Note 24 — MY FATHER’S MEMOIR. A LETTER TO JOHN CAIRNS, D. D.

This tendency was curiously seen in his love of portraits, especially of men whose works he had and liked. He often put portraits into his books, and he seemed to enjoy this way of realizing their authors; and in exhibitions of pictures he was more taken up with what is usually and justly the most tiresome departments, the portraits, than with all else. He was not learned in engravings, and made no attempt at collecting them, so that the following list of portraits in his rooms shows his liking for the men much more than for the art which delineated them. Of course they by no means include all his friends, ancient and modern, but they all were his friends:— Robert Hall—Dr. Carey—Melancthon—Calvin—Pollok—Erasmus (very like “Uncle Ebenezer”)—John Knox—Dr. Waugh—John Milton (three all framed)—Dr. Dick—Dr. Hall—Luther (two)—Dr. Heugh—Dr. Mitchell—Dr. Balmer—Dr. Henderson—Dr. Wardlaw—Shakspeare (a small oil painting which he had since ever I remember)—Dugald Stewart—Dr. Innes—Dr. Smith, Biggar—the two Erskines and Mr. Fisher—Dr. John Taylor of Toronto—Dr. Chalmers—Mr. William Ellis—Rev. James Elles—J. B. Patterson—Vinet—Archibald M’Lean—Dr. John Erskine—Tholuck—John Pym—Gesenius—Professor Finlayson—Richard Baxter—Dr. Lawson—Dr. Peddie (two, and a copy of Joseph’s noble bust); and they were thus all about him for no other reason than that he liked to look at and think of them through their countenances. Return