and loved him as a man. 
 I am sure I speak the thought of every clergyman 
 who has passed through his class, when I say that 
 if they did not benefit largely by his lectures it 
 was their own fault. He served faithfully and 
 well during the trying times of the early history of 
 Queen's, loyal to her interests, from the small be- 
 ginnings that it had up to this present hour, when 
 this University has become a powerful factor in 
 the land. Many ministers, at home and abroad, 
 are now doing important work in and for the 
 Church, who owe much of their success under Pro- 
 vidence to his valued teaching. Long after he has 
 vacated his chair, long after he begins to get his 
 well-earned rest in this life, long after he has gone 
 home, his influence will be felt in the work done 
 by those he met in his classes." After speaking 
 of Prof. Mowat's kindly willingness to help a 
 brother in filling his appointment, Mr. Maclean 
 concluded : — " Not only will all the members of 
 the Presbytery, but I am sure of the Church 
 at large, unite in the hope that he will long be 
 spared among us to see the cause go on prosper 
 ing and to prosper ; and at last, when the Master 
 calls to higher service, that he may have it said : 
 — * Well done, good and faithful servant, enter 
 thou into the joy of thy Lord.' " 
 
hr 
 
 -6- 
 
 Rev. Dr. Wardrope, of Guelph, recalled the fact 
 tbat beside Dr. Mowatand himself there were only 
 two who were present at the opening of Queen's 
 College. Prof. Mowat was then a mere junior, 
 and was not prepared for any Divinity class 
 for two or three years after that. But, 
 although a mere junior, he was for his years 
 mature in scholarship. In all his subsequent years, 
 it had given him great pleasure to observe Dr. 
 Mowat's onward course both as a pastor and as a 
 professor. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Gracie, of Gananoque, said, that from a 
 long and intimate acquaintance with Dr. Mowat, 
 he could heartily endorse what had been said of 
 him. As a pastor laboring in this Presbytery he 
 had had occasion to admire the readiness with 
 which Prof. Mowat, sometimes at his own personal 
 inconvenience, accepted invitations to preach for 
 and help out pastors in difficulties. No one had 
 preached more acceptably in his Church than Prof. 
 Mowat. His able exposition, his clear views of 
 divine truth, his full sympathy with the subject, 
 his manifest earnestness and devotion, together 
 with his success as a professor, had made him one 
 of the most useful men in the Church. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Milligan, of Toronto, who entered the 
 room at this moment, on being called upon, spoke 
 of Prof. Mowat's humble Christian spirit. He was 
 
:t 
 
 8 
 
 -7- 
 
 a man who went about doing good. He was ex- 
 ceedingly glad to be present to testify to the good 
 influence Dr. Mowat had on him as a studcLb at 
 Queen's and to the help he had given his fellow- 
 men. 
 
 ADDRESS OF PRESBYTERY TO DR. MOWAT. 
 
 Rev. W. T. Wilkins, of Trenton, the Clerk of the 
 Presbytery, read a handsomely illuunnated adilnss, 
 which was in the following terms : — 
 
 "Rev. Prof. Mowat, M.A., D.D., Prc'Vssor of 
 Oriental 7i terature and Church History, ^tc.i 
 in Queen's College : For several yearw your 
 honored name has occupied a foremost place 
 upon our roll, and now your co-presbyters, many 
 of whom have sat at your feet as students, on this, 
 the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of your ordina- 
 tion to the holy ministry, meet by special appoint- 
 ment in your own class-room to congratulate you 
 upon the event, and join with you in praising 
 God. Half a century of seed- sowing in the soil of 
 a new nation is watering history. Especially do we 
 recognize the pleasing fact that in your case the 
 pastor has not been permitted to merge or be lost 
 in the professor. Resigning the charge of one of 
 our historic churches, St. Andrew's, Niagara, earlj' 
 in your ministry, in order that you might the more 
 eflfectively serve the Church in the new sphere to 
 
which you have been called by training candidates 
 for its ministry in Oriental literature, Church his- 
 tory, and so forth, you have nevertheless to this 
 day remained pre-eminently a preacher of the 
 Word. That you may yet be spared many years 
 to serve the Master here, ere he calls you to enter 
 upon the eternal rest, and to receive the reward 
 promised to those faithful unto death, is the hearty 
 and unanimous prayer of your former students 
 and all your brethren in the Presbytery of Kings- 
 ton of the Presbyterian Church in Canada." 
 
 i 
 
 DR. MOWAT S REPLY. 
 
