XCV1 PROCEEDINGS. 
been well told ‘by his grandson, the subject of these remarks. His boyish 
education was received at Pictou in a school noted for inculcating 
thoroughness and perseveranee as the foundation stones of scholarship. 
He completed his academic studies at Dalhousie College, and removing 
to Edinburgh, studied theology at the United Presbyterian Theological 
Hall. 
Returning to his native land, he entered upon his clerical duties at 
Greenhill, in the County of Pictou, and ministered to his congregation 
until 1879, when he resigned his charge and removed to New Glasgow. 
Assiduous and gentle, while upholding firmly the doctrines of his Church, 
his consistent discharge of his parochial duties endeared him to all who 
looked up to him as a spiritual guide. 
To the general public, however, he was best known as a biographer 
and historian. At the age of nineteen, in the year 1843, he established 
and edited the Eastern Chronicle. This paper is still published, and is 
one of the most influential of our Provincial weeklies. 
In 1850, he became editor of the Missionary Record of the Presby- 
terian Church in Nova Scotia, a periodical which, after passing through 
several changes, is now known to us as the Presbyterian Record. 
During his association with the organ of his church, he was outspoken 
in support of the better moral life of the people, and especially urged the 
duty of missionary work. 
It is impossible for me to give here details of his writings. I may 
mention the “ Life and Labors of Dr, Keir,” “ Memoir of Rev. Dr. 
McGregor,” two histories of Pictou County. Princeton University con- 
ferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, in recognition of the 
ability he displayed in his only theological work on the “ Doctrine of the 
Trinity underlying the Revelation of Redemption,” published in 1870. 
Asa contributor to the literature of missions, in addition to numerous 
newspaper and magazine articles, he published, in 1864, the ‘“‘ Memoirs 
of Johnstone and Matheson ;” in 1882, the ‘“ Life of the Reverend John 
Geddie,” and in 1884, an essay on missions called ‘“‘ The Heathen World.” 
In 1889 Dr. Patterson was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of 
Canada, and in 1896 Dalhousie University conferred on him the degree 
of Doctor of Laws. This degree was fittingly conferred on one of her 
oldest students who gave the good fruit of a mind which retained and 
adorned the education of its Alma Mater. 
