Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 8.djvu/83

Rh his father, Robert, who, although only ten years old, was the eldest of the family, on the evening of the day of the funeral, quietly placed the books for family worship before his widowed mother, as he had wont to do before his departed parent when he was alive. She burst into tears at this touching remembrance of her bereavement, but was comforted by the considerate boy, who reminded her that God, who had taken away his father, would still be a Father to them, and would hear them—"and, mother," he added, "we must not go to bed to-night without worshipping him." Consolation so administered could not be otherwise than effectual: the psalm was sung, the chapter read, and the prayer offered up by the sorrowing widow in the midst of her orphans; and the practice was continued daily for years, until Robert was old enough to assume his proper place as his father's representative.

The studious temperament of Robert Balmer, which was manifested at an early period, appears to have been not a little influenced by his delicate health, that not only prevented him from joining in the more active sports of his young compeers, but promoted that thoughtfulness and sensibility by which sickly boyhood is frequently characterized. The same circumstance also pointed out to him his proper vocation; and he said, on discovering his inability even for the light work of the garden, "Mother, if I do not gain my bread by my head, I'll never do it with my hands." As to which of the learned professions he should select, the choice may be said to have been already made in consequence of his domestic training: he would be a minister of the gospel, and that, too, in the Secession Church to which his parents belonged. He proceeded to the study of Latin, first at the parish school of Morebattle, and afterwards that of Kelso, at the latter of which seminaries he formed a close acquaintanceship with his schoolfellow, Thomas Pringle, afterwards known as the author of "African Sketches," which was continued till death. In 1802 Mr. Balmer entered the University of Edinburgh, and, after passing through the usual course of classical, ethical, and scientific study, was enrolled as a student in theology in connection with the Associate Synod. Even already he had established for himself such a respectable intellectual reputation, that his young brethren in preparation for the ministry received him with more than ordinary welcome. As Dr. Lawson, the Theological Professor of the Associate Synod, lectured only for two months of each year, at the end of summer and commencement of autumn, Mr. Balmer, in common with several of his fellow-students, attended the regular course of theology during the winters at the university of Edinburgh. They thus availed themselves of the two-fold means of improvement which they possessed, without any compromise of their principles being exacted in return; and the fruits of this were manifest in after life, not only by the highly-superior attainments of many of the Secession ministry, but the liberal spirit and kindly feeling which they learned to cherish toward their brethren of the Established Church, and the affectionate intercourse that often continued between them to the end. This, however, alarmed some of the elder and more rigid brethren of the Synod: they thought that this liberality savoured of lukewarmness, and would in time prove a grievous snare; and, under the impression, an overture was introduced into the Synod, for the prevention of all such erratic courses in future. The students of Selkirk, who studied under Dr. Lawson, took the alarm at this threatened restriction, and the petition and remonstrance presented by them in vindication was drawn up by Mr. Balmer. Although some indignation was expressed at the students for the liberty they had thus