4 . LIFE OF DAVID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D. 



In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, this early introduction to a life of toil 

 would have been the commencement of a lifetime of obscurity and privation. 

 Let us see how David Livingstone bore and conquered the cruel circumstances 

 of his boyhood, and made for himself a name which is known and respected 

 throughout the civilised world ; and is accepted by the savage inhabitants of 

 Central Africa as conveying to their minds the ideal of all that is best in the 

 character of "the white man." 



Between the delicate "piecer" boy of ten and the middle-aged man 

 who returned to England after an absence of sixteen years, in December 

 1856, with a world-wide reputation, there was a mighty hill of difficulty 

 nobly surmounted, and we cannot attach too much importance to the 

 mode in which he conquered those difficulties and hindrances, which, but 

 that they are mastered every now and again in our sight by some bold 

 and daring spirit, we are almost inclined to think insurmountable. It is 

 a true saying, that every man who has earned distinction must have been 

 blessed with a parent or parents of no mean order, whatever their position 

 in society. What his ancestors were like we gather from his own brief 

 allusion to them ; and the few remarks he makes regarding his parents 

 and their circumstances, supplemented by some information procured from 

 one who knew them, enables us to give a picture of his home surroundings, 

 which will assist us materially in estimating the courageous spirit which carried 

 the delicate and overworked boy safely through all his early toils and trials. 



To the mere observer, Livingstone's father appeared to be somewhat 

 stern and taciturn, and an overstrict disciplinarian where the members of 

 his family were concerned; but under a cold and reserved exterior he 

 sheltered a warm heart, and his real kindliness, as well as his truth and 

 uprightness are cherished in the memories of his family and his intimates. 

 He was too truthful and conscientious to become rich as a small grocer in 

 a country village ; while his real goodness of heart induced him to trust 

 people whose necessities were greater than their ability or desire to pay, 

 to the further embarrassment of a household his limited business made 

 severe enough. 



He brought up his children in connection with the Church of Scotland, 

 from which he seceded a few years before his death, and joined an 

 Independent congregation worshipping in Hamilton, some miles distant. 

 Speaking of the Christian example he set before his family, his famous 

 son says, " He deserved my lasting gratitude and homage for presenting 

 me from infancy with a continuously consistent pious example, such as 

 that, the ideal of which is so beautifully and truthfully portrayed in 

 Burns' ' Cottar's Saturday Night.' " He was a strict disciplinarian, and 

 looked with small favour on his son's passion for reading scientific books 

 and works of travel ; but his son had much of his own stubborn and 