 I appreciate very highly the kindness of the 
 Presbytery in celebrating the jubilee of my ordin- 
 ation. I do think, however, that if any credit i3 
 due for my having lived fifty years since my ordin- 
 ation, it belongs chiefly to my parents for having 
 transmitted to me a healthy constitution and given 
 to me other advantages which but for them I would 
 not have had, A little credit, perhaps, is also due to 
 myself, for it is within a few months of sixty years 
 since I became a teetotaler; and the statistics of some 
 life assurance companies show that the average life 
 of teetotalers exceeds that of others. My pledge 
 forbade me to drink any intoxicating liquor as a 
 beverage. This pledge which I took in the ardour of 
 youth, I have strictly kept to this day. In the last 
 
 .1 
 
 I 
 
two or three years, by medical advice, I have 
 occasionally taken alcoholic drink, in very small 
 quanties, as a tonic ; and physicians say that as a 
 tonic it is more beneficial to teetotalers than to those 
 who are accustomed to use it as a beverage. I 
 have little doubt that my total abstinence has 
 benefited my health and prolonged my life. 
 
 I remember well my ordination at Niagara. All 
 who took part in it are deceased. Mr. John Malcolm 
 Smith of Gait, to whose lot it fell to address me on 
 that occasion, was soon afterwards appointed to the 
 chair in Queen's in which I succeeded him on his 
 death in 1857. Before mv settlement in Niagara I 
 was assistant to Dr. Machar in Kingston and the 
 surrounding country for a year and nine months ; 
 and greatly did I benefit by the advice and example 
 of that good man. More than one plan of useful- 
 ness which I adopted in Niagara I learned from him 
 — for instance, the regular and systematic pastoral 
 visitation of families. He intimated these visits 
 at the close of each Sabbath morning service, and 
 as the form of the intimation was always exactly 
 the same I can repeat it word for word. It was 
 this : "On Tuesday next, between the hours of 
 five and eight o'clock, I purpose, God willing, to visit 
 pastorally and catechise in the families of " — and 
 then followed the names of the families. I did not 
 intimate my visits in the same mode. I preferred 
 
 I 
 
 IIP 
 
—10- 
 
 to do it through the elders, each elder having his 
 district. But my visits were of the same kind as 
 Dr. Machar's, and like his were made at hours 
 when I could meet with the men, and not only with 
 the wt;men and children. His aim was to visit his 
 families once a year, but he told me he was seldom 
 able to accomplish this fully. My congregation was 
 scarcely a third as large as his, and I managed to 
 visit the families always twice and generally thrice 
 a year. I found that in the Presbytery to which 
 Niagara belonged, the ministers visited the sick and 
 made friendly visits to families, and both of these 
 kinds of visits are useful; but very few of my 
 CO- presbyters made pastoral visits to families with 
 regularity, and probably my visits would have been 
 equally defective but for Dr. Machar's example. 
 
 Another way in which he was of service to me 
 was in the example he set of careful preparation 
 for the pulpit. He never preached an ill-prepared 
 sermon. For a man to preach a sermon on which 
 little labour had been expended he considered not 
 a fault merely but a sin. 
 
 Another stimulus which led me to prepare as 
 carefully as I was able for the pulpit was, that one 
 of my predecessors. Dr. McGill, was one of the 
 very best preachers of his day. He left Niagara to 
 become minister of St. Paul's, Montreal, and when I 
 was in Niagara his excellence as a preacher as well as 
 
