in Aberdeen, over which his father had presided, but did not see his way clear to accept their invitation. In 1801, he was called to be one of the ministers of Greyfriars church, Glasgow, one of the oldest in the Secession body, and by its extent, its wealth, and its situation in the midst of a populous and enterprising city, is one of its most prominent and important stations. Among this people he laboured faithfully and diligently, growing every year in their affection and veneration. A short time after his settlement in Glasgow he published his "Lectures on select Portions of the Acts of the Apostles,' which have obtained a very extensive circulation, and which are declared by the best judges to be, "for soundness of view, richness of sentiment, lucid arrangement, and clear, forcible, and elegant diction, models for the exposition of the holy Scriptures."

In 1815, he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the college of Princeton, New Jersey.

The professorship of Systematic Divinity in the Seminary of the Secession Church having become vacant by the death of the venerable Dr. Lawson, in 1819, Dr. Dick was chosen to fill it. He at first would not consent to perform the duties of the professorship for a longer time than a single session; at the close of it, he yielded to the joint and urgent request of his pupils and his brethren in the ministry, to remain permanently in the office. Into this new office he entered, possessed of every qualification necessary to the discharge of its important duties, in a manner honourable to himself and useful to the church. He had a very humble opinion of his own attainments; and this, together with his extreme aversion to all parade, prevented strangers from becoming acquainted with their extent, except as it was discovered in the precision, soundness, and comprehensiveness of his general opinions and reflections. Of his acquaintance with theology, to teach which was the peculiar duty of his new office, this much can be said, that he had left no means untried to render his knowledge of it complete. To the study of that science he was devoted by love of its truths, by a sense of duty, and by an opinion which he carefully impressed on all around him, that it is peculiarly disgraceful in any man to be ignorant of his own profession. The holy Scriptures occupied every day a large share of his

(B)

attention; and to illuminate their pages he employed all the light he drew from other departments of knowledge.

The following character of him as a theologian is from the pen of one who knew him long and intimately well. "He was distinguished by the strictness with which he adhered to the great Protestant rule of making the Bible, in its plain meaning, the source of his religious creed, and the basis of his theological system. His distrust of reason, as a guide in religion, was deeply sincere, and never wavered; and so was his confidence in revelation; both were the result of inquiry: and the perfect reasonableness of his faith was in nothing more evident than in the limits which he set to it; for he had taken pains to ascertain the bounds of revelation, and within these he was as teachable as a child; to every thing beyond them, where we are left to our own resources, no one could apply the test of reason with more uncompromising boldness. When elected to the professorship, his powers of mind were in full vigour. Long and intense study, instead of impairing the strength of his intellect, or deranging its balance by an overconstant use of some one faculty to the neglect of the rest, had been a course of improving discipline to his whole mind. He retained the original force of his reasoning powers; even his imagination, which time might have been expected to cool or extinguish, seemed to be growing to the last in warmth, and acquiring new graces; and while he was in his closet, a singularly patient and laborious investigator, he elsewhere exhibited the playfulness, quickness, and occasional impetuosity in thinking and in speaking, which he had inherited from nature. The intellectual excellence for which he was chiefly remarkable was that of conceiving clearly; and when united, as in him, with acuteness and a sound judgment, must be peculiarly useful in theological investigation. Instinctively rejecting all obscure and dubious ideas, he either shunned entirely some departments of human research, in which the profoundest investigations can seldom reach clearness and certainty; or when he entered upon them, employed himself in ascertaining where inquiry ceased to satisfy, and in pointing out to others the limits of the human faculties. In this difficult task he was reckoned to have been eminently successful.

"Correspondent to the quality of his thoughts was the character of his language. By few words put together without effort, he could render thoughts luminous which many would have deemed worthy of pages of elaborate explanation: and perhaps his reputation was not so great with some, for reasons that ought to have increased it; for, as in the exposition of his ideas, he allowed to each its due space, and no more, those among them which were new or unusually valuable, having no undue prominences, did not catch the attention of some minds; and the transparency of his language made abstruse speculations so easily apprehensible, that frequently his hearers were not aware that he had brought them into the depths of divinity. To this we may add, that he had a peculiarly delicate perception of the want of clearness in the language of others; that though far from averse to the ornaments or the music of a fine style, he felt no pleasure in either if gained by the least sacrifice of that favourite quality; and that his taste in these matters having been early formed after the best models, continued steadfast through life to its first predilections, never for one moment permitting him to attempt in his own writings, or to admire in those of others, those novelties which gain from fashion a transient applause."

