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sign. There is too much of aristocratic feeling in religion and its operations, as well as in other things. 1 need not say, that the religion of Jesus knows nothing of it. According to its statements, all are involved in one condemnation; for all it provides the same remedy; all are made subject to one common rule; and all are invited to imitate the glorious example of Him who, though Lord of all worlds, I came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."

There is one thing more to which I beg to advert. The conducting of these seminaries is not left entirely to the young persons of the congregation. Others, persons of influence and of standing in the church and the world, engage in them, and thus do good by their example as well as by their experience. Can any good reason be assigned why this should not be more generally the case in England? Is the business of religious instruction so easy that any young person, inclined to take the trouble, is sufficiently qualified for the employment? Is it too mean for the more influential persons of a congregation to undertake it? Or is it declined because it is conducted during those hours which belong to public worship, or which ought to be devoted to the family? I suspect that in many instances the last reason prevails; though I am far from doubting that the two former have a more general and more powerful influence than they ought. In consequence, too, of the secular nature of part of the employment, the qualifications of a

teacher naturally come to be rated too low, and the duties are thus too often devolved on persons who, in regard to the best things, would still require to be themselves under instruction.

The remarks which I have now ventured to make are too important in their bearings on the extensive and valuable system to which they relate, to require any apology for the apparent departure from the strict line of the narrative. Should they excite a little attention to the causes of success or failure in the management of these institutions, my end will be gained. My young friend, well as his biographer, was indebted to Sabbath school instruction, in a degree which cannot be fully ascertained or known in this world. There his mind was richly stored with divine truth, the full benefit of which did not appear at the time, but afterwards, in the rapidity with which he grew in knowledge when he had felt the full power of the gospel. There those principles were implanted and strengthened which tended to preserve him when he was exposed, an unguarded boy, to the imminent temptations of a university. There those moral feelings were first touched which, in due time, arrived at that degree of sensitiveness, to be incapable of bearing what was evil; and of relishing, in the most exquisite manner, all that was lovely, and pure, and excellent.

From the English school he passed in his ninth year, into the Grammar School, then conducted by that respectable scholar, Mr. Dick, under whose care and that of his successor, Mr. Moncur, he

I have little to remark

remained four years. during this period of his life: but that he made distinguished progress in acquaintance with the classics is evident from the prizes which he obtained, and from the appearance he made when he first entered St. Andrew's, of which notice will be taken.

I am not aware of all the prizes that he gained during the time of his attending the Grammar School; but, in 1820, he obtained the second prize at the fourth class; and in the following year, the last of his attendance, the second prize at the first class.

When it is remembered that he was only thirteen years of age when he left school, it will not appear surprising, notwithstanding his future eminence, that I have nothing of sufficient importance to mention during this period of his life. He was remarkably lively and good tempered, when a boy; and enjoyed, I believe, the general good-will and affection of his school-fellows. As he acquired every thing with great facility, study was commonly no labour to him. But during the last part of his attendance on Mr. Moncur's classes, he became very diligent; frequently rising at four or five o'clock in the morning, to prepare the lessons for the day. I forget how many books of Virgil he professed, besides other things, at the last examination; but I know the number was considerable. Though the ardour, or rather enthusiasm, of Mr. Moncur in inspiring his pupils with the loftiest ambition of classical eminence was extraordinary,

and the effects of it on the students, wonderful, John acquitted himself so well that he carried off the second prize. The best account I can give of his progress and of the esteem in which he was held by those who knew him at this time, has been furnished me by his intimate friend, Mr. Alexander Duff, who was his associate in study for several years in Perth, and during all the time he spent at St. Andrew's. Mr. Duff confirms my own statement, which was written previously to receiving his. He writes me as follows:-

"I first became acquainted with John Urquhart in the year 1820, at the Grammar School of Perth. Early in the year 1821 I entered into habits of the most intimate friendship with him, and scarcely a day passed without our being in each other's company for several hours, till the vacation of the school in the end of July. We generally prepared our lessons together; and thus I had full opportunity of marking the dawn of that intellectual superiority which he afterwards exhibited. With almost intuitive perception could he discern the truth of many a proposition, which to an ordinary mind, is the result of painful and laborious investigation. And finely could he discriminate between the truth and falsehood of many a statement which was embellished with all the alluring drapery of a poet's fancy. With singular acuteness could he estimate the real weight and value of an argument and with an ease and readiness, far beyond ordinary, could he unravel the intricacies

and discover the true meaning of a difficult and disputed passage in the classics. The ingenuity of some of his conjectures regarding the import of a sentence and the derivation of certain words, was, I distinctly remember, highly applauded by his teacher. With a mind thus richly endowed by nature, he prosecuted his classical studies with the greatest fervour and perseverance; and though far inferior to the majority of his class-fellows in years, he uniformly appeared among the foremost in the race of distinction. During the summer of 1821 he was gularly active. For the most part, he rose every morning between three and four o'clock, and directly issued forth to enjoy its sweets. And should you at any time, during the course of the morning, cast your eyes along that beautiful extensive green, the North Inch of Perth, you could not fail to observe, in the distance, this interesting youth moving along the surface like a shadow wholly unbound to it;-sometimes in the attitude of deepest meditation; and sometimes perusing the strains of the Mantuan bard, which afforded him peculiar pleasure. Some of the fruits of these early perambulations, when most of his school-mates were enjoying the slumbers of repose, appeared in his having committed entirely to memory four of the largest books of the Eneid. He was highly esteemed by all who attended the school. For while his superior intellectual attainments commanded their admiration, that amiable simplicity and guileless innocence which formed such predominating features in his character,