The Students attending the New College, Edinburgh, wish to record their admiration of the character, learning & talents of Mr William Robertson Smith, Hebrew Tutor. We respectfully state our conviction that he is fitted, in a very remarkable way, for such an appointment in the Free Church as that for which his name has been brought forward in the Presbyteries. Mr Smith came to Edinburgh with his literary and philosophical reputation already made; & at the New College, for nearly four years, he has not only greatly extended his attainments in those departments, but entered into Biblical and Theological studies with a success which has attracted the attention of many outside our College, & with an enthusiasm which has had the happiest influence in stimulating the interest & exertions of his fellow-students in all the subjects studied at the Hall.
On the ground of his almost unexampled acquirements, especially in the department of Hebrew and Old Testament Theology, his freshness & power of mind, and his straightforward, unassuming Christian character, we trust we shall not be thought presumptuous in expressing our very earnest desire that Mr Smith may succeed to the vacant chair of Hebrew in Aberdeen.
This desire is entertained by us all, but there are two classes of his fellow-students who can speak more particularly to his special qualifications.
1. Those of us who are Members of the Theological Society wish to record the fact that Mr Smith, ever since he became a Member, has been the very life of the discussions there; and to express our deep sense of the intellectual stimulus we have received from him, as well as of the high spiritual tone which has marked his connection with the Society. The papers and speeches of Mr Smith were so good — the outcome of an Ethical Standard far removed from Utilitarian or Materialistic tendencies, the fruits of such varied learning, intellectual strength, & ripeness of judgment, that our only regret has been the limited sphere of their immediate influence.
2. Those of us who are his class-fellows of the Fourth Year, with whom Mr Smith has been associated during his whole course at the Hall, desire most heartily to subscribe the above statements. This we do all the more confidently since he has been throughout the pride & ornament of our Class, & has endeared himself to us all by his high-toned and winning character. And now that he & we are entering the arena of life together, it is with the hope & prayer on our part, that Mr Smith, by obtaining early such a position in our beloved Church as that for which he has now been brought forward, may be secured for Scotland & Theology.
[Signed]
James J. G. Kippen. Benjamin Bell, M.A. William M. Falconer, M.A. Charles McNeil, M.A. Robert Paul. Andrew Galloway. David Brunton John M Allan. Duncan Maclean, M.A. Robert Ewen, M.A. James S. McDonald. Hugh Ross. Donald MacGregor. Thomas Siddie, M.A. George H. Stuart Campbell, B.A. J. Bentley Reid. Norman H. Mackay. William Brander, M.A. Hugh Rose, M.A. Patrick W. Whyte, B.A. Moses Meeke, M.A. Robt. M. Thornton, B.A. Francis Nagy. B. R. Allander, LLD & PhD. John Lyle. C. Michelin, Lic. Theol. W. Colvin, B.A. Samuel Donaldson Paul Berthond, Lic. Theol. John Vaña E. Creux, Lic. Theol. J. M. Russel, M.A. D. B. Sturrock. Robert Sanders, M.A. J. Dempster Munro. Wm Ainslie Walton, M.A. J. B. Thorburn, M.A. George Charles, M.A. John Bowie, M.A. Alexander Marshall, M.A. Alex. MacRae, M.A. Stephen Robt Hislop. Robert Ross, M.A. John Wilson John Irving, M.A. William Jeffrey. Robert McIntosh. J. A. Kerr Bain, M.A. Gavin Anderson, M.A. William Ross. Murdo Morison. Alexander Brown, M.A. Patrick McG. Macleod. George Wilson, B.A. |
Wm D. Glendinning. James Skinner, M.A. D. A. Anderson, M.A. A. H. McDowall, M.A. David Shearer, M.A. William Keith, M.A. A. Harper, B.A. David Patrick, M.A. John C. Connell. J. A. Fletcher. John L. Craig, M.A. Duncan Finlayson. Donald Taylor. Wm Sutherland, M.A. James Matthew, M.A. John Howie Boyd, M.A. Andrew Thom, M.A. Donald Sutherland, M.A. A. C. Macdiarmid, M.A. Jno. E. Fraser. W. Whyte Smith, M.A. J. Robinson. John Stalker, M.A. Alex. Brims, M.A. Alexander Lee. R. O. Gardner, M.A. Robt. Gordon, M.A. Malcolm McPhail. Alexander McKay. William Ross, M.A. John M. Sutherland, M.A. Andrew Hardie. Charles Falconer. Robert B. Torry. Alex. M. Ramsey. James Maltman. Henry G. Shepherd, M.A. Donald Mowat, M.A. John Auld. Donald R. C. Maclagan. A. Gillon Macalpine. James Galloway. John Owen Jones. A. Mackintosh. Stuart Brown. Peter Yule. Andrew McQueen, M.A. George Hay. William Fraser. Murdoch Macqueen. John Marshall, M.A. William Strachan. John K. Inglis. James Wilson. James Cooper. |
[1] CUL ADD 7449 D no ref. no., MS, There are 109 signatories in all to the (undated) testimonial.