Such a record is all that
the vast majority of these persons deserve. They live for time, and they
live for themselves. In their characters none of the elements of an
enlarged and immortal benevolence exist. To the present state of being,
all their views and wishes are limited, and with the objects which
minister to their own gratification, they are almost entirely engrossed.
When they have finished their day, therefore, they have obtained, such as
it is, their reward. As while they lived, the world was nothing to them,
except as it conferred enjoyment; so when they die, they are nothing to
the world, which in their death has sustained no loss. The blanks which
such deaths occasion are quickly filled up. The candidates for the
pleasures and honours of the earth are innumerable: and they are generally
too busy in attending to themselves, to think much of their predecessors,
or to derive either warning or improvement from their fate.
It is admitted that the
lives of such persons will frequently supply a large portion of what is
called incident, which is too generally regarded as the principal charm of
biography. In proportion to the number of extraordinary events,
unlooked-for occurrences, and strange combinations, is supposed to be the
value of the memoirs or the life; while all the while the events
illustrate no principle, develop no specific class of causes, and furnish
little or no instruction to the reader. They appear as if they were stuck
upon the subject, instead of growing out of his character, and might, for
anything we can see, as well belong to a hundred other persons, as to the
hero of the story.
The life of the most
interesting person whom this world has produced, whose actions were
entirely directed to the affairs of the world, and whose training had
little bearing on the enjoyment and occupations of a better state, must be
of less importance than the life of the least individual in the kingdom of
heaven. In the former case, the results, as far as the person himself is
concerned, terminate with time; in the latter, they embrace eternity. Here
the germs of an immortal existence are planted; here the roots are struck,
of that tree of life which is destined to fill the celestial paradise with
its sweetest and most fragrant fruits; here the first elements of the
heavenly sciences are learned; and here commence those dispositions and
habits which shall grow to perfection in the courts of the Lord.
The writer of the following
pages has no romantic tale to tell; but he regards it as one of some
interest, or he would not tell it. It will be found to contain nothing of
the poetry or fiction of religion, which are so eagerly sought by the
sickly sentimentalists of the age. It records none of those splendid acts
of religious heroism, the external glory of which the men of the world are
sometimes disposed to admire, while they hate the principles which produce
them. His aim is to present a faithful, though he is conscious it is only
an imperfect, portrait, of one dear to himself by many recollections;
whose mind was cast in one of nature’s finest moulds, and highly polished,
not by art and man’s device only, but by the Spirit of the living God;
whose character rose to maturity more rapidly than that of any individual
he ever knew, and who lived as much in a short time, as most who have been
honoured to adorn the doctrine of the Redeemer. Should the simple story of
his short pilgrimage enforce on the minds of his youthful associates, the
importance of cultivating his virtues and following his example; and lead
others to examine the nature of that religion which was the object of such
devotion to a mind of no ordinary vigour and acuteness, great will be the
reward. In that case, it may at last appear that John Urquhart lived not
in vain; and that the time spent in recording his history has not been
unprofitably employed.
The subject of these
memoirs was born in the town of Perth, on the seventh of June, 1808. As
his parents are both alive, it would be indecorous to say much more than
that, professing the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, they felt the
importance of devoting their offspring to him, and, of bringing them up in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord. To his mother in particular he was
indebted for his earliest ideas and impressions; and of her tenderness and
attention to him, he retained, as will afterwards appear from his letters,
the liveliest and most grateful recollections.
From the extraordinary
quickness and precocity which distinguished him, more than usual
encouragement must have been presented to instil into his mind the
elements of knowledge and religion; and I have reason to believe that
advantage was duly taken of his docile and inquisitive disposition, to
direct his attention to the most interesting of all subjects. It is not
often that we can trace the impressions of childhood in the future habits
and character of the man. They are made during a period in which the mind
is inattentive to its own operations, and unconscious of the nature of the
process which it is undergoing. The effects remain after the cause which
produced them is forgotten. The writing upon the heart often becomes
legible, only when the hand which traced it is mouldering in the dust; and
the prayers which have been frequently breathed over the cradle of
infancy, sometimes do not appear to have been heard, till after prayer has
been exchanged for praise. These considerations, as well as the
appropriate promises of the word of God, ought to induce Christian parents
to commence their work of instruction with the first dawn of intelligence,
and not to be dispirited because they do not soon reap a visible harvest
of success. To this, as to other departments of service, the language of
inspiration is applicable: "In the morning, sow thy seed, and in
the evening, withhold not thy hand: for thou knowest not whether shall
prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good."
