herds in all the fulness of supply for man: on the banks of that little rivulet at our feet, lambs, the emblems of innocence, sporting in the shade, and offering to Heaven the only acknowledgment they could, in the expression of their happiness and joy; the birds around warbling praises to Him who daily provides for all their wants; the flowers and green fields offering their perfume; and, lovelier still, and infinitely dearer to Him, multitudes of redeemed souls and hearts, purified by faith, singing his praises in lody,'-perhaps in the tune of Martyrs' so sung on Stitchell Brae might almost arrest an angel on an errand of mercy,-and would afford him more pleasure than a' the chanting, and a' the music, and a' the organs, in a' the cathedrals o' Europe.'

grave sweet meMartyrs.'

"Such was the course into which his national predilections would often flow, on serious occasions, or in Sabbath evening conversations; but he also loved at other times to indulge in national and local reminiscences of a more playful and personal, though equally innocent description. When any friend from that part of the country of which he was a native visited him in London, he loved dearly to enjoy, if his serious duties admitted of it, a pleasant fireside crack about auld Scotland, and the days o' lang syne,'-and it was delightful to witness the hilarity and almost juvenile vivacity with which he would, on such occasions, retrace the scenes of his early days. The peculiar beauties of his native country had left impressions on his mind never to be effaced;

and to these, when with persons of congenial taste, he would revert in detail with ever-fresh enthusiasm. There did not appear to have been a spot remarkable for natural beauty, within his reach when a boy, which he had not visited, and that often; nor was there a historical record or oral tradition respecting the country with which he was not intimately acquainted.

"Akin to these were his feelings respecting his youthful companions and early associates, of whom he always spoke with an affection almost fraternal; and in whose future fortunes the affectionate interest he took appeared as lively as if they had only parted yesterday.

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Many of them were often the subjects of conversation on such evenings as I have referred to. When he heard that any of them had done dishonour to their early religious profession and education, it caused him much poignant grief; and when he was told that, by the establishment of a manufactory during the late war, and a more easy and speedy communication with Edinburgh, London, &c., and the evils arising from nominal riches, the character of the people of Earlstoun had become much changed for the worse, that their moral habits had been deteriorated, and their observance of the Sabbath become more lax, he evidenced by his emotion the feelings of deep sorrow and concern which were working in his mind.

Even now, far distant, fancy leads

Through twilight groves and blooming meads;

And lovely, in the hues of truth,
Restores the scenes, the friends of youth.
He feels that nought in later life

His bosom with a tie can clasp
So strong-so sacred-as endears

The scenes and friends of early years.'

"He loved the whole human race, because upon them the image of their God and Creator had been stamped, and for them, as for him, his Son had died; but he was thoroughly a patriot, and a patriot in the noblest sense of the term. He would cheerfully have died for the interests, temporal and eternal, of his country, had Providence so called him to suffer, either in the field or at the stake. He devoted the energies of his mind, in a paramount degree, to the necessities of the poor heathen in foreign lands, because there they were more peculiarly required; but he did not neglect the ties by which he was bound to his family and his native land. His more tender sympathies were in the eternal interests of his family--then of his church-and, extending the circle, embraced those of the land he so dearly loved. It was natural, however, that the portion of the land where he had been born and educated, -where the first impressions of seriousness had been made upon his mind,-where his taste for the beauties of nature had been cherished and cultivated, where the peaceful character of the people, and their sterling integrity and unfeigned piety, were the best evidences of the salutary effects of that Gospel which he preached so long

and so faithfully, where his fathers had lived and died, beloved and respected by all who knew them; it was natural that Earlstoun and its neighbourhood should excite more intense interest in his mind than any other place; and, accordingly, when they were mentioned, a chord was struck which vibrated to the inmost recesses of his soul. The strength of this feeling will, without an effort, present itself to the recollection of all his countrymen who were in the habit of social and friendly intercourse with him.

In

"It has been before observed, that he had a highly poetical imagination. His writings-I mean his notes and letters-and his public exhibitions, as well as those in private life, (those of every-day occurrence, without design and without effort), afford ample evidence of this faculty. But although he wrote and composed without difficulty-currente calamo-and was never at a loss in composition for a word or a sentiment, and those the most appropriate; yet he had never, so far as I know, made any attempt in verse. early life he had read, and read attentively, our best English poets, and had committed much of their works to memory. In later years, however, his numerous avocations rendered it impossible that he should do more than read, and that very cursorily, the poetical productions of his contemporaries; but he always marked the striking sentiments conveyed in the latter; and although he might not be able to quote them precisely in their own words, he had the happy faculty of promptly bringing the sentiments to bear on any

subject in which his heart was peculiarly interested. The aptitude of the illustration was recognised and forcibly felt by those of his hearers who had read the works from which they were drawn, and by others was received with all the charm of novelty and with all its power.

"Of all the poets, however, in whose works he delighted, Thomson was his greatest favourite. The scenes he describes, his enthusiasm in their delineation, the purity of his mind, and the object he had primarily in view,—the leading the minds of his readers from nature up to nature's God, of whose tenderness and love in Spring, perfection in Summer, bounty in Autumn, and awful grandeur in Winter, the rolling year is full; -these allured, captivated, and fixed his mind,a mind attuned in sweetest melody to full and joyful harmony with all the perfections of Deity, as exhibited in the world which has been so richly adorned for loved, though fallen man. He was in the habit of frequently addressing his people on the return of the seasons, and of illustrating his subject by some of the most pathetic touches of his favourite poet; -with Spring, Summer, and Autumn, his eye beamed love and ardent gratitude, -with Winter his soul seemed to sink under the poet's delineation of wretchedness and woe. His people evidenced the power of the former, and their sympathy with the latter, in their uniform and steadfast works of kindness and labours of love,-fruits which gladdened his heart, and gave confidence to his exertions.

"When reference was sometimes made to his