gallery of the Tron Church, in near
proximity to Dr John Ritchie, of the Potterrow (whose thoughts were
already running in the same direction as those of his successors are
now), I listened to the thrilling eloquence of Chalmers, and the calm,
thoughtful utterances of Cook, and witnessed the first of those titanic
encounters between Cunningham and Robertson, which the pen of Hugh
Miller and the histories of the period have made classical. My next
glimpse of the Assembly was in 1843, when, from the students' gallery of
St Andrew's Church, beside my friend William Smith, afterwards of North
Leith, I witnessed that sad sight which was never to fade from our
memories, nor cease to influence the course of our thought and
action--the scene when Welsh, Chalmers, Gordon, and many more good and
devoted ministers, abandoning in despair the contest of ten years,
withdrew from the Church of their fathers, to rear another in which they
hoped to enjoy greater freedom and peace. My next view of the Assembly
was in 1848, when, along with Dr Tulloch, and two or three other college
friends, I took my place for the first time as a member of the House,
and when my old preceptor, then Professor of Church History in St Mary's
College, filled the chair. The Church at that time was but slowly
recovering from the staggering blow she had received in '43, and the
great Dr Robertson was shaping out the splendid scheme which was to
constitute her mission for the immediate future, and give to her the
consciousness and confidence of reviving life. There were plenty of aged
men there, whose lives had been honourably worn out in her service; a
goodly band of young men, with not a little of the ardour and enthusiasm
of youth; not a few of riper years, who, after weary waiting, had at
last been promoted to pastoral charges. But that class which is the
mainstay of a Church--the men who have attained to experience by years
of labour in her service, and are still able to bear the burden and
heat of the day--was more scantily represented."

The young minister, with so many conspicuous gifts and graces, was not
allowed to remain long in the quiet pastoral charge at Dunnichen, where
his ministry had been very acceptable; and in 1848--only one year after
his ordination, and when not more than twenty-six years of age--he was
appointed to the chair of Hebrew in St Mary's College, St Andrews,
through which he had so recently passed as a student. He has himself
tol