At five years of age he
went to school, and, from having a remarkably sweet and melodious voice,
soon became an object of interest as one of the finest readers among his
juvenile associates. Shortly after, also, he was sent to a Sabbath
evening-school, there to receive instruction of a more strictly religious
nature than can be communicated in the seminaries of every day
instruction. At this school he remained, I believe, with occasional
interruptions, till a short time before he went to the University.
My young friend 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 after he 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, as 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 a
respectable scholar, Mr. Dick, under whose care, and that of his
successor, Mr. Moncur, he remained four years. I have little to remark
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, which he made when he first entered St.
Andrew’s, of which notice will afterwards be taken.
I am not aware of all the
prizes which 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
everything with great facility, study was in general no labour to him. But
during the last part of his attendance on Mr. Moncur’s classes, he was
very diligent; as he frequently rose at four or five o’clock in the
morning, to prepare the lesson 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. It confirms my own statement, which was written
previously to receiving it. 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
singularly 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 AEneid. 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, necessarily commanded their love. You never heard him utter a
harsh or unbecoming expression; you never saw him break forth into violent
passion; you never had to reprove him for associating with bad companions,
nor for engaging in improper amusements. In every innocent pastime for
promoting the health, in every playful expedient for whetting the mental
powers, none more active than he: but in all the little brawls and
turmoils that usually agitate youthful associations, there was one whom
you might safely reckon upon not having any share. And yet, with all his
talents, and amiableness, and simplicity, I cannot venture positively to
affirm, that there appeared, at that time, anything like a decided
appearance of vital Christianity in the heart. One thing I can affirm,
that, in our daily and long-continued conversations, religious topics did
not form a considerable, or rather, any part of them. The love of
what was good, and abhorrence of what was evil, had been so habitually
inculcated from childhood, that the cherishing of these feelings might
seem to have acquired the strength of a constitutional tendency; and the
abandonment of them would have been like the violent breaking up of an
established habit; still at this very time, the hand of God might have
been silently, though efficaciously working. It is not for us to decide on
those secret things that belong to the Lord. But, at whatever period the
life of faith truly commenced, I believe it to be the fact, that his
progress in it was so gradual and imperceptible as to elude observation."
Being still too young to be
trusted alone at a University, and at a distance from his father’s house,
it became a question, how to dispose of his time for at least a year
longer. After consulting with other friends and myself, his father
determined on sending him to the Perth Academy for one session. Here,
under the instruction of Mr. Adam Anderson, [Late Professor of Natural
Philosophy, in the University of St. Andrew’s.] a gentleman well known for
his high scientific attainments, and Mr. Forbes, [Now Rev. Dr. Forbes, one
of the ministers of the Free Church, Glasgow.] now the successor of the
Rev. Dr. Gordon, in Hope Park Chapel, Edinburgh, he prosecuted those
studies in the mathematics, in natural philosophy, chemistry, and other
branches which have been long and successfully taught at that respectable
seminary. He received, at the end of the session, the first prize in the
second class; and another prize for the best constructed maps.
This last circumstance
induces me to mention that there was great neatness in everything which
was done by my young friend. He possessed the love of order and elegance
in a very remarkable degree. It appeared in the arrangement of his little
library, in the keeping of all his things, in attention to his person;
and, in short, in all that was capable of evincing the possession of a
mind perspicacious, well balanced, and sensitively alive to everything
ridiculous or offensive.
Hitherto no serious
impressions on his mind had become apparent. That he was not altogether
without them, appears from references made to this period of his history
at a future time. His constant association with religious people, the
preaching of the gospel which he regularly attended, in connection with
his peculiarly impressible mind, must have subjected him to occasional
convictions, which, though not permanent, prepared him in a measure for
the deep impressions which were afterwards made upon him. The death of Mr.
Moncur, the master of the Grammar school, under exceedingly painful
circumstances, appears also to have deeply affected him. But the time had
not yet come, when the full view of his own character, and of the grace
and power of the gospel, were to be experienced.
Few persons have been
placed in the same circumstances with young Urquhart, without feeling
certain religious emotions; though, alas, in a vast majority, those
feelings are subsequently entirely erased, or only remain in a very faint
and inefficient remembrance. Association with the world; the pursuits of
business or pleasure; or, what the Scriptures admirably denominate, "The
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life," cause many
a fair "blossom to go up as dust," and destroy hopes of the most
flattering nature. But when it pleases God to cause these early
convictions to take root, and ripen, the future life of the individual is
often remarkably blessed. His earliest and best years are devoted to the
enjoyment and service of Christ; if cut off soon, it must be matter of
rejoicing that his youth was given to God; if spared long, he has the
delightful privilege of obtaining a full reward.