 
 i 
 
—11— 
 
 a man was well remembered and was often spoken of. 
 It was also a great advantage to me that there were 
 some members of the congregation who were clever 
 and highly educated. One of them was as clever a 
 man as I ever met. He was a brother of Dr. 
 Peter Colin Campbell, who was one of the early- 
 Professors of Queen's and was afterwards Principal 
 of Aberdeen University. One would be ashamed 
 to preach to such men sermons containing ill- 
 digested thoughts or composed in a slip-shod style. 
 I enjoyed my work in dear old Niagara exceed- 
 ingly. There was plenty to do but not so much as 
 to leave insufficient time for study. The people 
 were most kind and attentive. The deputation 
 from the Presbytery appointed to visit the congre- 
 gations within its bounds reported more favourably 
 of Niagara than of any other of its charges. There 
 was only one rich man among them, but according 
 to their ability they were more liberal in their con- 
 tributions to the schemes of the church than most 
 of the congregations of that day. I was accustomed 
 to regard Niagara as an idt-al charge. I did not know 
 of any pastoral charge for which I would have ex- 
 changed it. I declined a call to St. Andrew'.s, 
 Kingston, to be assistant and succissor to Dr. 
 Machar, and refused to sanction the getting up of 
 a call to St. Andrew's (now St. Paul's), Hamilton. A 
 Professorship in Queen's could alone have drawn 
 
 I. 
 
—12- 
 
 :; 
 
 !*i! 
 
 me away. I considered such a position more im- 
 portant and useful than a pastorate, and I expected 
 to have in it special opportunities for study — which 
 of all employments I loved best. 
 
 I ought to be a grateful man. My work has 
 been of three kinds ; first as assistant in St. 
 Andrew's, K'ngston, and missionary in the neigh- 
 bourhood ; then as minister of Niagara ; and now 
 as professor ; and in each case the work has been 
 exactly suited to me at th'> time. Certainly the 
 lines have fallen to me in pleasant places ; and the 
 most pleasant of all, at least until lately, is that 
 which I now occupy. My position in Queen's has 
 had its drawbacks and grievances, but they have 
 oeen counterbalanced and exceeded by its privileges 
 and advantages. My first two positions were a 
 good preparation for my third. It is most desir- 
 able for a Theological Professor to have been pre- 
 viously in a pastoral charge, as all the Theological 
 Professors of Queen's have been. If he is a mere 
 scholar, however erudite, and has not had the cure 
 of souls, and if after he becomes a Professor he 
 does not keep himself in touch with religious work, 
 there is dunger that in teaching his classes he will 
 aim only at giving them a speculative knowledge 
 of his subject, and will seek only their intellectual 
 culture, without concerning himself about their 
 spiritual improvement any more than if he was 
 
 I 
 
—13— 
 teaching Sanscrit or mathematics. If under his 
 teaching they become well versed in Theological 
 Science, or Biblical Criticism, or Church History, 
 or the Semitic languages, he is apt to be satisfied ; 
 he will make little or no eftort to elevate the tone 
 of their piety, or to increase their interest in the 
 spiritual welfare of their fellow-men. This of 
 course would be a dreadful mistake. Neander 
 used to say,'' Pectus est quod facittheologum; and 
 Luther's motto was equally true, " Bene orasse est 
 
 bene studuisse." , , p u 
 
 I thank the Presbytery most sincerely tor tlie 
 kind Address, so beautifully illuminated, that has 
 been read, and the brethren who have s])oken, for 
 their kind words. 
 
 (From the Wt^stmimter.) 
 
 JUBILEE OF REV DR. MOWAT'S ORDI- 
 NATION. 
 
 BY ALEPH. 
 
 Few men are privileged to render so long and 
 unbroken a service to their church and country as 
 the venerable Dr. Mowat, of Queen's University, 
 and none couLl have offered it with more entire 
 consecration and ungrudging faithfulness. Most 
 fittincrly, therefore, did his own Presbytery resc3lvo 
 to hold a special meeting, and in his own class- 
 room in the college, last Monday, to present him 
 
 I 
 
 n 
 
 k 
 
-14- 
 
 i^i 
 
 with a complimentary address on the occasion of 
 his ministerial jubilee. 
 
