THE AUTHOR'S NATIVE VILLAGE. 15 



my own efforts, had not some friends advised my joining 

 the London Missionary Society, on account of its perfectly 

 uLoectarian character. It "sends neither Episcopacy, nor 

 Presbyterianism, nor Independency, but the gospel of 

 Christ, to the heathen." This exactly agreed with my 

 ideas of what a missionary society ought to do; but it was 

 not without a pang that I offered myself, for "1 was not 

 quite agreeable to one accustomed to work his own way 

 to become in a measure dependent on others; and I would 

 not have been much put about though my offer had been 

 rejected. 



Looking back now on that life of toil, I cannot but feel 

 thankful that it formed such a material part of my early 

 education; and, were it possible, I should like to begin life 

 over again in the same lowly style, and to pass through 

 the same hardy training. 



Time and travel have not effaced the feelings of respect 

 1 imbibed for the humble inhabitants of my native village. 

 For morality, honesty x and intelligence, they were, in 

 general, good specimens of the Scottish poor. In a popu- 

 lation of more than two thousand souls, we had, of course, 

 a variety of character. In addition to the common run 

 of men, there were some characters of sterling worth and 

 ability, who exerted a most beneficial influence on the chil- 

 dren and youth of the place by imparting gratuitous reli- 

 gious instruction."' Much intelligent interest was felt by the 

 villagers in all public questions, and they furnished a proof 

 that the possession of the means of education did not render 

 them an unsafe portion of the population. They felt kindly 



* The reader will pardon my mentioning the names of two of these 

 most worthy men, — David Hogg, who addressed me on his death-bed with 

 the words, "Now, lad, make religion the every-day business of your 

 life, and not a thing of fits and starts ; for if you do not, temptation and 

 other things will get the better of you ;" and Thomas Burke, an old 

 Forty-Second Peninsula soldier, who has been incessant and never weary 

 in good works for about forty years. I was delighted to find him still 

 alive : men like these are an honor to their country and profession. 



