trongest points--of
the minister of the Free College Church. It is in the ecclesiastical
Forum that Dr. Buchanan is found most in his element; there, like Mark
Tapley, he comes out the stronger, the greater the pressure and
opposition brought to bear upon him. No man in the Free Church is more
completely "posted up" in all the questions that come before the
Assembly--no man is more entitled to rank in that body as the Rupert of
debate. In the Glasgow Presbytery he takes a leading part in the
discussion of all prominent questions; and no member is listened to with
greater attention. It is not too much to say that, although he may meet
with a foeman worthy of his steel in the General Assembly, he has not in
the more circumscribed sphere of the local Presbytery, a single rival
who is in any sense his match. The late Dr. Gibson was frequently
accustomed to tackle him, and perhaps he sometimes did so successfully;
but while the latter was undoubtedly an able debater, he lost ground
from his impetuosity of temper--an infirmity to which Dr. Buchanan never
gives way. In all circumstances he is cool, calculating, unruffled; he
measures the full meaning and effect of every sentence; he can be fierce
and withering, and still maintain a calm and composed demeanour. The
gladiatorial conflicts in which these two combatants took part were
often a source of rare amusement even outside the pale of the
Presbytery, and, inasmuch as they were both well fortified with weighty
and telling arguments, the spectacle was not always unedifying. On the
question of Union, as is well known, they took diametrically opposite
views. Many a passage of arms passed between them on this _questio
vexata_, while the younger and less athletic backers surrounded the
arena, waiting the shock with eager anticipation; for

"When Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war."

But the one has been taken and the other left; and no man, we believe
will be more ready to do justice to the memory of his deceased
fellow-_confrere_ than Dr. Buchanan himself.

We have specially mentioned the question of Union, because of late years
Dr. Buchanan has closely and completely identified himself with it, and
he is pledged to see it carried through. He has made eloquent and
effective speeches in favour of Union at almost every meeting of the
General Assembly held since it was brought on the _tapis_; and only last
year he opened the debate in an address that has seldom been