 Dr. Mowat is a King.stonian by birth, and of Scot- 
 tish parentage. His father, who was a successful 
 and influential business man, came from Caithness, 
 a county which, some of the natives think, gives 
 to the world its most gifted men. Making due 
 allowance for this natural and pardonable partial- 
 ity, it remains true enough that Caithness has 
 given to the Empire many excellent and prosperous 
 citizens in various walks of life. The subject of 
 this sketch entered Queen's University when quite 
 a young man, graduating as B. A. in 1845, and M. A. 
 in 1847. On completing his course at Queen's he 
 proceeded to Edinburgh, at whose famous Univer- 
 sity he spent two additional sessions. Returning 
 to Canada he became assistant for two years to the 
 Rev. Dr. Machar, of St. Andrew's Church, Kings- 
 ton. About the same time he was called to the 
 pastorate of St. Andrew's Church, Niagara ; and so 
 anxious were the congregation to secure his services 
 that they willingly waited for him, although he had 
 not bound himself to go to them even after a length- 
 ened period of waiting; but their patience was 
 rewarded. May 1, 1850, he was ordained pastor of 
 that congregation ; and only words of affection and 
 gratitude have ever been spoken of his ministry. 
 " He loved his people and his people loved and re- 
 
i 
 
 vered their pastor." A reminiscence of his devoted 
 care, related at the centennial of his old congrega- 
 tion, 1894, was to the effect that a visiting commit- 
 tee of the Presbytery of Hamilton had given St. 
 Andrew's the most favorable report of all the 
 churches in the Presbytery. 
 
 Seven years of this faithful ministry was a price- 
 less boon to the community, and when, in 1857, he 
 accepted the chair of Oriental Languages, Biblical 
 Criticism and Church History in Queen's, " the 
 people saw with great grief the departure of their 
 beloved pastor." Abundant parish cares and pul- 
 pit preparation were not permitted in his case, as 
 often sadly happens in others, to interfere with the 
 systematic prosecution of the studies begun in col- 
 lege days. So that when his alma mater needed a 
 proficient scholar to fill one of her most important 
 departments, she knew where to find him. And 
 the position to which he was then elected he has 
 continued to adorn from that day to this, not only 
 " by his professional ability and accurate scholar- 
 ship, but also by the manifold graces of his Chris- 
 tian character." 
 
 In 1883 the work of the chair, which had become 
 too onerous for any one man, was divided. Professor 
 Mowat retaining Hebrew, Chaldee and Old Testa- 
 ment Exegesis. Apologetics and New Testament 
 Criticism were constituted a separate chair, to which 
 
■ « 
 
 -16— 
 
 Rev. Donald Ross, M.A., B.D., was appointed pro- 
 fessor ; and Ohurch History was made a lectureship, 
 which has been filled sometimes by members of the 
 staff, and sometimes by outsiders. In 1885 Pro- 
 fessor Mow at received the degree of Doctor of 
 Divinity from the University of Glasgow, honoris 
 causa — a distinction from so eminent a seat of 
 learning gratifying to himself and most pleasing to 
 his own University and to his students and friends. 
 A year ago the strain of labors, which gathering 
 years did not make any lighter, was relieved by 
 the appointment of Dr. Jordan as colleague, and 
 last session the duties of the chair were divided be- 
 tween them. 
 
 Dr. Mowat's teaching is marked by thoroughness 
 and accuracy. Vague generalizations, so congenial 
 to the lazy or careless mind, are not acceptable in 
 any work which the student offers. Where cer- 
 tainty and positiveness are attainable they must 
 be sought after. The writer well remembers the 
 Professor's insistence on this point. Accuracy, 
 would be an immensely valuable working force, 
 and a great saving of time in all the after years. 
 Most true ! And if the Hebrew class-room cannot 
 be said to be a place of consuming enthusiasms any- 
 where, of Dr. Mowat's class-room it must be said 
 that it has ever been a place where the discipline 
 of industry and conscientiousness was more than 
 
 
 
 I 
 
-17- 
 
 its own reward. Enthusiasm is a great thing, yet 
 easily counterfeited and spent, but honest, accurate 
 work and a good conscience abide forever, and 
 great is the world's need of them to-day. 
 
 While in the active ministry Dr. Mowat did not 
 neglect wide and systematic reading and study ; 
 since his election to academic duties, which have 
 been neither light nor few, he has not relinquished 
 his old active interest in preaching and other forms 
 of Christian work. His valuable services are 
 freely given whenever needed without any refer- 
 ence to denominational lines and boundaries, and 
 his catholic spirit, and the respect universally ac- 
 corded to his Christian character, make him one of 
 the uniting forces in the community. He is one 
 of the most scriptural and evangelical of preachers. 
 The thought is vigorous and clearly reasoned and 
 expressed, rising at times to real eloquence ; the 
 application, never omitted, is eminently practical, 
 and focussed on heart and conscience ; and pervad- 
 ing the whole service — devotion and sermon from 
 the opening to the close — is the unmistakable 
 flavor called " unction." 
 
