Duff Rev Alexander

Duff, Rev. Alexander, born at Pitlochrie in 1806, and educated at St. Andrew's, where he came under the influence of Dr. Chalmers, took an early interest in missionary enterprise, and in 1829 sailed for India as the first pioneer sent by the Established Church of Scotland into that field. He perceived that education must necessarily precede conversion in the case of a race like the Hindus, and his efforts were largely directed towards the establishment of schools and colleges, with which his name will always be associated. In 1843 he joined the Free Church, pursuing under its banner the same policy. In 1851 during a holiday at home he was elected Moderator, and his views were freely incorporated into the Education Despatch of 1854. His health broke down in 1863, when he accepted a professorship in the Free Church College, Edinburgh, dying in 1878. Besides several valuable works on educational and missionary subjects, he published an interesting book on The Indian Rebellion: its Causes and Results, and was for some years editor of the Calcutta Review.