His visits to friends were times when he sought to do good to their souls; and never was he satisfied unless he could guide the conversation to bear upon the things of eternity. When he could not do so, he generally remained silent. And yet his demeanor was easy and pleasant to all, exhibiting at once meekness of faith and delicacy of feeling. There was in his character a high refinement that came out in poetry and true politeness; and there was something in his graces that reminded one of his own remark, when explaining _the spices_ of Song 4:16, when he said that "some believers were a garden that had fruit-trees, and so were useful; but we ought also to have _spices_, and so be attractive." Wishing to convey his grateful feelings to a fellow-laborer in Dundee, he sent him a Hebrew Bible, with these few lines prefixed:--
Anoint mine eyes, O holy dove! That I may prize This book of love.
Unstop mine ear, Made deaf by sin, That I may hear Thy voice within.
Break my hard heart, Jesus, my Lord; In the inmost part Hide thy sweet word.
It was on a similar occasion, in 1838, that he wrote the lines, _Thy word is a lamp unto my feet_. At another time, sitting under a shady tree, and casting his eye on the hospitable dwelling in which he found a pleasant retreat, his grateful feelings flowed out to his kind friend in the lines that follow:--