 Though loyally attached to his church. Dr. Mowat 
 is not an ecclesiastic, and seldom takes an active 
 or prominent part in church courts. At the same 
 time, when occasion requires that he should speak, 
 few excel him in clearness of statement and sound, 
 
—18— 
 
 practical judgment. Many will remember a speech 
 he made in a certain church case before the As- 
 sembly of 1876. That he should have spoken at 
 all surprised some, and that he should, strictly with' 
 in the amenities of debate, have hit so hard, sur- 
 prised others. Opinion about the speech was 
 divided. Some — of those hit — pronounced it injudi- 
 cious. Others — of whom the writer was one^ 
 approved every word. Its historic standpoint, its 
 candor, and its truthfulness were unassailable, and 
 twenty-four years have more than amply vindicated 
 the spirit and sagacity of the speech. Dr. Mowat 
 has followed with keen and sympathetic interest 
 the course of thought for the past half-century. 
 When matters of controversy require to be dealt 
 with in the class, he impartially states rival opin- 
 ions and theories, and gives lucidly the reasons for 
 his own preference. His attitude towards the great 
 biological and critical questions of our time is that 
 of moderate conservatism. And this brief sketch 
 should not be closed without mention of the 
 warmth of his personal friendship, his abiding in- 
 terest in his students after they pass out into the 
 world, and the charm of the hospitality so gener- 
 ously dispensed by himself and his accomplished 
 wife. 
 
 # 
 
 .1 
 
 
: 
 
 -i9- 
 
 The Following are Some of the Letters sent to 
 
 Dr; IHowat with Reference to 
 
 the Jubilee. 
 
 (From Rev. Dr. Caven, President of Kno:: College, Toronto. ) 
 
 Knox College, 
 
 Toronto, 2d a May, 1900. 
 Dear Dr. Mowat, 
 
 Allow me to unite with your many friends in 
 
 sincere congratulations on your having attained 
 
 your ministerial Jubilee. With all these I desire 
 
 to give thanks to Him who has permitted you for 
 
 so lengthened a period to serve in His Church and 
 
 to do so much for the advancement of his Kingdom. 
 
 I am much interested in reading in our papers 
 this morning, the account of the very pleasing 
 proceedings conducted by the Presbytery at Kings- 
 ton yesterday. Let me especially express my 
 gratification at the testimony so truthfully borne 
 by the brethren to the most valuable services 
 which you have rendered to the Presbyterian 
 Church and to the cause of Christ in your office as 
 Professor of Theology. 
 
 Long may you yet be spared to continue labours 
 which you love and which have been so fruitful in 
 blessing. 
 
 With very kind regards, 
 
 Yours sincerelv, 
 
 Wm. Caven. 
 
—20- 
 
 (From Rev. Dr. McCurdy, Professor oj Oriental Literature, 
 Provincial University, Toronto.) 
 
 
 
 University College, 
 Oriental Department, 
 Toronto, May 4th, 1900. 
 
 My Dear Prof. Mowat, 
 
 I read with great interest the account in the 
 daily papers of the late proceedings in connection 
 with your Jubilee, and beg leave to offer my warm 
 congratulations along with those of a multitu'le of 
 friends and admirers throughout the world. Your 
 name was familiar to me long before I had any 
 idea of pursuing the same line of studies as that 
 which you have made so thoroughly your own, and 
 my regard for you personally has continued to 
 increase since I came into closer relations with 
 your students and have been able to appreciate the 
 extent of your work and your influence. I trust 
 that you may be spared yet many years to see the 
 surer establishment among men of that Word of 
 Life to whose elucidation you have devoted your 
 time and talents. 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 J. Frederick McCurdy. 
 