Such is the portrait of Dr. Dick as a theologian, drawn by one who knew him well; and having enjoyed the privilege of his acquaintance, and having listened to his instructions as a theological professor, we can testify that it is entirely correct.

As the plan of theological instruction in Great Britain, and particularly in the seminaries of Scotland, is not very generally known in this country, we here insert an account of the mode pursued by Dr. Dick in conducting his class. The whole course of study directly preparatory to the ministry, extends through a period of five years: Dr. Dick's instructions were confined to the students of the last three years.

The class met twice every day, except on Saturday, when it met only in the morning; and on Wednesday, when the students met in the character of a theological society. The usual business of the morning meeting was the hearing and criticising of discourses. Two of these were delivered by different individuals, which were criticised by the professor, after the students generally had expressed their opinions. This

opportunity which was afforded the students to criticise, was, it is said, at one time very eagerly embraced by them; but for several years before the death of Dr. Dick, though regularly offered, was uniformly rejected, on the ground that they had other opportunities of exercising more unrestrainedly their powers of criticism, and also because the opinion of the professor was felt to be the only one which the person whose production was criticised was concerned to know, and by which the character of the discourse was finally determined.

Those only who enjoyed the privilege of Dr. Dick's instructions can form any idea of the deference with which his remarks on such occasions were received. This was owing not only to the high estimation in which he was held by his students as a person of great taste and judgment, but also to the sterling honesty that characterized all his criticisms. He seemed to feel that he had a most solemn duty to perform, on the faithful and important discharge of which might depend much of the future usefulness of his pupils.

The second hour of meeting was occupied with the delivery of his theological lectures. Regularly once a week, and sometimes oftener, the students were examined on these lectures, and on the general subject of which they treated. Of the character of these lectures it is unnecessary here to speak, as the public is in possession of them; yet this much we may say, that though there was nothing in the manner of the professor at all striking, his lectures were listened to with the most profound attention. We never can forget the feelings with which we ourselves listened to parts of the nineteenth and twentyfourth, and the impression produced upon the audience by their delivery.

On Wednesday, as has been already noticed, the students met without the presence of the professors, and engaged in the discussion of some topic connected with their studies, and in the criticism of essays that were then read. The evenings of Friday were spent in social religious exercises, especially designed to cherish a spirit of brotherly affection and devotion to the missionary cause.

Dr. Dick was not more venerated by his students as a teacher, than loved as a man. He was in the habit of inviting all of them to his house, in separate parties, twice during each

session, and by this means, though the number of students was very large, cultivated an intimate personal acquaintance with them all. On these occasions he entered familiarly into conversation, and proved himself to be a most edifying and entertaining companion. Though he could not but have his partialities, he was never chargeable with favouritism; on the contrary, he endeavoured to become more or less acquainted with the history of all of them; and continued, after their removal from his superintendence, to watch their movements and rejoice in their success.

It may be proper here to state, that since his death very material alterations have been made in the plan of the theological seminary with which he was connected; the term of study has been somewhat increased, and there are now four distinct professorships established, instead of two as formerly.

He was a man of peace, and loved to promote it, especially in the church of Christ, where it ought eminently to dwell; and he therefore delighted to advance any measure calculated to remove the divisions that exist among Christians, and permanently to unite them into one happy family. Those who are familiar with the ecclesiastical history of Scotland are aware that the Secession body was at an early period divided into two hostile branches, and continued in that unhappy state until 1820, when a proposal was made for their reunion, which was very happily carried into execution. This measure met with Dr. Dick's most cordial approbation, and he was appointed a member of the committee that framed the "Basis of Union." This event appears to have exerted a most happy influence on the Scottish churches; for it not only has made two bodies who once opposed each other with no little bitterness, one, but has evidently created a desire and prepared the way for a still more extensive union of Christians in that country. At the present time, while the tendency of things in some portions of the American church seems to be to still greater division than what even now exists; in Scotland the tendency is quite of an opposite character.

In the controversy which arose a few years since in Britain in consequence of the circulation of the Apocrypha by the British and Foreign Bible Society, Dr. Dick took a somewhat prominent part. With many more, he was startled by the first (B)

VOL. I.-C