^T. 33.] A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. 323 



the doctor held one Sunday a long discussion on the 

 Ten Commandments as binding upon Christians. Mr. 

 Carey argued that their only claim upon our obedience 

 consisted in their having been re-ordained (indorsed 

 as it were) by the church, — whether that meant the 

 Holy Catholic or simply the Anglican Church was 

 not decided, as I remember. Dr. Gray combated this 

 extreme church view warmly and cleverly. Both were 

 pugnacious amiably, as in their botanical fights. Both 

 were excited, and the doctor showed his excitement 

 in his characteristically self-forgetful way, by moving 

 or jumping nervously about the room, sitting on 

 the floor, lying down flat, but laughing and sending 

 sparks out of his eyes, and plying his arguments and 

 making his witty thrusts all the while. I enjoyed it 

 very much, scarcely observing the odd positions any 

 more than the doctor did. I had seen him so conduct 

 himself before." 



It may be added to this that Dr. Gray was notice- 

 able throughout his life for his alertness. In the street 

 he was usually on a half run, for he never allowed 

 himself quite time enough to reach his destination 

 leisurely. When traveling by coach and climbing a 

 hill he woidd sometimes alarm his fellow-travellers by 

 suddenly disappearing through a window in his eager- 

 ness to secure some plant he had spied ; his haste would 

 not suffer him to open a door. As his motions were 

 quick, so that he seemed always ready for a spring, 

 so he found instant relaxation by throwing himself 

 flat on the floor when tired, to rest, like a child. 



His physical characteristics expressed something of 

 his mental qualities. He was quick and impetuous in 

 temper, but his excitement was short-lived, and his 

 prevailing spirit was one of apparently inexhaustible 



