CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 27 



were grim, but none so grim as they. Though he held 

 these views he held them with a wide charity, and he 

 had the gift of a strong sense of humour which rounded 

 off all angles. A more absolutely sincere person it 

 would be impossible to meet, and he was at the same time 

 the most humble-minded of men. In 1895 Glasgow 

 University conferred, or rather it was announced in 

 the papers that it was conferring on him the degree of 

 Doctor of Divinity. It was at once respectfully declined. 

 He said to his friend Ramsay : " How could I have taken 

 it when so many better men are passed over ? " It used 

 to surprise his friends that a man of his gifts should 

 have belonged to such a very small sect, but nothing 

 would have made him change it ; his faith was greater 

 than his creed and his heart than either. Eamsay 

 never felt a holiday in Scotland complete without a 

 sight of his friend, though it was difficult to get him 

 away from his manse even for a night. " You never 

 know who might want you," he used to say. Though 

 their walks in life were so very different his friendship 

 was one of the most precious in Ramsay's life, and his 

 sudden death in 1915 a very great sorrow. 



