ard that we had lost him, and almost invariably the same
three of his characteristics assume the uppermost place in my thought.
Different sides of his nature would appeal to different men: I can best
serve your purpose by mentioning those which made the deepest
impression on my own mind.

'One of the chief causes of your brother's influence was unquestionably
_his sense of the value of the individual_. He used to take men one by
one and make a separate study of each. The consequence was that he
_knew_ his men. On any given visit the acquaintance did not, as it
were, have to be begun over again. On the contrary, the acquaintance
once formed, some common ground already existed; for so great was your
brother's power of sympathy that, where at the first no such common
ground appeared to exist, he soon learnt to find a standing-place
himself on that assumed by the man he was seeking to know. And not
only did Mr. Robinson possess this power of valuing the individual, but
he also was able to inspire the objects of his influence with the
knowledge of his particular interest in them. Thus they soon dropped
the idea of acquaintanceship, and began to think of him as friend, and
there you have in a word the secret of his wide influence. He was
interested in _men_, but what he loved was a _man_.

'Mr. Robinson was no less marked off from the majority of men by the
stress which he laid upon the reality and power of prayer. We used
from time to time to have long talks together on this subject, so {195}
that I can speak with some little knowledge of the place which he
assigned it in his life. With characteristic modesty he not
infrequently distrusted himself in his active contact with men. His
very anxiety to help others towards the ideals by which his own life
was dominated led him to see the risk of placing hindrances in their
way by an injudicious intrusion into the secret places of their hearts.
Drawn in different directions, therefore, by his passionate desire to
win men for Christ and his cautious fear lest untimely words of his
should hinder rather than help, he found refuge in giving himself up to
earnest prayer on their behalf. And prayer to him meant more than a
light repetition of words. He used often, I believe, to spend as long
as half an hour at a time in seeking blessing for a single man. We
cannot doubt that, in the strong influence which he himself exerted
upon so many of those who knew him, such persiste