Chapter IV: Medical Student Life in Edinburgh

It seems becoming to give a brief notice of the society from which Mr. Elmslie got temporary assistance, or rather to permit the society to say a few words for itself. It began in November 1841. Its objects are thus stated: "The objects of the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society shall be to circulate information on the subject of medical missions, to aid other institutions engaged in the same work, and to render assistance at missionary stations to as many professional agents as the funds placed at its disposal shall admit of." After existing for twenty years it thus reports itself: "The Society has now entered upon the twentieth year of its existence. The retrospect is at once humbling and encouraging. Humbling in respect of the small extent to which the objects contemplated have been carried out, and of the imperfections of the machinery now in operation; encouraging, because the principle for which the society had at its formation to contend, has now been generally acknowledged by the friends of missions as a sound one."

The year before Mr. Elmslie came to Edinburgh, this society was amalgamated with another and independent Medical Missionary Society, which, though young in years, gave strong evidence of vitality. The two societies being "germane in their objects," they became one, and after the union, the following prospectus was issued, bearing the imprimatur of the whole directorate:–

"The object of the Society is to promote the propagation of the gospel amongst heathen and other unenlightened people, through the agency of well-qualified medical practitioners, who are either partially supported, or aided by grants of medicines, books, and instruments.

"The society aids and directs the education of promising young men who resolve to devote themselves to medical missionary service.

"It provides for the half of the salary of a medical missionary at Madras, whose labours, extended over four years, have been greatly blessed–5760 persons having received aid last year. This mission deals with a portion of the heathen population of Madras, beyond the direct influence of any other missionary agency.

"The society maintains a dispensary in the Cowgate of Edinburgh, in which religious instruction is combined with medical treatment. During last year this dispensary administered medical aid to 5332 patients, all of whom had the Word of Life set before them. A well-qualified superintendent, with assistants, takes charge of the dispensary, which supplies an admirable training school for the society's students. The attendance at the prayer-meetings, held for persons in their working-clothes, is very encouraging. There are not wanting proofs of these means having been blessed to the awakening and conversion of souls.

"The society organises monthly meetings for the benefit of the medical students attending the Colleges in Edinburgh, who are addressed on various subjects, more or less illustrative of the principles and progress of Christian Missions." Reminding our readers that this refers to the state of matters some twelve years ago, we return to Mr. Elmslie.

The mission work of the dispensary he enjoyed greatly; but only a little of it was permitted to him, or to any of the students, lest they should be diverted from their medical studies. In all mission dispensaries it is the practice, when the patients have assembled, to hold a short religious service with them, which affords an excellent opportunity for commending Christ. It fell to Mr. Elmslie to conduct this service once a week, and it was quite a refreshment to himself to do so; but he was not effective as a speaker on such occasions. There was a monotony in his delivery that disposed to drowsiness, and a want of point and power that surprised those who knew his logical cast of mind, and his varied stores of information. But in another part of the work he was quite an adept. The superintendent, distressed at witnessing large numbers of neglected youths lounging idle about the district where he laboured, resolved to do something for their spiritual benefit, and Mr. Elmslie joyfully assisted. The lads were frightfully wild. On the Sabbath evenings especially, work being suspended, they gathered in the neighbourhood in large and numerous groups. "It was _impossible_ to be indifferent to their presence. Their noisy demonstrations _compelled_ attention; and though we might contrive to pass them, utterly regardless of the interest of their souls, we were obliged to be most considerately mindful of the interest of our own '_shins_.' It was not safe to go near them, for they were continually fighting, and wrestling, and plunging about in the most alarming fashion." Fourteen of these lads sat down to tea with Mr. Elmslie every Sabbath night in one of the rooms of the dispensary, and this attractive opening service was followed by a Bible lesson. At first they were inclined to be troublesome, but the quiet firmness with which he grasped the reins made the most reckless feel that opposition was hopeless. His mastery over them was complete; and without any visiting efforts on his part, the attendance was wonderfully regular. Several of his pupils were at least outwardly reformed; and one, it is hoped, got real spiritual blessing. He gave up his evil practices, attended to his business, began to go to church, and became a respectable tradesman. Dropping in at the close of Mr. Elmslie's meeting, as the writer often did, it was a touching sight to witness the band of lawless outcasts kneeling reverently around him, whilst he poured out the deep yearnings of his heart on their behalf to Him who came to seek and to save the lost.

