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popularity, making it a rule not to prepare so-called “great sermons,” 
constantly dealing largely in the exposition of Scripture and the 
setting forth of doctrine, habitually keeping feeling under restraint, 
and very sparing of gesture and action, he was yet not only a most 
instructive, but a most interesting and impressive preacher. His 
tall stature and noble presence, his admirable delivery, his style 
refined yet strong, somewhat elaborate but also singularly lucid, the 
amount of knowledge which he communicated, and of light which 
he cast on Scripture, his intellectual force, his vivid and deep realisa- 
tion of spiritual things, and the judiciousness and pointedness of 
his practical applications of truth, combined to make him a great 
and beneficent power in the pulpit. 
As a man his character commanded universal respect. None 
doubted his piety and benevolence any more than his learning or 
ability. He gained many friends, and alienated none. He was 
especially at home in scholarly and intellectual society, and where 
at home he was a charming companion, unaffected and genial, with 
a keen sense of humour and hearty love of mirth, and with an 
inexhaustible store of anecdotes, which he delighted to tell, and 
which he told exceedingly well. 
His private and domestic life has been gracefully delineated by 
Miss E. T. McLaren, in reminiscences originally printed for private 
circulation, but now incorporated in the Life of Dr Alexander by 
the Rev. Mr Ross. Mr Ross himself, as an old student of Dr 
Alexander, has given us an account of his character and work as 
a professor, from which it is apparent that he was nowhere more 
admirable and successful than in his class-room. 
The memory of Dr William Lindsay Alexander will be long 
affectionately cherished and highly honoured. 
William Chambers, LL.D. By David Patrick, M.A. 
William Chambers, one of the founders of the publishing firm 
of William and Robert Chambers, and in his later years distinguished 
for his public spirit as a citizen, was born at Peebles on the 16th 
April 1800, his father being a cotton manufacturer there. William, 
