LEARNING FROM LORD MACKAY: LIFE AND WORK IN TWO KINGDOMS

Written by: J Cameron Fraser

Published by: SoS-Books, Lethbridge: Alberta (2017) Price: £9.50

The author of this fascinating book, a Scotsman born in Zimbabwe to missionary parents and for more than thirty years a minister in Canada, is at pains to point out that he writes as an essayist and not a biographer. Aimed primarily at a North American readership, its introduction to aspects of Lord Mackay of Clashfern’s life and work will prove of great interest to British readers too. Indeed, as someone who is well known and respected in legal circles around the world, it will be still more widely appreciated.

For those who know Lord Mackay, it is difficult to avoid superlatives in speaking of him. He enjoyed a stellar career, first in mathematics and subsequently in law, becoming Scottish Lord Advocate then subsequently as the twentieth-century’s longest continuously serving Lord Chancellor, from 1987 until1997. In the words of a Past President of the Law Society of Scotland, he is ‘not only an outstanding man in his profession, but one of the most brilliant Scottish scholars of all time’. Margaret Thatcher considered him to be ‘the best lawyer in my government’.

Throughout his distinguished career he received wholehearted support from his wife, Lady Mackay, whom he describes as ‘absolutely extraordinary’.

In a clear and engaging manner, the book explains Lord Mackay’s contribution to major public and legal issues of his time. Countless honours have come his way. He was appointed by the Queen a Knight of the Thistle in 1997. In 2005 and 2006 he served as Lord High Commissioner (the Queen’s representative) to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

There is, however, much more to James Mackay than these facts reveal. His life and career have been marked by a humility, grace and compassion which reflect his deep Christian commitment and desire to serve his Lord in every area of life. From ecclesiastical and political controversies he bears no grudges nor has any scores to settle.

Sometimes even those who appeared before him as a serving judge have recognised the special quality of the man. One of the many congratulations James received on becoming Lord Chancellor was from a pool hall in Glasgow, reading, ‘Good luck, sir, in your new job! You’ll need it! From the Glasgow boys.’ On an earlier occasion, a scrap merchant who ‘attended a trial over which Lord Mackay presided, wrote to express appreciation for the manner in which he had sentenced one particular young man “as if you were his father”. James hugely appreciated such communications from ‘real people’.

While one of the book’s principal aims is to situate Lord Mackay in terms of the largely American ‘two kingdoms’ controversy, it has done an excellent job in introducing a great Scotsman, lawyer and Christian to the wider public. The thought-provoking essay ‘captures the spirit of Lord Mackay superbly’. It is not necessary to agree with James Mackay’s every position to appreciate that this is a life from which we can all learn.

The Very Rev Dr Angus Morrison

THE CHAIR OF VERITY

Political preaching and pulpit censure in eighteenth-century Scotland

Written by: Ronald Lyndsay Crawford

Published by: hummingearth.com Price: £65.00

The author of the book The Lost World of John Witherspoon: Unravelling the Snodgrass Affair, 1762 to 1776, which concerned the protracted legal action (at the highest level) taken against a Church of Scotland minister who became President of Princeton and was one of only two Scots to sign the Declaration of American Independence, was inspired by some of the research he unearthed in this book to begin a new work, concerning.

Crawford’s fascination with the grounds for the subject of his first book have led to an equally well-researched second volume, considering the influence and place of the so-called ‘chair of verity’, where in the 18th century ministers could preach and influence with their own political views – and face censure, not simply from within the Church, if their sermons were perceived to be overtly political or controversial

He has uncovered a colourful period in Scotland’s ecclesial history where the breadth of difference and opinion within the Church of Scotland was evident during a time of great debate within the Church on issues such as patronage, political reform and slavery.

It reveals a time where ministers who condemned behaviour or action in the pulpit, could find themselves facing legal action in the highest courts of the land of the day – and having to defend their preaching and opinion. Using the newspapers of the day to trace the facts, Crawford builds a convincing picture of the drama that could surround a pulpit during this period in the Scottish Enlightenment should a minister choose to comment or condemn any action and how ministers could find themselves (sometimes unwittingly) in a courtroom.

The hardback is meticulously researched and will be of interest to academics researching this period of social history in Scotland, but its price tag may put it out of the reach of those with a passing interest in this period.

Lynne McNeil