183 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. 



here," added he, " take the doctrines for granted, and ap 

 peal directly to the hearts of our people and make our teach 

 ings bear upon their lives." Still the preaching of the 

 Evangelical clergy in Edinburgh often involved doctrines 

 with their warm exhortations. On my leaving Edinburgh, 

 in April, 1806, he gave me as a remembrancer a volume, 

 elegantly bound, of the published sermons of Sir Henry 

 Moncrieff Wellwood, and on a blank leaf he wrote, 

 "TO B. SILLIMAN, ESQ., 



from a friend. 



Etsi corpore absens, spiritu tamen praesens. 

 Edin. April 26, 1806." 



The inscription was in his most beautiful chirography, 

 and the sentiment was so perfectly printed by his pen in 

 an imitation of the impress of type, that even now, more 

 than fifty-two years after the time, I find it difficult to con 

 vince a friend that it is not really printing. 



Rev. Mr. Black, an excellent man, was a devout and 

 earnest preacher of the gospel. He was not reckoned 

 among the stars of Edinburgh, but he was greatly re 

 spected, and he drew very large and attentive congrega 

 tions. We were occasionally in his church, and every 

 seat was occupied. The people filled the alleys, and hung 

 around the door in dense . masses, like bees clustering 

 around a hive in cold weather. The spirit of John Knox 

 had not died out in Scotland, and seemed to animate many 

 of the preachers and no small portion of the people. We 

 enjoyed occasionally the hospitality of Rev. Mr. Black, 

 and met there intelligent and interesting people. The 

 standing topic of American literature being introduced with 

 the usual intimations of its inferiority, I ventured to sug 

 gest that an American, Lindley Murray, had given to 

 Britain as well as America the best grammar of the Eng 

 lish language which had been published. Mr. Black then 

 with playful retaliation replied, that Mr. Murray, by long 

 residence in this country, had learned the language. Alas, 



