much time to their preparation; but always delivering the results of his investigations in terms so simple, and a style so lucid, that the most unlettered could understand him. Sciences, often the most forbidding, from the difficult terminology in which they are couched, when presented by him to an audience, lost all their repulsiveness, and the hearers were astonished to find, that what they had imagined to be so utterly abstruse, as to be beyond their comprehension, could be made so plain and simple. He delivered, during several years, a succession of temperance addresses, in which all the stores of his highly gifted, and richly furnished mind, were laid under tribute; and illustrations were drawn from every branch of learning, as well as from the objects of nature, and the occurrences of daily life, to give interest to the theme. Besides these, he delivered courses of lectures on Physiology, Botany, Optics, and the Currency, with many single lectures, of which the following may be taken as a specimen :-'A blade of grass,'-'A drop of water,'-'The bones,'—'The muscles,'"The architecture of the skull,'-'The Cholera,''Preservation of health and life at sea,'-"The poetry of the Bible,' &c.

It scarcely needs to be said, that these lectures were all delivered gratuitously. They were designed for the benefit of the working classes; and though for accuracy, beauty, and solid value, they

were fit for any audience, however gifted, yet Dr. Gordon was never ambitious of any other auditors than the poor. It was for them he chiefly laboured, under a conviction, that to refine their tastes, and instruct their minds, was a mode of rendering them the most solid and permanent benefit. In these addresses, he frequently expatiated with great interest, on the illustrations afforded in nature of a designing Creator, and on the evidences of his power, wisdom, and goodness.

As a speaker, he was distinguished for the clearness of his statements, the force of his reasoning, the chasteness and vigour of his language, and the manly elegance of his delivery. Every word was so aptly chosen, that no other could be substituted for it without injury; and all his sentences fell harmoniously on the ear. An elegant humour often pervaded his harangues, which tended considerably to enliven his audience; and when he exposed falsehood, vice, or oppression, which alone ruffled the placidity of his temper and roused his indignation, the withering keenness of his sarcasm was only equalled by the crushing weight of his denunciation.

Although, during the latter years of his life, he was continually brought into public notice, and perhaps took a more active part in all political questions, than most of his fellow-citizens; yet, as the character of this memoir is altogether religious, the

author deems no special reference to his political life to be necessary. The opinions of those who read this narrative may differ widely, respecting the course which he thought it his duty to take; and the author would deeply regret, that any word should escape him, by which the impression of the religious testimony borne by his beloved relative, should be weakened. He therefore feels, that any vindication of his political life, and even the expression of any opinion on it, would here be out of place. He merely wishes to insist on the purity of Dr. Gordon's motives, in whatever he did. He believed that the opinions he held were not only wise, on the ground of expediency, but that they were a carrying out of the sublime morality and lofty principles of the New Testament. He often illustrated his addresses by quotations from the sacred volume, and frequently said, with a glowing enthusiasm, that "some day the Bible would be the directory of legislators, and that then the principles he advocated would be triumphant." To that incomparable compendium of law, "Do unto others, as ye would they should do unto you ;" and to the command"Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you," he frequently referred, as containing the leading principles of his political creed. Whether his judgment in this matter is assented to by the reader or not, the fact remains, that his political life was regulated not by any mean and petty impulse of

faction and party, but by a sacred reverence to the highest of all truth and to the happiness of mankind at large.

Those who differed from him most entirely in sentiment, were compelled to admire the benevolence of his intentions, the sincerity of his convictions, and his disinterested avowal of whatever he believed to be truth. His benevolence made him political. He thought he saw that the lamentable condition of the working classes of this country, was owing to unjust legislation, and on this account he laboured so energetically to enlighten the public mind, and advance those reforms which he judged to be necessary, before any general and permanent improvement would take place. It was this made him so zealous an advocate of total abstinence. Though he was abundant in his acts of private benevolence, yet he saw that far more good would be done, by enabling the poor to help themselves, than by any acts of individual charity, and therefore he laboured to elevate their condition intellectually and morally. In this important work he spared no pains, grudged no time, and shrank from no sacrifice. Night after night he attended crowded meetings of the labouring classes, at which till a late hour, he toiled in imparting information, and cultivated a relish for intellectual enjoyments, in preference to the degrading pleasures of the dram shop; in instilling those ennobling principles of freedom and

independence, which might make them industrious, prudent and self-relying, and in cherishing that love of virtue and benevolence, which might preserve them from the evil influences of vice, rendering them happy in themselves, and the promoters of happiness in others. He often in these addresses referred to the Bible and religion in respectful terms; but, as will be seen in the latter part of this narrative, his great regret subsequently was, that he had not distinctly urged on his numerous hearers, the claims of the gospel, and its adaptation to bless in both worlds, all who cordially embrace it.

So uncompromising was his love of truth, that it never occurred to him, to inquire with reference to any principle or movement, "is it respectable," "is it likely to succeed," or "will it injure my worldly prospects?" His sole desire was to gain an answer to the inquiry, "Is it true." The course he thought it proper to take in public matters, was diametrically opposed to his professional interests. He saw the risk of losing, and to a great extent did lose, the patronage of those who were best able to remunerate his medical skill. Early associations, pleasant friendships, pecuniary advantages, all of which would have led him in a totally opposite direction, were to him as nothing, in comparison with truth. He refused to purchase any worldly good, and was unwilling to retain even the approval of those, in whose society he delighted, and whose friendship