Transcriber's notes: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.
New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the
public domain.
THE STORY OF DR. DUFF
BY
A. L. O. E.
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FIRST EDITION, 2,000 COPIES.
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[Illustration]
MADRAS:
THE CHRISTIAN VERNACULAR EDUCATION SOCIETY.
C. K. S. PRESS, VEPERY.
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1882.
1 _Anna._
CONTENTS.
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_Chap._
I. BOYHOOD AND YOUTH.
II. TAKING UP THE CLOAK.
III. PERILS OF THE DEEP.
IV. LANDED AT LAST.
V. BEGINNING WORK.
VI. FIRST-FRUITS.
VII. THE KOOLIN BRAHMIN.
VIII. A CONVERT'S STORY.
IX. DRIVEN HOME.
X. TUMULTS AND THREATS.
XI. GLIMPSES OF INNER LIFE.
XII. A HOLIDAY WITHOUT REST.
XIII. IN INDIA AGAIN.
XIV. GOLDEN SUNSET.
THE STORY OF DR. DUFF
BY
A. L. O. E.
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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.
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