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The Rev. James McColl Refers to the Rev. Donald McDonald in a Report of His Own Missionary Labours..
June 1 868
The late Rev. Donald McDonald who came out about 37 years ago. . . preached in barns or in the open air in summer and in dwelling houses in winter All these churches [15] were built by the people under Mr. McDonaldâs ministry without any assistance from the church in Scotland or here. . . Mr. McDonald, so far as I can understand, kept no communion roll, but from inquiries I have made, i know the number of communicants must amount to about l,400 and that of adherents to more than 5,000.. . Although the stations at which i preach are so far apart, I have experienced no difficulty in visiting them all. The people are ready at all times to drive me from one station to another. The congregations are composed principally of Highlanders and lowland Scotch who always belonged to the Church of Scotland but some others have joined the church from almost every denomination in this part of the world. Some of them make very good church members, but others since Mr. McDonald's death have endeavoured to cause divisions among the congregations by trying to make the people believe that Mr. McDonald long ago left the Church of Scotland. This Mr. McDonald ' himself anticipated and some time ago told several of his elders that some from among themselves would give them a great deal of trouble after his death. He mentioned the names of some that would cause this trouble and it is
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