So far as he was aware, John
Murchison was just a decent, prosperous, Christian man,
on whose word and will you might depend, and Mrs Murchison
a stirring, independent little woman, who could be very
good company when she felt inclined. As to their sons
and daughters, in so far as they were a credit, he was
as proud of them as their parents could possibly be,
regarding himself as in a much higher degree responsible
for the formation of their characters and the promise of
their talents. And indeed, since every one of them had
"sat under" Dr Drummond from the day he or she was capable
of sitting under anybody, Mr and Mrs Murchison would have
been the last to dispute this. It was not one of those
houses where a pastor could always be sure of leaving
some spiritual benefit behind; but then he came away
himself with a pleasant sense of nervous stimulus which
was apt to take his mind off the matter. It is not given
to all of us to receive or to extend the communion of
the saints; Mr and Mrs Murchison were indubitably of the
elect, but he was singularly close-mouthed about it, and
she had an extraordinary way of seeing the humorous
side--altogether it was paralysing, and the conversation
would wonderfully soon slip round to some robust secular
subject, public or domestic. I have mentioned Dr Drummond's
long upper lip; all sorts of racial virtues resided there,
but his mouth was also wide and much frequented by a
critical, humorous, philosophical smile which revealed
a view of life at once kindly and trenchant.
Pages:
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61