154 OBITUARY NOTICE.— REV. GEORGE GUNN 



one, and it would probably have been distinguished if the 

 circumstances of his early life had been more favourable to 

 study. But he was the eldest son in a family of five, and, 

 like many another Scotch student, he had to eke out the 

 somewhat scanty home resources by spending several hours 

 a day in private teaching, as well as in assisting his younger 

 brothers. After passing through the Arts Curriculum, and 

 gaining the degree of M.A., he entered the classes of the 

 Divinity Hall, and received license as a Probationer in 1876 

 from the Presbytery of Edinburgh. Shortly afterwards he 

 was appointed assistant to Dr Norman Macleod, minister of 

 St. Stephen's Church, in that city, and in that capacity he 

 continued for about two years. 



In the spring of 1878 he was elected minister of the 

 united parishes of Stichill and Hume, and was ordained on 

 the 21st of June. Thereafter, for nearly twenty-two years, 

 till his death, which occurred on the 12th of January 1900, 

 he exercised his ministry in Stichill, identifying himself with 

 all the interests of the parish, and enjoying the esteem and 

 affection of his parishioners, which he preserved unbroken 

 till the end. He made himself the friend of all, sharing 

 their joys and sorrows. His relations with those of his 

 parishioners who did not belong to his own congregation 

 were of the most cordial and amicable kind, particularly 

 with his venerable colleague, the Eev, David Cairns, of the 

 United Presbyterian Church, with whom he worked all those 

 years in perfect harmony, and who paid a touching tribute 

 to his memory, in a sermon preached on the Sunday after 

 his death. There was nothing done in the parish without 

 Mr Gunn. Lectures, social meetings, harvest homes, every 

 kind of gathering for instruction or recreation he took a 

 chief part in. He was deeply interested in the cause of 

 education, and, both as a member of the School Board and 

 in his private capacity, encouraged and stimulated teachers 

 and pupils. For some time he assisted Mr Cuthbert, the 

 schoolmaster at Hume, in the teaching of science subjects, 

 with the notable result that at least two of his pupils gained 

 valuable scholarships at South Kensington, distinguished 

 themselves there, and now occupy honourable positions in 

 the geological field. His duties as parish minister were 



