THREE DRS NORMAN MACLEOD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2402, 15 March 1900, Page 59

THREE DRS NORMAN MACLEOD.

The nomination of Dr Norman MacLeod to the Moderator's Chair at the next General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has rpused more than common interest in Presbyterian ciicles. He will be the third Norman MacLeod Avho has held this distinguished office, and the fourth of his name eminent in the Church. He Avill himself nobly carry on the traditionary traits Avhich Avere so marked in his kinsmen. He also is of commanding picseuce, and of more tban common strength, both of mind and body. He also is a fine Gaelic scholar, a man born and bred in the HighLands ; Avith much of the gentle force and robust manly Christianity that made his cousin, the famous Norman, such a power for good AA'ith all creeds and classes.

The number of Normans of the MacLeod name avlio have raised themselves into distinction is a little confusing. There is, first, Norman, son of Donald of SAVordale, in Skye, who became minister of Morven a hundred and tAventy years ago. After all this lapse of time he is remembered not only because of his celebrated sons and grandsons, but also for his oAvn shreAvd and kindly sake. He rode from end to end of his parish, one hundred and thirty square miles, teaching and preaching, giA r ing counsel in medicine, agriculture, and Liav to all

the neighbourhood. His manse Avas th 3 natural halting-place for travellers, who sometimes remained for days under its hos-' pitable roof.

When H.M.S. Caesar visited the Westers Isles with Prince William, -afterwards King William IV, on board, the old minister of Morven, together with other gentlemen,boarded the ship to pay his respects. He was conversing with the Prince when the latter spied a chief in full Highland dresscoming alongside in a boat full of clansmen, and demanded to know who it Avas. " Ah, yes, yes, yes," he returned lightly, Avhen he heard the name ; '' he Avas out, no doubt, in the 'forty -five. Ah, doctor, don't deny it. You Highlanders Avere all rebels then, every one of you." As a matter of fact, old MacLeod Avas no very enthusiastic ad--mirer of Prince Charlie, but the Hanoverian tone of the remark riled him. " No," he ansAvered, boAA-ing his stately old back very loav ; "not nil the Highlanders Avere out in the 'forty-five, nor did they all go against your Royal house. Had they dona so Aye might not have had the honour ol seeing your Royal Highness here to-day." A reply Avhich he himself Avould have termed-" very neat."

For more than 50 years this Dr Norman 1 MacLeod worked and ruled and served in the manse of Morven. He was succeeded by his second son, Jolm~ (the father of the present Moderator-elect), who was known far and Avide as the " High Priest of Morven," in reference to his stature, which was that of a giant. The eldest son, Norman, " the second Norman," won for himself the beautiful title, " Caraid nan Gaidheal" (the friend of the Highlanders), a name he would not have exchanged for any other upon earth, bestowed as it was by the loving gratitude of the people so dear to his heart.

Many a battle he fought for the Highlands, for its race, and its language. He was minister of the Gaelic Church in Glasgow, St. Columba's; and he. brought forward the Gaelic cause in a truly marvellous way. His racy stories of his adventures in high places are still remembered. He was heading a deputation to Lord Melbourne', in 1835. The Premier, who detested trouble, and cared not one whit foi the subject to be discussed, lounged into hia official room, not knowing the depiitation was waiting in the ante-room, well within hearing. Dr MacLeod caught his groan as he sank into his chair : " What am I to do with that d Church of Scotland? "

Lord Shaftesbury declared that Lord Pal* merston " neither cared for, nor meddled with, ecclesiastical questions, and that i» theology he did not know Moses from Sydney Smith ! ! * .„ And Lord John Russell positively refused "to listen to Dr MacLeod at all. But the indefatigable spirit got its way in the end. Few could resist the pert suasion of the rich voice and noble Avinning manner. He died in 1862, and all Scotland mourned him. He was not alone minister of St. Columba's ; his parish extended, so it used to be said, from Barra Head to John o' Groat's. He had been appointed Chaplain to her Majesty and Dean of the CKapel Royal — which, together with the Moderatorship, are the only " human " honours the ministers of the Church of Scotland can ever win.

i It is his son, the third Norman, who ia bast known — in England, at least — and even in his native land the "brilliance attached to his name has somewhat eclipsed' J the memory of his father. His writings have carried his influence as far as the English tongue is read, but it was he himself who was so unique a power for good and for the truth. The Queen's own words attest this. She writes in her " Leaves from My Journal " : " When I wished him, good-bye for the last time, three weeks before his death, he said, ' God bless your Majesty,' and the tears were in his eyes. Only then did I think, as I closed the door of my room, that I might never see this dear friend again, and the thought nearly overcame me. . . . He was my dear and valued friend, whose loss is more "deeply felt every day. . . . There was no "one to whom I looked up with more strength and confidence."

Norman MacLeod warmly returned the regard of his Sovereign Lady. He wrote to the late Lady Ely, 10 days before his sudden death : —

" God bless the Queen. I admire her as a - woman, love her as a friend, and reverence her as a Queen, and you know Ihft whit I say I feel. Her courage, patience, and endurance are marvellous to me."

Not only her Majesty, but every living soul with whom he came in contact, liked" or . loved Norman MacLeod. His friends — and they were legion — positively adored him. Light-hearted as a boy, deep-hearted as a poet, large-hearted as a Roman philosopher, he appealed to men of eveiy sorb as an echo of what was best in their own selves. His happy temperament, too, wenfc far to make him beloved. " Work like a brick and enjoy yourself like a linnet," he would say. And then his preaching — how

lhat appealed to Scotsmen it takes a Scotsman to measure.

His brother, Dr Donald MacLeod, tells humorously how his people even forgave the greatest crime of which a minister can be guilty, that of occasionally reading a discourse*. He was once preaching in Ayrshire, and, when the congregation dispersed, an, old" woman, overflowing with enthusiasm, said to her neighbour, " Did ye ever hear onything sac gran'? Was na' that a seranon?" Biit all her expressions of admiration being met by stolid silence, she (shouted, " Speak, woman ; was na' that a sermon?" " Ou, aye," replied her friend, sulkily, " but he read it." " Read it !" said the other, indignantly. '" Maybe an' lie did. I wadna' hae cared if he had .•whustled it !"

And now, after another 30 years, another Norman MacLeod will ascend the Moderator's Chair to preside over the quaint and dignified ceremonies and discussions of the Church of Scotland. The Moderator-elect is, as we have remarked, the son of Dr John' MacLeod, of Morven. He inherits the splendid physique, the powerful voice, and the charm "of manner of his people ; and few. there" ai'e in broad Scotland who We not gratified at the news that "Norman j MacLeod, of Inverness," is to lead the As- j eembly next May. His- brother, the de- j votedand popular minister of Govan, died last year, leaving a blank in the Scottish Church not easily to be filled.

•Mrs Norman MacLeod was a Miss Colqiihoun; her father, Colonel Colquhoun, is well-known as the author of " The Moor and the Loch " ; and her sisver, Mrs Walford, has won by her pen a distinguished place as a novelist and story writei\ Edinburgh society should find the "Moderator's Breakfasts"* more than usually pleasant "when the old city devotes itself to Assembly doings and sayings in the present year. ■»-Home paper.