Part 7 (2/2)
But he maintained his cheerfulness, and neither he nor his friends had any thought that his as done In the month of July he paid a visit to his brother David at Stitchel He had opened his brother's new church there thirteen years before, and it had coement, looked forward to by very many in the district, that he should conduct special services every year on the anniversary of that occasion But these annual visits were very brief, and they were broken into not only by the duties of the Sunday, but by the hospitalities usual in country manses at such times This time, however, there were no anniversary sermons to be preached; he had come for rest, and there was no need for him to hasten his departure
The weather was lovely, and so were the views over the wide valley of the Tweed to the distant Cheviots He would sit for hours reading under the great elarden amid the scents of the summer flowers ”I have come in to tell you,” he said one day to his sister-in-law, ”that this is a day which has wandered out of Paradise” ”We younger people,” wrote his niece, ”came nearer to hi with every increase of strength He greatly enjoyed s like Sheriff Nicolson's 'Skye' and Shairp's 'Bush aboon Traquair' We were astonished to find how familiar he ith all sorts of queer out-of-the-way ballads Never had we seen hienial and even jubilant”[21] The summer Sacrament took place while he was at Stitchel, and he was able to give a brief address to the communicants from the words, ”Ye do shew forth the Lord's death till He come,” in a voice that eak and tremulous, but all the more impressive on that account One of his brother's elders, a farhbourhood whoed that he should address his work-people in the far he preached what proved to be his last sermon
[Footnote 21: _Life and Letters_, p, 769]
He himself, however, had no idea that this was the case; and when he left Stitchel he did so with the purpose of preparing for the work of another session But as the autureatly improve, another consultation of his doctors was held, the result of which was that he was pronounced to be suffering fro winter He at once acquiesced in this verdict, and, with unabated cheerfulness, set hi his lectures into a state that would ad easily read to his classes by two friends who had undertaken this duty This done, he wrote out in full the Greek texts--some five hundred in all--quoted in his lectures on Biblical Theology These two tasks kept hian an undertaking whichupon him--the preparation of a volume of his sermons for the press He selected for this purpose those sermons which he had preached inally written for sacramental occasions at Berwick--some of them far back in the old Golden Square days
These he carefully transcribed, altering theht this necessary, and not always, in the opinion oftheth was not unduly strained when he worked thus six or seven hours a day But he always, as hitherto, spent one hour daily in reading the Scriptures in the original tongues, in which ties of Hebrew and an indefinite quantity of Greek There was, however, one change in his habits which had becoht
And so, instead of going upstairs in the evening, he remained in the comfortable parlour, where he wrote his letters, talked to his brother and sister, or to visitors as they caht literature This last consisted sometimes of volumes of the Fathers, but inal He would frequently read aloud extracts, translating froards the Arabic, he had Sale's translation at hand to help hie, but he was always a very proud man when he could find his way out of a difficulty without its aid
As the winter advanced he felt that it was desirable that he should have another medical opinion, so that, in the event of his further incapacity, the Synod at its approachingon the work of his chair On the 19th of February he was exaan, Webster, and GW Balfour, who certified that he was ”unfit for the discharge of any professional duty” After consulting his relatives, he decided to resign his Professorshi+p and the Principalshi+p of the College, and on the 23rd a letter inti this intention was drafted and despatched The coret, and a unani found expression that, at anyrate, he should retain the office of Principal This was echoed from every part of the United Presbyterian Church as soon as the news of his contenation becaiven to the public syard
On the 3rd of March he was able to preside at the annual conversazione of his students, when he was in such genial spirits, and seemed to be so well, that humorous references were nation as clearly unnecessary, and indeed preposterous On the following Saturday he travelled to Galashi+els to attend the funeral of his cousin John Murray, whose roo his first session at the University, and in his prayer at the funeral service he referred in touching ter to Edinburgh, he went to stay till Monday with an old friend, whose house afforded hihton Place Church next day
