CHAPTER I.

BOYHOOD AND YOUTH.

Listen to the story of a man who loved Hindustan, and laboured night and day for the good of her sons. His was a life of toils and dangers, of cheerful work and brilliant success. In the list of heroes who have dared, and of gifted men who have done much, Dr. Duff may well find an honourable place.

In a farm-house near the middle of the land of Scotland, lived a pious couple of the name of Duff: to them was born a son whom they called Alexander. The couple were not rich in worldly wealth, but they had that which is better than gold, the fear and love of God. As their child grew old enough to understand stories, his father delighted to tell him of holy men of old, of martyrs who had died for the faith. He spoke to his little son also of lands far away, where dwelt boys who had never even heard of a Saviour. Alexander Duff lived to be a renowned man, honoured by nations, but he always remembered with reverence the pious father who had first, in a humble home, sown in his heart the seed which was to become a goodly tree.

In his boyhood young Duff had two remarkable dreams. Once he dreamed that the great day of judgment had come. He beheld the holy and terrible judge seated on great white throne, and millions upon millions of human beings appearing before him, to receive their final sentence. Some were condemned to everlasting punishment, some were granted eternal life. The heart of the dreamer was filled with terror. Little Duff knew not what his own fate might be, whether he would be sent to Heaven or Hell. The boy shook on his bed with terror, and when his turn for judgment came, trembling with fear awoke. Never was that solemn dream forgotten. It was as a voice from Heaven crying, "Repent ye, the Day of Judgment is at hand; prepare to meet your God!"

The other dream was less painful, but scarcely less striking than this. The Scotch boy lay by the banks of a stream, and there he fell asleep. He dreamed that he saw in the distance a light more bright than the sun. Presently from the midst of the great light came a magnificent chariot of gold, adorned with jewels, drawn by fiery horses. The exceeding glory on which he gazed filled the boy's soul with awe. The heavenly Chariot reached his side, and from it came a gentle voice which was not the voice of man, "Come up hither, I have work for thee to do." In trying to arise to obey the divine call the young dreamer awoke.

Alexander Duff told the dream to his parents, and many many years afterwards he told it again to his grandson, so deep was the impression which it had left on his mind. That dream was as a voice from heaven, "There is holy work, Oh! child, for thee to do in the future. The world is a great corn-field, God gives to thee a sickle, and bids thee go forth and reap."

Duff had not only dreams in boyhood, but he had also deliverances from danger to remember in after years. Once when he was lifting water out of a rushing stream, he fell in and was nearly drowned. At another time he and a companion lost their way at night in a dangerous place where there were deep bogs, and a lake into which had the wanderers fallen, they would have almost certainly perished. Bitter was the cold, and deep was the darkness. The poor boys struggled on and on, dreading to slip down some unseen precipice, or to fall into some deep water. They tried to cheer each other, but their voices grew faint, their strength was failing, they were obliged to sit down to rest. Then the poor children cried to God to save them. Suddenly, as if in answer to prayer, a bright light flashed before them. It disappeared almost instantly, but the gleam was enough. The boys sprung up from the snowy ground on which they were in danger of being frozen to death, ran forward, and stumbled against a garden wall. The light had been but the flare of a torch used by some men in night fishing, but it had been the means of drawing the boys towards a cottage where their shivering bodies were warmed and fed. From that cottage they could be safely guided to the home of Duff's father. Often, when he was a man, did Duff in times of trial and danger remember that sudden flash of light. He thought that the God who had sent it to guide the wandering lost boy, would never leave or forsake the afflicted man who cried to him in the darkness.

Duff went to school in the town of Perth, and was so diligent in his studies, that when he left Perth at the age of fifteen, he was the head scholar. He then studied at St. Andrew's college, and carried off prize after prize. Duff was strong in body and strong in mind, and of a brave and cheerful spirit. If he wrote an essay, people read it with admiration; if he made a speech, they listened with delight. He had unusual power to convince and persuade. There was an earnestness in the youth, which united with remarkable talent made his influence great, but we have no reason to think that this rendered him vain. As a friend, Duff was obliging and kind; as a companion, pleasant and cheerful.

On Sundays he gathered children around him to teach them such holy lessons as he himself had learned from his father. Duff was full of mirth, but he suffered no impure jest or oath to fall from his lips. The holy spirit of God had shed life into the young man's heart, and it was shown in his words and actions, as we may trace the course of a stream which we do not see by the bright verdure, the flowers, and fruits which grow on its banks.

Thus Duff's course as a college student was one of activity, cheerfulness and success. Can we doubt that his life in Scotland was a happy one? Dearly did he love his country, his family and his friends, and with such talents as his, he was likely to rise in the world. Why should Duff ever leave his beautiful country and those to whom he was dear? Yet Duff did leave all with a willing heart, he exchanged his pleasant studies for hard and toilsome work, he went thousands of miles from his father's home to dwell amongst strangers. Why he did this you will see in the following Chapter.

————————