In the household visitation of his patients, Mr. Elmslie soon became a great favourite. He had suffered, being tried, and was therefore able to sympathise with those in trial. Young as he was, he could to some extent use the language of the apostle, "That we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." He was welcomed amongst the poor not merely as a doctor, but as a friend. The children clung to him, and he had many pets amongst them who amused and refreshed him. "I am very sorry, indeed," he writes of one of these, "to learn that wee Sandy has been taken away from you. He was a great pet of mine, and I think the wee man liked the doctor. I trust Sandy is singing to-day in heaven, not 'There is a happy land, _far, far away_;' but _this is_ the happy land. I do sympathise with you and Mrs. –– very sincerely, but what is in heaven is certainly not lost. Heaven has now a greater hold upon you, and if Sandy's going away helps to make you think more of Jesus, and to desire and strive to live a godly life, then wee Sandy will not have lived and died in vain."

Mr. Elmslie was usually so wide-awake, that it was not often he was found off his guard. But in the course of this session he was fairly caught _napping_. The incident is trifling, but it shows how a good and diligent student may get into an awkward predicament through mere thoughtlessness. Mr. David Young and he were grinding in one of the empty rooms of the college. They were overheard discussing a knotty question, when –– laid his hand on Mr. Young's shoulder, and said, "If you will both promise to be _good boys_, I think I can help you in 'grinding' up that difficult bit." "How?" was at once the inquiry. "Dr. –– has a splendid preparation, and I'm sure he won't object to _diligent_ students seeing it sometimes." (Rather generous, to be obliging with another man's goods!) Next day they were duly introduced into Dr. ––'s sanctum, and the magnificent preparation placed before them. Their friend then withdrew, and they fastened the door on the inside. It was a golden opportunity; but "we had not done much," says Mr. Young, "when a sharp footstep came along the passage towards us. We instinctively held our breath, and looked at each other. The surprise deepened when a key was hastily thrust into the door of our sanctum, but being snibbed, it could not be opened, and Dr. –– went along the passage calling loudly for our obliging friend, who found it _necessary_ to be engaged elsewhere at that moment, and did not appear. Meanwhile I rose and unfastened the door, and Dr. –– soon returning, entered and found us sitting before his model. He held up both his hands, and exclaimed, "What is this? My almost priceless preparation, which I would not allow my most intimate friend to touch!" By this time the culprits were standing; and, after a becoming pause, Elmslie began to sing _Miserere_, but was cut short at once. "That will do, gentlemen; you may go." They crept out in the meekest attitude possible, and certain uneasy misgivings regarding the propriety of their conduct, suggested some anxious glances behind them during their departure.

The time for his final examination in Aberdeen, in the spring of 1863, drew near, and the hopes and fears that usually agitate students on such an occasion, Mr. Elmslie felt with peculiar force. He knew that the stand he made at the rectorial election had not gained favour for him in the senate; and he feared his coming to attend medical classes in Edinburgh might not be relished by the medical faculty; and therefore, during the whole session, he had studied earnestly. "I never," he said, "studied harder in my life." He did so because he wished to maintain his reputation as a student. How natural, also, that he should desire to see the end of his severe struggle, not to support himself merely, but his little household; and, besides, he longed to be free to go forth, without let or hindrance, to the blessed work of winning souls. Knowing how much depended on this, his last appearance, he says, in another letter, "I studied with might and main." He went in to his examination; he did his best; he thought he had done well, but, to his inexpressible astonishment and grief, he was "_plucked_,"–an ugly word, but it is the term we students best understand; it comes closest home to our consciousness, and carries in it the concentrated essence of all that is undesirable in our student life;–_plucked_ in Aberdeen in the two subjects which unhappily he had not studied there; rejected in Aberdeen in midwifery, for which, during the session, he won Sir J. Y. Simpson's diploma, and a certificate of merit to boot; rejected in Aberdeen on medical jurisprudence, for which, in Edinburgh, by fair competition, he carried off the _gold medal_. It is not our province to comment, and we studiously abstain from it; it is ours simply to chronicle; but a single word of sympathy from a personal friend of Elmslie's may not be out of place:–"Dear Elmslie," writes Professor Miller, "I sympathise with you most keenly in your heavy trial.... 'God defend the right,' was a stout and good old battle-cry, and He will." Mr. Elmslie returned to Edinburgh.