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T«, 
 
 -21- 
 
 (From Rev. William Snodgrcua, D.D., KilTnalcolm, Scotland, 
 sometime Principal of Queen* s College. ) 
 
 June 8th, 1900. 
 My Dear Professor, 
 
 A Kingston paper has come to me showing 
 that some grateful recognition has been made of 
 valuable services rendered by you to Church and 
 College since your ordination to the ministry fifty 
 years ago. 
 
 To-morrow's mail must carry this my note of 
 fervent anticipation in the interest inseparable 
 from the occasion. One may hesitate to felicitate 
 a friend on reaching his jubilee of working years, 
 though only because it is a marking of the larger 
 part of a lifetime gone, but it is a potent reason for 
 heartiest congratulation that one's friend has been 
 spared to labour thus long in the noblest of occupa- 
 tions for the best of Masters. I, therefore, wish 
 you much joy of the favour which has brought you 
 to the stage you have reached. May the good 
 Lord who has led you so far, helped you so much, 
 and blest your endeavours to so many, henceforth 
 vouchsafe unto you an abiding sense of his sustain- 
 ing and comforting presence. * * * 
 
 I remain. 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 W. Snodgrass. 
 
—22— 
 
 The followiner are some of the letters received from 
 ex-Students of Dp. Mowat. 
 
 (From Rev. Joseph Gandier, Minister oj Presbyterian Churchy 
 
 Newburgh, Out.) 
 
 Newburgh, Ont.„Apr. 30th, 1900. 
 
 Rev. Professor Mowat, D>D., 
 
 Kingston, Ont. 
 My Dear Professor : 
 
 I have been looking forward with much 
 pleasure hoping to take part in the celebration of 
 the 50th anniversary oi your ordination ; but I 
 have been suffering from an attack of la grippe and 
 feel that I cannot be present with you to-morrow. I 
 regret this very much ; and I write to assure you 
 that I have never forgotten your kindness and 
 faithfulness to me, as one of my teachers, whose 
 thoroughness and good counsel and earnest prayers 
 have been a great help to me in my own life and 
 in the work of the ministry. I thank the Lord 
 for granting you health to remain so long in the 
 grand work of the ministry of Jesus Christ. 
 
 You know but little of the good you have done ; 
 but the day is coming when the Master will show 
 it to you. Then we shall meet and rejoice together 
 and be forever with the Lord. 
 
 Your thankful pupil, 
 
 J. Gandier. 
 
 
-23- 
 
 
 (From Rev. D. McO. Oandier, Minister of Presbyterian Church, 
 Rossland, British Columbia. ) 
 
 The Manse, Rossland, B.C., 
 
 25th April, 1900. 
 
 Rev. Professor Mowat, D.D., 
 Queen's University, 
 
 Kingston, Ontario. 
 
 Dear Professor Mowat : 
 
 Having seen in the paper that the first of next 
 month is the 50th anniversary of your ordination, 
 which is to be marked by a special meeting of the 
 Presbytery in dear old Queen's, I wish to send my 
 sincere good wishes and congratulations to you. 
 Among the priceless gifts of a kind Father there 
 are two which in my life stand out prominently, 
 and these are : firstly, a Christian home where 
 parents and children were one in the love and ser- 
 vice of Christ, and where, if any distinctions are to 
 be made, was a mother of rare wisdom and grace ; 
 secondly, my experience at Queen's, whence came 
 habits of thought and inspirations to noble man- 
 hood which are still working and shall continue to 
 do so as long as life lasts. I owe much to several 
 professors and not least to yourself. Your deep rev- 
 erence for things sacred, your loyalty to, I might say 
 jealousy for, the truth, and your hatred of things 
 
 
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 -24— 
 mean or whatever approached the sinful, have left 
 an indelible impress on all your students. To me 
 they shall ever remain as incentives to all that is 
 best ; for, given these two things, true reverence and 
 a tender conscience, and no one can go far astray. I 
 pray that you may be spared to many more years 
 of service enriched by the mellowing experience 
 of a ripened character, and extend to you heartiest 
 congratulations on your long term of honored 
 
 ministry. 
 
 With kind regards to Mrs. Mowat and family, 
 and thanking you for many manifestations of kind- 
 ness which I have received in past years, I am, 
 
 Your old student, 
 
 D. McG. Gandier. 
 
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 —25— 
 
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 (From the Rev. Mr. McPherson, Minister of St. Pavi'a Church, 
 
 Hamilton. ) 
 
 157 Hughson St. South, 
 
 Hamilton, May 8th, 1900. 
 
