Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

IO THE PRESBYTERIA REV ANGUS M'DONALD. Rev. Angus McDonald was born in 1846 at Pleasant Hill, N. C. When only seventeen years of age he entered the service of the Confederate army. At the close of the war he attended Bingham's School, then Davidson College, and then Union Theological Seminary. In 187b he was licensed by the Presbytery of Fayetteville, and ordained the following year by the Presbytery of Louisville. He took charge of a mission in the city of Louisville. In 1877 he was called to the First Church of Elizabethtown where he remained for seven vears. going in 1884 to the Second Church of Henderson, which lie served for seven years. In 1891 he resigned to accept a call to the Moore Memorial of Nashville. Tenn. Here he remained for twelve years. In 1903 h<? became pastor of the church at Jackson. Tenn., which he faithfully and efficiently served until his death on the morning of February 27. 1909. Dr. McDonald was indeed a prince and great man. He was princely and great in his simple and childlike faith in God, and his great faith in the word of God. His faith was the substance standing under his great personality; for no one associated with him without ucnif; impressed dv ins great personality. He was a man of convictions. His convictions were intelligent. They were formed by his apprehension of the truth and personal experience; and the union of these made him the firm, steadfast, loyal man he was, whose growth was "like a cedar in Lebanon." He had the courage of his convictions. He ioved truth and righteousness and mercy; lie was therefore truthful, and straightforward, strong and gentle, scornful alike of pretensions and of all dissembling, ever standing for what he believed to be right. However much one differed from his views, or dissented from his positions, when one once heard him state his views and define his Fi?inuns, uuc mvariaDiy ieit tnat in his bosom dwelt a sincere and courageous heart. Sir Walter Scott was certainly right when he said that without courage there can be no truth, and without truth there can be no character. His social qualities were of the first order. He was at ease among all classes of men. He was affable and entertaining, chivalrous and gallant, noble and generous. He was a great preacher. He ranked with the best. His text-book was the Bible. It was not science, or philosophy, or the late novel, neither current events, not the newspaper, but the Bible which he believed to be the very and eternal truth of God, and which is able to make one wise unto salvation. His style was principally expository, the most difficult style, perhaps, but certainly the most satisfactory and instructive. Nearly all of his illustrations were drawn from Bible incidents * and from the etymology of Hebrew and Greek words. He was entertaining and instructive, always edifying and elocjnent; for he possessed the rare gifts of a fine memory, V discriminating mind, a vivid imagination, a poetical arid spiritual insight, while his voice had both melody and volume. His good works as a Christian man and minister were most varied and abundant. He loved the souls of men. He devoted much of his spare time to preaching the \ \ N OF THE SOUTH. March 17, 1909. Gospel to the poor and ignorant in destitute sections. He loved his church and gave liberally to its financial support. He cherished the highest regard for the ministry, deeming it far more important and influential than the crowned head of England, or the Czar of Russia, or the President of these United States. He ever sought to magnify his office as a minister. He .was always on the alert for recruits from among young men, some of whom he personally aided, others of whom he indirectly assisted, while all of whom he ardently encouraged. T-T~ ,..00 ~ ,1:1: ----- ?? v??a n iiingciiL siuaent ana author. His book, "The Ohl Paths," familiar to many, has been read especially by the ol I r people of the church who have derived from its earnest and clear-toned pages substantial food for their faith, and much to help their joy and hope amid their declining years. He was one of those superb characters in whose counsel one could confide with the feeling of safety. Indeed, in dignity of aim, gravity of life, majesty of sentiment, and in sincere dedication to the service of God, he had no peer. In 1892 the Southwestern Presbyterian University honored him with the Doctorate. For the last year he had been deeply interested in the Calvin celebration this coming May, anticipating it with marked enthusiasm. He was a staunch Calvinist. He had recently prepared and preached a series of sermons on Calvinism, giving them the following titles: ''The Sovereignty of God in the World," "The Sovereignty of Christ in the Church," "The Sovereignty of the Spirit in the .Heart of the Believer." Not long ago he related their contents one by one to the writer, and when told that we had not seen so much truth so concisely and strikingly and beautifully stated, and so adapted to the ordinary intelligence, he expressed very gicui snu^iatLiuii dim utngiu at oeing ante to expound the faith so clearly. The Southern Presbyterian Church has suffered a great loss, the Faith once delivered to the Saints a most able defender, but the church and the world are vastly richer for his life's work. He has joined the assembly of the glorified. His voice will no longer be heard in the church and the assemblies of men here below. The flash of his eye which reflected his luminous soul will no more arrest the attention. But in the higher and brighter world above his voice mingles in the praises of God and his eye flashes the raptures of his glorified soul in company with the spirits of just men made perfect. His end came suddenly ; the chariot of God halted hut for a moment; he stepped in, and was borne home to God. After beautiful and appropriate services in the church on March ist he was laid to rest in Jackson, Tenn., amid the sincere mournings and loving benedictions of all classes. So we think of him as having spent his life in the service of God, as having fouedit a p-ood fight, as having kept the faith, as having finished his course of joy. We think of him as a noble Christian character, conscious of having builded on Christ, animated by a great faith, and cheered by the hope of a glorious life beyond. We think of him as more alive than ever. In loving memory, R. L. Benn.