On rejoining us in the dispensary, there was much prayer for divine guidance, for it was a time of great perplexity. He was strongly urged to go back to Aberdeen, and take his degree in July. This, it was truly said, was the easiest course, so far as work was concerned. It was certainly the _cheapest_, and that was a consideration he could well appreciate. For a time he felt the sore pangs of suspense as to the path of duty; but the more he thought over it, the more evident it became, that were he to go back to Aberdeen, so shortly after being publicly rejected, it would appear that he was getting his qualification as a _favour_, and not as a _right_, and that all through life a certain suspiciousness or doubtfulness would attach to his degree,–and therefore to his professional standing,–seeing it was so immediately preceded by a "_plucking_." He could not return to Aberdeen. The following short note to his mother, which is the first he wrote after his rejection, shows the quarter in which he sought support and guidance:–"_M. M. Dispensary, 16th May 1863_.–DEAREST MOTHER,–I was delighted to get your cheering note, and very glad to hear that you feel comforted in mind, though very lonely. Let us cling close to Jesus, let us draw out of His fulness, and never forget that He cares for us,–for you, and for Stewart, and me–infinitely more than for the flowers which are looking so lovely just now. We may look upon ourselves as belonging truly to Him. May we not, dear mother? Then let us believe that all things will be made to work together for good for us,–even this, sore trial though at present it seems. May God bless and comfort you by His Spirit, dear mother.–Your affectionate son, WILLIAM."

When it was finally determined that he should take an extra year of study and graduate in Edinburgh, he withdrew as soon as possible from all official connection with the dispensary, and took lodgings in Brown Street; borrowing money from private friends to enable him to meet the responsibilities so unexpectedly thrown upon him. This was, to Mr. Elmslie, perhaps the hardest winter of his life. There was no difficulty, it is true, in finding those who were willing enough to lend to him, but a man must borrow with great hesitation and consideration, who honestly intends to repay, as Mr. Elmslie did; and, besides, one of an independent spirit is the less inclined to borrow the greater his need. Then Mr. Elmslie's mother was feeling so much her loneliness, through his continued absence from home, that he strove to the utmost that _she_ should be comfortable, whatever might become of himself. Friends could not fail to notice that it was to him a season of serious self-denial, and once and again, with the view of moderating the severity of the pressure upon him, found means to convey help to him without letting him know whence it came. These love tokens were accompanied with the single sentence, "Your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things." Soon after the packets reached their destination, he ran along to us to ask us to help him to give God thanks.

Before settling down to the hard study of the winter, he cleared off his first professional examination in the University at Edinburgh, and sent his mother the following account of the appearance he made:–_"6 Brown Street, Edinburgh, Nov. 4, 1863._ MY EVER DEAR MOTHER,–Bless the Lord with me for His great goodness to me! I have passed (my first professional) at the University of Edinburgh, and more than passed, for the professors passed high encomiums on the excellence of my papers. Prof. Balfour was so satisfied with my paper on botany, that he merely showed me some microscopic preparations, and asked me to name them. Prof. Playfair said my paper on chemistry was so good, that he did not intend to put a single question more. On learning that I had been a pupil of Prof. Brazier's, he said I reflected great credit on my former teacher. Oh, mother, these were little words, but how sweet they were to me! In my heart, all the time I listened to them, I was blessing God for having given me power to write such papers, and thus to corroborate all that had been said in favour of my character as a student. The paper on natural history was without one error, and Prof. Allman, in my _viva voce_, was fully satisfied with my answers. How thankful I am and ought to be. I don't think I ever studied so hard as during the past five weeks. The subjects to which I had to devote my attention were extensive, and I knew that much depended on my success. The thought of that nerved me. I prayed constantly and earnestly that the Lord would bless my efforts, and He has! ... Please let me have dear Stewart's letter, that I may write him a long answer.... My communion last Sabbath was not so happy as I could have wished; my mind was too exhausted for full enjoyment, but I was enabled to feel myself a sinner, and once more to take Jesus to be my Saviour."

Few could say more truthfully than Mr. Elmslie that he prayed "constantly and earnestly." This session, especially, when labouring to redeem his character as a student from the slur cast upon it by his rejection, he seemed to feel the need of constant waiting upon God. He prayed as much as if study were of little use; he studied as hard as if to pray were vain. He furnished a good illustration of "Praying and Working." This winter he became secretary to the "Medical Student's Devotional Society," and did what he could to promote its interests. There was something touching in Mr. Elmslie's _manner_ in prayer. He spoke in his natural voice, without a trace of the artificial in its tone. His sentences were short and very simple, which gave a child-like character to his supplications; and it was encouraging to note the _confidingness_ with which, in humbleness of spirit, he made known his wants to his Father in heaven.

The following short letter to his mother notes the progress of his studies:–"_6 Brown Street, 29th February, 1864._ MY DEAREST MOTHER,–Your last note was very cheering to me. The same post brought me one from Stewart, telling of his safe arrival at his ship, for which I join you in thanking our Heavenly Father. I continue to feel less nervous, and am able to study very hard. God will bless those strenuous efforts, and, as you say truly, dear mother, the time will soon slip away, and we shall see each other again. Take great care of yourself till then, dear mother. My examinations take place early in April, but I don't intend, at present at least, to appear again in Aberdeen till I am doctor of medicine from the university; that can not be till the 1st August. Dr. Candlish is to deliver the first of his course of lectures on the Fatherhood of God to-morrow, and a great treat I expect it to be. We have lost Mr. Dykes; you will be sorry to hear his health has obliged him to leave St. George's, where his preaching was so much appreciated,–and he has gone to rest in Italy for the present. God bless and comfort you with the precious consolations of His Spirit!–Dear mother, your loving son, WILLIAM."