 My Dear Dr. Mowat : 
 
 Allow me to congratulate you most heartily 
 on having celebrated your Jubilee so successfully 
 and so joyously. By remembrance of my college 
 days I am constrained to write you, for your 
 influence then felt is still upon me. You con- 
 stantly made me feel that one's moral nature was 
 pre-eminent in life's field of activity. With a lov- 
 ing hand you ever placed the accent upon conduct. 
 Perhaps the present is a fitting time to state to 
 you that your personal influence played no little 
 part in shaping my life. 
 
 Allow me then, my dear Professor, to congratu- 
 late you and at the same time to thank you for 
 your many kindnesses to me, all of which have 
 been formative forces in my life. Kind regards to 
 Mrs. Mowat in which Mrs. McPherson joins with 
 
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 me. 
 
 Your old student, 
 
 Neil McPherson. 
 
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 -26— 
 
 (From Rev. Dr. Rosa, Professor of Apologetics and New 
 Testament Criticism in Queen's University.) 
 
 Queen's University, 
 
 Kingston, Canada. 
 
 May 11th, 1900. 
 Dear Dr. Mowat : 
 
 At the commemoration of your Jubilee I intended 
 to say a few words, but as the Moderator of the 
 Presbytery had traversed the line of thought which 
 I had proposed following, I resolved to remain 
 silent rather than to express in somewhat different 
 form what had been already said. 
 
 I felt that you were to be congratulated, because 
 the opportunity is granted to only a very few of 
 celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of their ordina- 
 tion to the work of the Christian ministry, while they 
 are still actively engaged in discharging its duties. 
 It must be a source of unbounded satisfaction to be 
 able to look back and feel that that work has been 
 earnestly and conscientiously done. I am sure 
 that no one could have a more profound conviction 
 of the sacredness of toil, and the honour of serving 
 the Church, whether in the pulpit or in the Profes- 
 sor's Chair, and no one could be more painstaking 
 and unsparing of self in preparing for the efficient 
 fulfilment of such service. I was the oldest of 
 your students present on the occasion, for you came 
 
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 -27- 
 
 to the University as Professor the same year in 
 which I entered it as an undergraduate. I can 
 testify to the care and thoroughness with which 
 you carried on the work of the various classes which 
 it was my privilege to attend. I have always reck- 
 oned myself your debtor for your earnest insistence 
 upon accurate and thorough preparation of the 
 studies and exercises which you prescribed. The 
 lesson so firmly enforced has had an abiding influ- 
 ence on me. It was a most valuable discipline, and 
 for this it was in my '^^art to thank you. To 
 forty-three successive classes of students you have 
 set an example of fidelity to duty, and of a consist- 
 ent and devoted Christian life which could not but 
 excite their admiration and gratitude, and be an 
 unfailing source of inspiration to them to the end 
 of their days. Your life of unwearied service has 
 been a benediction to many, and only the day will 
 reveal its extent, because it has been unostenta- 
 tiously rendered. I trudt that you may be long 
 spared to exercise your gifts, and that, while the 
 noisy years are rushing into the being of the eternal 
 silence, your path may be as the shining light, and 
 strewn with blessings which shall fill you with a 
 joy that is unspeakable. 
 
 Believe me to be 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 D. Ross. 
 
y.'!; 
 
 9 ■• , 
 
 —28- 
 
 {From the Rev, D. Strachan, Mininter of St. John's 
 Church, Brockville). 
 
 St. John's Manse, 
 
 Brockville, June 6th, 1900. 
 
 Rev. Prof. Mow at, D.D. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Though present in Queen's College in April 
 last at the meeting in honour of your Jubilee, I did 
 not take any active part, feeling that the time 
 would be more fittingly occupied by the older men 
 in the Church who were present, and more especi- 
 ally by your co-presbyters who had been closely 
 associated with you for many years. 
 
