the attitude of the Old Kirk party. The
adherents of that party were seriously hampered in their line of action by
the fact that they were still uncertain as to the result of the union
negotiations then proceeding. Should the union fall through, the rivalry
between the Churches would, doubtless, be keener than ever, in which case
loyalty would forbid members of the Old Kirk party amalgamating with those
of the Canada Presbyterian Church. It was for them a truly, difficult
situation and, indeed, for all. Robertson’s engagement would terminate by
the end of June. People were pouring in every week. The interests of the
congregation demanded that some man should be in charge continuously
during the summer. About the middle of May a congregational meeting
unanimously agreed to ask Presbytery for moderation in a call, offering
two thousand dollars stipend but, of course, mentioning no name, though it
was perfectly understood that only one man was in the mind of the
congregation. Leave was granted by the Presbytery and thus for Robertson
the situation became acute. In a letter to his wife of May 15th, 1874, he
goes over the matter thus:
"The moderation is to take place in
June, and Presbytery meets in July according to appointment, for
Presbytery granted the prayer of the congregation at its last meeting on
Wednesday. If I am called then what is to be done? I am not asked and can
say nothing. I had to promise Presbytery to give a day or, if necessary,
two in July. The position is very difficult. Professor Bryce is away in
Canada and is not going to return till the fall. He is collecting for the
college. Dr. Clark is away, but going to return in July. Another man
cannot come here till after I am through and they do not want one if I am
called."
His difficulties increase as time
goes on. By the end of May he and Dr. Black are left almost alone in the
whole Western field. No relief can be expected till the middle of July.
Presbytery begs him to remain for the first two Sabbaths of that month,
and anxious as he is to return to his congregation and his home, there is
nothing for it but that he should agree to the Presbytery’s request. He
cannot bring himself to think of leaving the Western fields in such
desperate straits. Desperate, indeed, must they have been before he would
venture to write his wife in the following strain:
"If I agree to stay here if called,
I suppose I cannot return to Canada at all. Could you all come out without
me? Mr. and Mrs. Bryce are coming out in September. Could you come then
with them? My whole mind gets in rebellion when I think of it, and yet I
do not know what I am to do. I do not think I am justified in putting my
own feelings in opposition to the best interests of the cause here, and
evidently the cause here is of great consequence in the beginning of the
history of the province. I wish very much I had some good man to consult
with. Bryce says he would accept at once if in my place. Of course, the
place is better than Norwich, and will be all the time growing. There is
more of a chance here, too, to do well. My only fear is that I am not
strong enough for it. If the congregation unanimously call, I shall be in
a great perplexity. I am trying beforehand to think of what is to be done
if the call comes."
That must have been a hard letter to
write and a hard letter to receive. But with him always it is the Cause
first. Distressed as he is by his own perplexities and troubled for his
wife and family, he is even more deeply anxious for the condition of the
mission fields, and hardly pressed by the burden of work laid upon him.
Under date May 26th, he writes to his wife:
"I must cut short my letters to you
for a time. You must be content with a note instead of a letter. In my
last I told you I had to take charge of Professor Bryce’s classes in
Ladies’ School and College when he was away. To- day, in answer to a
telegram from Toronto, Professor Hart went away, and I am to take charge
of his classes as well. To do the work of these two men as best I can, and
to do my own duties as minister of Knox Church, will require all my time.
I am sorry the way things are, but cannot help it now. I am extremely
sorry that both these men should be away now and that the field should be
left desolate as well by the departure of Mr. Matheson for Canada to
attend General Assembly. Messrs. McKellar and Carrie are not expected to
start from Toronto till the 1st of June—and things will be at sixes and
sevens till they are here. There should be a man just now at Pembina when
the Emerson colony is coming in. There has been no person in Palestine
since the 1st of April, and no hope of one till the 1st of July. Rockwood,
Victoria, Greenwood and Woodlands, four stations in a group, can only get
supply once in a long time. Gris Isle cannot be opened up at all. The
Boyne settlement can have no supply till July. Fraser is the only man
between Burnside, Portage la Prairie, High Bluff, Portage Creek, Poplar
Point, First Crossing and Totogan. No person, but such supply as we can
give, for Pine Creek, Little Britain, Mapleton and three stations at Point
du Chene and Headingly. I do not know what to do. I came here for rest,
but never had so much work to look after in all my life.
"It is not known when Professor
Bryce comes back, Matheson not till July 12th and Professor Hart in
October. If the work is not better managed then we must lose a great deal
here. This is the best time and yet we are without men to work."
The man is at his wits’ end. These
empty fields weigh heavy on his heart. He has made this work his own and
its breakdown fills him with dismay. How those lists impress us! How
characteristic of the man and how prophetic of the future! Undoubtedly for
this kaleidoscopic Western mission work, for these rapidly growing and
rapidly dividing mission fields, a man thus endowed with this marvellous
faculty for details is sorely needed. But he carries these fields in his
head, chiefly because he holds them in his heart.