One subject for prayer which was never omitted was _guidance_ as to his future sphere of labour. Only two of the places brought under his notice require mention–Bombay and Kashmir. Friends interested in the extension of medical missions were exerting themselves to raise £2000, to guarantee a fair start to a medical mission in Bombay; but, till the sum should be completed, even those who looked upon Elmslie as the very man for the sphere, and longed to possess him, had not faith to enter into a definite agreement with him. Gladly would Mr. Elmslie have gone to Bombay, for he considered it one of the most important heathen centres in India, where there was full scope for the exercise of all the gifts and graces wherewith God had blessed him. He more than once spoke of the _unbelief_ that shrunk from fixing him, when the hand of God was so manifest in all the antecedent movements connected with that mission. Kashmir was under his notice for a considerable time. This was also a new mission.

"It was in the year 1862," says the Rev. Mr. Clark, "that the Kashmir Mission was commenced by an address which was sent to the Church Missionary Society, signed by most of the great and good men who then held in their hands the government of the Punjaub. They knew that the best means of benefitting Kashmir was the gift of God's Word, and the exemplification of Christian charity. Kashmir, from the earliest times, had been an outlying province of the Punjaub, and had been made over by us to the present reigning family not twenty years before; and Christian people desired to place within reach of the people in Kashmir the same blessings which they had endeavoured to give to the Punjaub. It was during a journey on the mountain-road between Murree and Abbottabad, that the idea first occurred to _Dr. Cleghorn_, that Kashmir was one of those countries where the influence of medical skill would greatly avail to aid the introduction of Christ's gospel."

The "Church Missionary Society's Committee of Correspondence, April 5, 1864, resolved–That, adverting to the Christian zeal and extraordinary liberality of the friends of the Society in the Punjaub towards the establishment of the Kashmir Mission, and their judgment of the importance to its success of a medical missionary, this Committee will make the present case an exception to their general practice, and will be willing to enter into communication with Mr. Elmslie, with a view to his appointment to the Kashmir Mission, provided that he is prepared cordially to act upon the missionary principles of the Society." The movement in this country was promoted by Professor Balfour, Dr. Coldstream, and the Rev. G. D. Cullen, all of whom took a kind interest in Mr. Elmslie, and the result was, that he was appointed for five years a _lay_ agent of the Church Missionary Society, and hence his Presbyterianism was not much of a difficulty. But there was a permanent drawback connected with the mission in Kashmir: "He seems," writes Dr. Coldstream "to be somewhat staggered by the rajah's law of exclusion from his possessions for six months of each year; but I have encouraged him to believe, that it may be quite possible for him to find abundance of occupation during that period of exclusion, in territory under British rule or protection."

"I can bear testimony," continues the worthy doctor, "very fully and with confidence, in favour of Mr. Elmslie, as having apparently all the gifts and graces which one desires to see conjoined in a medical missionary."

His medical examinations in Edinburgh, at the College of Surgeons and University, were duly passed with credit (he did "splendidly," he wrote to his mother), and he was capped in August 1864, and there was therefore now no ambiguity circling round his professional Status. Instead of writing to his much-loved mother, he rushed home to enjoy her company during the few weeks he could now afford before sailing for India. The following passage from a letter to Mrs. Coldstream shows the direction of his thoughts at this time:–

"_27 Blackfriars Street, Aberdeen_, _31st August 1864_.–It does greatly gladden my heart to know that you have been making me and my future labours the subject of earnest supplication at the throne of grace. I very much need your urgent petitions in my behalf, for although I have used my prayerful endeavour all along to have myself qualified for the special work to which, I trust, I have been called; nevertheless, when I get but a dim glimpse of the numerous and heavy responsibilities and great difficulties of my future position, as a labourer for Jesus among the benighted heathen, the irresistible exclamation of my heart is, Who is sufficient for these things? Quickly, however, I have the cheering response whispered into the ear of my faith by the loving and sympathising One, 'My grace is sufficient for thee.' I rest in that declaration of our Saviour. My dear mother, I am happy to be able to say, loves the Saviour, and does not grudge to give up a son to work under His banner, who has done so much for her soul. Who would not be willing to give up all to Jesus when He makes the demand? You can easily fancy how very much this willing surrendering of me to the Lord by my dear mother diminishes the sorrow which we mutually feel at the thought of being so far and so long separated. Jesus sweetens everything."