The Somerset reporter., 1890-05-08
.rn r1o,iisn rneologicaI stndents. began

dark small and rather deep set, penetrat-
ing eyes, one of which had an ohliquity,
the result of long continued exposure
while an infant i'll the cradle TO a light
from side window, but which did not
materially detract from his looks; his
nose and his mouth were finely shaped,
and his whole head nohly cast and COW
erred with II profuslon OF black curly
hair 1t Is related of him that when he
81. he called one day to see IA lady who
had ordered her maid servant to tell all
visitors she was engaged. The girl broke
in upon her in state of great excite
ment: Mem, there's Il wonderful grand
gentleman called. | couldnu say you
were engaged to him. | think he maun
be Highland chief. That Mr. Irv
ing exclaimed another person; that
DIR. Chalmers helper; / took him for Il
cavalry officer" 4 third told DIR. Chal-
mers himself that Irving looked like a
brigand chief. well, said Dir. Chal-
mers, "whatever they say, they never
think him like anything but "A leader of
men,"
lrving's strength, courage and pro-
iiciencv in athletics were also remark
able. While master of lIaddington
school he frequently walked with several
Of his scholars To Edinburgh and back
the same evening, distance Of thirty
live miles, to hear Dr. Chalmers preach.
At Kirkcaldy. two years later, his feats
If swimming were the admiration Of the
Deholders, and when on n pedestrian ex-
curson with IA comrade some tourists
once attempted to exclude the two from
the sitting room OF the inn where they
had ordered dinner he calmly threw open
the window. and turning to his compan-
ion, said: "Will you toss out or knock
DOWN. This remark with his powerful
appearance and determined expression
Immediately procured him his rights.
On another occasion he had escorted
some Indies to a public meeting, where a
bullying official attempted to force them
To fall back from where they stood. BE
quiet, sir, or | will annihilate you" said
Irving raising in his hand Il great stick
he carried. The crowd burst into laugh
ter, and lryin1's party was not further
disturbed. With all this he had great
tenderness of heart, and beautiful
story is told of him when he was preach
ing in London. 1t was In the open air,
and II great crowd surrounded him. A
child who had been lost was held up by
IA person who had found it, and who
wanted to know what he should do with
it. "Give me the child" said the preach
err, and it WAS passed along to him. He
stretched out his arms, and the little
waf nestled down upon his shoulder,
perfectly happy. He then. with the child
in this position, went on with his sermon,
weaving into it the familiar incident of
the Saviour's blessing of little children,
and at the end restored the lost one to its
parents Witnesses Of the incident say
that they could never think of it without
its bringing tears to their eyes. His pas
toral minstrations, both in Glasgow and
in London, were marked by the gentlest
sympathy with the poor and the suffer-
ing, and countless anecdotes are told Of
his generosity, his courtesy and his sue
cess in winning the hearts of those with
whom he came in contact.
Ill.
These physical and moral advantages,
Joined to that intellectual ability which
afterward rendered Irving SO distin-
guishcd, could not fail TO make pro-
found impression upon the sensitive, ro-
mantle and gifted girl who became his
pupil. Their hours of study were from
8 to in the isorning. and in winter,
when the young tutor arrived, it was
still dark. His charge, scarcely dressed,
would be peeping out of her room. and,
her up In his arms, Irving
would carry her to the door, to name to
-. s..5 s1:..s ss.a 5,...di1is IA tsit sky
When her regular lessons were over he
would go on and teach her logic. She
was soon dux in mathematics, became
familiar with Virgil, and was carried
away by the reading of the ASaed to
burn her doll on funeral pyre, like
Dido, dissolving into flood of tears as
she saw the last remnants of it blaze up
and vanish. 1t was the rule that her
tutor should leave daily report in writ
ing of her progress, and when the report
was bad she was punished. One day,
according to Mrs. Oliphant, he paused
long before putting his verdict on the
paper. The culprit sat at the table,
small, downcast, and conscious of fail
ure. Irving fingered remorsefully, wav-
ering between justice and compassion.
AT last, looking ut her pitifully, he said;
"Jane, my heart is broken, but ! must
tell the truth" and down went the
dreaded word.
This charming intercourse between the
youthful teacher and his precocious pupil
lasted two years. Irving was favorite
guest at DIR. Welsh's house, and won the
respect both of him and of
his wife. He also made many other
friends in the town, among them Gilbert
Burns, the poets brother, and DIR. Stew
art, Of Erskine. But Haddington was
small place, and when, in 1912, the offer
of the mastership Of newly established
academy at Kirkcaldy, eleven miles north
of Edinburgh, was made to him, he &C.
cepted it, and abandoned his little pupil,
Of the love which even then
had begun to bind their hearts together.
Irving's removal to Kirkcaldy led to
two important results. 1t was there that
lie became engaged to the young lady
whom he ultimately married, and there
he met Thomas Carly lie and began the in
timacy with him which lasted during the
remainder of his life. The parish minister
Of Kirkcaldy, the Rev. Mr.. Martin, had
several daughters, the eldest of whom,
Carlyle says, twas of bouncing,
frank, gay manners and talk, studious to
be amiable, but never quite satisfactor.
on the side of genuineness. Something
Of affected you feared always in these fine
spirits and smiling discourses, to which,
however, you answered with smiles. She
was very i'll looking withal; a skin al
ways under blotches and discolorment;
muddy gray eyes, which for their part
never laughed with the other features;
peck marked, i'll shapen, triangular kind
of face, with hollow cheeks and long chin;
decidedly unbeautiful as a young wo-
man." In spite 81 all this, Carlyle adds,
she managed to charm poor Irving, "hav-
ing perhaps the arena all to herself" and
he became engaged to her, little foresee-
ing the unhappy consequences of his
".
Irving remained at Kirkcaldy seven
years, during which period the little girl
he had taught at Haddington became q
woman. In 1878, when she was II, lie
met her again in Edinburgh, and then,
for the first time, he seems to have dis
covered the real state Of his heart. Mrs.
Mt avs of tlis inaetinc anna rantlx