 For this reason I am constrained now to write 
 this note of congratulation, which I trust you will 
 accept, because I have now the honour of being the 
 Minister in a congregation with which you have 
 been more or less associated for more than fifty 
 years ; because I had the privilege of being one of 
 your students for four years ; because of the pro- 
 found respect and love that I in common with all 
 your students have for one who always proved to 
 be more than a mere teacher — a true friend. 
 
 I should also say that I am expressing not only 
 my own feelings but those also of the Session and 
 congregation of St. John's. 
 
—29— 
 
 This congregation's loyalty to Queen's and the 
 men of Queen's has never lessened since those early 
 days when they gave their first Minister, Dr. P. C. 
 Campbell to take the Chair in Classics, and after, 
 two sons, Dr. Robert Campbell, sometime Lecturer 
 in Political Economy, and Rev. John MacKerras, 
 Professor in Classics. Because of these and many 
 other ties we take particular pleasure in offering 
 you our sincerest congratulations. Rich is that 
 Church that has for fifty years such men, as leaders 
 in scholarship and piety and true worth. 
 
 We may not be able to follow you in accuracy 
 and breadth of scholarship, but I trust we may all 
 follow your example in your high devotion to all 
 that is worthiest and truest and best. 
 
 Our united prayer is that for many years yet 
 you may continue to serve the Church and our 
 common Lord and Master. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 Daniel Strachan. 
 
 
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 —30- 
 
 The following letter from another ex-student of Dp. 
 
 Mowat's was received after the above papers 
 
 were In print, and after Dr. Mowafs death 
 
 (15th July, 1900.) 
 
 (From Rev. James Ross, B.D.,M.A., Professor of Homiletics, Sac- 
 red Rhetoric, and Church Government in the Presbyterian 
 College, Montreal.) 
 
 22 Summer Hill Avenue, 
 
 Montreal, July 16th, 1900. 
 
 My Dear Mrs. Mow at, 
 
 Allow me to express my deep sympathy with you 
 in your sore bereavement, which I have just learned 
 from this evening's " Daily Witness." The news of your 
 husband's condition some days ago filled me with fore- 
 bodings and in a manner prepared me for the shock of 
 to-day. But ah ! how sad in any case is the news that 
 one loved and revered beyond common men has passed 
 out of our sight and that all further intercourse with 
 him is impossible here. I should have liked to have 
 had an opportunity of expressing to himself more fully 
 than ever I did my deep indebtedness to him for very 
 many kindnesses and much spiritual benefit. It seems 
 as if I have lost a father. How much we all loved him 
 and what pleasant memories all his students have of his 
 kindly, genial friendship, his strict impartial justice, 
 
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 -31- 
 
 his reverent, unwavering confidence in God. His gentle, 
 modest bearing, his exquisite delicacy in considering 
 the feelings of others and his tender faithfulness in re- 
 proving wrong-doing made a deep impression on us all. 
 How well I remember his expositions of Scripture — 
 so rich, so pregnant with meaning, so true to the spirit 
 of the author, so wisely adapted to the needs of his 
 hearers. 
 
 What patience he had as a teacher of elementary 
 Hebrew ! If any proof of his saintly character had 
 been needed it could have been found daily in his class- 
 room where he went over and over again with calm, un- 
 wearying persistence the minutest details of the subject 
 till the dullest member had taken it in and could not 
 ^orget it if he tried. And I do not remember to have 
 seen any sign of temper or impatience at the most as- 
 tounding displays of stupidity, rather there seemed to 
 cross his countenance on these occasions an expression 
 of pain, a feeling of self-reproach. 
 
 Of his kindness to myself personally, when I came to 
 the University, a rude, awkward lad ; of his generous 
 approval of my imperfect work ; and of many kind and 
 chivalrous services ungrudgingly rendered to me in later 
 years I cannot trust myself to speak. 
 
 It is a matter of thankfulness that he was spared to 
 you and to his children so long and that he was able to 
 continue to the end the work that he loved so well. 
 May the memory of his thorough and most systematic 
 devotion to duty inspire us all with a like spirit. 
 
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-32— 
 
 I pray that in your sorrow you and your children 
 may be upheld and consoled by our compassionate 
 Father, God. Remember me to your sons and daughters 
 in the kindliest sympathy. 
 
 am, 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 James Ross. 
 
 Mrs. Mowat, 
 
 Kingston. 
 
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