For although this church, which he had attended as a student, and of which he had been a h, was more than twoand convictions with regard to the Sabbath would never allow hi home next week he resumed his work of transcription, and went on with it till Thursday, when, after taking a short walk, he became so in the forenoon; but in the afternoon the illness returned, and he went to bed In the early hours of nextbeside hi, and summoned Mr and Mrs David Cairns, who had fortunately arrived the evening before His brother William, on account of his bodily infirmity, remained below The end was evidently near, but he was conscious at intervals, and his voice when he spoke was clear and firm ”You are very ill, John,” said his brother ”Oh no,” he replied, ”I feel ood hands?” ”Yes, in the best of hands” Then his an to wander, and he spoke ht, but the victory is sureGod in ChristGood men must unite and identify themselves with the cause” ”What cause?” asked his brother ”The cause of God,” he replied ”If they do so, the victory is sure; otherwise, all is confusionI have stated the matter; I leave it with you” Then, after a short pause, he suddenly said, ”You go first, I follow”
These eminently characteristic words were the last he spoke, and as David knelt and prayed at his bedside death came
The impression produced on the public mind by his life and character, and called into vivid consciousness by the news of his death, found memorable expression on his funeral day, Thursday 17th March It had been the original intention of his relatives that the funeral arrangements should be carried out as simply as possible, with a service in Rosehall Church, which was close at hand, for those who desired to attend it, and thereafter a quiet walk down to Echo Bank Cenes It was thought that this would be most in accordance with his characteristic hu fro refused to be satisfied with this idea, and the relatives gave way
The Synod Hall of the United Presbyterian Church, to which the coffin had been removed in the early part of the day, and which holds three thousand, was crowded to its utmost capacity The Moderator of Synod presided, and beside hiistrates and Council of the city, the Principal and Professors of the University, the Principal and Professors of the New College, and nitaries In the body of the hall were seated, row behind row, the members of the United Presbyterian Synod, who had come from all parts of the country, drawn by affection as well as veneration for hi with thee number of ministers of the other Scottish Churches, and representatives of public bodies The galleries were thronged with the general public The brief service was of that si kind hich Presbyterian Scotland is wont to commemorate her dead There was no funeral oration, and the prayers, which were led by Dr Macgregor, the Moderator of the Established Church General assembly, by Principal Rainy, and by Dr Andrew Thoave expression to the deep thankfulness felt by all present that such a life had been lived, and lived for so long, a them One incident created a deep impression After the coffin had been removed, the various representative bodies successively left the hall to take their places in the procession that was being marshalled without ”Wallace Green Church, Berwick” was called Then a great co that, after an absence of sixteen years, their old minister still retained his hold on the affections of the people a
Outside the hall the scenes were even more impressive, and were declared by those whose memories went back for half a century to have been unparalleled in Edinburgh since the funeral of Dr Chal the whole of the three miles between the Synod Hall and Echo Bank Ces were at half-mast, and all the shops were closed As the procession, which was itself fully a , the crohich lined the pavements, filled the s, and covered the tops of the arrested traates of the University were passed, not a few thought of the time,borne to his grave ae, cain within these walls the life of strenuous toil that had now closed How reat was the contrast between the two scenes! A little later, when the procession passed down the Dalkeith Road, everyone turned instinctively to the house in Spence Street, where he had lived his simple and Godly life, unconscious that the eyes of thening he was laid in his grave; and reat blank had come into their lives, and that Scotland and the Church were the poorer for the loss of him who had followed his Master in simplicity of heart and had counted cheap those honours which the world so greatly desires[22]
[Footnote 22: Six years later the sister who had so long lived with hirave William Cairns sleeps with his kindred in cockburnspath churchyard]
It is difficult to count up the gains and losses of a life He had great gifts,--gifts of abstract thinking and writing, powers of scholarly research and continuous labour,--but his life had followed another path determined by his early choice Was this choice a wise one? It is difficult to say But two things seeretted it At the public service in the Synod Hall, Principal Rainy gave thanks for ”those seventy-four years of happy life” These words are entirely true His life was an exceptionally happy one This surely reat deal If he had missed his true vocation, he could not have had this happiness
The second noticeable point is, that his choice hout Scotland He seeion of Christian faith and works, in the great common life of the Church; and so he made his appeal, not to the liical treatise which the changing fortunes of the battle with Unbelief ht soon have put out of date, but to the coe from all parts of the country on his funeral day was the response to this appeal, and the best answer to the question as to whether he had erred in the choice of a calling and wasted his powers Waste there undoubtedly was In every life this cannot but be so, for a h end, the renunciation will be blessed with soh the memory and the naenerations pass, his influence will live on in the Christian Church, to whose ideal of goodness he brought the contribution of his character