Seedtime in Kashmir : a memoir of William Jackson Elmslie / by his widow ; and his friend W. Burns Thomson.

Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Seedtime in Kashmir : a memoir of William Jackson Elmslie / by his widow ; and his friend W. Burns Thomson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    of imicli conflict, and Mr. Elmslie’s circumstances did not tend to make the doubts and temptations that usually encompass it easily borne. Sometimes, when he knelt to pray, troop after troop of doubts rushed in upon him, and made such assaults on his long cherished beliefs, that he gradually ceased to plead with God, and entered into regular mental warfare, becoming altogether unconscious of his kneeling posture. Recovering himself, he was shocked at his irreverence; tried to smooth himself down and feel solemn, but in the stillness a withering chill stole over him as if he were encircled by a boundless nothing. The “Eternal Silences” sent very cheerless re- sponses to the groans that burst from his burdened spirit, With keen powers of analysis, and a slight tendency to introspection, it will be believed that such battles were not infrequent. It is needless to ask, in surprise, “ But was he not a Christian?” Yes; but a far older and more ex- perienced Christian was so puzzled by the mysteries of Providence that he exclaimed, “ As for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had wellnigh slipped.” Mr. Elmslie’s feet were on the rock, but he staggered greatly notwithstanding. Through all his varied forms of trial, his mother stood by him to sustain and cheer; and when his philosophic perplexities went beyond her depth, she at least could sympathise and pray. He used to say “ that a mother’s sympathy, if she had a Mary's faith, was the greatest blessing a young man could possess when first installed into the mysteries of philosophy.” The mother and son had, all through, an unwavering conviction that God intended him for a higher form of service than