one else, in the discharge of those sad duties, and conducted many
funerals both of Boer and Briton. Speaking of his feelings in the
field hospital and alongside the burying trench he says: "War seems
devil's work. But all the same, war has its better side, and out of
evil has come good. Hearts have been softened. We have frequent
meetings of an evening. Hundreds attend. I've never been at heart
so touched myself, nor so evangelical. I seem to hear repeated,
'Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel.' I thank God the Gospel at
Modder is proving in not a few cases the power of God unto
salvation."'
In another letter to a mutual friend, Mr. Robertson speaks of his
services on the last Sunday of the year, and as showing how deep is the
spiritual impression produced, he wished me to be informed that at the
close of the short service he asked all who desired to partake of the
Holy Communion to remain. To his joy some 250 officers and men came and
took their places at the Lord's Table. To any one who knows how
difficult it is to get soldiers to come to the Communion, that fact
speaks volumes for the extent and depth of the religious movement among
our men. They have had much to make them serious. The death of their
beloved General Wauchope and of so many of their comrades must have
greatly affected them. Mr. Robertson says, 'There is only one heart in
the Highland Brigade, and it is _sad and sore_. But good is being
brought out of evil.'
At the meeting of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, held
this year, the Moderator said he wished to read the following letter
from Scottish soldiers at the front, which had just been put into his
hands:--
'WINBURG, _May 7th_, 1900.
'From the warrant officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of
the Highland Brigade, to the Moderator of the General Assembly,
Church of Scotland.
'Sir,--We, the undersigned, as representatives of the regiments now
forming the Highland Brigade at present serving in South Africa
under General Hector Macdonald, do hereby desire to express our
appreciation of the untiring energy and praise-worthy zeal of Major
J. Robertson, our chaplain, not only in camp, but also on the
field. He is invariably among the first to succour our wounded, and
many a Scottish mother's heart will be gladdened by the knowledge
that her lad's last moments were brigh
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