And not like hired mercenaries,
As if ‘England’ were our lord.”
During this trial of the soul of a nation, in the wager of battle, to decide whether truth is worth living and dying for and whether solemn compacts are as torn paper—we catch a glimpse of a great part of the nation at prayer.
It is in St. Giles’s Church, Edinburgh, that the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland holds its annual sessions and the function is made decidedly spectacular, as is supposed to become a State Church. For two hundred and twenty-five years, the meeting has been held without interruption. In the brilliant procession, the Lord High Chancellor, as representative of the king, takes part, and usually a regiment of the garrison troops adds color and a show of worldly might to the spectacle. Few elements appropriate to the day are omitted, for this is the august assembly of the “Church established by law.” In the spring of 1914, the full strength of the Cameron Highlanders was paraded.
FOR THE WHOLE WORLD
(The Edinburgh Conference of Missions)
But in 1915, after the gates of hell had been fully opened on the Continent, swallowing up, it is said, from one regiment, by death and wounds, no fewer than nine hundred of the Cameron Highlanders, leaving but one hundred unwounded survivors, the meeting was more than usual like a gathering of the ministers of the Prince of Peace. The king’s representative on this occasion, the Earl of Aberdeen, was dressed in a soldier’s service uniform of khaki and the military escort as guard of honor was a corps of cadets. The interior phenomena were equally impressive. Men cared little for debate and turned constantly to prayer and intercession. The high-water mark of interest in the proceedings was on Foreign Mission Day. Then a strong note of optimism appeared regarding that work, in comparison with the depression felt as to other interests of the Church. It was in Edinburgh that the world-wide conference upon missions was held in 1913, whose influence is still felt throughout the whole earth.
Perhaps some thoughts turned to the words of the Almighty to Job, “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends.”
Be this as it may, can we not all abide in hope that the ultimate history of “Bonnie Scotland” will follow that of Job—“Also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”