1817-32. BIRTH OF TWIN BOYS. .3 



boys were bom. It seemed to the mother, that God, having 

 seen the desolation of her heart in the dreary months gone by, 

 had, in His compassionate love, sent not only a son to increase 

 the little flock, but also one to take the place of his brother in 

 heaven. So while a new name, George, was given to the elder 

 of the two, the other received the name of John. 



From the first the boys were unlike each other, John dark, 

 with black eyes ; George fair. George was so small a baby, 

 that tiny garments had to be made expressly for him, and for 

 many years after they were kept as curiosities, from their 

 miniature dimensions. 



A proof of this may be worth noting. When he was five 

 months old, a lady, walking with her husband on the street, 

 stopped him to look at this baby in his nurse's arms. "Did 

 you ever," she asked, " see a child of two months with so intel- 

 ligent a face ? " His energy and vivacity surpassed his brother's, 

 who manifested a delicacy of constitution. George's Highland 

 nurse declared he showed more " spirit " than any of the chil- 

 dren, and she was very proud and fond of him in consequence. 

 His paternal grandmother was one of the Auchinellan Camp- 

 bells, of Argyleshire, and to the Highland blood Jean attributed 

 her nursling's liveliness. 



When the twins were two years old, a little brother joined 

 them, but only to secure his heavenly inheritance. Two days 

 were all he spent on earth. Over the next five years the sha- 

 dows gathered. Two sisters and a brother were born. Of these, 

 Jeanie died when four years old, Margaret lived three months, 

 and Peter, the second of the name, one year. 



" ' My Lord hath need of these flowerets gay,' 



The Reaper said and smiled ; 



' Dear tokens of the earth are they, 



Where He was once a child,.' 



" And the mother gave, in tears and pain, 



The flowers she most did love ! 

 She knew she should find them all again 

 In the fields of light above." 



What influence these sad events had on George we cannot 