Happily, the union negotiations came
to a successful issue and at once the good effect was felt in the
congregation. The Old Kirk party in Knox Church was thus set free to unite
as, indeed, most of them had desired, in a call to their present minister.
But for some weeks the tension for him is still great and the anxiety
unabated. This, however, does not damp his impetuous missionary ardour. On
the 19th of June he writes:
"Time is passing rapidly and I trust
I shall be able to get home soon. Last Sabbath I went to Rockwood and
Greenwood to preach, Mr. Vincent preaching in the city. Took a man out
with me who came in from Ontario. Got out about nine o’clock and
got a young man there ready to start in the morning and warn the people in
the settlement of the service. Preached at eleven and had about
twenty-five persons in all. Drove ten miles then over the prairie and came
to Rockwood. Found only twelve grown-up people here. Preached, and made
arrangements to preach two weeks from that day or send some one. There are
four townships here, one behind the other, and we must try and have
service in all of them during the summer. A good many settlers are going
in there and they must be looked after. There is quite a settlement west
of those places, too, and service must be begun there. Those young men,
the missionaries from Canada, are not here yet and we are very much
cramped in supply. We don’t know what to do. Things are much neglected.
There appears to be no system, no regular laid down scheme according to
which to work, and hence but little is done. I feel more every day the
need of doing well what is to be done here. There was a great mistake
committed in allowing so many of the ministers to go away to Ontario, and
another in not having Messrs. McKellar and Currie here two months ago.
This is the time for us to work our mission field.
"Immigrants coming in rapidly and in
great numbers, land being settled fast. Many are going outside province
and soon the tide will go all to the West."
This is an impressive letter. How
these imperative and oft reiterated "musts" smite on our hearts! Those
four townships, who told him about them? "We must try and have service in
all of them during the summer." "Incoming settlers must be looked after."
In the settlements to the west "Service must be begun there." How the word
hammers us! How the fire of his hot impatience burns against the neglect
of these opportunities! Where other men might regret and deplore and do
nothing, Robertson burns with indignant resolve that these things shall
not continue. That is a noble sentence of his, "I feel more every day the
need of doing well what is to be done here." It is the man’s conscience,
his prescience of the future, his love of his country and his zeal for his
cause that, working together, produce this feeling of anxiety and this
determination that things must be thoroughly done.
Five days after that visit to
Rockwood, on the 24th of June, Dr. Black moderated in a call in Knox
Church. There was but one name before the people, and without a dissenting
voice a call was made out in favour of the Rev. James Robertson of
Norwich, Ontario. The Presbytery of Manitoba sustained the call, appointed
Dr. Bryce and Rev. William Cochrane commissioners to prosecute it before
the Presbytery of Paris. And so it came that with this in his hand,
Robertson came back to his congregation and to his wife to settle the
momentous question of his future; momentous not for himself and family
alone, but, though he knew it not, for his Church and for Western Canada.
The call, signed by forty-three members and forty-eight adherents and duly
attested by the Moderator of the Presbytery of Manitoba, was presented on
the 11th day of August, 1874, to the Presbytery of Paris. When the parties
were called to the bar, there appeared for the congregation of Knox
Church, Winnipeg, and the Presbytery of Manitoba, the Rev. William
Cochrane, for the congregations of Norwich and Windham, Messrs. Barr,
Donald, Dean and others, and the Rev. James Robertson for himself.
The last month had been for him and
for his wife one of anxious, earnest, prayerful deliberation. But even up
to the day of Presbytery meeting, he was still uncertain as to his duty.
After the commissioners had supported their respective causes, he was
called upon for his answer, whereupon stating his great difficulties in
coming to a right decision, he cast himself upon the judgment of the
Presbytery to translate or not as they saw fit. The parties having been
removed, the Presbytery proceeded to give judgment, whereupon it was moved
by Mr. McTavish, seconded by Mr. McMullen and unanimously agreed, "That
the translation sought for be granted and the pastoral tie between Mr.
Robertson and the congregations of Norwich and Windham be dissolved with a
view to his induction to the charge of Knox Church, Winnipeg, such
dissolution of pastoral tie to take place on and after the first Sabbath
of September, and that Mr. Robertson be, as he is hereby, instructed to
hold himself in readiness to obey the orders of the Manitoba Presbytery
after that date."
And, indeed, nothing else could have
been done, for when Robertson had told his Presbytery of Paris the story
of his six months and a half experience in the far West, he had
practically predetermined the action of Presbytery in regard to the call
from Winnipeg. The Presbytery, listening to his recital, had become
possessed of the conviction that the Church was summoned to vast and
important work in that new and wonderful land, and of another conviction
as well, that for the strategic position of minister of Knox Church,
Robertson was the man. And though Robertson himself might fear that he
"was not strong enough," none of his co-presbyters shared his fear, but
rather felt sure that there was no man among them so fit for this position
of leadership, and hence their minute. And so with a sharp wrench, the
pain of which remained for many days and even for years, Robertson was
translated from the little country congregations of Norwich and Windham in
peaceful Ontario, to Knox Church, the leading congregation of Winnipeg,
the bustling, hustling metropolitan city of the West.
