Such treatment would scarcely be appreciated in these days, but perhaps
the reason is that we are less endowed with humility than our fathers
in the Faith.

Bell had other anecdotes of a like kind.

"If ony o' the bairns wes restless or trifling-kind, during the
preachin', Mr. McGillivray would stop his discoorse an' ca' them up to
the rail an' reprove them severely. I mind him summoning a grown man
from the choir aince, and mak' him own his fault. Hey! He wer a
graund priest, an' nae mistak'--wer Mr. McGillivray!"

On stormy days, when it was difficult for the aged pastor to wade
through the deep snow down to the chapel, Mass was said in his own
house. The people crowded in at the door of his little living-room,
and would fill the kitchen. When he grew old and infirm it was
impossible for the greater number to hear anything of the sermon; yet
he never omitted to preach.

"An' I mind," naïvely added Bell, "that there wes aye a collection
made."

People went to Confession in the house at such times; otherwise the
priest heard them in the chapel on Saturdays or Sundays, and on the
eves of feasts.

It can not be denied that Mr. McGillivray was a militant churchman,
whenever the interests of his flock or of the Catholic Church were at
stake. Bell had more than one anecdote to prove it.