DONALD MARTIN, M.A. (1820-1838).—Mr Martin was a native of Skye, of the old family of the Martins of the Beallach in  Kilmuir. He was educated at Edinburgh, where during his four sessions he resided in the house of Lord Macdonald as the favoured son of his father, who was agent to Sir Alexander, the first Lord Macdonald. His first charge was Kilmuir, to which he was admitted 5th October, 1785, in succession to Mr Donald Macqueen, who figures so prominently in Johnson’s Tour. Here, 7th February, 1788, he married Ann, daughter of Norman Macdonald of Scalpay. Three of her brothers rose to high rank in the army, General Sir John Macdonald, K.C.B. ; General Archibald Macdonald, and General Sir Alexander Macdonald, R.A. A fourth brother, Matthew Hume, was the father of the present Lord Kingsburgh, Lord Justice Clerk, who has in many ways shown  the soldierly instincts of his race. In 1808 Mr Martin was translated to the Chapel of Ease, Inverness, and in 1820 he was  presented to Abernethy, where he was inducted on the 15th August of that year. From his high reputation as a clergyman, his coming was hailed with much satisfaction. But there was one drawback. "He is but a ladie" (laddie) said a contentious critic, objecting to a certain minister on the score of his youth. Mr Martin might have been objected to on the ground of his age, for he was 71, but no voice was raised in dissent. On the contrary, his settlement was in the truest sense harmonious. Perhaps there is no parallel case on record in the Church. But though Mr Martin had passed the threescore years and ten, his eye was not dim  nor his natural force abated. He had come of a race remarkable not only for strength of body, for as he used to say he was the youngest and the weakest of seven brothers, but also for strength of character. He had much of the soldier spirit, and seemed born to command. His unfeigned piety won the respect, and his earnest discharge of duty and his unswerving rectitude soon      gained him the confidence and the attachment of his people. He was an able Gospel preacher, and in Gaelic an orator of the highest order. The Churches that had been for some time scantily attended were crowded. A solemn awe pervaded the          congregation, and many who had lived carelessly, or who had contented themselves with a cold morality, were turned to God  and to a godly life. Mr Martin was also most zealous in pastoral work. He distributed Bibles (in connection with the Strathspey  Bible Society formed in his time), he held diets of catechising, and he established Sabbath Schools, in which he took much  delight. He also called out men of earnest piety to be elders, who greatly helped him in his evangelistic work. As the result, the  religious tone of society was raised, and the spiritual condition of the people greatly improved. It is said that Mr Martin had been rather hard and worldly in his early days. The death of his wife (1803) was a turning point in his career. Mrs Martin was  held in much esteem, not only on account of her birth and accomplishments, but for her unfeigned piety, as is recorded on her   tombstone— "raised by the love and friendship of a sorrowful husband" she had "through a short life of thirty-two years served with unwearied assiduity the interests of Christ and of the poor." When Mr Martin saw that his wife was dying, he was much distressed. Holding her hand, he said with a faltering voice, "Annie, dear, are you not sorry leaving me ?" With a heart tender but true she answered, "That is not what troubles me, but that I am leaving children without a father and a minister without  grace." This terrible word went like an arrow from the bow of the Great King straight to the mark. From that time it was noted that Mr Martin was a changed man, and that his preaching had taken a higher character. It was like the crisis in Dr Chalmers’  life. Sometimes to his intimate friends Mr Martin would confess how the world had been too much with him, and that he owed   his better spirit, under God, to his saintly wife. In 1826, when there was almost a total failure of the crop, Mr Martin preached a  powerful sermon, exhorting the people to consider their ways, and warning them that the bad harvest was a judgment of God, and that if they did not repent worse things might come upon them. Next day he happened to meet Captain Macdonald, Coulnakyle, an old sailor of rather a jovial temper. Captain Macdonald jocularly said—" Parson, that was a terrible sermon you preached yesterday, but your doctrine might be applied to yourself. See, your crop (pointing to Croft Croy) is the worst in the parish, and if your argument be good, you yourself must be the greatest sinner !" The parson, in whom the "Old Adam" was not dead, was at first disposed to resent this attack, but restrained himself and answered mildly—" Whether the crop be the worst or not is no matter, I am the greatest sinner, but I have obtained mercy." Mr Martin used to make Saturday a rest day, a wise custom which other ministers might imitate. Generally he spent part of the time at Grantown, visiting friends and doing  business. Once when driving to the village he was accosted by an Irish woman, who asked charity. He gave her sixpence. The sight of the silver, when she only expected copper, touched her heart, and she cried with much fervour, "God bless your  Rivirence, and may you be in Abraham’s bosom this verra nicht." "Thank you, my good woman," said the parson, "but you  need not have been so patticular as to the time." This saying is somewhat like that of another Irish woman to a minister who had given her a pair of shoes, "God bliss your Rivirence, your sheen I’ll be in Heaven afore ye." Once a parishioner called  upon Mr Martin about the baptism of a child. He was a man notoriously ignorant and careless, and the minister took advantage of the opportunity to speak to him seriously. He put several questions, with very unsatisfactory results. At last, in the hope of  quickening his conscience, he said, "Man, do you know what people you belong to?" The man had now his chance. The  answer came quick and clear. " Yes, Mr Martin, I belong to the good old stock of Tullochgorm." What followed is not known, but  Mr Martin seldom failed to turn such opportunities to account. There was a striking instance of this in the case of one of his elders. William Forsyth, Culreach, was a quiet, honest living man, but he had shewn no personal interest in religion. Indeed, he was more notable for strength than for piety. One hot summer day, when the Church was very full, Mrs Grant, Birchfield, who sat in the front seat of the west gallery, suddenly fainted. She was a big heavy woman, said to be over 20 stones, and there was difficulty in lifting her out. But William stepped forward, caught her up in his arms, and carried her out, as if she were a baby. Other extraordinary feats of strength by him are still spoken of. One week William lost his reckoning. He thought it was Saturday, and set out to the moss to bring home some peats. When busy he heard what seemed the Church bell, but he set it down to fancy and went on with his work. When passing the manse on his way home he met the herd boy, the late John Grant  of Glenlochy, who said sharply, "The Sabbath is no a day for carting peats." "You little rascal," he answered, "what are you  saying?" But he had his doubts. Shortly after he met some people going to Church, and he knew that it was the Sabbath. The shock to his simple mind was severe. He at once unyoked his horse, left cart and peats by the roadside, and returned home with a sad heart. Next day he was early at the Manse and told his tale to the minister. Mr Martin spoke to him as only a true minister could do, and was the means, by God’s blessing, of winning his soul to Christ. Some time after he made him one of his elders,  and he continued to his death to bear the character of a humble and sincere Christian. Mr Martin had three sons—Donald, who became a Captain of Artillery, and died at Naples; Norman, who died at Demerara; and Sir James Ranald, whose distinguished career in India and London as a physician and sanitary reformer is well known. Two of Mr Martin’s grandsons rose  to high distinction— Major-General Andrew Aldcorn Munro, who was brought up at the Manse of Abernethy, and Field-Marshal Sir Donald Stewart, Bart., K.C.B., whose father, Robert Stewart, was of the old family of Clachglas in Kincardine.