1859- STUDENTS' DEVOTIONAL MEETING. 337 



with which he told of his supplanting thievish carriers who 

 tapped the rum puncheons between Edinburgh and Dum- 

 fries, and how ' nae bung started wi' him,' was great, espe- 

 cially when he added, l but I had a gimlet!' ... I write 

 this in bed, far on in the night. Here we are all well." 



Of the students' devotional meeting spoken of in a pre- 

 vious letter, a record remains in a few notes, apparently 

 written in haste, and of which only the closing head can 

 be clearly made out. It is as follows, and is suggestive 

 enough: "V. This Blessed and Adorable Saviour, the 

 Elder Brother, the Master, the Redeemer, the Life-Giver, 

 the Judge, the Atoner, the Creator, the Teacher." It was 

 words like these that led Dr. Alexander to say, " I have 

 often felt as if there was something sublime in this man, 

 with his fragile frame and modest attitude, standing amongst 

 the aristocracy of science, or before some popular assembly, 

 or in the presence of his students, and calmly, unosten- 

 tatiously, with the simplicity of a child and the unfaltering 

 confidence of a confessor, giving utterance to the sentiments 

 of faith and worship that came, as from his inner soul, 

 spontaneously from his lips." 1 The grace with which illus- 

 trations from Scripture were introduced into his public 

 addresses was peculiarly his own, and the reverential love 

 with which all was evidently laid at the feet of the Saviour 

 had something triumphant and joyous in it, elevating for 

 the time the most thoughtless of his audience. He had the 

 power, so rare even among earnest Christians, of conse- 

 crating to God every act of business, thus offering the 

 devotion of a worshipper as truly in his laboratory and 

 lecture-room as in the sanctuary. To those who were 

 privileged to join in prayer with him, this was most appa- 



1 Funeral Sermon, by Dr. W. L. Alexander, p. 28. A. andC. Black, 

 Edin. 1859. 



